Thought from today’s Bible reading from Matthew 9-10.
“Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32-33).
Jesus teaches here that it is absolutely essential for His followers to be willing to confess Him before others. But what type of confession is He referring to in these verses?
This passage is sometimes cited to show that confession precedes baptism as a requirement for salvation. It is certainly true that one must confess his faith in order to be saved (Romans 10:9-10) and that this confession comes before one’s baptism into Christ (Acts 8:36-37). But this is not the type of confession that Jesus is talking about here.
This confession is done in one’s daily life. To confess Christ in the way that Jesus talks about here is to be faithful to Him and refuse to deny one’s faith even in the face of persecution and pressure to deny the Lord. Notice some of the verses from the same context:
“But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues” (Matthew 10:17).
“You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next” (Matthew 10:22-23).
“Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).
“A man’s enemies will be the members of his household” (Matthew 10:36).
“And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 10:38-39).
Even in the face of the most difficult circumstances, we must be willing to confess our faith in Christ. Even when we are suffering for the cause of Christ, we must never deny Him.
Tomorrow’s reading: Matthew 14; Mark 6; Luke 9:1-17
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.
