How we receive Christ into our lives is important. This daily devotional looks at how we confess Jesus as Savior and God.
Nuggets
- When we confess Christ, we need to sincerely welcome Him.
- Thomas reviewed the evidence of Jesus’ resurrection and confessed Him as Lord and God.
- We confess Christ because we love Him even though we don’t see Him.
Devotions in the Confessing Christ series
I found this sermon when I was doing another devotion. It really caught my eye.
Resource
We talked today in our Sunday Morning Bible Study time that Jesus is always telling us the same thing: go. We have to tell others – even if that means getting out of our comfort zone.
Another thing we talked about was how difficult it is for most of us to witness. We are so inexperienced that we are afraid to witness because they may ask something we aren’t prepared to answer.
I thought it might help us to look what it means to confess Christ. There are a lot of verses associated with this sermon.
So, let’s go.
Let's Put It into Context #1
Here is a running list of nuggets for the series.
Let's Put It into Context #2
“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” (Rom. 10: 9 CSB)
What is God really asking us to do? We call it confessing Christ. Hodge gave us three definitions.
- Agree with others.
- Promise
- Affirm that a person or thing is as stated.
We are confessing that Jesus is the Son of God, come to earth, to be the Savior of the world.
Resource
Welcoming Christ
“Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him” (Lk. 8: 40 ESV)
When we confess Christ, we need to sincerely welcome Him.
Jesus and His disciples had sailed to the country of Gerasenes. This is where the demon went into the pigs. The townspeople asked Jesus to leave.
Where Jesus is returning to in this verse is Capernaum. In today’s vernacular, we would say that was Jesus’ headquarters.
The people of Capernaum sincerely welcomed Him. They were looking out the windows, waiting for Him to come back.
When we sincerely confess our belief in Jesus with our mouths, He is overjoyed to come to us.
Spurgeon told us some ways that we have to meet Christ.
- Be punctual in meeting Him.
- Plan to meet Him.
- Anticipate prayers will be answered.
- Pay attention so we will hear His answers.
- Obey Him.
Resource
A big component of this is waiting. We have to wait on the Lord to be called to salvation. We have to wait until He reveals Himself to us. He will show us where we need to confess.
Acknowledging Christ
“Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” (Jn. 20: 27-28 ESV)
Thomas reviewed the evidence of Jesus’ resurrection and confessed Him as Lord and God.
Thomas was lucky. He got to see Jesus in the flesh. He had his doubts addressed by the Source.
Why did Thomas say “… ‘My Lord and my God!’” (Jn. 20: 28 ESV)? It had to be of faith because Jesus didn’t bite on him at all.
Since this was the first time that Thomas saw Jesus, there had to be the wonder, awe, and delight that the other disciples had already experienced.
Were all of Thomas’ doubts eliminated? They were. He went from doubt to confidence.
Spurgeon reminded us that we can have a Thomas in the congregation now. He said that these disciples are “… slow, suspicious, critical, full of doubts, yet true-hearted.”
Resource
Jesus doesn’t want us to be doubters such as Thomas was. He was us to experience the peace and joy of believing in Him.
Believing Christ
“Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (I Pet. 1: 8-9 ESV)
We confess Christ because we love Him even though we don’t see Him.
A problem I see with worldview people is they think they have to see everything before they can believe Jesus is Lord. They have to understand everything before they can give Him control of their lives.
They don’t. That isn’t what faith is about.
Faith is a gift from God that enhances the conviction that the doctrines revealed in God’s Word are true, even if we do not understand all aspects of them, a belief which impacts our lives and distinguishes us from others.
Glossary
We believe a lot of things that we haven’t seen. We have never seen the wind. We see the different things that the wind blows – the tree limbs, the water, the garbage cans that are left out …
I’ve never seen Mount Everest. I’ve never been to Madrid.
I still believe they are real.
We believe in many things that we haven’t seen! We can’t say we don’t believe in Jesus just because we can’t see Him.
We talk a lot about having a sincere faith. To me, that means we are attempting to live our lives to truthfully and correctly follow God’s laws and commandments.
It isn’t about just coming forward for salvation. It is about making a habitual change in our lives to have the character of God.
It all boils down to whether we love Jesus. No, not if we love others, but if we love Jesus.
“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mk. 12: 30 ESV).
This love for Christ has to be a constant love. It is going to have to last throughout eternity.
Making the Connections
What is the loving Christ not? We can’t just love Christ when it is convenient for us. For some of us that will be when the good times are occurring. For others, it will be when the trials feel like they are here to stay.
It all comes back down to a sincere, genuine relationship with Jesus. That means doing things His way.
How Do We Apply This?
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
We have to make this relationship sincere.
Father God. We confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We acknowledge that Him is God. We commit to growing in grace and knowledge to grow our relationship in Him. Amen.
What do you think?
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