“Confess” is an interesting and versatile word, which permeates the culture, especially in the western world.  It was used in the Roman empire and even earlier, by ancient Greece.  For those with an open mind, this word may enable and empower you to change both your life, and your destiny.  But before we delve too deeply, we had best define our terms.

The root word means to admit, acknowledge, concede, or reveal.  When used in a negative context, it carries the idea of reluctance to accept blame, to “own” one’s responsibility, culpability or guilt.  When used in a positive sense, to confess is simply to declare or affirm.  

The prefix “con” means “with.”  So, whether the usage is negative or positive, to “confess” is to ‘say the same thing as’ someone else; whether making an admission or declaring agreement.

Armed with this understanding, we can more easily identify and more readily grasp uses of the word, “confess” in daily life.  Examples abound: 

• “I must confess…”
• “I had to ‘fess up…”
• “I have a confession to make.”
• “Come, come—confession is good for the soul.”
• “Confronted with the incriminating evidence, the suspect made a full confession.”
• If you happen to have a Roman Catholic background (1.3 billion worldwide), you may have “gone to confession” and/or learned a formula which begins something like this: “Bless me, Father” [referring to a priest] “for I have sinned.  It has been [fill in elapsed time] since my last confession…”

In the passage which follows, the word “confess” is used in its declarative sense: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”  (Romans 10:9-10)

This sort of confession is not an admission of guilt, but a recognition of reality.  Full-throttled agreement that Jesus Christ is Lord and a declaration of faith in Him is required for salvation, a fact pointedly made by Christ Himself: “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.  But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33)

The righteousness referred to in Romans is a faith-based righteousness previously unknown and absolutely unique in the world. It is given by God as a gift to those who repent of their sins and surrender their lives to Christ’s service. Forgiveness is made possible by the precious blood of Jesus, the Son, who suffered and died in our place, for our sins.

Here, the other aspect of confession comes into play: in order to accept God’s gift, I must first acknowledge my sin.  When I confess that I am a sinner in desperate need of a Savior, I am saying the same thing as God, I am confessing that what God says about me is true and conceding that I cannot save myself.

“But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…” (Romans 3:21-24)

Tragically, multitudes are unwilling to come to Christ, to receive God’s grace (unmerited favor).  They are deceived, in denial, too proud or too fond of the pleasures of sin.  Their self-image is the polar opposite of the way God sees them.  Yet, they fail to perceive their true condition.  They may say things like: 

God knows my heart.

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

I am not a sinner.

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  (I John 1:8-9)

I’m a good person.

“And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God…”  (Matthew 19:17)

All people are basically good [whatever “basic” goodness might be…]

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.  Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.”  (Romans 3:10-18).

If there is a last judgment, I’m pretty confident that I can defend my life, my choices.

“Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.  Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”  (Romans 3:19-20)

 If you just listen to your heart, follow your heart, you can’t go wrong.

“For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matthew 15:19)

When I want to feel close to God, I just go out in nature; sometimes I even pray. 

“But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”  (Isaiah 59:2)

I don’t believe there’s a God up there, paying attention to everything we think, say and do.

“I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”  (Jeremiah 17:10)

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If you have never confessed and repented of your sins, never confessed Jesus Christ as Lord of your life, what’s holding you back?

My friend, it has never been easier or more urgent to obtain forgiveness from God, who daily knocks at your door, and calls out to you as you come and go.  Hour by hour He stands waiting, arms outstretched, offering His priceless gift of eternal life to you.  Will you continue to rudely pass Him by, ignoring His love and mercy and rejecting His offer of salvation?  Will you insist on death, even as He continues to implore you right now, through what you are reading?

Stop now, please.  Turn to Him.  Accept His grace.  Invite Him in.  He’ll come with you, I promise.

HOW TO BE SAVED:

• Admit to God that you are a sinner (that you have not kept His moral law to perfection; in your thoughts, words, and actions you have done what His law forbids and have failed to do what His love demands).  This is seeing yourself from God’s point of view and agreeing that He is right about you.  Be as specific as you can.
• Believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins and that God raised Him from the dead.
• Sincerely repent (turn away) from your sins, asking God to forgive you and to use His power to help you resist temptation, no matter how strong the pull of sin may be, at first.
• Acknowledge Jesus as the Lord of your life.  Invite Him to move into your heart and take up residence there, so that He can change you from the inside out.
• Trust His promise to save you and give you a new spiritual birth and a new nature (thoughts, desires, priorities, hopes, dreams, and character).

SOME KEY TRUTHS:

• “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  (Romans 3:23)
• “As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.”  (Romans 3:10)
• “For the wages of sin is death: but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  (Romans 6:23)
• “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  (John 3:16)
• “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  (Romans 5:8)
• “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”  (I Corinthians 15:3,4)
• “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12)
• “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him…” (Revelation 3:20)
• “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  (Romans 10:13)
• “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”  (Romans 10:9)
• “Verily, verily, I say unto you; He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life; and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”  (John 5:24)
• “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, ye might have life through his name.”  (John 20:31) 
• “These things I have written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”  (I John 5:13)