Confession: The Key to Unlocking Faith- Lesson 4

Matthew 3:5–6 ESV

Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

John 16:7–11 ESV

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

Matthew 10:32–33 ESV

So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Lesson Four: Confession: the Key to Unlocking Faith

Central Truth: Confessing the lordship of Jesus Christ is the very heart of the Gospel

Few Christians realize the place and the power that confession holds in God’s scheme of things- And It is unfortunate that the word 'confession' is almost always associated with the admission of sin, weaknesses, and failings.

these are the negative side of confession

There is a positive side, and the Bible speaks more about positive aspects of confession than the negative

The Dictionary says that one of the meanings of confess is “to acknowledge or to own, (confess guilt) , make known, or declare one faith”

To confess according to the dictionary , means to make confession of ones fault’s, but it also says it means to make confession of one’s faith!

There are four types of confessions spoken in the New Testament

The teachings of John the Baptist and Jesus regarding confession of sins of the Jews

The confession of the the sinners today

the believer’s confession of their sins when they are out of fellowship with God

The confession of our faith in God’s Word

Confession of Sins of the Jews:

It is important to make the distinction between the sins of the Jews under the first covenant, to whom Jesus and John the Baptist were talking in Scripture, and the sins of the unbeliever today who has never met Christ.

Matthew 3:5-6 “People from Jerusalem and from all of Judea and all over the Jordan Valley went out to see and hear John. 6 And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River.”

Here is a picture of God’s covenant people confesing their sins nd being baotized by John-

This was not Christian baptism, Because Jesus hadn’t died and risen

John did not Baptized in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He Baptized only in the name of the Father

These people were Jews under the Law

Confession of sinner’s today

John 16:7-11 ““But now I am going away to the one who sent me, and not one of you is asking where I am going. 6 Instead, you grieve because of what I’ve told you. 7 But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate* won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. 9 The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. 10 Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. 11 Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged.”

Esv- Matthew 17:9“ concerning sin, because they do not believe in me”

Look at what Jesus says in verse 9- Jesus shows us that sinners will be convicted by the Holy Spirit of only one sin, and that is, “because they do not believe in me.”

Think of the is: How many times have we heard or been told or thought that sinners must confess all the sins they have ever committed in order to be saved.

No one could ever confess ever sin they had ever done, because they cannot remember every sin they ever committed

The Chief confession that sinners make is the” Lordship of Jesus Christ!

Romans 10:9 “ If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Confess with you mouth- Jesus is Lord

Acts 19:18, “Many who became believers confessed their sinful practices.”- These were Gentiles and the verse doesn’t says what they confessed, but it is evident in the next versed

Act 19:19-20 “A number of them who had been practicing sorcery brought their incantation books and burned them at a public bonfire. The value of the books was several million dollars. 20 So the message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect.”

Understand they weren’t confessing these things to get saved, because they were already saved

they were giving them up because they were saved

Often times we get the cart before the horses. People tell unsaved people “You are going to have to quit this, and you’re going to have to give up that before you can be saved.”

But the main issue is that they accept the Lordship of Jesus - then those other things take care of themselves

Confession in Reverse- Kenneth Haggin

“in the Last church I pastored, there was a family in which the wife was saved but the husband wasn’t. When I visited in the home and invited the husband to come to church, he said, ‘No, I don’t want to come to church because when I do, I feel uneasy. I get under conviction. Just this morning my wife asked me why I didn’t give up this and that and get saved. She doesn’t know this, but for weeks at a time I have tried giving up, these things, but I always go back to them. I’ve tried and failed. There’s no use in my coming to Church. I just can’t live it.”

This is the prime example of confession reversed. This man is trying to clean his life up and quite his habits- he is trying to do it all by himself in order to get saved!

But what He should have done was just confess the Lordship of Jesus

Romans 10:9

The Sinner has served satan ( 2 Cor 4:4; Eph 2:1-3) and they are guilty of only one sin in the sight of God: The rejection of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

God demands that the sinner confess the Lordship of Jesus

Confessing the Lordship of Jesus is the very heart of Gospel!

To demand that a sinner confess his sins before God can make him a new creation (creature) makes no more sense than it would for the governor of a state to say to a convicted prisioner, “I will parole you if you will confess you are in a prison.”

It is a self-evident fact that the person is in a prison.

Likewise it is self-evident that a sinner is under the authority of the Devil- a child of the devil.

What they must confess is the Lordship of Jesus Christ:

He must be truly sorry (repent) for the sins of the past and turn from them, forsaking them completely and acknowledge his need of a Savior.

Then the must let Jesus dominate their daily life

Romans 10:9 says “openly declare”- “Confess with your Mounth” - There must be a vocal confession.

The Lips must frame the words.

Confession is not only for our sake, but it is also for the sake of the world and for the sake of Satan, who ruled our life

Eph 2:1-3

2 Cor 4:4

John 12:31

Kenneth Haggin-

“While I conducting a meeting in Dallas, Texas, a number of years ago, some men in the church came to me asking for prayer for a certain man who still was unsaved, although he had been coming to their early morning prayer services five day a week for six months

I met Him a few nights later at a Saturday night Bible class I was conducting especially for men who worked and couldn’t attend our day sessions. The Lord immediately spoke to my heart and showed me what the problem was. We had a few testimonies in this meeting, and then I asked this man to stand and give his testimony. Startled, he stammered, ‘Why, I can’t. I’m not saved Yet.”

I asked him to turn in his Bible to Romans 10:9-10 and read the verses out loud “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.”

When I asked Him to read the Last phrase agains and he repeated, “and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.”

I said ‘ certainly you can’t be saved until you confess. It is with the mouth that confession is made unto salvation, according to the the Scripture which you have just read. Now stand and confess that you are saved.”

“ But I don’t feel that I am saved,” He replied

‘Maybe not,’ I said, ‘but you have been coming to this church early every morning for six months praying to be saved.’

‘Yes I have repented and prayed, cried and begged God for forgiveness,’ he said.

‘Then all you lack is standing on this verse,” I said

Somewhat reluctantly he stood and said, ‘Well I do believe these verses that Jesus died for my sins and was raised from the dead, and that God raised Him up for my justification. So I take Him as my Savior and confess Him as my Lord.’ Then he quickly sat down.

To direct attention away from him, I called on another man to testify. Several others testified as well. Glancing back at him, I noticed his face was shinning with glory of God. I turned to him and said, ‘Now would you like to testify again?”

He Leaped to his feet and said, ‘when I made that statement- when I confessed Jesus as my Lord- something happened inside of me,’ and he went on to praise the Lord joyfully.

I told him, ‘ Most assuredly something happened to you! Eternal life was imparted to your spirit.”

Confession in Public

Matthew 10:32-33, ““Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.”

Notice in these verses Jesus states our confession must be public.

Public confession is really a break with the world.

It defines our position

It shows our change of lordship

The Confession of the Lordship of Jesus puts us immediately under His supervision, care, and protection.

Before this, Satan was our lord, but Now Jesus is our Lord.

Not only do we confess this to ourselves and to the world, but we confess it to the devil!

In This way we overcome his Hold on us and have victory through Jesus!

Memory verse:

Romans 10:10 “For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.”

Lesson in Action:

James 1:22, “But Be doers of the Word, and hearers only…”