Some groups like to use the word confession, others use the word declaration to pretty much mean the same thing. But what does it mean to confess or declare God’s Word? What is the Biblical basis for it?
Definition
Form Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary
Confession:
- Acknowledgment; avowal, especially in a matter pertaining to one’s self; the admission of a debt, obligation, or crime.
- Acknowledgment of belief; profession of one’s faith.
- (Ecclesiastical) The act of disclosing sins or faults to a priest in order to obtain sacramental absolution.
- A formulary in which the articles of faith are comprised; a creed to be assented to or signed, as a preliminary to admission to membership of a church; a confession of faith.
- (Law) An admission by a party to whom an act is imputed, in relation to such act. A judicial confession settles the issue to which it applies; an extrajudical confession may be explained or rebutted. –Wharton.
So we see that there are two aspects of confession; a confession of guilt where you admit guilt or wrongdoing, and a positive confession where you affirm and declare what you believe.
The Bible of course deals with both types of confession, and Christians are very familiar with the confession of sins. What most Christians don’t realize is that the Bible has a lot more to say about a positive confession of what you believe than it does about the confession of sins. Just looking up the words confess or confession in a concordance in the New Testament, in the KJV I find 16 instances of a positive confession of belief, and only two where it talks about the confession of sins.
In fact, in what many Christians would say is the primary application of the confession of sins in regards to salvation, they’ve got it backwards. Confessing your sins to God will not get you saved. Confession of sins was an important part of the Mosaic Law, but the Jews weren’t saved or born again like we are. No, it is the confession of our belief of the Lordship of Christ that gets us saved:
Romans 10:9-10 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Do I mean to minimize the importance of confessing our sins? Not at all. But I do want to emphasize the importance of making a positive confession of faith. If 89% of the time the New Testament uses the words confess or confession it is talking about a vocal affirmation of what we believe, then I believe we should make the same emphasis.
The positive Confession of God’s Word
The word “confession” comes from the Greek word homologeo, which comes from homo, meaning same, and logeo meaning to speak or say. So homologeo means to say the same thing. In the KJV homologeo is also sometimes translated profession.
For example, in our verses above, God has declared that Jesus Christ is Lord. There will be a time when every knee shall bow, and every tongue will confess that (Phillipians 2:10-11). But when we confess or say the same thing that God does, that Jesus Christ is Lord, or more specifically that Jesus Christ is our Lord, then we receive the benefit of that confession, which is salvation.
1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
So we see that our salvation begins with a positive confession. But we will also see that declaring our belief in Jesus Christ is not the only application of positive confession, it is a general principle that can be applied in all areas.
Foundation Text
Mark 11:12-14 12 Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry.
13 And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.
14 In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His disciples heard it.
Mark 11:19-21 19 When evening had come, He went out of the city.
20 Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
21 And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.”
Peter is basically asking the question, “How did You do it?” In a parallel passage in Matthew 21:20, he asks, “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?” Even if you chopped down a tree, the next day the leaves would still be green. It looked like the tree had been dead for a long time.
Jesus gives His explanation of how He cursed the fig tree in Mark 11:22-24:
Mark 11:22-24 22 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God.
23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.
24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
“Have faith in God”. A marginal reference in the KJV says “Have the faith of God”, or “Have the kind of faith that God has”. Does God use faith? We will see that He does.
Jesus could have said, “The fig tree withered because I’m the Son of God and I have special powers”. But He didn’t say that. He said that “Whoever says to this mountain…”
Matthew 21:21-22 21 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done.
22 And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
In Matthew He says “not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but also…” So clearly the power and principle he was illustrating was not limited to Himself as the Son of God, it was applicable to anybody – or “whosoever” as it says in the KJV – who would work the principle of the God kind of faith.
The God Kind of Faith
So what is that principle? It is found in Mark 11:23:
Whoever says…and does not doubt but believes.
This is the principle of the God kind of faith: BELIEVE it, and SAY it.
Notice that saying is mentioned three times in Mark 11:23: “Whoever says to this mountain… and does not doubt in his heart but believes what he says will be done, he will have whatever he says” . The saying part is where confession comes in. Also notice that saying is mentioned three times, but believing is mentioned once. That implies that you’ll have to do three times as much saying as you do believing.
We mentioned that this was the principle of the kind of faith that God has: believe it in your heart, and say it with your mouth. Therefore we should be able to find scriptural evidence of God using this principle.
Hebrews 11:3 3By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
The way most English translations order the words in this verse it implies that we are the ones that have to have faith to understand what God did to frame the worlds. And that is true, we have to take it on faith because we weren’t there to see it.
But the Greek language does not work the way English does as far as word order. By changing the order of the first few words of this verse, we can pull out another meaning. “We understand that by faith the worlds were framed by the word of God…” Now we see that it is God who is exercising faith in the act of creation.
Isaiah 40:12 12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, measured heaven with a span, and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?
This verse shows God the Engineer. He took a drop of water and spec of dust in His hand, and from that calculated out the earth. He planned and engineered the heavens and the earth – all the physics of the universe – in His mind and in His heart, and when He was ready, He spoke it – “Let there be Light!”
Isaiah 55:10-11 10 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater,
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
So we see here that God definitely applies the last part of Mark 11:23: he believes that those things which He says will come to pass.
We can find this principle of believe it in your heart and say it with your mouth throughout the Bible. Here is another application:
Romans 10:6-10 6 But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ “ (that is, to bring Christ down from above)
7 or, ” ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ “ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Notice it says “the righteousness of faith speaks”, and the word of faith, which is to be in your heart and in your mouth. Then it gives the practical application, of believing in your heart and confessing with your mouth the Lord Jesus, resulting in salvation.
The Big Question
No one would argue that the principle of believing in your heart and confessing (remember that means saying the same thing) with your mouth is applicable to salvation (they better not, it’s spelled out very plainly in the scripture). The big question is, what else does it work for? That is really the crux of the matter.
Some apply it to get material things. And others criticize them as being as bunch of “name it and claim it” folk and accuse them of heresy. Unfortunately, they throw out the whole principle of confession. The principle is there. It is up to you to decide how you are going to apply it.
Let’s go back to our foundation text:
Mark 11:23-24 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.
24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
I have highlighted the places where twice Jesus says that it applies to whatever. That’s red letters folks – Jesus speaking. This principle will work for whatever.
I can hear the objections already – “But what if someone is trying to believe and confess something that is not God’s will?” This is a very valid question that needs addressing.
Let’s take an example. Say there’s a gentleman in a church that sees a sweet young thing singing up in the choir, and he decides that he wants to marry her. The only problem is that she is already married, so he is “believing” and “confessing” and “declaring” that she would leave her husband and marry him. Now that is an extreme example that everyone would agree goes against God’s word.
I want to take a look at 1 John 5:14-15, but I want to look at verse 15 first in order to illustrate a point.
1 John 5:15 15And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
Now if we take just 1 John 5:15 alone, what does it say the conditions are for receiving whatever we ask of Him? It’s in the first part of the verse, He hears us. So according to 1 John 5:15 taken by itself, we have whatever petition we ask of God if He hears it.
Now of course you should never take any scripture by itself, you need to look at the context – the verses that surround it, and in fact the context of the whole Bible, look at who the verse is speaking to, etc. So now let us look at vs. 14:
1 John 5:14 14Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
We need to ask ourselves the question, if we have whatever petition we ask of God if He hears us, how do we get Him to hear us? The answer is in vs. 14 – when we ask anything according to His will.
According to His will
There are two ways we can look at the phrase “ask according to His will”:
- The thing for which you are asking is God’s will for you
- The manner in which you ask is in a method prescribed by God.
BOTH MUST BE TRUE.
In the example of the man who wanted the woman in the choir to leave her husband and marry him, maybe the manner in which he was asking – believing it and confessing/declaring it – was correct, but certainly the thing he was asking for was not God’s will.
Now we wonder how anybody could be so ignorant and stupid to do such a thing (you’d be surprised!). But we could change a couple of circumstances and there might be plenty of well meaning Christians that would agree with him. What if the woman’s husband was not saved? What if he treated her badly, was an alcoholic and abusive to her and the children?
Even if the woman was not married, there is an additional problem – her will is involved in who she will marry. You can’t just “claim” another person and override their will. God has given us a free will, and he does not make us do anything. So no amount of praying will get God to force someone else to do something – even if that something is His will for them. He will influence people, but He does not coerce. And so it takes a different kind of prayer – intercession – that has a different set of rules governing it than the prayer of faith we read about in Mark 11:22-24.
Let’s take another example. Let’s say you need wisdom for something, you need direction from God – you need to find out what His will is.
James 1:5 5If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
This verse shows us that it is God’s will to give us wisdom when we ask. It fulfills the first qualification of “according to His will”. But the passage goes on:
James 1:6-8 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Verses 6-8 address the manner in which you ask – it must be in faith, without any doubting. If you doubt, don’t expect to receive anything from the Lord. Notice how that it is applicable beyond just asking for wisdom.
So if you are bawling and squalling and begging for God to show you what to do, you probably won’t receive your answer. Now don’t misunderstand me, there is a time and a place to pour your heart out to God in anguish. But, you cannot stop there.
You can follow David’s example. There are many times in the Psalms where he pours out his heart to God, and speaks of his circumstances and how he felt. But, he always ended up encouraging himself in the Lord, reminding himself of God’s promise and faithfulness, and ending on a positive note of trust.
A Second Safeguard
Mark 11 does not just say that you will have what you say. It also says that you must “believe in your heart”. As born again Christians, we have been made new creatures in Christ and our spirits recreated (2 Corinthians 5:17-18). We are now righteous, or in right-standing with God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
We have the Spirit of God within us – even those who are not “baptized in the Holy Spirit”.
Romans 8:16 16The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
1 John 5:10 10He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.
1 John 2:27 27But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.
These scriptures show that we have the Holy Spirit as a witness in us, and that He will teach us. Those of us who are serious about seeking after God’s will would have an inward warning if we got into something presumptuous. We would not truly be able to “believe in our heart” because our heart would be telling us that it’s wrong. Now there are plenty of people who ignore that inward witness, and still try to go in the direction that is wrong, but what we see is that God is also exempted from granting that wrong petition because we would not fulfill the “believe in our heart” requirement.
Application
So we’ve covered the Biblical basis for confessing or declaring God’s Word, but what is the practical application? Where and how do we start?
The best place to start with is the “In Hims” of the Bible. There are many verses in the New Testament (and some in the Old also) that use phrases like in Him, in Christ, in Whom, through Christ – you get the idea. These verses tell you about your position as a believer in Jesus Christ. Here are some examples:
2 Corinthians 5:17 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Ephesians 1:3 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ
And one of my favorites:
2 Corinthians 5:21 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
So what we need to do with verses like these is insert ourselves into them , make it personal, and say it out loud, because confessions and declarations have to be verbal.
I am a new creation in Christ, the old things of my old nature have passed away and have been made new!
My Father God has blessed me with all spiritual blessings from His place in heaven because I am in Christ!
Jesus exchanged my sin for His righteousness, so now I am the righteousness of God in Christ!
Kenneth E. Hagin authored a minibook called In Him. In it, he goes through the background of making confessions, but then he all lists the scripture references under their particular phrases, In Christ, In Him, In the Beloved, By Christ, By Him, Through Christ, etc. The idea is that the reader should look them up and start confessing/declaring them about themselves.
When I learned about these things, I took that minibook and wrote out all the verses longhand from the Amplified version – all 144 of them. I still have that notebook.
For more on declaring God’s word, see my post on Life is in the Power of the Tongue.
