AT first glance, this teaching is straightforward, so much so I was not sure additional information on my part would be much help. After looking up several translations I noticed the only one basic word change—confess means to acknowledge or declare. The heart of this verse is simple; if we want a relationship with Jesus, we must confess and acknowledge who he is and enter a relationship with him. He is the Son of God and I want to be his.  

BUT then I realized I was looking at this verse simply as a moment in time. Instead, I needed to look at it as continually present in time. As I looked up the definition for “confess” here I saw the idea of agreeing with or making a promise to.   

I have heard so many times “I was saved” on this date. I have said that myself as I was baptized on May 6th, 1990. But the truth is I AM saved. The difference is that if I WAS saved, I could almost be putting my faith in a baptism, in a confession on a date and a time and a place where I did something. But my faith is not there, in that act, it is instead in the living Jesus with whom I agree and promise to follow in fact and truth right now.  

I confess my Jesus every time the question of choosing to follow his truth comes into conflict with the idea of doing it my way. And I can now live this way because “I abide in Jesus.”  

Let us confess today that Jesus is our Lord and Savior, there is no other. Amen

– Caleb Penwell

Senior Pastor, Bethel Christian Church, Conyers, GA

Bethel-Christian.Church

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