Confession of Jesus Christ

Confession of faith in Jesus Christ is necessary for salvation

Romans 10:9–10 NASB95

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

See also Mk 8:38; 1 Jn 4:15; Mt 10:32–33; 1 Jn 2:23; 2 Ti 2:12

Confessing Jesus Christ as Lord is only possible by the Holy Spirit

1 Corinthians 12:3 NASB95

Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

Results of confessing faith in Jesus Christ

Baptism

Acts 2:38–41 NASB95

Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.

See also Ac 22:16; Ac 18:8

A change in lifestyle

Mt 7:21–23; 2 Ti 2:19

See also 1 Jn 2:4; 1 Jn 1:6; 1 Ti 6:12; Heb 13:15; Lk 19:8–9

Persecution

John 9:22 NASB95

His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.

See also 2 Ti 3:12; Jn 12:42–43

Demons confessed Jesus Christ’s divinity

Luke 4:41 NASB95

Demons also were coming out of many, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But rebuking them, He would not allow them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ.

See also Mt 8:28–29

Ultimately all will confess Jesus Christ’s lordship

Philippians 2:9–11 NASB95

For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Notable confessions of faith in Jesus Christ

John 1:49 NASB95

Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.”

See also Mt 16:16; Jn 11:27; Jn 20:28; Jn 6:69; Mt 14:33

The refusal to confess Jesus Christ

Matthew 10:32–33 NASB95

“Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. “But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.

See also 2 Ti 2:12