“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved.”
(Romans 10:9)
The oldest known confession of faith used by the Christian church is this: “Jesus is Lord” (John 20:28; 1 Cor. 12:3; Eph. 4:5; Phil. 2:11). The historic, orthodox creeds and confessions of the church are, basically, expositions and elaborations of that foundational testimony. Jesus said, “Everyone who confesses me before men, I also will confess before my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 10:32). The confession of faith means our salvation and the restoration of our humanity.
We went wrong when our first parents went from believing to disbelieving the truth of God’s Word (Gen. 3:1-7). Unbelief is the core of human rebellion against our Creator, the seed of every sin, the ruined heart of our broken humanity. Human beings were made to live by trust in Yahweh’s reality and revelation, but we turned to suspicion, doubt, and “anti-faith.” Now we will actively embrace belief in any alternative to God’s Word. The Bible says we are fools with darkened hearts and minds because of our unbelief (Ps. 14:1; Rom. 1:21-22; Eph. 4:18). When we untethered our faith from the reality and revelation of Yahweh, we severed our ability to truly know anything with certainty.
When we distrusted God’s Word, of course, the greatest loss was the personal and relational knowledge of God himself. Jesus said, “This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). In order to truly know God, to be saved for eternal life with him, we must believe his Word. That is to say, we must trust Jesus, who is the Word of God incarnate. We must not believe merely in the unknowable privacy of our hearts, but publicly stake everything on Jesus. True faith is one that confesses Jesus before others, that makes itself known, for the good of others.
Our faith is often weak, imperfect, and timid. Jesus himself is “the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2). He is “the Faithful Witness” (Rev. 1:5) who “in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession” (1 Tim. 6:12-13). He publicly confessed faith in his Father even when it meant his death. His good confession of faith is the renewal of our faith, and therefore our humanity. The righteousness of his perfect faith is ours vicariously. And his faith rallies us to make the good confession with him.
When we confess our faith during public worship, we are responding to the truth of God’s reality and revelation in the Gospel of Jesus Christ (which is why it’s the first thing we do after the Sermon). In the confession of faith we say, “Yes,” to God by recognizing, acknowledging, and agreeing with his Word. We own and avow his Word, professing it as our truth, claiming knowledge of and association with Jesus. We declare and insist upon God’s Word as the truth that demands the faith of all people. We testify to the goodness and glory of God’s Word. We tell others that God is Triune, that God the Son is incarnate in Jesus, that this crucified and risen Jesus is Lord and there is no other. We tell others who God is, what he is like, what he has said and done—all of which we believe, ultimately and simply, because he has told us in the Holy Scriptures. We confess together as a mutual encouragement to each other, giving expression to the camaraderie of the faith in the good fight against our own unbelief in a world filled with unbelief. The confession of faith knits us together with the Lord Jesus, who is himself the Faithful Witness (Rev. 1:5), and it brings us together with each other. It is the beginning of the restoration of all human living and knowing.
How does some sort of “faith” continue to be a fundamental part of human life, despite disbelieving the reality and revelation of Yahweh? Why is faith in God’s Word important? Can you see how unbelief is the seed of every sin in your life? If so, how might true faith in God’s Word be the way to a transformed life? Do you believe that telling others about Jesus is good for them? Is it sometimes hard for you to claim association with Jesus, to let others know that you believe in God’s Word? Why or why not? When you join in the confession of faith during public worship, why do you do it? How could this be an opportunity to serve others? How could it be an opportunity for others to serve you? How could it be equipping you to share your faith with those outside the church? Are there parts of the confession of faith that you don’t understand or aren’t sure you really believe? If so, how might you come to understand or believe these things more genuinely?
