Our Baptism service is coming up in a few weeks (June 9th,
sign up HERE), and I’m really excited about the fact that people who have
accepted Christ will have an opportunity to make a public celebration of their
decision to follow Christ! But some
might wonder, is it really important? I
think it is, and as I was reading through the gospel of John this morning, one
passage in chapter 10 stood out:
But although He had done so many signs before them, they did
not believe in Him…
Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but
because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out
of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
- John 12:37, 42-43 NLT
We all like to think that if we had lived in Jesus time,
surely we would have been followers.
After seeing all of the miracles that Jesus performed, who wouldn’t
believe that He was the Son of God?
Well, apparently many didn't, as I supposed there would always be those
who will not accept God, no matter what.
But then there were others who did believe, but they did not
confess Him. In other words they weren’t
willing to publicly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord. So, were they “secret agent” Christians? Were they really saved, but they were just
hiding in the shadows? I can’t say for
sure, but Jesus was pretty clear about it:
“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also
confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men,
him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.”
– Matt 10:32-33 NLT
And further, Roman’s 10 reads:
But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth
and in your heart”[e] (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you
confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has
raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto
righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. – Rom
10:8-10 NLT
To confess something means to make an acknowledgment or to
agree to; To declare faith in or adherence to; To profess.
It is an outward expression of an inward reality; It means
that we are identifying ourselves with Jesus Christ; who He is, what He stands
for, what He did for us.
Why would some people want to believe in Christ, but not
publicly confess Him? John 10 tells
us: It was because they loved the praise
of men more than the praise of God. In other words, they were worried about
what the leaders in the synagogue would think.
They were worried what their friends would think. Bottom line:
Confessing Christ would have had an impact on their life.
That same situation stills exists today, there are those who
want to believe, but they want to believe in secret, fearing that if they let their
friends and co-workers know that they’ve made a decision for Christ, it will
have an impact on their life.
You know
what? They’re right… it will have an
impact. The decision to follow Christ
changes EVERYTHING! There are some
things that will have to go: Relationships that don't honor the Lord; practices
and behaviors that are sinful; our career might be impacted; our neighbors
might not invite us over anymore.
Yet while we might experience loss in some areas, God promises
us that we’ll gain in others:
- We are promised forgiveness (1 John 1:9),
- Peace (Phil 4:7),
- That all of our needs will be provided for (Phil 4:19),
- Deliverance from fear, power, and a sound mind (2 Tim 1:7),
- Inclusion in the family of God (Eph 2:19),
- Eternal life (1 John 2:25),
- ...the list goes on and on!
I look forward to an exciting day on June 9th, when we celebrate with our brothers and sisters in Christ their public
confession that they have given their lives to Jesus Christ, and that they are
now the recipients of the greatest blessings that can be bestowed upon a human
being: the praises of God.
... till the whole world hears,
Pastor Clay
1 comment:
Its like you read my mind! You appear to know so much about this,
like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you could do with some pics
to drive the message home a bit, but instead of that, this is magnificent blog.
A fantastic read. I'll definitely be back.
My blog; www.world-gifted.org
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