July 19
CONFESSING WHAT WE BELIEVE
If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
One primary means by which we express our belief is confession--verbally expressing what we believe. In fact, God requires us to take our stand in this world. Jesus says, "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels" (Mark 8:38).
In rebuking the Pharisees, Jesus said, "For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned" (Matthew 12:37). And in Mark 11:23, He said, "Whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it shall be granted him." Notice that Jesus does not say we shall have whatever we believe, but we shall have whatever we believe and confess. Confession gives expression to what is believed. The confession of the mouth must accurately express the belief of the heart.
To defeat Satan, we must speak forth the Word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). In our English translations, two different words are used for the "Word" of God. The most common is logos and it indicates the whole revealed Word of God (John 1:1). The other word is rhema . There is only one Word of God, but the emphasis of rhema is in its expression. We are to hide the whole Word ( logos ) in our hearts, and when Satan attacks, we stand against him by confessing God's Word ( rhema ).
Confessing what we believe gives proof to our faith. Confession doesn't create faith; faith makes possible true confession. Confession is agreeing with God. It is living in the light by letting our life and our mouth demonstrate what we believe in our heart.
Prayer: Father, I desire that what my heart believes and what my mouth confesses today line up with the truth of Your Word.
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