Sermons
The Good Confession
Series: The Way Of SalvationTHE GOOD CONFESSION
Sermon By Terry Siverd
Cortland Church of Christ / August 04, 2019
To say that we are saved by GRACE is to speak truth.
The apostle Paul wrote often about grace.
Rom.3:23-24 states, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being
justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus...
Rom.5:20-21 adds, And the Law came in that the transgression might increase;
but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, that, as sin reigned in death,
even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Had it not been for the gift of God's grace by means of the crucifixion of Jesus on our behalf,
none of us could obtain the salvation that accompanies the forgiveness of our sins.
So we must not minimize the significance of God's grace.
Yet to declare that we are saved by grace is not the whole truth.
In Eph.2:8 we read these words from the same apostle Paul.
For by grace you have been saved through FAITH; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
not as a result of works, that no one should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
These citations, both from Paul, one in his epistle to the Romans and the other in his epistle to the Ephesians,
do not contradict one another, but rather complement one another.
Grace does not cancel out the need for faith and neither does faith eradicate our need for grace.
These two concepts work hand in hand. It is grace that saves, but it is faith that allows us to access grace.
To understand what is means to have faith in Christ is really not all that complicated.
FAITH IN ITS FULLEST FORM IS OBEDIENCE.
Paul's epistle to the Romans is all about “justification by faith”. Paul bookends this epistle
by opening and closing this letter with the phrase, “the obedience of faith” In Rom.1:5 & 16:26.
I have found Rudolf Bultmann's rendering of this phrase to be quite helpful:
the obedience which is faith.
So, yes, we are saved by grace.
But, no, it is not right in any way to say there is nothing we need to do.
Faith in Christ Jesus is that which allows us to tap into the grace of God.
And faith demands OBEDIENCE.
Sadly, this word obedience, has become a word that many in our presence culture eschew (shun or avoid).
Actually it is more than that, it's often the case that lots of folk disdain this very idea.
To disdain something is to “treat with haughty contempt”: Nobody's going to tell me what I have to do!!!
This has become the mindset of many in the world around us.
And this has made it all the harder to penetrate the hearts of lost sinners.
But, we are not authorized to alter the gospel of Christ, in an effort to make it more palatable.
Our task is to kindly, lovingly and earnestly lead others to the way of salvation.
But this can only be done in a biblical manner and the message of Scripture requires that we speak of obedience.
Lest you think that your older, white-haired preacher has become cynical, let me clarify
that even in a culture where many are not eager to hear a message about obedience, I remain
optimistic that there are yet many sincere seekers who are open and receptive to the gospel.
As we continue with our current sermon series titled, The Way Of Salvation, our topic today is, CONFESSION.
Thus far we have spoken about “hearing” … and “believing” … and (last week) about “repenting”.
Next Sunday I want to preach about “being baptized”.
This morning I want to speak about “confessing”.
Hearing, believing, repenting, confessing and being baptized - -
All of these “steps” are connected in Scripture with the attaining of salvation.
In order to emphasize their importance I want to challenge you with the following questions.
Can anyone be saved without hearing? … Can anyone be saved without believing?
Can anyone be saved without repenting? … Can anyone be saved without confessing?
Can anyone be saved without being baptized into Christ Jesus?
The New Testament answers all of these questions for us by underscoring the importance of each step.
A few, who are simply parroting what others have told them, are quick to ask,
“What about the thief on the cross?”. We don't have any evidence that he was ever baptized.
Without meaning to be insulting, this is a silly argument.
The “thief” couldn't be baptized into the death of Christ because Christ had not yet been crucified and buried.
This way of salvation of which we speak comes into focus after the death of Jesus.
It constitutes the proclamation of gospel of Christ that we read of in the book of Acts. It is the very fabric of the
message we hear preached by Paul & Peter and James & John & Jude and all of the writers of the New Testament.
Back to our topic for today: CONFESSION.
We typically think of confession in two ways.
One side of “confession” is the confessing of our sins; and the other side is the confessing of our Lord Jesus.
In actuality they are intertwined.
Seldom, if ever, does a person confess Christ as “Lord” if he or she is unwilling to confess personal sinfulness.
To call Jesus LORD is to affirm our own sinfulness ... to dethrone self and put Christ on the throne.
The declaration of Christ Jesus to be Lord of your life assumes an admission on the part of declarer.
“I have done a sorry job governing my own life and its time to let Christ reign in my heart, mind and soul.”
Listen to the words of Jesus recorded in Mt.10:32-33 - -
Everyone therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.
But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
To confess our faith in Christ takes courage.
At the death of her brother Lazarus, Martha was distraught. John's gospel (Jn.11:25-27) records that Jesus said to her:
'I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and
everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?' She said to Him,
'Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.'
Once when the disciples crossed the sea of Galilee by boat, they appear flustered because they forgot to bring bread.
Jesus calmly reminded them that He had fed the 5,000 with 5 loaves and a few fish. Shortly after this incident
Jesus asked the disciples (Mt.16:13-16) - - Who do people say that the Son of Man is?
And they said, 'Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others,
Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.' He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?'
And Simon Peter answered and said, 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.'
In Paul's letter to the Christians in Rome he writes these words (Rom.10:9-10) - - If you confess with your
mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for
with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses resulting in salvation.
Paul wrote another letter to the young preacher Timothy (1Tim.6:12), saying: Fight the good fight of faith; take hold
of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
When Philip preached the gospel to the Ethiopian treasurer, Acts 8:36-38 records, the treasurer exclaimed,
'Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?' And Philip said, 'If you believe with all
of your heart, you may.' And he answered and said, 'I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.'
...he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water...and he baptized him.
I have three more passages and then we will bow in prayer.
While John's gospel records Martha's confession of faith (Jn.11:27)
and Thomas' (Jn.20:28) - - My Lord and my God,
it also tells a sad story about the lack of courage on the part of some. Follow along as I read from Jn.12:42-43 - -
...Many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him,
lest they be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.
In John's first epistle (1Jn.4:15), John summarizes the importance of confession.
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God.
One final citation - - this one from Paul's epistle to the church at Phillipi (Philp.2:9ff) - -
Therefore also God highly exalted Him,
and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth,
and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
