Most believe that it means to say out loud before witnesses as Peter did in Matthew 16:16, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” or as we would say it, “I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
But isn’t this a profession instead of a confession? That’s why it may seem a bit tricky. It depends on how we define our terms.
Any time I have confusion with terms in my English Bible, I go back to the original text. We’re very blessed to live in a time that we can see the whole of the original text of the Bible online for free!
Let’s do that – let’s look at a popular text about confessing Christ together, Matthew 10:32, Jesus said,
“Therefore, everyone who confesses Me before people, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.” (Emphasis mine)
When we look up the word confess, we see that it’s the same Greek word in both instances, homolgeo, which literally means, “to say the same thing as another, i.e. to agree with.”
That gives us some nice clarity. The meaning of confess in this context means to agree with. Okay, but agree with whom? And agree with what?
Look back to the verse – Jesus is saying, “Everyone who says the same thing about Me, in agreement with Me about who I am, in front of people, I will also say that you are who you say you are and agree with you before God in heaven.”
Now, I know that sounds a bit convoluted, but it gets to the heart of the meaning, which we’re taught correctly is that if we agree with Jesus that He is the Christ, the son of the living God, and we’re not ashamed to tell people that we believe that, Jesus will return the favor in a much more profound way in heaven.
It’s a beautiful scene to imagine Jesus saying to God, “This is Wes. I agree that he is who he claims to be, one of my followers.”
So, biblically speaking, our confession, as it’s defined by the Bible, contains an agreement with Christ that He is who He claims to be and a verbal profession that we believe it.
Commentaries go absolutely crazy with what it means to “confess,” to the point of absurdity. But the text is plain and simple. Anyone can understand it. Do you want Jesus to give you the introduction of lifetime? Introduce your belief in Him as the Christ to others. The very next verse in Matthew tells us exactly what will happen if we do not, Matthew 10:33
But whoever denies Me before people, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
Yeah, but what does “denies” and “deny” mean in the Greek text? Exactly what it says. And what does that sound like? Matthew 10:23, Jesus says,
…I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you…’
It’s my prayer that none of you will ever hear those words spoken by Jesus.
Let our confession not be a one-time only event but let it be our built into the fabric of our daily lives. Confess Him in what you do. Confess Him in what you don’t do. But whatever you do, don’t fail to confess Him with your mouth as well.
Have I told you lately that I love you? I do.
Much love,
Wes LeFlore (918) 607-8489 or huskerwes1@gmail.com
