Sunday, January 9: Confession

Confession, Community, & Commission. Confession can have a negative connotation for many of us, as we may tend to associate it only with the confession of sin which, while necessary, is typically uncomfortable. But more broadly, confession in the Christian faith means to confess the truth. That means we confess not only the truth about our sin, but the truth about the One who has saved us from our sin.

In Romans 10:8-10, Paul writes “This is the message of faith that we proclaim: If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.” And Phillippians 2:11 tells us that the day will come in which “every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”

Confession then, is not merely a part of the Christian faith — It is foundational to the Christian faith. This is why the truths agreed upon in the great church councils are labeled “Confessions”. Christians are not called to make “Assertions” or “Pronouncements”, speaking truth into being in grand self-determination. Rather, the people of God have the privilege of humbly discovering the truth in submission to His revelation.

As we pursue greater faithfulness to our ever-faithful God, may our prayers and praise and the preaching of the word be filled with, and drive us to, confession of these truths that Charles Spurgeon summed up in these words: “I have a great need for Christ: I have a great Christ for my need.”