THE "GOOD CONFESSION"
AND
THE PLAN OF SALVATION
Kent Bailey
THE
NEW TESTAMENT word translated "confession" (homologia) is
properly defined as "acknowledgement or admission." Seeing that
God requires confession as a condition of pardon from past alien
sins, it is therefore essential that one properly understand the
truth regarding such, for without the truth, one cannot be made
free from sin nor enjoy fellowship with God (John
8:32).
The1ate T. W. Brents correctly stated:
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"It is generally admitted
that some sort of a confession of some- thing should be
made by every one at sometime prior to admission to the
church of God; but what this confession is, how and when
it should be made, and its office in the plan of
salvation, are questions which have greatly perplexed
those who have spoken and written concerning them for the
last three hundred years." (T.W. Brents, The Gospel Plan
of Salvation, p. 249). |
Due to
the fact that truth has not only been revealed but is also
knowable and thus can be practiced in our personal lives, it is
very important that we, through the proper study of the
scriptures, KNOW THE TRUTH concerning the good confession and
the plan of salvation.
THE
GOOD CONFESSION IS MADE REGARDING JESUS CHRIST
In writing to the young evangelist Timothy, the apostle Paul
stated the importance of the good confession:
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"But thou, 0 man of God, flee these things; and follow
after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience,
meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on
eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast
professed a good profession before many witnesses. I give
thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all
things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate
witnessed a good confession; That thou keep this
commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the
appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ..." (I Timothy
6:11-14). |
To the
brethren in Rome Paul wrote:
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"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Romans 10:9).
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Nowhere in the New Testament does God require the alien sinner
to confess his feelings, sins or "personal experience" with
Christ. The confession 1hat God requires for salvation from past
alien sins is the acknowledgement or admission of the truth
regarding the deity of Jesus Christ. To fail in making such a
confession results in disobedience to the
gospel and places one under the wrath of God
(II Thessalonians 1:7-9).
THIS CONFESSION IS MADE WITH THE MOUTH
It is not enough to know that the good confession
is made regarding the deity
of
Jesus
Christ. The scriptures each that such a confession MUST be made
with the mouth and is UNTO salvation: "For with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is
made unto salvation" (Romans 10:10). The relationship of the
good confession to God's plan of salvation serves as an
unanswerable
argument
against the
acceptance of denominational baptism. There are
those
among our number who contend that just as long as one
understands that baptism "is for the remission of sins" one may
scripturally renounce denominational error, make a public
confession of sin and based upon repentance of the past be
identified with the true churches
of Christ.
While certainly it is the case that one MUST
understand that water baptism is for the remission of past alien
sins, it is also the case that one must know such prior to being
baptized, and that such a baptism
is
contingent upon one's confession of faith in the deity of Jesus
Christ.
Mr. J. M. Pendleton, noted baptist preacher of
the nineteenth century, and a leading light of the Landmark
Baptist movement, which later through the efforts of Ben. M.
Bogard developed into the American Baptist Association, stated:
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"In accordance with the first way, persons wishing to
unite with a church give an account of the dealings of God
with their souls, and state the 'reason of the hope that
is in them;' whereupon, if in judgment of the church they
'have passed from death unto life,' they are by vote of
the church recognized as candidates for baptism, with the
understanding that when baptized they will be entitled to
all the rights and privileges of membership."
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When
an individual has not confessed Christ as required in the New
Testament he has not been scripturally baptized regardless how
much
truth he may understand about baptism. Brethren,
are we ready to
affirm that the only
condition of salvation is water baptism for the remission of.
sins? The doctrine of "baptism only" is just as false as is the
doctrine "faith only," yet such a doctrine must
follow as a logical consequence of affirming that one may be
scripturally baptized without making the good confession!
NEW TESTAMENT EXAMPLES OF THE GOOD CONFESSION
When studying the total context of New Testament
teaching regarding the good confession, one will conclude
that the confession
is a particular truth that is acknowledged or admitted,
not a
particular
formula of words. Several years
ago a
personal
friend
of this
writer,
while
doing the work of a
local
preacher in western Kentucky, was engaged in
visiting with several individuals at the close of a Lord's Day
evening worship assembly. During the course of his conversation
one particular individual expressed that he for a very long
period of time,
"had believed that
Jesus Christ is the only begotten
Son of
God." He also stated that he had repented of his sins and
desired within the hour to be "baptized into Christ." Upon
hearing of this individual's faith in the
Lord and realizing
of
his sincere desire
to obey the gospel,
this preacher
immediately assisted this gentleman in baptism, only to be
sternly rebuked by a brother in Christ for "not TAKING the man's
confession." This brother actually insisted that this individual
had not received valid baptism! Let us remember that the good
confession is not that which is TAKEN it is that which is MADE!
When truth is replaced with tradition,
false concepts are sure to follow. The fact that the good
confession
is a
particular truth that is to be acknowledged or admitted is
demonstrated by the following New Testament
examples:
The
confession of NATHANAEL as recorded
by
John:
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"Nathanael answered and saith unto him, rabbi, though art
the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel" (John 1:49).
Guy N. Woods commented: "Nathanael's faith blossomed and
fruited and he not only acknowledged our Lord's deity - a
truth he had just now come to realize - but also he saw in
Jesus the fulfillment of Israel's hopes and yearning for a
king and kingdom..." (Guy N. Woods, A Commentary on the
Gospel According to John, p. 47). |
The
confession of MARTHA as recorded by John:
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"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life:
he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he
live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never
die. Believest thou this? She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I
believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which
should come into the world" (John 11:25-27).
J.
W. McGarvey
stated, regarding
this
passage:
"She could only say she believed it, for Lazarus
had believed m Jesus and yet he had died. So evading the
question, she confessed her faith. Believing him, she
accepted whatever he might say..." (J. W. McGarvey, The
Fourfold Gospel, p. 52'3). She saith unto him, Yea, Lord:
I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which
should come into the world. |
The confession of PETER recorded by Matthew, Mark and Luke:
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"And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16).
"And he saith unto them, But whom say ye
that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou
art the Christ" (Mark 8:9).
"He said unto them, But whom say ye that I
am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God" (Luke 9:20).
The good confession is a divine fact not a
mere opinion! Such a confession
embraces two specific propositions: (1) The office of
Jesus - the
Christ and (2) The deity of Jesus
- the Son of
God. The Christhood of
Jesus implies his humanity, for as such he
was a son of David. |
The confession of the ETHIOPIAN NOBLEMAN:
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"And Philip said, If thou
believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he
answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son
of God” (Acts 8:37).
It is very unfortunate that a great many textual critics
have denied the validity of verse 37 appearing in the text
of Acts chapter 8. The argument is made that verse 37 is
not found in Papyrus 45, 47, Aleph, Alexandrinus,
Vaticanus or Ephraem; it is not found in the Minuscules
33, 81, 614 and various ancient versions. J. W.
McGarvey made a very untimely remark in stating:
"In regard to scarcely any reading are the textual critics
more
unanimously agreed, or on better manuscript
evidence, than the rejection of this verse as an
interpolation." (J. W. McGarvey, New Commentary on Acts,
p. 159).
In response to the modernist attacks upon
the validity of Acts 8:37, this writer makes the following
response:
First, it is an unproven assumption that
the Westcott-Hort text is the superior text over that of
the Received Text. The late British New Testament scholar
John W. Burgon has set forth arguments that have never
been answered regarding the superiority of the Received
Text
-
the text from which the King James Version
was translated. Such evidence is open for examination in
Burgon's noted work, The Revision Revised. We highly
recommend it for your study!
Second, Acts 8:37 is clearly alluded to by
Iranaeus who was active from 170-210 A.D. well before the
earliest manuscripts were copied. Also, Cyprian, who died
in 258 A.D., apparently quoted this verse well before the
earliest manuscripts were copied.
Third, by what line of reasoning should
external evidence take precedence over that of internal
evidence regarding the criticism of ANY text of the Bible?
T. W. Brents stated the matter in this particular fashion:
"Are we to
believe that Philip said nothing in answer to the
question? And yet the eunuch commanded the chariot to be
still- that both got out of it and went down into the
water in silence. Can any sane man believe it? Is there
not a perceivable blank
which the sense requires to be filled with
just such language as we find in the verse in question?"
(T. W. Brents, The Gospel Plan of Salvation, pp. 251-253)
To this particular statement of T. W.
Brents this writer says AMEN! |
REASONS FOR MAKING THE GOOD CONFESSION
When we confess Christ we concur with God's
divine oracle of affirmation as recorded in Matthew 3:
13ff and 17:1-5. We are to speak as the oracles of God (1
Peter 4:11), yet one cannot so speak without acknowledging
the deity of Christ.
We must confess Christ because that good
confession cost the life of our Lord for the sins of humanity (1
Timothy 6:11-14).
The good confession is the very foundation upon
which the church of Christ has been built (Matthew
16:16-18).
The good confession will one day be made by all
of humanity either unto eternal life or eternal death
(Philippians 2:5-11). As a penitent believer, when one
confesses Christ and is baptized for the remission of sins and
continues to confess Christ daily in faithfulness, he will, on
the final day, make the confession of eternal life. If one
rejects Christ in this life and stands before Christ in judgment
in the state of rejection he will make the confession of eternal
death (Revelation 20:11-15).
It has been the purpose of this article to note:
The good confession is made regarding Jesus
Christ.
This confession is made with the mouth.
New Testament examples of the good confession.
Reasons for making the good confession.
May we never minimize nor neglect so great a
confession!
