Not Faith Plus Confession

Not Faith Plus Confession

Some say if a person believes and yet does not confess Christ, he cannot be saved. Doubtless the one who believes must confess Christ. But he is not saved because of his confession, since confession is not a condition for salvation.

"Every one therefore who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 10.32,33). This passage does not apply to our receiving eternal life. On the contrary, it points to a person’s place in the kingdom of the heavens to come. It refers to the salvation of the believer’s soul by indicating that if anyone is willing to deny himself and confess the Lord on earth today he shall be acknowledged by the Lord before the Father in the future. It does not speak of eternal salvation.

"Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of man also shall be ashamed of him, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels" (Mark 8.38). This too refers to the kingdom time. Earlier in Mark it is mentioned that "whosoever would save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s shall save it" (8.35). "Life" in the Greek original is "soul". What is meant by losing his soul on earth? It means forfeiting while on earth all the enjoyments within the soul for the sake of the Lord. He who is afraid of losing his face or is ashamed of the Lord today will certainly lose his face and be put to shame in the future. Anyone who is not afraid to lose face today for the sake of the Lord or who is not ashamed of the Lord shall definitely receive glory in the future. Whoever is unwilling to suffer with the Lord now shall not gain the glory of the kingdom then. How very many will miss the glory when the Lord Jesus Christ sets up His kingdom on earth!

Both Matthew 10.32,33 and Mark 8.35,38 therefore speak of the kingdom, not of eternal life. Entry into the kingdom is directly related to the believer’s conduct on earth. If a believer does not confess the Lord as he should, he will have no part in the kingdom, even though he has eternal life.

"With the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Rom. 10.10). It is clearly stated here that with the mouth confession is made to salvation. But to understand what this means we must look into the context. The theme of Romans 10 is the righteousness which is by faith. "Christ is the end of the law unto righteousness to every one that believeth" (v.4). Faith is the condition for having righteousness. Now what about this faith? "The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart: . . . because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (vv.8,9).

Hence faith here includes two sides: one side is done by the mouth and the other side is done by the heart. Both are the actions of faith, being the two sides of one thing just as justification and salvation are but two sides of the same thing. To confess with the mouth is an expression of faith and is therefore included in faith. And that is why in the concluding remark only faith is mentioned, and not confession as well: "Whosoever believeth on him shall not be put to shame" (v.11). It does not say that whosoever believes on Him and confesses Him shall not be put to shame. "How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?" (v.14); "Who hath believed our report?" (v.16); "So belief cometh of hearing" (v.17)—in none of these places is confession mentioned. Hence confession does not stand alone by itself, it is only the natural expression of faith. What, then, is the confession mentioned here? It does not refer to our standing up and testifying, rather is it like the crying aloud of "Mama!" when a child recognizes its mother. Even so, as soon as a person believes in his heart, his mouth will most naturally cry out with "Abba, Father" (Rom. 8.15; Gal. 4.6). Accordingly, confession is not another additional condition for salvation. Only believe and you shall be saved.