While commissioning his disciples to go and preach His gospel, Jesus said, "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). Later in that conversation Jesus added, "He who doe not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it" (vs. 38-39).
The lesson is clear. Jesus demands loyalty. We must be on His side, we must be militant, we must be bold. It is unacceptable for us to hide our allegiance in the hope we will be spared by our enemies. There is no room for covert operations in the battle with Satan, we are required to boldly proclaim, "I am on the Lord’s side, Master here am I."
If we are unwilling to express our sympathies before men, Jesus said He would deny us before His Father in Heaven. We can not be saved if we are ashamed of our faith. We can’t live spiritually if we hide our allegiance in an attempt to save our physical lives.
Paul wrote in Romans 10:8-10, "But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 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."
When we talk about confession, some misunderstand thinking that we must confess ourselves as sinners. While such an acknowledgement is necessary, and a part of God’s call for us to repent, it is not what is under consideration here. As Paul wrote, we must confess "the Lord Jesus."
This is what the apostle Peter did in Matthew 16. Jesus had asked His disciples, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" (vs. 13). Men were wrong. They said that Jesus was John the Baptist, or Elijah, or Jeremiah, or another prophet. Then Jesus asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" (vs. 15), and we are told that Simon Peter responded, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (vs. 16). This fact, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, is revealed here by Jesus as the foundation upon which He would build His church (vs. 18).
In Acts 8, we have recorded the conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch. As Philip preached the gospel to him, the Eunuch asked, "What hinders me from being baptized?" (vs. 36). Philip answered him, "If you believe with all your heart, you may" (vs. 37), and the Eunuch responded with that same wonderful confession, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God" (vs. 37).
In the first century men were persecuted for confessing the name of the Lord. Stephen was killed for his faith (Acts 7), and we are told in Acts 12 that Herod the king, "stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword" (vs. 1-2).
In Acts 5, the Jewish leaders put the apostles in prison, and the High priest said, "Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name?" (vs. 28). Consider Peter and the other apostles’ answer, "We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins" (29-31).
So, are you willing to confess the Lord Jesus? Are you willing to say before all men, like Peter, the Eunuch and the host of heaven, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God?" Your soul depends upon just such a confession!
