Confess Unto Salvation
Belief in God seems to be the one universal
concept among all Christ based religious groups today. Those who claim to be
religious understand the need to have this belief. However, there seems to be a
great disparity about what to do once we have come to the point of belief. Many
would tell me that there is no work required for my salvation. I find this to
be quite amazing, especially when I consider the writings of men such as the
Apostle Paul who said “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling”
(Philippians 2:12). Then there is the statement by James, “…faith without works
is dead” (James 2:20). These passages seem to be very clear to me: there is
work that I must do on my own behalf in order to have my soul saved. Often it
seems that the argument about works in salvation comes up during a discussion
about baptism. What we need to realize is that baptism is but one required
work, and that indeed it is not the first work that a person is required to do
in order to become a Christian. Jesus, in John 6:29, refers to belief itself as
a work. John the Baptist, while talking about the concept of repentance, speaks
of bearing fruit, fruit being the product of work. So we can see that man must
do something in order for God’s grace to be shed upon him.
"Now as they went down the road, they came
to some water. And the eunuch said, ‘See, here is water. What hinders me from
being baptized?’ Then Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you
may.’ And he answered and said, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of
God.’ ”(Acts 8:36-37). These are the words of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch.
Now we must notice some very important factors in this account. This
interchange occurred directly after Philip “preached Jesus to him.” Not only
was Jesus preached to the eunuch but he believed; as a matter of fact, he was
moved to the point that he sought to act based upon the message that was
presented to him. Philip then told him what he should do based upon his belief:
confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. This was not some random statement
on the part of Philip, this was a requirement placed upon the eunuch in order to
have his sins forgiven. In order to understand the importance of the statement
made by the eunuch in verse 37 in regard to forgiveness, we must understand the
statement itself.
“I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God.” This was not a mere string of words, a litany of sorts, with
some obscure ceremonial significance. Neither was this a statement of mental
ascension. No, the statement made here was a statement of change. With the
confession that was made on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza the eunuch was
proclaiming himself a new man. This change was brought about by his learning of
Christ. Once the gospel is presented to an individual with an honest heart,
then he cannot help but become a new man. The gospel, in its power and glory,
reveals to us the fact that we are lost and dying (Ephesians 2:1). Not only
that, it also reveals to us the wonderful plan that God set in order for our
redemption (1Peter 1:18-20). We see the role that Jesus took in our
redemption: “He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even
the death of the cross.” Then we find that the reason for all of this was the
amazing love that God has for us (1John 4:9-10). What does He require of us in
return? Only that we obey His commandments (John 15:10), each one of which is
designed to aid us in this life and to bring us closer to the Father. So when I
stand before men upon the teaching of the gospel and proclaim, “I believe that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God,” I attest that I know the Word to be true, and I
consign myself to the power that is the gospel, Jesus, the savior of my soul.
Some would say that even with all
of this being true, surely our salvation does not rest upon the completion of a
certain ceremonial process. No, our salvation rests upon the Word of God,
Romans 1:16, and fulfilling its requirements in such a way that we can access
the great grace of God. John 3, the passage upon which the belief-only
advocates rest their hats, teaches that one must do “the truth” (vs. 20-21). To
pretend that God has no requirements of me in order to receive salvation is
clearly a concept that is not seen in scripture. So, is confession one of those
things that we must do?
“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also
confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men,
him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 10:32-33).
While this passage does not deal with the confession one makes before baptism
and becoming a child of God, surely we can see that such a confession would be
the first step in living a life that confesses Christ every day.
"Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him,
but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put
out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of
God" (John 12:42-43). What might be our reason for not confessing the name of
Christ?
"…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and
believe in your heart that God has 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). Notice the direct
correlation between confessing the name of Jesus and salvation.
"Now as they went down the road, they came to some water.
And the eunuch said, ‘See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?’
Then Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.’ And he
answered and said, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’ “(Acts
8:36-37). Certainly Philip found confession to be necessary.
Let us remember that there is a time coming
when “every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess” (Isaiah 45:23). The
question is, will I do this here on earth for the salvation of my soul, or will
I wait until there is no more salvation?
By Shawn Chancellor
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