Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
Whoever openly owns allegiance to Christ before people will be owned by Him before His Father in heaven, and whoever disowns Him before people will be disowned by Him before the Father. Confessing Him means taking His side openly and without shame, compromise, or neutrality, letting allegiance be known before others. It is more than words or profession, for His mind and Spirit must dwell within and appear outwardly in a sanctified heart, character, conduct, thoughts, speech, and dealing with others. In the judgment when the records are reviewed He will acknowledge before His Father and angels all who truly repented, claimed His atoning blood by faith, overcame, and kept their characters in harmony with God's law, with their names retained in the book of life. This confession is required amid hostility, danger, and persecution without fearing those who can kill the body, and in daily faithfulness in home, speech, work, use of means, and witness for truth.
Setting and Plain Promise
Jesus gave these words as instruction for the mission of the disciples as His representatives, to teach what they had learned from Him and to repeat His words when facing conflict with the enemies of the gospel. It is encouragement under trials, discouragements and sore pressure of temptation, giving reason not to fear. That fearlessness rests on the Father's watchful care, who sees when even a sparrow falls and numbers the very hairs of the head, because believers are of more value than many sparrows. This assurance of eternal reward strengthens disciples to testify to the truth despite opposition and danger.
Its plain promise is that whoever openly acknowledges allegiance to Christ before people, identifying with Him and standing as His witness, will be acknowledged by Him before His Father in heaven. That confessing is open acknowledgment in word and spirit, public testimony for Him amid danger and hostility, without being ashamed to bear the name of His people and to stand for the truths of the Bible. It calls for the resolve that no earthly consideration should lead to disowning the Redeemer, remaining true to principle and faithful as witnesses for Christ and the truth. His promise is joyful and certain, giving reason to strive for eternal life.
Its paired warning is that those who deny Christ before people will be denied by Him before the Father. Those who choose to serve the prince of darkness will remain unconfessed by Christ when their lives and use of their entrusted gifts are accounted for at the final judgment according to allegiance to Him. Accepting Christ and obeying His teachings, and accepting His message when His disciples preach it, must be met with open witness and brings His acknowledgment before the Father and eternal reward, while rejecting the message carries the eternal consequences stated at their commissioning. Confessing the truth openly is required because it involves the eternal interest of the hearers.
What Confessing Christ Means
To confess Christ is to stand openly and unhesitatingly on His side before others, without shame, compromise, neutrality, or concealment, showing true colors, committing to the right, and making allegiance known when principle and salvation are at stake. Faith and doctrine are not to be hidden from the world out of cowardice or worldly policy, for loyalty must not be swayed by the opinions of others nor traded for promotion, reputation, position, or support. Every follower is to take a public position as a witness before the world, angels, and people, letting faith shine as a lamp set where it gives light to all in the house and giving light to others. Such open acknowledgment as His follower, refusing shame at His authority, makes clear where one will stand in the coming day of test and trouble.
Confessing Him is more than words, profession, or claiming to follow Him; His mind and Spirit must dwell within by His abiding, and inward grace and truth must appear outwardly in words, character, and conduct. It requires a sanctified, submissive, humble heart whose outward fruit truly confesses Him in self-denial, charity, humility, heavenly conversation, blameless conduct, and the purifying influence of truth bearing righteousness and peace. Words alone are not enough, for one may confess with the lips while the life shows Christ absent, and witness depends on connection with God with Christ in the believer, so that words and actions represent the faith and let the light shine without shame for Him. This true confession therefore requires constant watchfulness and persevering prayer.
It is shown in the whole life and character as well as in speech: conduct, thoughts, faculties, deportment, spirit, actions, and interests tell all who come in contact with a person whether he is on Christ's side or on the enemy's. It is a revelation in word, spirit, courage, and faith of honesty and truth, equity and justice in all dealing, conscientious principles of righteousness, purity of steadfast principles and motives, and a controlling purpose to honor God and obey His law. It calls for purifying self as He is pure, human nature pure in its own sphere as God is pure in His, without spot, made possible because God sent His Son to sanctify and take people to Himself, giving in that gift all heaven to honor them with eternal life and calling them up to the mark of the high calling in Christ. Those who so confess receive His help and strength, so that through watchfulness and prayer and earnest, genuine cleanness of motive and action they reveal the secret of His power, continually uplifting the soul to contemplate the highest subjects instead of light, trivial conversation, until the world sees their principles unveiled and respects them.
To confess Him is to represent Him on earth as a witness and channel of His grace, sharing His sacrifice for the lost, and He will then represent the believer before the Father and the holy angels. The Father sees such a one clothed in Christ's perfection, Christ becomes the medium of heaven's blessings, and those who share His sacrifice will share the glory and joy of the redeemed.
Fluency in doctrine or repeating His words is not enough without His meekness, humility, and love abiding within. He is not to be kept as a private treasure for private enjoyment but to be confessed openly and bravely, with His meekness, humility, and love visible in character, so that faith refreshes and influences others, presents Christ clearly, draws souls to Him, and helps win them. Conflicts and rebuffs in this work strengthen and steady faith rather than turning it aside, while gospel and divine grace enable resistance to surrounding influences and continuance in purity.
Confessing Him is the privilege, duty, and work of every child of God at every opportunity, in word and spirit, gladly and bravely. It belongs in worship and social gatherings as expression of the joy, comfort, and hope of eternal life centered in Christ, joined with Christlike meekness and love, and it is linked to His joyful, certain acknowledgment before His heavenly Father, to integrity and fidelity in life, to striving for eternal life, to remaining true to principle, and to faithful witness for Christ and the truth of the third angel's message. It is not folding the hands with nothing special to do, but openly praying when opportunity offers, devoting life to God and the salvation of others even under discouragement and restraint, speaking a word in season, lifting the cast down, reaching a helping hand to everyone in need, and imparting to others the comfort and blessing received, with those who comfort others being themselves comforted.
What Denies Christ Contrasted
Denial of Christ is not limited to open rejection of Him, for conduct that shows Him to be absent from the life is also denial, and hiding faith from fear of ridicule or suffering is in effect denying the Lord, as Peter did when questioned in the judgment hall. Such disloyal conduct denies Him and crucifies Him afresh.
He is denied through evil, idle, untruthful, or unkind speech, and through falsehood, unkindness, and discourtesy in word and life. He is denied through pride, including pride and costliness in dress, through love of ease and of self, self-seeking, self-love and self-justification with attachment to personal opinions, through worldly joking and ambition, and through conformity to the world. He is denied through doubt and dwelling in darkness, through dwelling on sentimental thoughts, self-pitying thoughts and supposed hardships, through avoiding life's duties and burdens, and through sinful pleasure.
Refusing to recognize that one belongs to Him and to place oneself under His control and His claim means He will not acknowledge that person when that recognition would serve eternal good. Refusing such acknowledgment because it is inconvenient means choosing the company of worldlings and forfeiting the overcomer's place in the Lamb's book of life.
Christ's Acknowledgment in Judgment
In the judgment when the books of record are reviewed, those who openly acknowledged Christ before people will be acknowledged by Him before His Father in heaven and before His angels, with their names remaining in the book of life and not blotted out. The paired warning is that those who deny Him before people will be denied before the Father. Though troubled by doubts and temptations, the repentant, God-fearing believer is upheld by His plea, so sins are no longer held against him.
Those He acknowledges are all who have truly repented of sin and by faith have claimed His blood as atoning sacrifice, have had pardon entered against their names in heaven, have become partakers of His righteousness with characters in harmony with God's law, have overcome, have had their sins blotted out, and are accounted worthy of eternal life. Though they have defects, He removes their guilt, clothes them in His robe of righteousness, and records their pardon in heaven. Unrepented and unforgiven sins lead to rejection.
It is a blessed possibility for overcomers who have not defiled their garments but through faith have had sin ended in the heart by His constraining love and have washed their robes of character white in the blood of the Lamb. Those He acknowledges are worthy, walk with Him in white, and are clothed in white raiment. The King of heaven stands ready to acknowledge even the humblest soul that serves Him.
This acknowledgment is given to those whose character is conformed to Christ's image and who in deed and in truth obey God's law, daily learning His meekness and lowliness and bearing His image. Through them He demonstrates the blessings of obedience to the principles of His Word and gives the world decided evidence of the great advantages of connection with Him. Confessing Him now in word, in life, and in character, by manifesting God's requirement in humanity and being the light of the world, is necessary for Him to confess His followers before His Father and the holy angels when He comes soon in glory.
Those who do not confess Him now cannot expect His confession then. When His majesty and wrath are revealed they will seek to hide from Him, and while all will wish for His favor and desire a place in the heavenly mansions, for deniers it will be too late. When the conflict is ended He will acknowledge before the Father those who faithfully bore true witness for Him in a sinful world and willingly shared His reproach and sufferings.
That acknowledgment will be before the heavenly universe, including before those who rejected Him. Then they will understand clearly what is now mysterious to them. God's acknowledgment in the day of judgment is not won by human approval or recognition, nor by standing in the church, estimation by fellow men, or high position and support as a leader.
It is won by union with Christ, by whom alone right doing is possible and to whom every person is accountable every moment, by listening to God's counsel, following His will, remaining loyal to truth to the end, rejecting falsehood, and bearing God's testing through a lifetime of living out saving truth. This requires being converted and receiving Him as counselor and openly confessing Him before both believers and unbelievers as a follower of the meek and lowly Jesus, for anyone in any position who fails to do this puts Him to open shame and can never win the crown of eternal life. Living out the saving truth of God's Word in this way prepares for the company of the redeemed, and true moral standing with God is formed over a lifetime.
A Christian representative must act so that Christ is not ashamed to own him, but can acknowledge him with joy before the Father and angels through willing, cheerful obedience and faithful conduct. Confessing Christ includes speaking for Him openly before the world. This future recognition belongs to those who overcome and remain faithful.
Faithful Witness Under Opposition
The promise belongs to followers when they face hostility, danger and persecution for His sake, calling them to public testimony for Him amid danger and hostility, to endure faithfully without fearing those who can kill the body. Jesus Himself lived this when questioned under oath whether He was the Son of God, for though He knew an affirmative answer made His death certain, He plainly declared His character, mission and relationship with God and did not deny Him. His example teaches that faith must not be abandoned to escape suffering or even death, and that confessing Him includes acknowledging one's relationship with God when directly challenged.
Luther illustrates this confession by willingness to face execution and publicly confess the Lord Jesus Christ even when warned of being burned alive with his body reduced to ashes. He would go forward in the Lord's name through opposition though a fire were kindled all the way from Worms to Wittenberg with flames rising to heaven, standing before hostile Romanists and entering the jaws of the behemoth to break his teeth rather than turning back. The princes' public signing of the Confession was such a confession, openly standing for Him and His truth at risk of position, possessions and life, valuing the cross of Christ above crowns and earthly honors and ready to give up goods and states rather than accept another doctrine. Paul illustrates this same public faithfulness by maintaining justice and righteousness and treating duty as responsibility before God, sustained by steady communion with God, reliance on Christ's cross and enduring love through inner struggle, Satan's power, spiritual conflict, hardship and opposition.
The disciples resolved to confess Him bravely before the world to make amends for former unbelief, with a resolve that no earthly consideration should lead them to disown their Redeemer. Confessing Him requires remaining faithful when it costs the world, its honors and applause, enduring temptation with a good conscience and patiently waiting for Christ, unto the opening of the gates of Paradise. Standing openly for Jesus is a duty in every setting, including before relatives and friends, in school and home, in business and in wider social life, with religious principles shaping the whole life rather than being worn only as an outward show. No worldly position, distinction, office, promotion, reputation or support must turn a person from the Saviour or become a snare, and loyalty to Christ and to truth must not be swayed by the world's opinions nor traded for promotion, reputation, worldly honor, advancement or support, even when truth is unpopular.
Accepting Him sets believing family members at enmity with the unbelieving portion of the household that refuses to believe, so father, mother, son or daughter must not be loved more than Christ, the cross must be taken up to follow Him, and faith and conviction must not be hidden or silenced to please family. Loyalty to Him means refusing to adopt the world's ways, descend to its level in choosing society, or choose intimate ties with those who do not love God, refusing the company of the vain and trifling and refusing to be charmed by unconverted men or women. Love and honor for God call for openly confessing Christ out of concern for others' eternal well-being, including warning the world, while a life shaped by Christ can persuade others and guide followers; faithful effort is not failure even when it brings only one soul to Christ.
Confession in Daily Life
Confessing Christ in daily life means openly saying that one is determined to be a Christian and standing firm without wavering for what is right and for principles established on God's Word, which honors Jesus, and it means openly deciding to take a stand under His banner and enlist in His service. Such confession is a personal decision of zeal, purity and intelligence that accepts individual responsibility and duty, walks in the light, and holds to principle in the spirit and efficiency Jesus gives. It recruits and reinforces the Lord's army to hold the fort against sin and error, bringing fresh minds to meet difficulties, communicating a new spirit, and creating unity that stands against outside pressure, with joy in God. It is shown in maintaining religious services in the family, dedicating the home to God, and joining in prayer, putting everything in motion to triumph over the powers of darkness and the obstacles Satan presents.
It includes openly speaking in His favor and telling what His love has done, as when one delivered from despair publicly related her experience at an Advent meeting and could not remain silent, and it includes acknowledging one's experience in leaving darkness for the Lord's light. It includes honoring Him through just dealings, humble conduct, and faithfulness in daily work, and honest, unselfish lives are possible through God's keeping power. It includes the influence a believer exerts through words and actions, so that rash, passionate speech that dishonors Christ, sows strife, and scatters people from Him is not Christlike confession. Christ's decision takes account of past conduct and the truth-dishonoring results of speech, so believers must ask whether their manner of speaking truly represents the Christ who made and redeemed them. Students confess or deny Christ by their words, whose speech can either acknowledge Him or disown Him before others.
Confessing Him requires watching and praying and speaking only words of truth with lips purified as by a live coal from the divine altar, with words seasoned with wisdom and purity. It means putting away light, trivial conversation and continually uplifting the soul to contemplate the highest subjects, because far more than is realized is involved in speech, and words will justify or condemn in the final judgment before the tribunal of God. It means taking a stand with Christ even when others speak harsh and unkind words against a striving soul, and keeping that stand by words and deeds that always confess Christ. A person's spirit, words, actions, and interests in life are the confession that tells all who come in contact with him whether he is on Christ's side or on the enemy's side.
It includes the expenditure of His entrusted means: paying the Lord's tenth and giving gifts, offerings, and charity instead of spending income on self, dress, nicknacks and display, pleasure excursions, entertainments, table fare, and elaborate preparations for visitors. Withholding tithe and offerings and using God's time and money needlessly for self-gratification denies Him. Christ sees the domestic account book even when no human eye does, and His confession brings reward in the day of reckoning in accordance with works, while neglect to confess Him in the account books cuts off from having the name registered in the Lamb's book of life. Extravagant preparations can deny Him when they consume time owed to Him and to family or lead others to follow the same example, so confessing Him includes faithful stewardship honoring Him with money and time and avoiding needless spending on display and elaborate entertainment.
It means honoring Bible truth, making His Word meat and drink and appreciating and honoring professed truth, without which truth is of no profit. For nurses and helpers this means acting as God's helping hand with the Bible as armory, using its sanctifying truths as weapons mighty through God to pull down strongholds, destroy error, and establish truth. It requires using reasoning powers to see that the way of life is in every respect preferable to the way to hell, refusing to stand under the black banner, and showing that heaven is wanted with no light standard. To be a Christian is to labor together with God rather than sit idle to be carried to heaven, but to do earnest work, faithfully fight the good fight, run the race with patience, and be temperate to obtain an eternal crown, accepting the cross in light of Christ coming as a babe in the manger holding out salvation and giving His life as sacrifice.
It requires refusing to be drawn away by the world's enchantments and by Satan working through his servants, instead of siding with the world that said release Barabbas and crucify Christ. It requires searching the Scriptures for oneself, seeking first God's kingdom and righteousness with faith that works by love and purifies the soul, being consecrated to Christ as the Lamb of God and fashioned after His likeness rather than the world's, because the line is plain between commandment-keepers and others. It includes not being ashamed to bear the name of His people and to stand for Bible truths, openly showing without wavering the principles of God's Word, and remaining true to principle as witnesses for Christ and the truth of the third angel's message. Those who see the truth and are convicted by the Holy Spirit must confess Him now even when a cross is involved, by obeying the truth and keeping His commandments, publicly acknowledging themselves as believers in the truth as it is in Jesus from the Spirit's inward work consecrating every faculty. When people so confess Christ in words, spirit, courage, and faith as a revelation of honesty, equity, justice, righteousness, purity, and a controlling purpose to honor God and obey His law, Christ gives help and strength, so that through watchfulness and prayer the world sees their principles unveiled and respects them.
Receiving Christ includes confessing Him before believers and unbelievers, together with conversion, receiving Him as counselor, and following Jesus as a follower of the meek and lowly Jesus, which is necessary to win eternal life and the crown. Anyone failing in this puts the Saviour to open shame. Those who have Jesus in their hearts will confess Him through earnest action for souls, not merely talk or professed love, by speaking a word in season, lifting the cast down, reaching a helping hand to the needy, and imparting received comfort and blessing, being themselves comforted. Confessing Christ before men is the privilege and work of every child of God, to be done at every opportunity. It includes voluntarily confessing errors and sins before men with humiliation and repentance; those who boastfully say they did not confess and think it beneath dignity will not be confessed by Christ, will never see His face or enter the city gates, with their boasts traced in heaven's books to appear unless repented of. If not made voluntarily now, confession will finally be forced before the universe when records are opened and every act and motive, unfaithful dealing, transgression, and calling unrighteous just are revealed and share punishment.
Whoever openly owns allegiance to Christ before people will be owned by Him before His Father in heaven, and whoever disowns Him before people will be disowned by Him before the Father. Confessing Him means taking His side openly and without shame, compromise, or neutrality, letting allegiance be known before others. It is more than words or profession, for His mind and Spirit must dwell within and appear outwardly in a sanctified heart, character, conduct, thoughts, speech, and dealing with others. In the judgment when the records are reviewed He will acknowledge before His Father and angels all who truly repented, claimed His atoning blood by faith, overcame, and kept their characters in harmony with God's law, with their names retained in the book of life. This confession is required amid hostility, danger, and persecution without fearing those who can kill the body, and in daily faithfulness in home, speech, work, use of means, and witness for truth.
Setting and Plain Promise
Jesus gave these words as instruction for the mission of the disciples as His representatives, to teach what they had learned from Him and to repeat His words when facing conflict with the enemies of the gospel. It is encouragement under trials, discouragements and sore pressure of temptation, giving reason not to fear. That fearlessness rests on the Father's watchful care, who sees when even a sparrow falls and numbers the very hairs of the head, because believers are of more value than many sparrows. This assurance of eternal reward strengthens disciples to testify to the truth despite opposition and danger.
Its plain promise is that whoever openly acknowledges allegiance to Christ before people, identifying with Him and standing as His witness, will be acknowledged by Him before His Father in heaven. That confessing is open acknowledgment in word and spirit, public testimony for Him amid danger and hostility, without being ashamed to bear the name of His people and to stand for the truths of the Bible. It calls for the resolve that no earthly consideration should lead to disowning the Redeemer, remaining true to principle and faithful as witnesses for Christ and the truth. His promise is joyful and certain, giving reason to strive for eternal life.
Its paired warning is that those who deny Christ before people will be denied by Him before the Father. Those who choose to serve the prince of darkness will remain unconfessed by Christ when their lives and use of their entrusted gifts are accounted for at the final judgment according to allegiance to Him. Accepting Christ and obeying His teachings, and accepting His message when His disciples preach it, must be met with open witness and brings His acknowledgment before the Father and eternal reward, while rejecting the message carries the eternal consequences stated at their commissioning. Confessing the truth openly is required because it involves the eternal interest of the hearers.
What Confessing Christ Means
To confess Christ is to stand openly and unhesitatingly on His side before others, without shame, compromise, neutrality, or concealment, showing true colors, committing to the right, and making allegiance known when principle and salvation are at stake. Faith and doctrine are not to be hidden from the world out of cowardice or worldly policy, for loyalty must not be swayed by the opinions of others nor traded for promotion, reputation, position, or support. Every follower is to take a public position as a witness before the world, angels, and people, letting faith shine as a lamp set where it gives light to all in the house and giving light to others. Such open acknowledgment as His follower, refusing shame at His authority, makes clear where one will stand in the coming day of test and trouble.
Confessing Him is more than words, profession, or claiming to follow Him; His mind and Spirit must dwell within by His abiding, and inward grace and truth must appear outwardly in words, character, and conduct. It requires a sanctified, submissive, humble heart whose outward fruit truly confesses Him in self-denial, charity, humility, heavenly conversation, blameless conduct, and the purifying influence of truth bearing righteousness and peace. Words alone are not enough, for one may confess with the lips while the life shows Christ absent, and witness depends on connection with God with Christ in the believer, so that words and actions represent the faith and let the light shine without shame for Him. This true confession therefore requires constant watchfulness and persevering prayer.
It is shown in the whole life and character as well as in speech: conduct, thoughts, faculties, deportment, spirit, actions, and interests tell all who come in contact with a person whether he is on Christ's side or on the enemy's. It is a revelation in word, spirit, courage, and faith of honesty and truth, equity and justice in all dealing, conscientious principles of righteousness, purity of steadfast principles and motives, and a controlling purpose to honor God and obey His law. It calls for purifying self as He is pure, human nature pure in its own sphere as God is pure in His, without spot, made possible because God sent His Son to sanctify and take people to Himself, giving in that gift all heaven to honor them with eternal life and calling them up to the mark of the high calling in Christ. Those who so confess receive His help and strength, so that through watchfulness and prayer and earnest, genuine cleanness of motive and action they reveal the secret of His power, continually uplifting the soul to contemplate the highest subjects instead of light, trivial conversation, until the world sees their principles unveiled and respects them.
To confess Him is to represent Him on earth as a witness and channel of His grace, sharing His sacrifice for the lost, and He will then represent the believer before the Father and the holy angels. The Father sees such a one clothed in Christ's perfection, Christ becomes the medium of heaven's blessings, and those who share His sacrifice will share the glory and joy of the redeemed.
Fluency in doctrine or repeating His words is not enough without His meekness, humility, and love abiding within. He is not to be kept as a private treasure for private enjoyment but to be confessed openly and bravely, with His meekness, humility, and love visible in character, so that faith refreshes and influences others, presents Christ clearly, draws souls to Him, and helps win them. Conflicts and rebuffs in this work strengthen and steady faith rather than turning it aside, while gospel and divine grace enable resistance to surrounding influences and continuance in purity.
Confessing Him is the privilege, duty, and work of every child of God at every opportunity, in word and spirit, gladly and bravely. It belongs in worship and social gatherings as expression of the joy, comfort, and hope of eternal life centered in Christ, joined with Christlike meekness and love, and it is linked to His joyful, certain acknowledgment before His heavenly Father, to integrity and fidelity in life, to striving for eternal life, to remaining true to principle, and to faithful witness for Christ and the truth of the third angel's message. It is not folding the hands with nothing special to do, but openly praying when opportunity offers, devoting life to God and the salvation of others even under discouragement and restraint, speaking a word in season, lifting the cast down, reaching a helping hand to everyone in need, and imparting to others the comfort and blessing received, with those who comfort others being themselves comforted.
What Denies Christ Contrasted
Denial of Christ is not limited to open rejection of Him, for conduct that shows Him to be absent from the life is also denial, and hiding faith from fear of ridicule or suffering is in effect denying the Lord, as Peter did when questioned in the judgment hall. Such disloyal conduct denies Him and crucifies Him afresh.
He is denied through evil, idle, untruthful, or unkind speech, and through falsehood, unkindness, and discourtesy in word and life. He is denied through pride, including pride and costliness in dress, through love of ease and of self, self-seeking, self-love and self-justification with attachment to personal opinions, through worldly joking and ambition, and through conformity to the world. He is denied through doubt and dwelling in darkness, through dwelling on sentimental thoughts, self-pitying thoughts and supposed hardships, through avoiding life's duties and burdens, and through sinful pleasure.
Refusing to recognize that one belongs to Him and to place oneself under His control and His claim means He will not acknowledge that person when that recognition would serve eternal good. Refusing such acknowledgment because it is inconvenient means choosing the company of worldlings and forfeiting the overcomer's place in the Lamb's book of life.
Christ's Acknowledgment in Judgment
In the judgment when the books of record are reviewed, those who openly acknowledged Christ before people will be acknowledged by Him before His Father in heaven and before His angels, with their names remaining in the book of life and not blotted out. The paired warning is that those who deny Him before people will be denied before the Father. Though troubled by doubts and temptations, the repentant, God-fearing believer is upheld by His plea, so sins are no longer held against him.
Those He acknowledges are all who have truly repented of sin and by faith have claimed His blood as atoning sacrifice, have had pardon entered against their names in heaven, have become partakers of His righteousness with characters in harmony with God's law, have overcome, have had their sins blotted out, and are accounted worthy of eternal life. Though they have defects, He removes their guilt, clothes them in His robe of righteousness, and records their pardon in heaven. Unrepented and unforgiven sins lead to rejection.
It is a blessed possibility for overcomers who have not defiled their garments but through faith have had sin ended in the heart by His constraining love and have washed their robes of character white in the blood of the Lamb. Those He acknowledges are worthy, walk with Him in white, and are clothed in white raiment. The King of heaven stands ready to acknowledge even the humblest soul that serves Him.
This acknowledgment is given to those whose character is conformed to Christ's image and who in deed and in truth obey God's law, daily learning His meekness and lowliness and bearing His image. Through them He demonstrates the blessings of obedience to the principles of His Word and gives the world decided evidence of the great advantages of connection with Him. Confessing Him now in word, in life, and in character, by manifesting God's requirement in humanity and being the light of the world, is necessary for Him to confess His followers before His Father and the holy angels when He comes soon in glory.
Those who do not confess Him now cannot expect His confession then. When His majesty and wrath are revealed they will seek to hide from Him, and while all will wish for His favor and desire a place in the heavenly mansions, for deniers it will be too late. When the conflict is ended He will acknowledge before the Father those who faithfully bore true witness for Him in a sinful world and willingly shared His reproach and sufferings.
That acknowledgment will be before the heavenly universe, including before those who rejected Him. Then they will understand clearly what is now mysterious to them. God's acknowledgment in the day of judgment is not won by human approval or recognition, nor by standing in the church, estimation by fellow men, or high position and support as a leader.
It is won by union with Christ, by whom alone right doing is possible and to whom every person is accountable every moment, by listening to God's counsel, following His will, remaining loyal to truth to the end, rejecting falsehood, and bearing God's testing through a lifetime of living out saving truth. This requires being converted and receiving Him as counselor and openly confessing Him before both believers and unbelievers as a follower of the meek and lowly Jesus, for anyone in any position who fails to do this puts Him to open shame and can never win the crown of eternal life. Living out the saving truth of God's Word in this way prepares for the company of the redeemed, and true moral standing with God is formed over a lifetime.
A Christian representative must act so that Christ is not ashamed to own him, but can acknowledge him with joy before the Father and angels through willing, cheerful obedience and faithful conduct. Confessing Christ includes speaking for Him openly before the world. This future recognition belongs to those who overcome and remain faithful.
Faithful Witness Under Opposition
The promise belongs to followers when they face hostility, danger and persecution for His sake, calling them to public testimony for Him amid danger and hostility, to endure faithfully without fearing those who can kill the body. Jesus Himself lived this when questioned under oath whether He was the Son of God, for though He knew an affirmative answer made His death certain, He plainly declared His character, mission and relationship with God and did not deny Him. His example teaches that faith must not be abandoned to escape suffering or even death, and that confessing Him includes acknowledging one's relationship with God when directly challenged.
Luther illustrates this confession by willingness to face execution and publicly confess the Lord Jesus Christ even when warned of being burned alive with his body reduced to ashes. He would go forward in the Lord's name through opposition though a fire were kindled all the way from Worms to Wittenberg with flames rising to heaven, standing before hostile Romanists and entering the jaws of the behemoth to break his teeth rather than turning back. The princes' public signing of the Confession was such a confession, openly standing for Him and His truth at risk of position, possessions and life, valuing the cross of Christ above crowns and earthly honors and ready to give up goods and states rather than accept another doctrine. Paul illustrates this same public faithfulness by maintaining justice and righteousness and treating duty as responsibility before God, sustained by steady communion with God, reliance on Christ's cross and enduring love through inner struggle, Satan's power, spiritual conflict, hardship and opposition.
The disciples resolved to confess Him bravely before the world to make amends for former unbelief, with a resolve that no earthly consideration should lead them to disown their Redeemer. Confessing Him requires remaining faithful when it costs the world, its honors and applause, enduring temptation with a good conscience and patiently waiting for Christ, unto the opening of the gates of Paradise. Standing openly for Jesus is a duty in every setting, including before relatives and friends, in school and home, in business and in wider social life, with religious principles shaping the whole life rather than being worn only as an outward show. No worldly position, distinction, office, promotion, reputation or support must turn a person from the Saviour or become a snare, and loyalty to Christ and to truth must not be swayed by the world's opinions nor traded for promotion, reputation, worldly honor, advancement or support, even when truth is unpopular.
Accepting Him sets believing family members at enmity with the unbelieving portion of the household that refuses to believe, so father, mother, son or daughter must not be loved more than Christ, the cross must be taken up to follow Him, and faith and conviction must not be hidden or silenced to please family. Loyalty to Him means refusing to adopt the world's ways, descend to its level in choosing society, or choose intimate ties with those who do not love God, refusing the company of the vain and trifling and refusing to be charmed by unconverted men or women. Love and honor for God call for openly confessing Christ out of concern for others' eternal well-being, including warning the world, while a life shaped by Christ can persuade others and guide followers; faithful effort is not failure even when it brings only one soul to Christ.
Confession in Daily Life
Confessing Christ in daily life means openly saying that one is determined to be a Christian and standing firm without wavering for what is right and for principles established on God's Word, which honors Jesus, and it means openly deciding to take a stand under His banner and enlist in His service. Such confession is a personal decision of zeal, purity and intelligence that accepts individual responsibility and duty, walks in the light, and holds to principle in the spirit and efficiency Jesus gives. It recruits and reinforces the Lord's army to hold the fort against sin and error, bringing fresh minds to meet difficulties, communicating a new spirit, and creating unity that stands against outside pressure, with joy in God. It is shown in maintaining religious services in the family, dedicating the home to God, and joining in prayer, putting everything in motion to triumph over the powers of darkness and the obstacles Satan presents.
It includes openly speaking in His favor and telling what His love has done, as when one delivered from despair publicly related her experience at an Advent meeting and could not remain silent, and it includes acknowledging one's experience in leaving darkness for the Lord's light. It includes honoring Him through just dealings, humble conduct, and faithfulness in daily work, and honest, unselfish lives are possible through God's keeping power. It includes the influence a believer exerts through words and actions, so that rash, passionate speech that dishonors Christ, sows strife, and scatters people from Him is not Christlike confession. Christ's decision takes account of past conduct and the truth-dishonoring results of speech, so believers must ask whether their manner of speaking truly represents the Christ who made and redeemed them. Students confess or deny Christ by their words, whose speech can either acknowledge Him or disown Him before others.
Confessing Him requires watching and praying and speaking only words of truth with lips purified as by a live coal from the divine altar, with words seasoned with wisdom and purity. It means putting away light, trivial conversation and continually uplifting the soul to contemplate the highest subjects, because far more than is realized is involved in speech, and words will justify or condemn in the final judgment before the tribunal of God. It means taking a stand with Christ even when others speak harsh and unkind words against a striving soul, and keeping that stand by words and deeds that always confess Christ. A person's spirit, words, actions, and interests in life are the confession that tells all who come in contact with him whether he is on Christ's side or on the enemy's side.
It includes the expenditure of His entrusted means: paying the Lord's tenth and giving gifts, offerings, and charity instead of spending income on self, dress, nicknacks and display, pleasure excursions, entertainments, table fare, and elaborate preparations for visitors. Withholding tithe and offerings and using God's time and money needlessly for self-gratification denies Him. Christ sees the domestic account book even when no human eye does, and His confession brings reward in the day of reckoning in accordance with works, while neglect to confess Him in the account books cuts off from having the name registered in the Lamb's book of life. Extravagant preparations can deny Him when they consume time owed to Him and to family or lead others to follow the same example, so confessing Him includes faithful stewardship honoring Him with money and time and avoiding needless spending on display and elaborate entertainment.
It means honoring Bible truth, making His Word meat and drink and appreciating and honoring professed truth, without which truth is of no profit. For nurses and helpers this means acting as God's helping hand with the Bible as armory, using its sanctifying truths as weapons mighty through God to pull down strongholds, destroy error, and establish truth. It requires using reasoning powers to see that the way of life is in every respect preferable to the way to hell, refusing to stand under the black banner, and showing that heaven is wanted with no light standard. To be a Christian is to labor together with God rather than sit idle to be carried to heaven, but to do earnest work, faithfully fight the good fight, run the race with patience, and be temperate to obtain an eternal crown, accepting the cross in light of Christ coming as a babe in the manger holding out salvation and giving His life as sacrifice.
It requires refusing to be drawn away by the world's enchantments and by Satan working through his servants, instead of siding with the world that said release Barabbas and crucify Christ. It requires searching the Scriptures for oneself, seeking first God's kingdom and righteousness with faith that works by love and purifies the soul, being consecrated to Christ as the Lamb of God and fashioned after His likeness rather than the world's, because the line is plain between commandment-keepers and others. It includes not being ashamed to bear the name of His people and to stand for Bible truths, openly showing without wavering the principles of God's Word, and remaining true to principle as witnesses for Christ and the truth of the third angel's message. Those who see the truth and are convicted by the Holy Spirit must confess Him now even when a cross is involved, by obeying the truth and keeping His commandments, publicly acknowledging themselves as believers in the truth as it is in Jesus from the Spirit's inward work consecrating every faculty. When people so confess Christ in words, spirit, courage, and faith as a revelation of honesty, equity, justice, righteousness, purity, and a controlling purpose to honor God and obey His law, Christ gives help and strength, so that through watchfulness and prayer the world sees their principles unveiled and respects them.
Receiving Christ includes confessing Him before believers and unbelievers, together with conversion, receiving Him as counselor, and following Jesus as a follower of the meek and lowly Jesus, which is necessary to win eternal life and the crown. Anyone failing in this puts the Saviour to open shame. Those who have Jesus in their hearts will confess Him through earnest action for souls, not merely talk or professed love, by speaking a word in season, lifting the cast down, reaching a helping hand to the needy, and imparting received comfort and blessing, being themselves comforted. Confessing Christ before men is the privilege and work of every child of God, to be done at every opportunity. It includes voluntarily confessing errors and sins before men with humiliation and repentance; those who boastfully say they did not confess and think it beneath dignity will not be confessed by Christ, will never see His face or enter the city gates, with their boasts traced in heaven's books to appear unless repented of. If not made voluntarily now, confession will finally be forced before the universe when records are opened and every act and motive, unfaithful dealing, transgression, and calling unrighteous just are revealed and share punishment.