What Is Biblical Confession?

From the Holman Illustrated Bible
& Dictionary & Treasury of Key Bible Words

Confession - The Admission, declaration, or acknowledgment, that is a significant element in the worship of God in both OT and NT. The majority of the occurrences of the term can be divided into two primary responses to God: the confession of sin and the confession of faith.  

Confession of Sin [1]

Numerous OT passages stress the importance of the confession of sin within the experience of worship. Leviticus speaks of ritual acts involving such admission of sin: the sin (or guilt) offering (5:5–6:7) and the scapegoat that represents the removal of sin (16:20–22).

Furthermore, confession can be the act of an individual in behalf of the people as a whole (Neh. 1:6; Dan. 9:20) or the collective response of the worshiping congregation (Ezra 10:1; Neh. 9:2–3).

Frequently, it is presented as the individual acknowledgment of sin by the penitent sinner (Ps. 32:5; Prov. 28:13; Pss. 40 and 51, which are individual confessions although the word “confession” is not used).

Likewise, in the NT confession of sin is an aspect of both individual and corporate worship. At the Jordan, John’s followers were baptized, confessing their sins (Matt. 3:6; Mark 1:6). Similar confessions were made by Paul’s converts in Ephesus (Acts 19:18). Christians are reminded that God faithfully forgives the sins of those who confess them (1 John 1:9). James admonished his readers not only to pray for one another but also to confess their sins to one another (5:16), probably within the context of congregational worship.

By the end of the first century, routine public worship included confession as the prelude to the observance of the Lord’s Supper as seen in the Apostolic Fathers.

[Thus we see that confession is a matter both of personal as well as public interaction with God concerning sin.

Two “Kinds” of Biblical Confession

When one hears the cry “Confess, confess!” it sounds like an interrogation scene, doesn’t it? The word does have this negative connotation, but it also has a positive one. Confess means to declare affirmatively what one believes in. The Greek word “homologeo” literally means “saying the same thing” - that is, affirming one’s agreement with a particular spiritual reality. We agree with our Lord and confess that we are sinners, and we confess (affirm) that Jesus is the Lord and Savior.

These two kinds of confession occur in the
Bible.[2]

·  First, individuals confess that they have sinned and are therefore guilty before God.

·       Second, they confess that Jesus is Lord. One confession very often leads to the other.

In the first kind of confession, one agrees or acknowledges that he has broken God’s law and therefore deserves punishment (Rom. 6:23).

²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Those who were baptized by John the Baptist publicly confessed their sins and repented (Mark 1:4–5).

⁴ John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. ⁵ Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.

All Christians, in fact, must agree with God that they are sinners, and they are encouraged to confess their sins to God (1 John 1:8-9).

⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Note that those are two distinct confessions, the first negative and the second positive - the two go hand in hand!

James said that when a Christian is sick, the elders are to visit that person and give him an opportunity to confess any sins. In the same passage, James urged Christians to confess their sins to one another (Jas. 5:13–16).

¹³ Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

The Second, More Positive Meaning

The second, more positive meaning of the word, occurs frequently in the New Testament with respect to affirming one’s faith in Christ. When Christians confess, they declare as a matter of conviction and allegiance that Jesus is the Christ and that they belong to Him. Jesus said,

“Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 10:32).

Refusal to confess Christ is the same as denying Him - Jesus (and the other NT writers) was VERY clear about this:

33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 10:33)
8 “Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. (Luke 12:8)

11 This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. 12 If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. 13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself. (2 Timothy 2:11–13)

    Note that this “denial” is NOT a tit for tat denial - “so there! You get what you have coming to you for what you’ve done for Me; serves you right.  Not primarily…It is a function of the far more fundamental issue - their lack of redemption to begin with.  Both the affirmation of Christ and the denial of Him demonstrates the presence of Salvation in the heart and spirit.

     The Christian life therefore begins with a confession of faith, a public declaration before witnesses.

⁹ that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Rom. 10:9–10)

¹² Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (1 Timothy 6:12)

An additional dimension of the Christian’s confession is provided in:

2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God (1 John 4:2)

One must confess that “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.” A person must not only acknowledge that Jesus “has come” and confess belief in Jesus’ divinity and preexistence as the Son of God, but also that He has come “in the flesh” - that is, confess belief in Jesus’ incarnation.

In the world today there are religions based on false prophets, the Bible tells us this is so, and has long warned that such prophets and their false teachings were coming, but some believers find it difficult to ascertain truth when the values and morals being taught by these religions seem to be in accordance with the Bible. However, as shown above, we can discern whether people have the spirit of God or not depending on their ability to proclaim that Jesus is indeed the Son of God (1 John 4:15).

¹⁵ Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

Such false movements will, inevitably, deny that Christ is the full Son of God, denying His full equality with the Father and thus will fail this test.

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[1]     Chad Brand, Charles Draper, Archie England, Steve Bond, E. Ray Clendenen, Trent C. Butler and Bill Latta, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003). 327-28.

[2]     Eugene E. Carpenter and Philip W. Comfort, Holman Treasury of Key Bible Words: 200 Greek and 200 Hebrew Words Defined and Explained (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000). 257.