I Confess

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

  -Romans 10:9

Notice how personal Paul makes this verse. “If you”, “with your mouth”, “in your heart”, “you will be saved”. The Apostle was making it crystal clear, this is your responsibility in order to be saved from your sins.

You must confess (1 John 4:15). The word here in the Greek is homologeo which means to agree, to openly profess. This text demands a declaration that Jesus Christ is Lord. In the church that Paul was writing to, this would have been a difficult declaration. The rulers demanded absolute loyalty to them, the people were to declare “Caesar is Lord.” The confession of the Christian is that Jesus is Lord. Jesus is supreme and is to receive absolute obedience, nothing nor no one else.

Jesus said in Matthew 10:32 (NASB), “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.”

He said in Luke 12:8 (NASB), “And I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God.”

So if you confess, He will confess. If you declare that He is Lord, He will declare that you are His. We are to confess Jesus is Lord with our mouths.

But God here in Romans 10:9 isn’t just demanding a confession or an acknowledgement. One must believe in their heart. The heart that was once dead (Ephesians 2:1) must be made new (Ezekiel  36:26, John 3:3) and believe that that Jesus Christ was risen from the dead after being in a tomb for three days.

Not just knowing that Jesus is Christ and Lord, even Demons believe that (James 2:19), but genuinely believing in your heart that Jesus is to be obeyed and worshiped above everything else.

Think about the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8, who after Philip explained the gospel to him wanted to be baptized immediately. Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart you may." Believe in all your heart, your whole self. All of it. Jesus demands all of you, complete surrender to His Lordship.

That’s what baptism is, “symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus” (Baptist Faith and Message 2000).”

This is a difficult confession and belief. It isn’t just a proclamation that I am corrupt and need a savior, but that the world is corrupt and needs a savior. To publicly declare that the world is wretched and to love it would be vain is a harsh smack in the face. The belief that God provided the way for sinners to be rescued and that there is no other way given among men by which they must be saved.

One day every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:11). Until that day Christ’s Lordship is to be our confession.

Questions to Chew On

1. What is your confession to this world?

2. What is Jesus’ confession of you? (Matthew 10:32, Luke 12:8)

Contentment

As one English poet once wrote;

"You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you might find, you get what you need"

Contentment is something that I do not think about much. I think often of the sovereignty and magnificence of God. I am daily struck by the grace that is given to me in Jesus Christ. I have spent many hours thinking about missions and discipleship methods. I have not however spent that much time thinking about contentment, even less time thinking about my own contentment. 

The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4

"Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."

 Paul had learned how to be content. He had learned the secret. In every circumstance he had found the ability and strength to be satisfied with what he had. What makes this statement even more heart stirring is that Paul was likely writing while being imprisoned in Rome. 
So what was the secret to his contentment? What did he have that left him satisfied in all situations? 
The answer is simple but profound, Christ. 
It is with Christ that he could do all things. Jesus was his strength, Jesus was where he found satisfaction in this life, and Jesus was enough. 

Paul later tells Timothy, "But godliness with contentment is great gain." 

My three prayers for contentment

1. That in all circumstance I will be satisfied in Christ.

2. That I will ponder what it means to be content more often.

3. That I will be thankful in all circumstances, knowing that God is working through all situations for my good.