what does it mean to profess your faith
Question
What is a profession of faith?
Reply
To profess something is to openly declare it. When nosotros use the term profession of faith, we usually refer to a person'due south public declaration of his or her intent to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Because words practice not ever reflect the true condition of the heart, a profession of organized religion is not e'er a guarantee of true salvation.
Romans 10:9–10 shows the value of a profession of faith in Christ: "If you declare with your rima oris, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your eye that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that y'all profess your organized religion and are saved." Faith in the centre is accompanied by a profession of the rima oris. Those who are saved will speak of their salvation—even when that profession could lead to death, as was the case for the Christians in Rome to whom Paul was writing.
Our part in salvation is minimal because salvation is a spiritual work performed past the Holy Spirit. Our words don't salve us. Salvation is by grace through the gift of religion (Ephesians 2:8–9), not by words we speak. Jesus' rebuke of the Jews' hypocrisy was based on their empty profession: "Isaiah prophesied correctly nearly you hypocrites, equally it is written: 'These people accolade Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me'" (Mark 7:6).
In the days of the early on church, and in many parts of the world today, confessing Jesus as Lord could exist costly. Professing faith in Jesus as Messiah invited persecution, fifty-fifty death, for Jewish believers (Acts viii:1). That was one reason Peter denied three times that he knew Jesus (Mark 14:66–72). After Jesus rose from the expressionless, ascended back into heaven, and sent the Holy Spirit to indwell believers, the formerly fearful disciples confessed Jesus boldly in the streets and synagogues (Acts ane–2). Their professions of faith won converts only also brought persecution (Acts ii:1–41; 4:1–four). They refused to terminate speaking about Jesus, remembering His words: "Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Human will be ashamed of them when he comes in his celebrity and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels" (Luke 9:26). So, one purpose of our profession of faith is to declare that nosotros are not aback to exist called His followers.
Of form, words without a heart change are only words. A mere profession of faith, with no corresponding heart of religion, has no power to salve or change the states. In fact, Jesus warned that many who think they are saved because of a profession will find out some day that they were never His at all: "Non everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, only simply the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did nosotros non prophesy in your proper name and in your proper name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' Then I volition tell them evidently, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" (Matthew 7:21–23). So merely professing faith in Jesus, even when the profession is accompanied by proficient works, does non guarantee salvation. At that place must be repentance of sin (Mark 6:12). We must be born again (John 3:iii). We must follow Jesus as Lord of our lives, by faith.
A profession of faith is the starting place for a lifetime of discipleship (Luke 9:23). There are many means to brand professions of organized religion, simply as there are many ways to deny Jesus. He said, "I tell you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man volition also confess him before the angels of God" (Luke 12:viii). One such outward profession is baptism, which is the first step of obedience in following Jesus as Lord (Acts ii:38). Only baptism does non guarantee salvation, either. Thousands take been immersed, sprinkled, or dabbed with water, merely that ritual cannot relieve. "The Spirit gives life; the mankind counts for nothing" (John 6:63). Baptism should symbolize the new life we have in Christ, the inner change of allegiance we possess. Without that new life and change of heart, baptism and other professions of faith are only religious rituals, powerless in themselves.
Conservancy occurs when the Holy Spirit moves into a repentant eye and begins His sanctifying work of making us more like Jesus (Romans 8:29). When Jesus explained this action to Nicodemus in John 3, He compared the Spirit's moving to the air current. Nosotros cannot come across the air current, but we see where it has been because it changes everything it touches. Grass moves, leaves shudder, and skin cools so that no one doubts that the air current has come. So it is with the Spirit. When He moves into a assertive center, He begins to alter the believer. We cannot see Him, but nosotros encounter where He has been because values motion, perspectives shift, and desires brainstorm to line up with God's Word. We profess the Lord Jesus in everything we do and seek to glorify Him (1 Corinthians x:31). The manner we comport our lives is a more than sure profession of religion than mere words. Words are important, and a believer in Christ will be unashamed to identify as such. There were times when Jesus pressed for a verbal profession of faith (e.g., Matthew 16:15), but He also pressed for more than words: "If you continue in My word, and so you are truly disciples of Mine" (John 8:31).
Questions about Salvation
What is a profession of faith?
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This folio last updated: January four, 2022
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