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I. WHAT ARE WE TO CONFESS?

1. That Christ is risen. The resurrection of Jesus was the decision of all controversies between Him and His enemies. They had invented stories to discredit it. To confess Christ, therefore, was to declare for Christ against the Jewish rulers. And as the Gentile philosophers scorned the resurrection, to confess Christ was to brave this scorn.

2. Christ's official character as the Messiah, which He suspended on His resurrection.

3. His personal dignity, as proved by the fact (Romans 1:3, 4).

4. The sufficiency and the exclusive efficacy of his righteousness and atonement. To confess His resurrection is to glory in His cross and passion.

5. His sole and supreme authority. We must acknowledge Him as the only Lord of the conscience, and if we do this we shall follow His will, let the world say what they may. This practical confession is indispensable. In the confession of the lips without it there is no sincerity. The apostle speaks cf some who professed that they knew God, while in works they denied Him. The practical denial was the true testimony.

6. His title to Divine worship and adoration. This is suggested by vers.11-13. In all this the avowal must be sincere and open, no silent reserve, no ashamed concealment, no disguising and palliating of the truth, no trimming and artful evasion.

II. WHY ARE WE TO CONFESS? Because —

1. Jesus is well entitled to it, both for what He is and what He bath done (John 1:1-3; 2 Corinthians 8:9). Away with ingratitude so base that would disown or shrink from acknowledging such a friend!

2. It is one of the required and reasonable evidences of faith. There is no faith where there is no confession. And this evidence is of the utmost importance and value. Evidence of personal interest in Christ must be added to the evidence of the truth itself to give stability to personal hope and confidence (1 John 3:19; 2 Corinthians 13:5).

3. It is intimately connected with salvation. The terms expressing this connection are equally explicit with those which express the connection of faith with justification. If you do not make confession you do not believe, you are not justified, and cannot be saved.

4. It distinguishes the believer from the world, and is opposed to everything like neutrality. A man must be on one side or on the other. There must be no "halting between two opinions," and compromising with the so-called Christian world, any more than with the world of the avowedly unbelieving and ungodly.

(R. Wardlaw, D.D.)

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KJV: For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.

WEB: For Moses writes about the righteousness of the law, "The one who does them will live by them."