Concise Bible Dictionary:
There are two applications of this word, one of which is apt to be overlooked. The one is the confession of sin. This was enjoined by the law, and if accompanied with a sacrifice it led to forgiveness (Lev. 5:5; Num. 5:7). It is beautiful to see how Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel confessed the sins of the people as if they had been their own (Ezra 9:1-15; Ezra 10:1; Neh. 1:6; Neh. 9:2-3; Dan. 9:4-20). When John the Baptist was fulfilling his mission, the people “confessed” their sins, and were baptized (Matt. 3:5-6); and of the Christian it is said, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9: Compare Psalm 32:5). We are exhorted to confess our faults one to another (James 5:16).
The other application of the term is confessing the Lord Jesus. The Jewish rulers agreed that if any one “confessed” that Jesus was the Christ he should be excommunicated (John 9:22). On the other hand, “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved..... Confession is made unto salvation.” This is PROFESSION, as indeed the same word, ὁμολογέω, is translated. “Let us hold fast our profession”—“profession of our faith” (Heb. 4:14; Heb. 10:23).
The Lord Jesus before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession: He confessed that He was king of the Jews. Timothy is reminded that he professed a good profession (1 Tim. 6:12-13). Every tongue will have to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:11). What grace for the believer to be able from the heart to confess Him now! To Him be the glory for evermore!
From Anstey’s Doctrinal Definitions:
Scripture indicates that there are two kinds of confession among men. One is the confession of “Jesus as Lord” and is connected with the initial salvation of the soul (Rom. 10:9-10). The other is a confession of sins, and is in connection with the restoration of a believer who has failed (1 John 1:9).
Many evangelical Christians think that in order for a person to be truly saved, he must make a public confession of his faith in Christ. Romans 10:9 is used to support this idea. It says, “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus [Jesus as Lord], and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” As a result, evangelical preachers often urge public confessions at their meetings and gospel rallies. They issue an "altar call" to their audiences, calling those who want to be saved to come forward and make a public declaration of their faith. However, if we make the confession of a person’s faith in Christ before men a condition of his eternal salvation, then the blessing of the gospel is not solely on the principle of faith. It becomes something that is based on faith and works! And this is contrary to the fundamentals of the Gospel (Rom. 3:26-31; 4:4-5; Eph. 2:8-9). Moreover, it would mean that a person couldn't get saved if he were alone somewhere—because he has no one to make his confession to! According to this idea, he may have “repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21), but it wouldn’t be enough! There is an added condition—he must confess his faith to someone. But what if he were to die before he had a chance to tell someone of his faith in Christ? According to this teaching, he would be lost! Needless to say, this mistaken idea is not according to Scripture.
"Confess" in Romans 10:9 means "assent" (Strong's Concordance) or "to express agreement." The question is, to express agreement with whom? A. Roach said that in the light of Philippians 2:11 which says, "Every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" and Romans 14:11 which says, "Every tongue shall confess to God," it is clear that this confession is to be made to God, not to men. The believer acknowledges to God that “Jesus Christ is Lord.” H. A. Ironside said, "The confession here is not, of course, necessarily the same thing as where our Lord says, 'Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him will I confess before My Father which is in heaven.' This is rather the soul's confession to God Himself that he takes Jesus as Lord" (Lectures on Romans, pp. 130-131).
Paul mentions the "mouth" before the "heart" (which is the order found in Deuteronomy 30:14), but in Romans 10:10, he reverses them, giving the actual order in which they occur when a person gets saved. Thus, an inward reception of the Word by faith results in an outward expression of one’s faith in a confession that “Jesus Christ is Lord.”
In normal conditions, a true believer will make a confession of his faith in Christ before his fellow men. This should happen quite naturally, for the good news of salvation is too good to keep to ourselves. Confession of our faith before men is good, and if a believer will not confess Christ before men, he will be denied a reward and an honourable mention before the Father in the coming day (Matt. 10:32-33)—but it is not a condition whereupon he is saved eternally. A new believer may be hesitant to confess Christ at first, but his eternal welfare does not depend upon it. Paul taught that the blessing of salvation is solely on "the principle of faith" (Rom. 1:17; 3:30; 4:16; 5:1). He would be contradicting himself here in Romans 10:9, if he were to put the condition of confession before men on a person’s salvation.
The second kind of confession has to do with sins, but it is in connection with a believer being restored to communion with God. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." The “we” in this verse refers to children in the family of God—the Christian company. A believer who has failed, having allowed sin in his life, needs to retrace his course in repentance to the starting point of his departure from the Lord and confess those sins to God the Father. By doing this, he judges himself and gets to the bottom of the cause for his departure. Someone asked J. N. Darby about a situation where one has in a general way drifted away, but he cannot think of any particular sin that has been the cause of it. He said that if that were the case, the person can confess that his state was bad.
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Many have the idea that repentant sinners who come to Christ for salvation must confess their sins. But Scripture does not say this. If it were necessary to do this to get saved, then no one would be saved! What sinner can remember all of his sins? Especially when we take into consideration that "the plowing [thoughts] of the wicked is sin" (Prov. 21:4) and "the thought of foolishness is sin!" (Prov. 24:9) This being the case, our sins must number in the thousands—maybe in the millions! It would be an impossible task for a sinner to confess all that. Thankfully, God does not put this condition on the salvation of our souls. The sinner seeking salvation is to own (or confess) that he is a sinner, and in believing, he is to confess Jesus as Lord. But God does not require that he must confess each and every sin that he has committed in his life in order to be saved.