receiving salvation, part III: confession

When Christians speak of “confession” as a requirement for salvation, they are speaking of a confession before the world of one’s faith in Jesus Christ as Savior, Master, and God in the human flesh. It is an oral, public confession of one’s faith in Jesus Christ as the anointed one, the Messiah, acknowledging the truth of his sacrificial death and resurrection, acknowledging both his deity and humanity, and acknowledging his status as the one and only Savior and as the Master (Lord) YHWH. And, just as it is with repentance, confession is intimately linked with faith (see Rom 10.9-10).

As stated above, the “good confession” as many Christians call it (after Timothy’s public “good confession”, 1 Tim 6.12) is oral (Rom 10.9-10) and public (Mt 10.32). Just as Timothy’s confession of his faith in Christ was public, so Christ’s own testimony of himself was public before Pontius Pilate (1 Tim 6.13). Confession throughout Christian history traditionally takes place at the offset of faith, usually during baptism. While Paul’s words in Rom 10.9-10 speak of a past event (for they are in the Greek “aorist” tense), indicating that confession points to a certain event in the life of a Christian, confession must also take place during the Christian’s life (see John 9.22 & 12.42, Mt 10.32-33, and Acts 24.14). Interestingly, 1 Cor 12.2-3 seems to refer to occasions of life and death.

Jesus confesses before God those who confess him, and he denies before God those who deny him (Mt 10.32-33). The Apostle John tells us that he who denies the Son does not know God, but he that confesses the Son has God. In this vein, whoever confesses in God’s Son abides in God, and God abides in him (1 John 2.23, 4.15). Confession, then, as stated above, while taking place at a certain moment in a Christian’s life, involves a continuing commitment to Christ and following of him.

The Greek word used for “confession” is homologeo, which means “to say the same thing, to agree.” It is acknowledging the truth of something; biblical confession is simply a confession that one believes in Christ as the Son of God (2 Cor 9.13, Heb 3.1, Phil 2.11, 1 John 4.2-3, 2 John 7). This involves a confession similar to Peter’s confession in Mat 16.16, a confession that Jesus is “the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” When we confess that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, the Lord, what is it that we are confessing? The English word “Christ” comes from the Greek christos, which is a translation of the Hebrew word meshiach, from whence comes our English word “Messiah.” The christos and meshiach refer to the “anointed one” prophesied by the prophets of ancient Israel. Confessing that Jesus is the Christ is confessing that he is the Messiah; it is confessing that he is, indeed, the anointed one God promised to send (John 9.22). “What does it mean to be anointed?” To be anointed is to be set apart for a special work; in the Old Testament, kings (1 Sam 16.3, 15), priests (Ex 29.7, 29), and prophets (1 Kgs 19.16) were anointed. Christ’s specific work was bringing the kingdom of God to earth through him and him alone. In confession, we acknowledge that Jesus is not only the Messiah but also the Savior; he holds this title by virtue of his death (Rom 3.25) and resurrection (Rom 10.9). We confess that Christ is divine (Mt 16.16, John 20.28) and yet he was human (1 John 4.2, 2 John 7).

Confession involves, primarily, confessing Christ as Lord (John 20.28, Rom 10.9, 1 Cor 12.13, Phil 2.11, 2 Cor 4.5, Acts 2.36, 10.36). In order to stand the implications of this confession, we must look at what “Lord” meant in the culture and worldview in which the New Testament was originally written. When most people hear the phrase “Jesus is Lord,” they think of a deity who stands far-off, deserving of respect if not reverence, but having little to do with ordinary life. Understanding “Lord” in its original cultural context blows this notion out of the water. “Lord” in its ancient context has three meanings: Master, King, and YHWH. Under the first understanding, when a Christian confesses that Jesus is Lord, he or she is confessing that Jesus is the Master of the universe and all it contains (including daily life), and thus Christ is our owner and we are his bondservants (those who freely serve him). The second meaning is “King.” In this vein, Jesus is the True King, a statement that ran deep with political undercurrents, for Caesar himself claimed to be the true king and Christians said Jesus was King, not Caesar. If Jesus is King, then we, as his subjects, are summoned to obey him—this summons is even starker and clearer for those who claim citizenship in his growing kingdom. Finally, “Lord” is a reference to YHWH: the Greek word for “Lord” is Kyrios, which is the word used for YHWH in the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint, or LXX). New Testament Jews recognized that Jesus being “Lord” meant that Jesus was YHWH; so, again, when one confesses that Jesus is Lord, he or she is confessing that he is YHWH as a divine human being. In the end, “Lord” is the name over every name (Phil 2.9-11); thus Jesus is the only Lord, and in time all knees will bow before him.

Confession is needed for salvation; in Rom 10.9-10, the Greek word for “resulting in” is eis; an accurate translation can be read, “With the mouth one confesses for the purpose of salvation.” Yet this necessary confession is not only oral; it is also lived out in our daily lives. Anyone can say “Jesus is Lord,” but our lives must show it. We must show that Jesus is Lord in how we live our day-to-day lives. Is this works-salvation? No. It is evidence of a confession that comes from the heart.