The Good Confession

UV 1679/10000 The Good Confession
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
Matthew 10 v 32

The word “confession” implies opening that which is closed or secret, to acknowledge to a third person that which one knows in one’s heart. Confessing one’s sin is confession per se but confessing that Jesus is the Son of God is called the good confession. It is a confession of faith. It is a confession of truth and righteousness. When we make this good confession, God the Father Himself dwells in us and with us. When we confess in this manner, Jesus will confess or admit before the Father and the angels who are denizens of heaven that we belong to Him. Jesus constantly intercedes with the Father on our behalf. He is our Advocate on high. He enlarges our territory or our domain of influence and impact. He delivers us from many afflictions. The word “ whosoever” in this uni-verse implies that the application is universal. There is no racial bias, gender bias, class bias, colour prejudice, religious prejudice. St Peter was one of the first to confess that Jesus is the Lord and his confession led to Jesus commending his faith. Upon this rock foundation of faith, the entire edifice of our lives is built. Jesus told Peter and the other disciples that this confession did not come from his own realization of his own mind but from the Holy Spirit who reveals all truth to mankind. It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to make the confession of faith. For the Jews with severe laws and punishment prescribed for blasphemy, it was a great leap of understanding that the carpenter’s son is the Messiah, the Saviour and Lord.

All the disciples had doubts about the identity of Jesus and His mission on earth till after the crucifixion and resurrection. But Thomas alone opened his mouth to express his doubt. That led to Jesus revealing Himself as the Resurrected Saviour and Thomas declaring his faith, “My God and My Saviour.” It is easy to admit that Jesus was a great human being and teacher but what is needed is to confess that He is our God and our personal Saviour. We need to admit that we are followers of Jesus. Such an admission of faith involves a cost as well as a reward. The cost is persecution of different kinds. The reward are the blessings contained in all the numerous promises of the Word. When we honour the Lord before people, when we are not ashamed to say we belong to Him, He too will honour us and affirm before the Father that we belong to Him, that we should be preserved, blessed and prospered forever.

Jesus will teach us how best to lead and manage our lives. Without Jesus it will be always be a case of the blind leading the blind. The blind leader leads the people following him into a ditch. The yoke of leadership rests lightly on our shoulders as Jesus bears the weight of it. We go through many hazardous situations in life on account of our faith but the Lord will redeem, guide and protect us in all these situations. We confess our faith not just with our words but with our actions and reactions. We confess our faith in Jesus by producing spiritual fruit like Him of love, joy and peace. Having made the good confession, we should conform to His character. The confession of faith brings great responsibility in its wake.

Prateep V Philip