CONFESSION Fight the good fight of faith take

CONFESSION “Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of… Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate. ” I Tim. 6: 12 -13

Two Confessions Under Consideration n The first comes before our baptism, and is mentioned in I Tim. 6. The second is a Christian talking to his Father about the weaknesses of life. Or talking with a trusted advisor.

Confession Of Faith In Jesus n n n It is necessary – Romans 10: 9 -10; Matt. 10: 3233. The content – I John 4: 2 -3; Phil. 2: 11. Example – Acts 8: 37 What prompts us – Matt. 16: 17; Rom. 10: 9. What hinders us – fear (John 7: 13; 12: 42 -44) false teachers (2 John 7)

Confession of Sins n n n Confession of Jesus as Lord is ongoing. So is confession of sin – I John 1: 8 ff. Confession isn’t repentance, repentance should lead to confession to God. Acts 8: 14 -24 Or perhaps to a trusted friend – James 5: 15 f “Confession is good for the soul, but bad for the reputation. ”

n n n “We confess our little faults only to persuade others that we have no great ones. ” “Promiscuous confession to promiscuous gatherings is not healthy. There are some things which God deals with in His private office. ” “Protestantism needs to develop a better method of dealing with personal guilt than public confession of general sinfulness. There is a need to particularize the guilt to get definitely rid of the burden. ”

Public Confession n We’ve always been taught, “Confession needs to be public if the sin is known to others. ” Not necessarily healthy… But sometimes necessary… Do you need to make one of these confessions?