What Does It Mean to Confess Christ?

Immanuel Fellowship Church

"I need to confess something to you." When you hear those words you would normally brace yourself for unwanted news: I gossiped about you. I cheated on you. I stole from you. And a confession can be about something bad; we must confess our sins (1 John 1:9). But there is nothing in the word that assumes that one's confession will be negative. A confession is simply a weighty, and perhaps costly, declaration of what is true. We confess or declare to God our sins because we know ourselves to be sinners. To confess is to say out loud what you believe to be so. It means to go public with what you know to be accurate. It is taking a stand upon truth no matter what the consequences will be. Confessing your sin is the first part of Scripture's formula for salvation. But by merely confessing sin no one will be saved. The confession is true enough. But to be saved we must also confess (Matt. 10:32 KJV) or acknowledge (ESV) Christ as our Savior from sin. Jesus promises to save penitent sinners. When you trust him as Savior and Lord you say it. Confessing Christ is how a person is saved (Rom. 10:10). So we need to know just what it means to confess Christ. Scripture presents three arenas in which a believer confesses Christ.