Why must we confess and believe?
It is my prayer that the Holy Spirit will open the eyes of our understanding concerning confession and believing. Let us examine what the Holy Scriptures have to say about this matter.
Romans 10:9-10 says: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” I John 1:9 says: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
I believe that Genesis 15:6 says that: “he (Abram) believed the LORD and He counted to him for righteousness.” Hebrews 11:6 says: “For without faith it is impossible to please Him. For them that come to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
Confess means to come into agreement. When we confess our sins to God, we are agreeing with Him that what we did, said or thought was wrong. When we confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are in agreement with Him that we need a Savior and that we cannot handle things on our own.
Believe means to trust in, rely upon and adhere (obey) to what the Word of God says. The Lord wants us to put ALL of our trust in Him, to rely upon Him for EVERYTHING and to obey what He tells us. This is for our benefit because when we do these things, He will bless us for His glory.
Therefore we must confess (agree) with the Word of God and believe (trust in, rely upon and obey what He says) in order to receive ANYTHING from God. Remember, whatever we say and do on a daily basis is an indication to what we really believe. May God continue to bless you with knowledge, understanding and wisdom concerning His Word.
Melvin Lewis
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There are two types of confession to consider. One is to confess publicly that we believe in Jesus Christ, as in the following example. This is to bear witness of our faith.
John 12:42-AV Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess [him], lest they should be put out of the synagogue:
I doubt that this type of confession is intended by the asker of the question, but before I go on to deal with the other kind, I want to briefly mention this usage of the word. Public confession of Christ is a necessary adjunct to acceptance of salvation. It was for this purpose that baptism was introduced.
Matthew 10:32-AV Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
I think confession of sin is what is intended. If one did not believe in God, one would not confess sin to Him, and without that belief, any confession of sin would be a joke. We will assume therefore that supplicant is a believer in God.
People only confess sin against each other and against God because they feel guilty and want to get rid of that bad feeling. Guilt is one of the three things that cause anxiety, the others are fear and repression. Anxiety causes a sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach which can make one feel quite ill, sweaty palms, an increased pulse rate and a sense of impending doom are other symptoms. Because anxiety is also caused by the fear response, a method of coping with the need for fight or flight, the release of adrenalin into the blood stream increases the clotting properties of the blood, to permit recovery from wounds.
Prolonged anxiety can therefore cause spontaneous clotting which can cause things like heart attacks, strokes and burst arteries in the lungs, causing death. If one takes sedative drugs, such as alcohol, Valium etc., this will ease the anxiety but only while the drug is active. Because of the down side of these drugs the anxiety will return even stronger when the drug wears off. The only effective way to get rid of the problem is to get out of the situation, outrun the bull, make peace with your enemy or confess the sin.
It is the work of the Holy Spirit to convict or convince us of our sin and the need to seek forgiveness and the use of guilt is how He does it. The knowledge of the difference between good and evil is our birthright, as is the imparted guilt of Adam and our natural propensity to sin. It is when we become concerned about our inherited guilt or the guilt from sin, that we seek for a way out from under this burden. God has provided us with a way. He has promised to forgive us our sins when we admit our guilt (confess), and accept the free offer of salvation, made possible by God Himself, in the form of Jesus, accepting the blame and paying the penalty which would otherwise be required of us.
In the Old Testament, the sinner was required to confess to the Priest, and the Priest would then make intercession for the repentant sinner. This intercession would require the blood sacrifice of an innocent animal, usually a lamb. The animal was to be without blemish and the best the sinner owned. Since the animal would often be quite valuable, or a family pet, it was a sad occasion for all concerned. The purpose of the blood sacrifice was to impress upon the people, the terrible price to be paid for sin. It was a ‘type’, or substitute, of the future sacrifice to be made by the Son of God for all mankind.
The priesthood was part of the ‘Ceremonial Law’ which became redundant when Jesus replaced the animal sacrifice with His own blood. You will recall the startling events in the temple when Jesus died at 3pm on Passover day. The curtain in the temple concealing the sanctuary, woven cloth 3 inches thick, was rent from top to bottom, I think 18 feet, and the Passover lamb escaped. Jesus is now our High Priest, ministering in the Temple in Heaven for us. Blood sacrifices and confession to earthly priests are no longer required, we go straight to the top.
Hebrews 2:17-AV Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto [his] brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things [pertaining] to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
Hebrews 3:1-AV Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
Hebrews 4:14-AV Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast [our] profession.
Hebrews 4:15-AV For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin.
Hebrews 8:1-AV Now of the things which we have spoken [this is] the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
Hebrews 8:2-AV A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
Hebrews 10:10-AV By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once [for all].
Jesus is now our High Priest to whom we confess our sins. He was tempted in all ways as we are and since He lived as a man, has a perfect understanding of, and sympathy with, our state. He makes intercession for us with the Father. When we accept Him as our Savior, He covers us with the purity of His own blood sacrifice, made once, for all.
We are also encouraged to confess to each other to strengthen faith and gain support from other believers.
James 5:16-AV Confess [your] faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
We are also told that before we come to Jesus for forgiveness, that we have to make it right with any earthly person we have wronged. This may require going to another person and apologizing, or it may require confession to the Police and acceptance of earthly punishment. God will then accept our confession, and forgive us. We have to live with the earthly consequences of our sin, be that a jail term or illness, whatever, but our eternal existence in Paradise will be assured.
Matthew 5:23-AV Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
Matthew 5:24-AV Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
May God add understanding to the reader of this study.
Lance Wearmouth
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We must confess our sins and believe that JESUS Died for us, so we can have abundance in our own lives. Through salvation.
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Because the Lord instructed us to confess. 1John 1:9 says; If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. James 5: 16 says; Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. Also Romans 10: 9-10 says; If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus Is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
Blessings to All!!
DeeDee
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Confession and believing is the whole process leading toward repenting of one’s sins.
Dave
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There would be no point of confessing if we did not believe. Belief is the very basis of our salvation. Once we hear the word and believe then we must confess before man that Christ is the Son of God and that Christ died for our sins and then we must follow up with his command for us to be buried with him in Christian baptism and make a change in our lives. I think Acts 2:38 is very plain about this.
Joy