“And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” – Mark 11:22-24
LIGHT FOR NOW: The voice of faith in what Christ has done is your confession of faith.
Having seen that the word “confession” was not used in reference to sins in the New Testament, hence, we do not confess our sins to God. It is vital, however, to explain the text that seems to say this. 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. We ask a few questions to guide our thinking. How did John use the word confess? 1 John 4:2; 1 John 4:3; 1 John 4:15; 2 John 1:7; Revelation 3:5. John used the word “confess” for Jesus to confess what he has done. How did other writers of the epistles use the word confess? It was used for Jesus – Romans 10:9-10; Philippians 2:11; Hebrews 3:1. That confession is an acknowledgment of Jesus.
So, back to 1 John 1:9; we would input where the word confess is… to say/acknowledge with our mouth his conclusion. So, our confession would be that he is faithful and just to forgive our sins; what we say is that we have forgiveness of sins, that we have been cleansed from all unrighteousness, it is in the past tense. Ephesians 1:7 and Colossians 1:14 affirm that we have forgiveness of sins in him. 1 John 2:12 “I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake”. When he paid for it, it was in our future. So, we do not confess on weaknesses or failures. Rather, we confess and consistently affirm what he has done and what he is doing in us today. Faith confession is to testify and bears witness to the reality of who we are in Christ. Glory!
INSTRUCTION: Affirm with your mouth what God has done for you in Christ.
CONFESSION: I speak boldly who I am in Christ, I have forgiveness of sins forever, God is at work in me forever, in Jesus Name, Amen.
QUOTE: The confession of faith is an affirmation of what God in Christ has done for you.
DAILY BIBLE READING: MORNING: EPHESIANS CHAPTER 1; EVENING: COLOSSIANS CHAPTER 11
LIGHT FROM THE WORD 