Have you confessed?

“that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10)

  I know that you probably have read or heard these words preached on numerous occasions. If not, then I definitely encourage you to read on. But even if you have heard this Scripture before, but have never really acted on it, then now would be a really great time! Paul, in this letter to the church in Rome, lays the cornerstone of what it means to be a Christian, a follower of Christ, a disciple. But what exactly is Paul trying to tell us here?

   “In the Bible confession and testimony are put in a prominent place, and the test of a man’s moral caliber is the ‘say so.’ ‘Heart’ means all that is meant by ‘me.’ If I say with myself what I believe and confess it with my mouth, I am lifted into the domain of that thing. This is always the price of spiritual emancipation. If a child is to be taken out his sulky mood he has to go across the disinclination of his reserve and say something; and this is true of all moral and spiritual life. If I will not confess with my mouth what I believe in my heart, that particular phase of believing will never be mine actually. Assurance of faith is never gained by reserve but only by abandonment. In the matter of human love it is a great emancipation to have it expressed; there may be intuitions of love, but the realization of it is not ours until it is expressed. Morally and spiritually we live, as it were, in sections, and the door from one section to another is by means of words, and until we say the right words the door will not open. The right word is always based on the killing of the disinclination which belongs to a lower section (baser human nature).” (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost Devotional Bible, p. 755)

  “For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For ‘whoever calls upon the name of the LORD shall be saved,’” (Romans 10: 11-13)

  I think the most important word in the commentary by Mr. Chambers above is this one: abandonment. Have you abandoned all that you thought important in this world to follow the only One who has the spiritual key to this life and key to eternal life? His name is Jesus! 

He is the One who died on that rugged cross and rose again on the third day to save us from our sins. His is the One we need to confess daily and proclaim to a lost and dying world so that they too can be saved and serve the King of kings and the Lord of lords!

PRAY

1.    Lord I confess that You are who You claim to be. You are the Alpha and Omega, You are my Savior, and my God. You are the Bright and Morning Star, the Son of God, and You are coming again to take us to the place You have prepared for us to spend eternity with You.

2.    Lord, help me this day to live it for You and to be obedient to the example You have given to me in Your Word.

3.    Holy Spirit, fill me now that I might reflect the love of God and Jesus in every thing I think, and in everything I say and do in the presence of those You put in my path today.