What is the Essence of the Christian Confession? Jesus is Lord!

Romans
10:9 seems to be the surest guide to the simplicity of the Christian confession
saying, “…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.” The Christian
confession has two parts, one, confess with your mouth, and two, believe in
your heart. The content of this
confession is a belief that Jesus is who He says He is, Lord, and that God raised
Him from the dead. The result is
that you will be saved.
Our
confession is so simple and yet some will raise objections citing James 2:19
saying, “Even the demons believe and they aren’t saved. What’s the difference?” The difference comes in the evidence of
belief. Part of the beauty of the
book of James is that it is demonstrating what a Christian life looks
like. James is arguing that there
is an implicit lifestyle that flows out of the simple confession of
Christ. Yes, the demons believe,
yet they do not submit their lives to that belief. Instead they choose to live their lives in complete
rebellion to the Son and the Father.
The Christian believes that Jesus is Lord and that belief is shown
through a life striving to be dedicated and submitted to that one truth.
John
echoes this same line of thinking in his gospel and in 1 John. John’s whole testimony, and that of the
apostles, is a confession of Christ being manifest in the world (1 John
1:2-4). In 1 John 3:23 he tells
us, “…this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus
Christ and love one another, just as He has commanded us.” John is probably referencing Jesus’
words as recorded in his own Gospel, John 6:28-29, where Jesus is asked, “What
must we do, to be doing the works of God?” to which Jesus replies, “This is the
work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” This same confession is also seen being
worked out between Jesus and Nicodemus in John 3:1-21.
Jesus’
statement in Mark 1:15 is also seen as an important clue to the essence of our
Christian confession. Here Jesus
says, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and
believe in the gospel.” At first
glance this may seem to be different than what I have laid out above, yet the
essence of the confession is the same.
The time has been fulfilled because the coming Messiah of the Old
Testament has entered our world.
The kingdom of God is at hand because the one who was to come in the
line of David is here in flesh and blood, Jesus. Jesus is to be the righteous King that will reestablish
God’s kingdom amidst man’s rebellion.
To be apart of Christ’s kingdom one must repent of their rebellion and believe
the gospel. The essence of this
gospel is a confession that Jesus is exactly who He says He is, God incarnate,
Lord. The outflow of this
confession is a life submitted to the King.
If
we can grasp the simple essence of our confession the rest naturally falls into
place. If you have confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe that
God has raised Him from the dead, you
will be saved; and your life will reflect this one truth. If we believe Jesus is Lord then we
want to follow his commandments (John 14:15). If we believe Jesus is Lord, we will love those that love
Him (1 John 4:20-21. If we love
Him we will confess our sin and strive for holiness. If we love Him and confess that He is the Son of God, God
will abide in us (1 John 4:15-16).
Ultimately, if we confess and love Christ we have no fear in judgment (1
John 4:17-19) and joy in this life growing to completion in the next (1 John 1:4).
The
essence of the Christian confession is simple: Jesus is Lord! The outworking of that confession is complex and
grand in life after life living under the banner of this one truth.
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