#307 CONFESSION OF FAITH IN CHRIST
"Thou are the Christ, the son of the living God." These familiar words of confession from Simon Peter's lips contain the foundation truth upon which our Lord stated he would build his church in Matthew 16:18. No greater statement could have been made concerning Christ Jesus than this confession. It was not revealed by flesh and blood but from the Father in Heaven. Jesus had been acknowledged as God's son by the Father himself even before his birth. In guiding Joseph, the angel of God had stated that the child to be born should be called Jesus. "For he shall save his people from their sins."(Matthew 1:21) After being baptized in Jordan's waters by John the Baptist. Jesus came up immediately out of the water and from the heavens above the voice of God was heard in the acknowledgment "this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."(Matthew 3:17) Again, God recognized Jesus of Nazareth as his beloved son on the mount of Transfiguration when before the eyes of Peter, James and John, our Lord was transfigured and became glorious. God, in answer to Peter's foolish proposal to build three tabernacles, for Jesus, Moses and Elijah, caused both Moses and Elijah to disappear and said, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him."(Matthew 17:5) In addition to the confession made by Simon Peter near Cessarea, Philippi, Jesus was confessed by Nathaniel in John 1:49; "Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou are the King of Israel." This was said by an Israelite who was only beginning to know Jesus and his ministry. Peter again confessed our Lord when in John 6, after some hard sayings, Jesus asked his disciples, "Will you also go away?" Peter answered, "Lord to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God." Martha, by the tomb of Lazareth, also confessed him as Christ, in these words, "Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ the Son of God, which should come into the world."(John 11:27) The apostle Peter added, "There is none other name given under heaven whereby men can be saved, but the name of Jesus Christ."(Acts 4:12) But what is meant when a penitent believer confesses his faith in Christ? Well, it means that he realizes that, as a lost sinner, separated by his sins from God, there is no other hope, and no other name through which there is salvation but Jesus Christ. Confessing one's faith is a condition of forgiveness from past sins, as Romans 10:10 will show us. Jesus promises that he will confess us before the Father and his angels if we confess him before men, Luke 12:8. It is essential in having God to dwell in us, as well as our dwelling in God, to confess Jesus as the son of God, I John 4:15. Timothy was reminded of the good confession Jesus made before Pontius Pilate and also of the good confession he had made himself in I Timothy 6:12-13. Notice also, that when a person wishes to become a Christian, the confession he must make is not a confession that God, for Christ's sake, hath pardoned his sins, since the New Testament clearly teaches that we must confess in order to be saved, and not because we have already been saved as soon as we believe, as you can read in Romans 10:9-10. The Bible also adds that we must also be baptized before we are saved, Mark 16:15-16 and I Peter 3:21. The confession which is required in order to become a Christian is more than merely confessing our sins, although we do confess that we are sinners by the very act of being baptized for the remission of sins, as the Bible teaches in Acts 2:38. The confession as we have read earlier, is rather demonstrated in the simple, profound and moving statement made by the Ethiopian eunuch, when he stated that he believed with all his heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, Acts 8:36-39. If you have never confessed him, may God help you to acknowledge your faith in him and obey him by being baptized into Christ.