A True Confession

[0:00] A Pastor's Reflections, A True Confession! John 1.20 And he confessed, and denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ.

[0:12] ! 1 John 4.2 Hereby know you the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. 2 John 1.7 For many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.

[0:32] This is a deceiver and an antichrist. When we think of the word confess, we often think of the meaning to admit, which is a very true meaning.

[0:46] When a criminal confesses to a crime, he is admitting to having committed that crime. However, the New Testament uses the word confess to mean so much more than just to admit.

[0:59] Behind the word confess is the idea that there is someone or something greater than ourselves informing us of a reality that we can either choose to admit to, confess, or deny.

[1:12] Confession, then, becomes more than just an assent. It is an assent that abdicates my right to my views on a particular matter, and instead puts that decision into the hands of another.

[1:28] I then choose to confess, to be in agreement with, this outside voice that is speaking its truth into my life. Will I accept that truth, or will I deny?

[1:43] This is what it then means to confess Christ. My confession is not so much confessing what I think about him, but choosing to assent to what has already been said to be true about him.

[1:58] The problem with those who reject Christ is not that they are doggedly and determinedly against Jesus, but that they are determinedly not going to let anyone else tell them what their views are regarding Jesus.

[2:13] It is only those that confess to say the same thing as the word of God and the spirit of God that are then of God. Titus 1.16 There are many people today who think they are in right relationship with God because of what they have chosen to believe about God.

[2:45] But unfortunately, what they believe about God is not in agreement with what the Bible has said about him. That means that they have not confessed the truth of the word, but have confessed instead to holding tightly to their own views and ideas that are in opposition to God.

[3:07] Today, like John the Baptist, we have an amazing opportunity to be those who confess to what we have been told is true, believed to be true, and known to be true.

[3:20] Now, Jesus is God. Not only is Jesus God, but as God, he became a man so that all men might have an opportunity to confess him as Lord.

[3:34] Romans 10.9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

[3:44] Father, thank you for giving us the privilege of knowing the truth so that we might have the privilege of confessing that truth. Help us today to be those that confess you before men so that men might understand who you are.

[4:02] Amen. Matthew 10.32 Whosoever, therefore, shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father, which is in heaven.

[4:14] Amen.