Confession

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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 10:99That 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. (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; 4:4-526To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. 27Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. 28Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. 29Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: 30Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. 31Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law. (Romans 3:26‑31)
4Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. (Romans 4:4‑5); Eph. 2:8-98For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 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 20:2121Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward 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 10:99That 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. (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 2:1111And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:11) which says, "Every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" and Romans 14:1111For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. (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 30:1414But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. (Deuteronomy 30:14)), but in Romans 10:1010For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (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. 10:32-3332Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 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; 5:117For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. (Romans 1:17)
30Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. (Romans 3:30)
16Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, (Romans 4:16)
1Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: (Romans 5:1)). He would be contradicting himself here in Romans 10:99That 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. (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 1:99If 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) 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. 21:44An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin. (Proverbs 21:4)) and "the thought of foolishness is sin!" (Prov. 24:99The thought of foolishness is sin: and the scorner is an abomination to men. (Proverbs 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.