Understanding Biblical Confessions
In those
days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the
region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the
Jordan, confessing their sins. – Matthew 3:1,2; 5,6
People have
gone to extremes with the subject of Bible confessions. Many misunderstand this
subject because so much tradition and religious doctrine have been taught. But
we shouldn’t throw out the whole spiritual principle because of extremes. We
just have to go back to the Word and find the truth.
You can find
four basic types of confessions in the Bible. Usually when the word confession is
mentioned, people automatically think of confessing sin. This is the first type
of confession, and it is discussed in Matthew 3:1-6.
This passage
addresses John’s baptism—the baptism of repentance and the confession of sins.
However, we need to understand that this was before the death, burial, and
resurrection of Jesus. Under the old covenant, people couldn’t be born again,
because Jesus hadn’t been to the Cross yet. So, to be in right relationship
with God, they had to confess their sins.
This type of
confession is biblical. However, confessing each and every one of our sins to
get in right relationship with God, to be born again, doesn’t apply to us
today, because we’ve changed covenants. Hebrews 8:6 tells us that we live under
a new and better covenant established on better promises.
Paul tells us
how to enter that new covenant: “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that
God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved” (Rom. 10:9). Salvation
comes by believing in our hearts and confessing with our mouths that Jesus is
Lord and that God raised Him from the dead. This is the second type of biblical
confession and the one that leads us into salvation under the new covenant.
CONFESSION:
I confess
that Jesus is my Savior and my healer.: He took my pain and sickness so I could
have His health. I walk in the healing covenant God has provided for me.
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