WEDNESDAY 22nd
1 John 4:13-16
‘By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.’
We have returned to the same verses again today and move to the phrase that reads ‘Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.’
John has just re-emphasized what he had already said in the epistle that he and the other disciples had witnessed and testify that the Father had sent Jesus to be the Saviour of the world. This is what he has said, ‘And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world’, thissingle sentence is loaded with so much doctrinal truth concerning salvation, a) God has only sent his Son b) the Son is the only one who is the Saviour of the world c) therefore salvation is not available through anyone else or through anything else. But as we move into the next sentence John affirms that to receive this salvation that God has provided for the world through his Son, men and women need to confess that Jesus is the Son of God, they need to believe on him. As I have often mentioned when preaching and in previous devotions, John tells us that this is why he had written his gospel, ‘so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name’. (John 20:31)
The word confess only appears a few times in Scripture, but it is an essential word or action that is required for men and women to come to faith.
We need to confess our sin, that is we have to come to a realisation that we are sinners who are heading headlong to an eternity without God, our sin being that which separates us from God. We confess our sin because we have come to know that it is an offence that has come between us and God and that through the work of Christ upon the Cross, forgiveness is available. We do not confess to an earthly priest, for they have no power to grant us forgiveness of sin, we confess it to the One who alone has the authority and power to forgive us and to cleans us from our unrighteousness, that is to the Lord Jesus, for it his only as a result of his shed blood that we can be cleansed. (1 John 1:9-2:2)
We need also to confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, for it is with the heart that we believe and with the mouth we confess. Romans 10:9-10 says ‘because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.’
I bring a challenge again today, have you come to the place of confessing your sin and of your need to know Jesus as Saviour, and in doing so have you confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord? We know from what Paul has recorded that God has already exalted Jesus and given him a name which is above every name, and as a result every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father. We have a choice to make, we willingly confess that he is Lord now and know him as Saviour or Lord, or if we fail to do so we will have to confess he is Lord under compulsion, but then it will be too late in regard to your eternal salvation. Confess Jesus now and be saved for eternity, refuse to confess him now, on the day that God has ordained for it to happen you will have to confess he is Lord, but you will still be lost for eternity. ‘Behold, now is the day of salvation’, ‘Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart’. (2 Corinthians 6:2, Hebrews 4:7)