Does Acts 8:37 support the necessity of a verbal confession of faith? Acts 8:37 – Verbal Confession of Faith Text of Acts 8:37 “And Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.’ The eunuch answered, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’” Patristic Citations Irenaeus quotes the eunuch’s confession to demonstrate the apostolic proclamation of Jesus as the incarnate Son. Cyprian applies the verse pastorally in instructing that “those about to be baptized confess first.” Such wide-ranging geographic use (Gaul, North Africa) indicates a tradition earlier than the extant manuscripts. Biblical Theology of Verbal Confession Scripture consistently joins saving faith with its verbal expression: • Romans 10:9-10 — “…if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” • Matthew 10:32 — “Everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father….” • 1 John 4:15 — “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him….” Acts 8:37 crystallizes this pattern in narrative form: heart-belief followed by open confession immediately preceding baptism. Relation to Baptism In every full-length baptismal episode in Acts (2:38-41; 8:12-13; 16:30-34; 18:8), belief precedes immersion. Verse 37 simply makes explicit what is implicit elsewhere: a verbal profession is the threshold that separates mere intellectual assent from public allegiance to Christ, thus guarding the ordinance from mechanical ritualism. Romans 10:9-10 and Canonical Parallels Paul pairs “believe in your heart” with “confess with your mouth.” Luke, Paul’s companion, frames Acts 8:37 with the same dual emphasis. The redundancy across distinct authors shows canonical concurrence, not late editorial smoothing. Historical Practice in the Early Church The earliest extrabiblical baptismal liturgies (Didache 7, ca. AD 60-80; Apostolic Tradition 21, ca. AD 215) prescribe a spoken confession of faith (“Do you believe…? I do believe.”). Such uniformity is best explained by apostolic precedent witnessed in Acts 8:37. Objections Addressed 1. “The verse is absent in earliest manuscripts; therefore it is inauthentic.” • Absence does not equal non-existence; papyri often omit marginal glosses and liturgical cues. The uniformity of patristic citation argues for early inclusion. 2. “Confession is a work that contradicts sola fide.” • Confession is faith’s vocalization, not an additional work; Scripture makes no dichotomy between inward faith and outward confession (Psalm 116:10, 2 Corinthians 4:13). 3. “Salvation scenes without explicit confession (e.g., Acts 10).” • Peter’s sermon in Acts 10 is itself a verbal confession of Christ; Cornelius responds with Spirit-evidenced faith. Context determines what Luke highlights; silence is not negation. Implications for Evangelism and Discipleship Acts 8:37 legitimizes the evangelistic call for an audible profession (“Would you now confess Jesus as Lord?”). It safeguards baptisms, ensuring that candidates articulate genuine faith and the core gospel. For discipleship, it models the habit of continuous, public acknowledgment of Christ as Lord (Hebrews 13:15). Conclusion Acts 8:37, textually credible and theologically harmonious, affirms that verbal confession naturally accompanies true heart-faith. While not a meritorious prerequisite added to faith, it is the God-ordained expression that authenticates belief before baptism, church, and watching world. Therefore the verse does support the necessity—better, the inevitability—of an open confession for those who have genuinely believed on the risen Son of God. |
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