Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 

                                                                                                                     1 John 4:15-16 

We see it on television, detectives bringing in a suspect for the purpose of interrogating him/her. And the goal of this questioning is to get the suspect to confess to the crime. The detectives already have all of the information that they need and there is no doubt that this person is the guilty party. However, they would still like to give this individual the opportunity to acknowledge the crime.

That is what is at the core of this word confess. To confess something is to agree or to acknowledge something or someone as authentic and true. It is an open declaration, done entirely voluntarily. When we confess the name of Jesus, we are agreeing with Him that He is who He says He is. We are acknowledging that He is indeed the “King of Kings” and the “Lord of Lords.” There will be a day when everyone will make this confession but for believers, the time to enjoy God and to confess His name is now. There are three promises that we have in scripture involving confession.

1. Confessing the name of Jesus demonstrates that God abides with us.

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                               1 John 4:15 

In today’s passage, John reminds us that God’s presence is demonstrated in the life of someone who openly and unapologetically proclaims (confesses) the name of Jesus. God literally abides with the one who makes such a confession.

Remember when Jesus was asking the disciples what people were saying about Him? There were a variety of opinions floating about but when He asked them what they believed, Peter’s reply was, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). And what was Jesus’ response to Peter’s confession? “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). It was the presence of God in the life of Peter that revealed that information to him. I believe this is why John makes the declaration that “whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God” that the confession itself demonstrates the presence of God in the life of that person.

2. Confessing the name of Jesus brings salvation

…that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.                                                                       

                                                                                                            Romans 10:9-10 

Secondly, confessing the name of Jesus as Lord brings salvation. I find it interesting that many people will use the phrase, “make Jesus Lord of your life.” My response to that is that we do not make Him Lord; He is already Lord. We may need to have a discussion about whether or not we are obeying the voice of God, but that is an entirely different matter. Confessing “Jesus as Lord” is done with our mouths, not our obedience. Paul reminds us that believing in our hearts brings righteousness while confessing the name of Jesus with our mouths brings salvation.

Remember the thief on the cross? As Jesus and the two thieves were dying, one of the men turned toward Jesus and spoke these words, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” (Luke 23:42). Jesus response was, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). How was this thief able to know that he would join Jesus in paradise? It was the promise that Jesus made based on the man’s confession. As far as we know, this individual never lived a single day with serving God as the goal. But at the end of his life, he acknowledged Jesus’ Divinity by referring to Christ’s kingdom. Notice that the man never asked for forgiveness or salvation. Rather, he just humbly asked Jesus to remember him. His acknowledgment of God’s kingdom was his confession of Jesus and that was all it took to turn this thief into a recipient of salvation and eternal life.

3. Confessing the name of Jesus means that Christ will confess us before the Father

Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.

                                                                                                            Matthew 10:32-33 

Finally, confessing the name of Jesus brings with it a promise. Jesus tells us that whoever confesses the name of Jesus publicly, before others, that He will do likewise before the Father. The opposite is also true. Those who refuse to acknowledge the name of Jesus as the Son of God, Jesus will, likewise, not acknowledge them before the Father.

I believe that our first confession of the name of Jesus as a believer is in the waters of baptism. This public announcement that we now belong to Jesus is a beautiful testimony and acts as our first acknowledgment of our desire to follow Him all of our days. Believers should never shrink back from being baptized and then living a life devoted to the One who gave His life so that we could be reconciled to God and by extension give us eternal life.

The presence of God in our lives…salvation and eternal life…and a promise that Jesus will confess us before the Father, all of these are benefits for the one who will acknowledge Jesus today!