Jess Whitlock
The apostle Paul wrote,
Fight the good fight of the faith, lay hold on the life eternal, whereunto thou wast called, and didst confess the good confession in the sight of many witnesses. I charge thee in the sight of God, who giveth life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed the good confession; that thou keep the commandment, without spot, without reproach, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ… (1 Tim. 6:12-14).
The word confession comes from the Greek word homologia and “denotes confession, by acknowledgement of the truth” (Vine’s, p. 120).
The word confess can mean to say or admit that one has done wrong, to acknowledge one’s sins to others. This is taught for the Christian that has sinned in a public manner (Matt. 3:5-6; Jam 5:16; 1 John 1:9). That is not the nature of this discussion. We are presently concerned with the good confession of one’s faith in Christ before he can be scripturally baptized (Acts 8:35-38). God established one set of criteria for one to be added to the church of the New Testament:
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One must be taught the Word of God: Matt. 28:18-20; John 6:45; Rom. 10:17.
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One must believe that Jesus Christ is God’s Son: John 8:24; Rom. 10:10; Heb. 11:6.
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One must repent of sins: Acts 2:38; 17:30-31.
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One must confess faith in Jesus Christ as God’s Son: Matt. 10:32; Acts 8:36-37.
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One must be baptized into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Matt. 28:19.
Paul gave to young Timothy some divine marching orders as he wrote, “I charge thee in the sight of God…” (1 Tim. 6:13a). Paul had just reminded Timothy that he had been “…called, and didst confess the good confession in the sight of many witnesses” (1 Tim. 6:12c). With apostolic authority, this charge is witnessed in the “sight of God who giveth life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed the good confession” (1 Tim. 6:13).
The confession of Christ as God’s Son is not a one-time confession before baptism, and we are done. We must be ready and willing to confess Jesus day by day, until the day of our death. We must confess Him even if it should mean our death. This confession is one we are to make not only with our lips but more importantly with our life. There were those in the church at Smyrna that lost their lives in refusing to deny Him as Lord. Jesus stated forthrightly, “Whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before My Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 10:32).
Peter confessed, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). Martha confessed, “Yea, Lord: I have believed that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, even He that cometh into the world” (John 11:27). The heavenly Father Himself confessed, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him” (Matt. 17:5c). God said that Jesus was His beloved Son, so when we confess Jesus as being God’s Son, we are simply saying what God Himself had to say about Jesus. Before I was baptized into Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, I said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
The book of Acts is often called the Book of Conversions. One of the examples given is the conversion of Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-40). This episode deals directly with the subject of the “good confession.” This man was a “eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to Jerusalem to worship” (Acts 8:26). He was a man who was trustworthy and honest. He was a man of tremendous responsibility.
He was returning from Jerusalem in his chariot. He had been in Jerusalem to worship God. He was reading from the Scripture of Isaiah 53:7-8. Think about this trait. He has just been to worship and now he is studying the Scripture. He reminds me of another man by the name of Cornelius, “a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, who gave much alms to the people and prayed to God always” (Acts 10:2). Both of these men were religious, but both of these men stood in need of salvation. Yes, a man can be religious and be unsaved.
And the Spirit said unto Philip, go near and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah, the prophet, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except someone shall guide me? And he besought Philip to come up and sit with him (Acts 8:29-31).
This is the reason we need teachers and preachers of the Gospel message and why the Spirit sent Philip the evangelist to join the eunuch in his chariot. Paul expounds by writing,
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? Even as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them bring glad tidings of good things (Rom. 10:13-15).
The Spirit sent Philip the evangelist to join the eunuch in his chariot. The eunuch was reading Isaiah 53 and he asked Philip: “I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? Of himself or of some other?” (Acts 8:34). It would appear that this was the one and only Bible study this eunuch received before obeying the Gospel of Christ. Notice please, “Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this scripture, preached unto him Jesus” (Acts 8:35). Remember that Philip preached unto him Jesus. Remember those four words: “preached unto him Jesus.” What next?
And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water; and the eunuch saith, Behold, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, if thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him (Acts 8:36-38).
Herein we learn God’s plan of salvation for all men that are lost in sin:
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The eunuch heard the Gospel message, see verse 35 and Romans 10:17;
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He believed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, see verse 37 and Mark 16:16;
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He turned from his sins in turning to God;
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He confessed the name of Christ before man, see verse 37 and Romans 10:9-10;
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He was baptized for, unto, in order to obtain remission of sins, see verse 38 and Acts 2:38; 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21.
Philip “preached unto him Jesus,” and the eunuch believed in Jesus Christ, repented of his sins, confessed the name of Christ publicly, and was baptized. The thought strikes me that when a man claims to “preach Jesus” and concludes his message, there ought to be some interest in the subject of baptism. If at the end of his sermon there is no interest or mention of the subject of baptism, then no matter what else may have been taught, you can rest assured that the message of Jesus has not been preached.
The book of Acts has been called the “Book of Conversions.” The Great Commission commands the proclamation of the Word of God to all men (Matt. 28:18-10; Mark 16:15-16). We have examples of that commission carried out to those present on the Day of Pentecost as Peter and the other apostles preached the first Gospel Sermon (Acts 2:14-41).
That example is then followed by the Samaritans (Acts 8:5-13), the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:35-39), Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9:17-18), the household of Cornelius (Acts 10:34-48), and Lydia and her household (Acts 16:13-14). Man must hear preach the Word of God (Rom. 10:14).
It is essential for all men to believe that Jesus is the Christ, God’s Son. We find these examples: the Samaritans (Acts 8:12), the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:36-37), Cornelius and his household (Acts 10:43), and the Philippian jailer (Acts 16:31). Man must have faith in Jesus Christ (John 8:24; Heb. 5:8-9; 11:6).
We learn from the example of the crowd on Pentecost that many were willing to repent of their sinful condition (Acts 2:37-38). Man must repent of his sins (Luke 13:3-5).
We learn from the Ethiopian Eunuch that it is necessary to confess before others the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 8:37). Man must confess Christ as Lord (Rom. 10:9-10).
Rest assured that the time is coming “…that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:11). “For it is written, As I live saith the Lord, to Me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess to God” (Rom. 14:11). Those words were rooted in Isaiah 45:23.
We plead with you to study this entire issue of The Gospel Preceptor and then, like the song says, “Trust and obey, for there is no other way” (John 14:6). Do not miss one step. It will be eternally fatal!
