Cross Road
Baptist Church
© 2017
Confess Up
6. But the righteousness which is of faith speaks on this wise, say not in your heart, Who shall ascend into Heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above)
7. Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring Christ again from the dead.)
8. But what says it? The Word is near you, even in your mouth, and in your heart: that is, the Word of faith, which we preach;
9. That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.
Romans 10:6-9
Getting to Right
We are all on a journey to fulfillment. Our ultimate goal in life is not happiness, but fulfillment. There are those who unknowingly think that happiness is a tangible goal. It is not. Fulfillment is the tangible goal and happiness is the soul’s response to the attainment of that goal. Like any goal, one will never reach fulfillment without doing that which is right. Unless you get to the right, you will never get anywhere in life. The reason why so many fail in life is because they ignore doing right. Doing right is not something you ignore. Right will not compromise itself or bend to our selfish demands. Right will not wait until we get it together. Right is right and it is only when you get to right that you have a sense of fulfillment and peace.
Paul, the Apostle, speaks of our righteousness which is of faith. It is worth noting that this righteousness is not an academic pursuit. This righteousness of faith is not something of technical nature where one is trained or can attain certain skill sets to become righteous before God. This righteousness is of faith. It is a deep and abiding trust that we express in the Lord Jesus. He indeed is our righteousness. When we place our trust in Jesus Christ, we experience the faith and then begin to live a life of faith as Jesus leads us along the path of righteousness. To put it all in perspective doing right begins and ends not in a thing we do but who we believe in. That person is the Lord Jesus Christ.
This brings us to the means of accessing faith. How do you gain access to this faith? What is it that we can do in order to obtain this righteousness which is by faith? Notice what this verse is saying regarding the kind of righteousness that God gives to believers. It is the righteousness which is of faith and it speaks. I am not trying to get into the semantics of this verse but rather simply show that this righteousness is not silent. It is saying something. More importantly, it assigns the speaking parts to the one who believes and the one that has come to God for righteousness. That believer must say something or confess something to God in order to obtain the righteousness which is of faith. I might add that not everyone has spoken to God regarding this matter of righteousness. I will further add that some who have spoken to God regarding this matter did not mean what they said to God. As a result, they did not obtain the righteousness which is by faith. It is only when we ‘speak’ or ‘confess up’ that God will reward us with righteousness. I said all of that to say this; you must ‘confess up.’
Confession is often misunderstood as a negative expression of remorse for our sin, when it is much more. The fact that confession is misunderstood does not alter its purpose. It is to our benefit that we both study and do it. The first level of understanding that we reach is to use confession to help us get out of sin. One can never begin the journey toward righteousness without dealing with sin. Someone has said that sin is heavy baggage to take with us on the Path of Righteousness.
While confessing our sin is a priority, confession is all about access to God’s Amazing Grace. The righteousness which is of faith speaks. In order to clearly hear and speak the right confession we must expel the confession myths. There are many misstatements about faith and about God. That is why Paul shared with believers right confessions in order to establish God’s righteousness.
The first is myth is the confession to glorify man. Verse 6, But the righteousness which is of faith speaks on this wise, say not in your heart, who shall ascend into Heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above). Why do we need to be told what not to say? Truth is, we all have a system of justice and our own understanding of right and wrong. We quickly judge people to the point where we think that folk like us automatically go to Heaven. Then the folk who are not like us automatically do not go to Heaven. Heaven is not based on your definition of right or your judgment. Don’t say in your heart, “that person (or even yourself for that matter) will ascend into Heaven.” Why? That brings Christ down from above, meaning you are literally saying Christ has little to do with people ascending to Heaven. You place value on the efforts of man rather than the finished work of Christ. That brings Him down and diminishes His work of Redemption. The fact remains that only the Work of Christ will get you into Heaven. So make a right confession. Confess up that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and that no one comes to the Father except through Him.
The second myth is confession to condemn man. On the one hand, it is wrong to send people to Heaven based on our own standard of righteousness. On the other hand, it is equally wrong to condemn people to Hell based on our judgment of sin. Verse 7 tells us, Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring Christ again from the dead.) Bringing Christ again from the dead means His Resurrection Power. Jesus Christ power can raise people up, even the worst of sinners. To confess that people are condemned to the deep is to bring up Christ again from the dead. Now the question is this, who would be making statements like “Who shall ascend into Heaven?” Or who would ask, “who shall descend into the deep?” Those who do not realize the power of Jesus Christ and the preaching of the Gospel are the ones who talk like that. They have not come to the realization that the Gospel is based on only one confession. Confess Jesus Christ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. Confessing up is getting past religion and beliefs in works and getting into Christ.
The only true confession is Jesus Christ is truth. John 14:6, Jesus said unto him, “I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no one comes to the Father but through Me.” Why go about establishing our own way or another way, when the way has been made plain. It is the only true confession. If we ascend up, it will depend on only One Person to get us there. If we descend into the deep, it will result in one thing: the rejection of the Truth. We must confess up.
Fake Confession Don’t Work
Only true confessions will give the ability to reach the righteousness of God. It is not a play thing nor an easy thing. It cost Jesus His life. Not only do we confess up to be saved, we live the confessional life in Christ.
Confession of Jesus Christ is more than a one-time statement; it is a lifetime commitment to God’s Grace. There are three confessions that Saints of God must continually make in their journey in the Righteousness of God.
Confession No. 1 – “I know Jesus Christ.” Romans 10:9, That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. Living right is not about what I know but rather who I know. Honestly we don’t know much and then what we know, we tend to easily forget. We can never forget who we truly know. We know Jesus Christ. No one can ever meet Jesus and not be changed. When you know Him, you will confess Him. When you confess Him, you will be saved. Not saved until the next time I sin, but saved eternally. Jesus is just that good. Other people can tell when you really know Jesus Christ because it shows in the way you live.
The second Confession – “I am alive in Christ.” Galatians 2:20 states, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. I am living but not by myself. I am living but not for myself. There is someone that is sustaining me. There is someone that is walking with me everyday to live through me. It is not my life but it is the life of God in me. This explains both my power for living as well as my purpose for living. Oh it is Jesus for my soul. I know I am living right and I know what I am living on. I know Jesus Christ and I am alive in Christ.
Lastly, Confession No. 3 – “I belong to Jesus Christ.” It is one thing to say that I know Jesus Christ. That is wonderful. It is another thing to say that I am alive in Christ. That is great. But when you say that I belong to Jesus Christ, now you are saying you are committed to Him. If you are committed to Him, you will walk like Him, act like Him, live for Him. This is not a religious garment you can take off when you belong to Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:16, 23, know ye not that your are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? … and you are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s. There are no self claims. It is all gone when you reach this level of confessing up. It is obvious that some people are not there and have no intention of getting there any time soon. People who complain are still making self claims of righteousness. People who still hold on to their sin are saying they belong to themselves. People who realize who they belong to Jesus will surrender everything to God and allow Him to truly have His way. Do yourself a favor today and Confess Up.