Relationship Between Faith and Confession

Scripture Reading: Romans 10:1-13

0:03 And now, if you will please, turn to the book of Romans, and chapter 10, Romans chapter 10. And I shall read in your hearing the first 13 verses of Romans chapter 10.

0:28 Brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them, that is, his fellow Israelites, is for their salvation. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

1:05 For Moses writes that the man who practices, the righteousness which is based on the law, shall live by that righteousness. But the righteousness based on faith speaks thus. Do not say in your heart, who will ascend into heaven, that is, to bring Christ down, or who will ascend into the abyss, that is, to bring Christ up from the dead. But what does it say?

1:33 The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. That is, the word is near you. That is, the word of faith which we are preaching. That 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.

1:55 For with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the scripture says, Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call upon him.

Introduction: Romans 9-11 Within the Theme of the Epistle

2:24 For whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Now many of you are very familiar with the fact that the great theme, the great theme of the Bible, is the word of God. The great theme of Paul's letter to the Romans is stated by the Apostle himself in the opening chapter, particularly verses 16 and 17. Those familiar words in which the Apostle says, I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, for in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written, but the righteous man shall live by faith. Now in saying that this is the great theme of the epistle, I am in no way contradicting nor undermining those perspectives which Mr. Garlington has brought before us with respect to the great pastoral motif that runs through the book and the deep passage, and the pastoral motives which gave birth to the letter. There is no contradiction in those matters.

3:45 Rather, there is a synthesis and an agreement. And as the Apostle opens up this great theme of the gospel of God, which sets forth a righteousness from God, a righteousness received by faith, adequate to the needs of Jew and of Greek, you will remember that he does so, first of all, by showing the universal need of that righteousness. And in chapter 1 and verse 18, all the way through chapter 3 and verse 20, he is demonstrating the need for righteousness equally present among Jew and Greek. And then beginning with chapter 3 and verse 21, through the end of chapter 8, there is this glorious teaching, glorious teaching on the adequate provision for righteousness in the person and work of Christ and in the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now here in chapters 9 through 11, he is expanding on the idea originally stated in those opening verses of the gospel being the power of God, the provision of God for righteousness to Jew first, and also, to the Greek. And here in chapters 9 through 11,

5:10 he describes how God has been at work in the proclamation and application of the righteousness of faith among the nations, and how it is that this righteousness was indeed first proclaimed to the Jew, and now how it is proclaimed to the Greek. And so the great theme of the righteousness of faith is embedded in chapters 9 through 11. These chapters are not a parenthesis. Notice for instance toward the end of chapter 9, where he is drawing his own conclusion of the previous statements.

5:51 He says in verse 30, What shall we say then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness attained righteousness, even the righteousness, which is by faith. But Israel pursuing a law of righteousness did not arrive at that law. Why?

6:15 Because they did not pursue it by faith. So you see the whole theme of the righteousness of God received by faith is embedded in chapter 9. And then as we move on into chapter 10, and this is why I read the portion I read in your hearing, that theme again is central. Verse 3 of chapter 10, For not knowing about God's righteousness, seeking to establish their own, they did not submit themselves to the righteousness of God.

6:49 Verse 6, the first part, But the righteousness based on faith speaks thus. The end of verse 8, That is the word of faith which we are preaching. And so for anyone to say, that chapters 9 through 11 is a parenthesis, is simply to miss the overall thread of argument developed by the apostle. The gospel which sets forth a divine righteousness, a righteousness received by faith, is a gospel that comes to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

7:29 And having demonstrated the universal need of that righteousness among Jew and Greek, and then the adequate provision of that righteousness for Jew and Greek, he now then expands upon that great question, how is it that the announcement and application of that righteousness has made its way among the nations, namely among the Jew and the Greek? Now in the midst of opening up that theme, the apostle says some things that are very, very vital with regard to the obtaining of the gospel. And I am thinking of that righteousness whether by Jew or by Greek, and I am thinking particularly of verses 9 and 10, which form the focal point of our study this morning, in which he demonstrates that in the personal appropriation of the righteousness of faith, the same righteousness of faith which is available to Jew and to Greek, there is an inseparable relationship, there is an inseparable relationship, between faith and confession. And if I had a title for our study this morning, it would be Faith and Confession, the Siamese Twins of True Christian Experience. Faith and Confession,

Title and Metaphor: Faith and Confession as Siamese Twins

8:55 the Siamese Twins of Saving Faith and Confession. I'm sorry, the Siamese Twins of Saving Religion. I was thinking of the children just then. My mind was going ahead.

9:11 Who may not know what Siamese twins are, and they think they are twins born in Siam. And as I was thinking of how to explain that to them, I lost my thread of thought. The three-hour time change is still taking its toll on me. We just got in at quarter to seven last night.

9:27 Well, be that as it may, for you kids, Siamese twins are not twins born in Siam. You see, the Rigol's twins would not be Siamese twins if they happened to be born in Siam. But they are twins that are born attached, so that they are not two individuals, though they are, but they are one. And wherever one is, the other is found.

9:49 And often they are attached at various parts of the body, sometimes attached at the head. It is obviously a genetic or birth abnormality. But when I use the terminology, faith and confession, the Siamese twins, I am saying that wherever one is, the other is present. Notice the language of the text, verse 9.

10:12 That 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. And here salvation is said to be contingent upon an activity of the mouth and an activity of the mouth. That is, an activity of the heart. For with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

10:42 And with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. Now as I seek to open up these two verses this morning, let me first of all direct your attention to verse 9, under the heading, The Inseparability of Confession and Faith of Confession and Faith in Relationship to Salvation. in Relationship to Salvation. The inseparability of confession and faith in relationship to salvation.

Verse 9: The If-Then Structure and the Two Conditions

11:12 You have in this verse an if-then structure. If you confess with your mouth and if you believe in your heart then you shall be saved. Now whenever you find an if-then construction in the word of God, you ought to take it very seriously. Just as much as if mum or dad say to you, son, daughter, calling you by name, if you go out and walk on the newly seeded lawn, then mummy or daddy will spank you.

11:52 Well you better take seriously their if-then statement. Or should they say to you, if you will by five o'clock today do this, that and the other, then daddy will take you to the local Carvel for an ice cream. Well if you want your ice cream you better pay attention to the if or come five o'clock you can't just say, daddy you said I will take you to the store for an ice cream. Daddy will say I didn't give that as a blanket promise.

12:24 I gave a condition. I said if-then. You didn't do the if, you don't get the then. Well that's what you have in this verse. If you will confess, if you will believe, then you shall be saved. And so in the text there is an inseparability of confession and believing in relationship to salvation. Now let's examine the two if clauses. First of all, we have the if clause pertaining to the verbal confession of the Lordship of Christ.

The First If-Clause: Verbal Confession of the Lordship of Christ

13:05 If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord. Now it is a verbal confession of the Lordship of Jesus. That is a confession of conviction concerning the fact that Jesus of Nazareth has been constituted supreme ruler and sovereign in the purpose of Almighty God. It means a confession which unreservedly acknowledges that the one who had all the appearance of a humble peasant out of the town of Nazareth is now nothing less than the incarnate Jehovah seated upon a throne of majesty and power and invested with all dominion in heaven and in earth. For in the language of Philippians 2 11 it is to confess one's conviction that the very one who took upon himself the form of a servant and being found in fashion as a man humbled himself becoming obedient unto death even the death of the cross is the one whom God has highly exalted to whom he has given a name of

14:32 every name. To confess that Jesus of Nazareth is Lord is to say in response to Peter's words a hearty Amen this Christ whom ye crucified he has exalted him and made him Lord. Or in the language of Ephesians 1 20 through 23 there is the exercise of God's mighty power in raising Christ from the dead seating him at his own right hand far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named not only in this world but in that which is to come. So when the text says if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord it is a verbal confession of the Lordship of Jesus that involves nothing less than that heart acknowledgement expressed by the lips that he is exactly what God declares him to be. Furthermore to confess him as Lord assumes and presupposes all of the previous realities of his redemptive activity. It presupposes the Jesus of the virgin conception in Mary's womb. The

15:59 Jesus who was a man approved of God by mighty signs and wonders. The Jesus who was crucified through weakness. The Jesus who was placed in Joseph's tomb. The Jesus who came forth on that third day in resurrection power and might. You see to confess Jesus as Lord is to confess him as Lord not only in terms of what the scripture says about the significance of his Lordship being the position of exaltation and dominion and power but it is a position to which he came by way of the virgin's womb the death of his cross and his triumphant resurrection. There will be a day in 1983 when someone will be inaugurated as the next president or the continuing president of the United States.

17:04 A day in January 1983 when there will be an inauguration. And if you were to say I confess that so and so was inaugurated in January such and such 1983 you see that confession presupposes your knowledge of and confidence in political primaries and then a general election and everything that actually precedes the inauguration. Now that's exactly what we have here. When the apostle says that verbal confession of the Lordship of Christ is essential to salvation he is speaking of a Lordship which not only acknowledges inauguration day and the position that he has having been constituted the Lord but all that precedes it in the gracious and substantive activity of the Son of God. Now notice the text says this conviction must be verbalized if you confess with your mouth. The mouth here of course stands for the organs of speech for the tongue the lips

18:31 the teeth the larynx and the whole speech apparatus as it were and again in scripture the activity of the mouth stands for speech whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness not as though cursing and bitterness were something they carried around chewing like gum but their mouths were full that is the organs of speech are constantly expressing cursing and bitterness and so our text tells us in this first if clause if you confess Jesus as Lord but then the second if clause has to do with heart belief in the resurrection of Jesus look at the text if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead now what is this raising him from the dead is nothing less than that which we contemplated a few Lord's days ago that Jesus of Nazareth the one who was crucified under Pontius Pilate whose lifeless body was taken into Joseph's tomb was actually brought out of that tomb with his spirit having

The Second If-Clause: Heart Belief in the Resurrection

20:00 rejoined that body there was a literal physical resurrection from the dead according to Romans 1.4 the vindication of the uniqueness of his person declared to be the son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead and was also the validation of his work Romans 4.25 raised again for our justification it constituted his initiation into newness of life and into a new sphere of activity he ever lived to make intercession for us now the apostle says that this fact that God has raised Jesus of Nazareth from the dead understood in its biblical categories the resurrection being not just bare historical fact it is fact but it is fact to which God has given these lines of significance resurrection resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth validating indeed that his work was adequate for our need vindicating that he was something more than a man and then initiating him into this newness of life in which he gives himself

21:28 to the salvation of his people now notice what the text says that this belief that God has raised him is to be a believing in the heart if thou shalt believe in your heart now the heart in the bible stands for the whole man the heart is the seat in the organ of the totality of a man's religious life and therefore of his life itself and so our lord or I'm sorry the apostle is saying by the inspiration of the spirit with his thinking disciplined by the very quotation taken from the old testament from the writings of Moses that true faith is a matter of the activity of the heart which includes the mind the affections and the will the totality of the inner life and here he says there must be a resting upon a trusting in a reliance upon a conviction of the fact of the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth now he says where these two are joined if you will confess with your

22:57 mouth Jesus is lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you shall be saved that is delivered rescued brought out of the place of danger and into a place of safety extricated from the bonds of sin into a place of liberty brought out from under the curse of the law into a state of acceptance pardon and reconciliation in the context of the book of Romans to be saved means nothing less than becoming a possessor of the salvation which is the heart of the gospel Romans 1 16 the gospel is the power of God unto salvation that is deliverance from the guilt and from the bondage of sin unto a state of acceptance and liberty and blessing in Jesus Christ now then if that is the basic meaning of the words setting forth the separability of confession and believing unto salvation do you see the obvious conclusions that we ought to draw from verse 9 the first is that the bible knows nothing

Three Conclusions from Verse 9

24:26 of a true belief which is detached from the fundamental doctrines of the gospel the bible knows nothing of a true belief which is detached from the fundamental doctrines of the gospel he doesn't say if you will simply confess Jesus and believe sincerely about Jesus you will be saved you see the emphasis upon confession and believing is pervasively doctrinal or as our British friends say doctrinal it is not mere confession impelled by sincerity in the context of nebulosity about the fundamental facts of the gospel it is confession that Jesus is Lord a confession that brings within its orbit all of the fundamental biblically revealed facts about the identity of Jesus of Nazareth and furthermore he says if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead it is obviously you see a belief that brings

25:54 within its orbit the great doctrines that cluster around the resurrection the resurrection as vindicating Christ's work validating Christ's claims initiating the risen Son of God into a life of perpetual intercession and this assembly insists that true evangelism is pervasively doctrinal this is why we make the insistence it is not because we are doctrinaire it is not because we are narrow minded and we want to exclude others it is because our consciences are bound by the word of God and if confession of the Lordship of Christ belief in the resurrection of Christ are essential to salvation how can we earnestly seek the salvation of men if we do not expound the facts and implications of Jesus as Lord and the facts and implications of Jesus as raised from the dead the inseparability of confession and of faith in this context warrant this first conclusion the Bible knows nothing of true

27:22 belief and confession which are detached from the essential doctrines concerning Christ but then secondly the Bible knows nothing of a true belief which is willfully silent the Bible knows nothing of a true belief which is willfully silent or non-confessing look at the text I didn't put it here you shall confess and believe you shall be saved now would it be proper to strike out the first if clause and simply say it this way if you believe in your heart God raised him from the dead you shall be saved would the text be complete without the first if clause God didn't think so God has said that in some way or other and we'll examine that way in the next verse confession is essential to salvation I didn't say it the Bible says it it's not written on my forehead it's written in your Bible that is open in your lap if you confess with your mouth you shall be saved the clear implication being if you refuse

28:51 to confess with your mouth you will not be saved if you believe in your heart God raised him from the dead you shall be saved if you will not believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will not be saved the Bible knows nothing of a true belief which is unconfessional willfully now someone says yeah but what about a person who is dumb and can't speak God takes the willingness for the deed that's why I said willfully silent is someone perverse enough to ask that question willfully silent and where God sees that because a man's tongue cannot frame words or because he was born a deaf mute he has even no concept of verbal words the principle of desire to confess will be present wherever true faith in the heart is present then there is a third conclusion that we are warranted in drawing from the text and it is this the Bible knows nothing of a true confession which does not come from an engagement of the heart with the truth the Bible knows nothing of a true confession which does not come from the engagement of the heart with the truth if thou shalt believe in thy

30:20 heart this is why the Bible says that a confession without faith is vain Titus 1 16 they profess to know God but in their works they deny him there is no living faith that works by love so they profess to know there's confession of the lips but there's been no engagement of the heart and surely any professed faith without conversion is a spurious faith for Jesus said whosoever will confess me before men him will I confess before my Father who is in heaven well let's hurry on to the tenth verse having seen in the ninth verse the inseparability of confession and faith in relationship to salvation verse 10 sets before us the precise relationship between faith and confession in the matter of salvation having demonstrated the inseparability in verse 9 now the apostle is concerned to open up with precision the precise relationship of the two and the first thing that should be obvious to us is that he reverses the order in verse 10 in verse 9 he started with the confession of the mouth and the belief in the heart to show the inseparability of the two now when he comes to give us the precise relationship

Verse 10: The Precise Relationship Between Faith and Confession

31:48 between the two he takes them in their proper order for with the heart man believes resulting in righteousness and with the mouth he confesses resulting in salvation notice then the relationship of faith to righteousness he says more literally for with the heart it is believed unto righteousness there is no word as translated here a man or a woman or he it could be he believes it is believed it's indefinite now it could be referring to the previous facts it could be that his concern is to put the emphasis upon other things but the rendering that most of us have in our bible certainly does no violence to the overall context with the heart one believes resulting in righteousness and with the mouth one confesses resulting in salvation with the heart one believes unto righteousness what is the precise relationship between faith and confession well it

33:17 starts first of all with the heart being engaged unto the appropriation of the righteousness which is offered in the gospel and in a real sense that means nothing less than experiencing in your own heart the basic outline of the content of the book of Romans how does one with the heart believe unto righteousness well one will never believe unto righteousness until he is made painfully aware of his need of a righteousness other than his own so in a very real sense every person by one means or another over a short or lengthy period of time it may be fifteen minutes or fifteen years must be brought to feel the realities of Romans 1 18 through Romans 3 in verse 20 until a man or woman boy or girl feels the reality of his sinfulness he will never be desperate to have the righteousness of another and so to believe unto righteousness means to be brought by the spirit through the word and most frequently by the law of God by those ten words which epitomize God's

34:44 demands upon us being brought to see how holy God is how high is his standard how it touches every thought and word and motive and attitude of heart and how for short I fall of all of this and I stand under the canopy of his wrath for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness and then it is to come into the orbit of the proclamation of God's righteousness in Christ Romans 3 21 and following that this same God against whom we have sinned and before whom we have no righteousness of our own in the person and work of his son has made a righteousness available to the vilest of sinners but now a righteousness of God has been manifested one that we do not have of our own but one which God has forged in the giving of his own son in the life and death of his well beloved one in the resurrection of his own dear son and so the heart must engage these great realities with the heart one believes unto righteousness and when the consciousness of my sin has brought me to the place where I spare of fixing myself

36:13 up and concocting and constructing my own righteousness and I am prepared to throw myself upon her in the language of Romans 10 submit to the righteousness that God provides that is believing unto righteousness and then the apostle says when that is so then the mouth will make confession unto salvation the heart having been engaged with respect to its own sin on the one hand and God's glorious provision on the other and the heart having gone out in living faith to a living savior and the glorious provisions in him whatever has the heart will in necessity have the mouth for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh the psalmist could say I believe therefore have I spoken and so here is the precise order and relationship of these things when the heart believes unto righteousness then the mouth makes confession not to attain salvation but unto that great salvation that is in Christ and having found it

37:42 in him we now desire openly to acknowledge our identification with him and apart from that open acknowledgement there is no grounds to claim that the faith of the heart is real that's why Jesus could say in Matthew 10 32 whoever confesses me before men him will I confess before my father who is in heaven whosoever denies me before men him will I deny before my father which is in heaven you see our confession does not add some little dimension to an otherwise imperfect salvation no the righteousness with which we believe that is the object of our faith we believe unto righteousness as we lay hold of Christ that's a perfect righteousness but just like faith in works if our professed faith in Christ doesn't lead to a life of obedience our faith is furious in precisely the same way if our professed faith does not lead to confession of Christ it is furious and that's why Jesus can say not everyone who says Lord Lord will enter but he that does the will of my father we're not saved by our obedience but if we're saved we will be obedient in the same way he says whoever will not confess me I will not

39:10 confess him before my father not because our confession in any way weaves one thread into the fabric of an already perfect robe of righteousness but it is the inescapable attendant and the necessary manifestation of the validity and reality of the professed faith so all confession without the heart is a sham all professed belief of the heart without confession is deceptive but the one gives birth to the other now have examined the teaching of the two verses in the few moments that remain this morning let me draw out some practical implications from these verses having seen from verse 9 the inseparability of faith and confession in conjunction with salvation having examined from verse 10 the precise relationship between faith and confession in respect to salvation now what are some of the practical implications of these verses well let me suggest that they constitute a powerful call in three directions or with three notes or with three stanzas first of all they constitute a call to all who in any way confess Christ but who have no heart religion they

Application Call 1: To Confessors Without Heart Religion

40:38 constitute a call to all who in any way confess Christ but who have no heart religion notice the text joins together confession and belief with the heart in conjunction with salvation so no amount of open confession without the belief of the heart will result in salvation and some of you may be confessing Christians in that you were baptized as an infant baptized as a teenager baptized as an adult presently a member of some Christian church and in that sense you are a confessing disciple of Christ you may even be a member of Trinity Church you may be a member of another evangelical Bible believing Bible preaching church but my friend listen the promise of salvation is addressed to those who not only confess with the mouth but who believe with the heart and I ask you as you sit here this morning is your heart engaged with the great realities of the gospel does Christ have your heart the deepest springs of what you are as a man a woman boy or girl does he have your heart

42:06 if not no amount of confession is adequate for God has joined these two things and if he doesn't have your heart then the word of God to you is verses eleven and following whosoever believes in him will not be disappointed there is no distinction between Jew and Greek the same Lord is Lord of all abounding in riches for all who call upon him for whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved do you see the promise salvation comes not by empty confession but by calling upon the Lord calling upon him in faith calling upon him with the heart that acknowledges its own destitute state devoid of all righteousness devoid of all claims upon grace and mercy you go to God with his promise and you plead with him for Christ's sake to have mercy upon you oh for any here today man woman boy or girl if you're a confessor of Christ but have no heart religion turn from your empty confession and cry to God from the heart to have mercy upon you for Christ's sake but then the

Application Call 2: To Those Who Have Believed But Not Yet Confessed

43:34 second call that comes out of this text is this it is a call to everyone who has believed with the heart but who has not yet confessed Christ with the mouth there are sitting in this building today men women fellas girls teenagers young adults who under the preaching of the great truths of the gospel not by psychological manipulation not by mystical flights and fancies but as the word has been preached in this place or another place and the great truths of what you are as a sinner have been pressed upon your conscience the great truths of who Christ is as the incarnate God have been pressed upon your conscience the summons to repentance and faith has been issued at times earnestly at other times tenderly other times thunderingly but God by the spirit through a combination of means and instruments one sowing another watering God has given the increase and there are sitting in this building today some of you who have believed with the heart unto righteousness and where once you trembled at the thought of death and judgment and hell

45:02 in the world to come you have now to varying degrees a sense of peace and assurance that you are forgiven on the grounds of the righteousness of Christ you have believed with the heart but you have yet to confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord you have yet to openly identify yourself with him listen to these words my friend how long can you go on with having any degree of real assurance that you are saved if you will not comply with this word of direction if you confess with your mouth for with the mouth confession is made unto salvation could it be that that's why some of you on Monday morning after the ministry of the word have some real measure of assurance but by Wednesday you're back in the throes of deep and crippling doubts you know why for some of you this may be the very reason you are grieving the spirit by your unwillingness to confess Christ with your mouth and God's primary means of initiating that confession is his

46:27 own ordinance of baptism it's not the means we've established because we're the Trinity Baptist Church no no it's the means he's established has it ever troubled you that in certain text in the New Testament forgiveness of sin and baptism are put so close together you think you get forgiveness through the baptism that ever troubled you when Peter said in the day of Pentecost Acts 2 38 repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of the Lord unto the remission of sins repent be baptized unto remission of sins well I thought remission of sin came through faith in Christ it does but what kind of faith a faith that is prepared to confess it you remember what Ananias said to Saul of Tarsus arise and be baptized washing away thy sins calling on the name of the Lord the washing away of sin in conjunction with calling on the name of the Lord was brought into close proximity to the water bath which symbolized outwardly the inward work of God's grace you remember the Ethiopian eunuch no sooner does he come to faith with the heart in God's provision in the suffering servant of Jehovah who was the great theme of Isaiah 53 but what

47:55 seeing a standing pool of water Philip takes him down into that pool and he is baptized why not to complete something that was inadequate in the work of the suffering servant of Jehovah not that grace was there in the water and he could only have it under the water according to the teaching of the Campbellites no no but because there is this inseparable relationship between belief with the heart and confession with the mouth and I'm speaking to some of you sitting here today who are disobedient in this area and I would issue from this text a call to you having believed unto righteousness it is time you confess with your mouth beginning with God's appointed ordinance of baptism and then going on to verbal declaration before your friends your work associates your neighbors the people with whom you rub shoulders discreetly wisely prayerfully yes but the Bible nowhere recognizes the validity of secret discipleship and then finally this text is not only a call to all who confess Christ but have no heart religion a call to all

Application Call 3: To Established Believers -- Growing Boldness in Confession

49:24 who have truly believed in the heart but have not confessed with the mouth it is a call to those of us who do believe and have confessed God to go on believing and as our faith is strengthened to express it by an ever increasing boldness in the confession of our lips what meets us on the threshold follows us all the way through and as we grow in our understanding of the richness of the content of the gospel and more and more the implications of Christ Lordship and his resurrection and all the glorious truths that cluster around those realities as they become more and more precious to us and engage more and more of the heart then there ought to be more and more of the expression of those things with the lips and our boldness as witnesses ought to increase in direct proportion to our growth in grace and in knowledge of the Lord Jesus a people who are truly growing in the knowledge of Christ but not growing in zeal to confess Christ are a contradiction of terms for what engages the heart secures the activity

50:51 of the mouth did you ever find in all your years that you had to encourage someone who just got engaged to talk about his or her beloved did you ever have to come up to someone who just had the young woman say I will and say hey I heard the news you're engaged but you haven't whispered a word about it for three weeks would you mind just telling me a little something do you ever find such a person turn around and say mumble a few words change the subject now generally speaking they become a nuisance they talk so much about the person you find yourself changing the subject same way with the young woman suddenly she gets some kind of a almost a spastic activity in her left hand everywhere she goes it's hanging out there she wants you to ask you all about it why something that engages her heart finds a direct pipeline to her lips isn't it true in our experience grace doesn't violate that relationship grace lays hold of it and not only does it lay hold of it it puts teeth in it and says if thou shall believe with thine heart and confess with thy

52:19 mouth thou shalt be saved and in a very real sense the ongoing of our salvation in terms of spiritual health and vigor will be in direct proportion to the growing of our faith in the face of the growth of our knowledge and the confession of that glorious savior in whose knowledge we are growing by the word of the gospel now God willing tonight what I hope to do if the Lord will give me light I have just the barest outline in my mind at present I want to take up with you from the scriptures hindrances to publicly confessing Christ and the Bible gives us some very graphic examples of individuals and groups of individuals who would not confess with the mouth what they even profess to believe with the lips and what it was that brought that breakdown pray that God will meet us and that those among us whom the Lord has brought to believe with the heart may in these days find it their joy to confess him with the mouth and I believe the timing the message is particularly appropriate as in a few weeks we'll be having a baptismal service and I am not at all embarrassed to

Closing Pastoral Note and Prayer

53:48 say that I'm preaching today out of a pastoral concern that some of you not allow another baptismal service to pass in the no man's land of professing to believe with the heart while you refuse to confess with the mouth let us pray our father we thank you for your holy word we praise you that we have in our hands as a light to our feet and a lamp to our pathway we pray that these verses will be written upon our minds and hearts that we may find them dealing with us in terms of what you know to be our specific need we thank you for the wonderful promise unfettered free gospel promise that whosoever calls upon your name will be saved but a calling not merely with the lips but with the heart a calling that is prepared for the open avowal of attachment to your son oh lord bring many to that place we pray and for those of us who own you who do believe and have confessed

55:16 strengthen our faith and increase the measure of our confession that we may by your grace be instrumental in pointing others to our lord jesus christ hear our prayer and receive our praise through the name of the one who has come who has died who has risen from the dead who is seated at your own right hand and whom we gladly confess to be the lord amen