Expert: Dr. Ronald E. Shultz - 6/10/2007

Question
QUESTION: Hello there sir. What does it mean to confess Jesus is Lord? I am trying to have some more assurance in my salvation. I am trying to confess and believe all over again (Romans 10:9). Before you give me an answer, I thought I'd give you a thought on what it doesn't mean, just so we won't have to email each other back and forth. I don't think it means to confess Jesus is MY Lord. Do you agree? It says in Phillipians 2:11-12 that every knee in heaven, on earth, and under the earth will bow and confess with their tongue that Jesus is Lord. This includes the Devil and his fallen angels right? I don't really see him confessing "Jesus is my Lord", or maybe that is what it means? Hmmmm..., I'll stop babbling. What does it mean?

ANSWER: NT:3670 homologeo (hom-ol-og-eh'-o); from a compound of the base of NT:3674 and NT:3056; to assent, i.e. covenant, acknowledge: KJV - con- (pro-) fess, confession is made, give thanks, promise

NT:1843 exomologeo (ex-om-ol-og-eh'-o); from NT:1537 and NT:3670; to acknowledge or (by implication of assent) agree fully: KJV - confess, profess, promise.

(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.)

These are the only two words translated confess in the NT.
Not sure why you are trying to do it all over again.  For salvation it needs to only be done once.  However, as we witness and live for Jesus we are confessing Him as Lord of our life.  

Yes, the devil and his angels will have to acknowledge as Lord though they won't like it.

You confess Him as Lord when your believe the record that God gives of His Son and of you and ask Christ to save you.  (I John 5:10-13)  

He is Lord of all things and people, believer or not, but when you acknowledge and enter into the covenant with Him you say the same thing as God so the confession is a positive thing with you whereas it will be a negative one for the devil.  

If you have been approached by someone espousing "Lordship salvation" don't let them mess up you head.  No one completely understands what Christ's Lordship is all about until after they get saved.  Even if you mouth the words in your prayer for salvation, "I ask you to be my Lord and Savior" the true impact of that will not be understood until you grow in Christ. Unless you live under a true monarchy or dictatorship you can't understand what a Lord is especially the Lord of Lords and King of Kings.  

You must acknowledge Him as the Son of God who died for you but you will not understand His Lordship for awhile.  You will understand that He is God and Savior in the beginning He will teach you aboutthe Lordship as you grow.  

May God bless you as you grow in Him through His Word!

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: So just to clarify, confess that Jesus is the Son of God and that he died for me? That seems rather odd don't you think? Is the Devil going to confess "Jesus you are the Son of God and you died for me"? The greek word for "Lord" used in Romans 10:9 is kurios. It means to be a possessor, master, or owner of something. You can go to searchgodsword.org and look at the lexicons if you want to check, but I am sure that that is what that particular greek word means. It cannot mean to say "confess Jesus is God" because the greek word for god or just generally calling God (the Father) is theos. Unless the word in place of "Lord" was theos, then I would believe it, but theos is not used. Surely, it must mean something else. I am starting to lean toward that it means that Jesus is Lord of the universe. I need some more clarification though and truth. What does it mean? Man I just want to get this doubt out of the way. Sir, please help me.
ANSWER: OK, let's see if I can do this another way.  George W. Bush is president of the US.  Those who voted for him acknowlege/confess that he has the right to make decisions that affect their lives and since they voted for him they are basically happy about it.  Those who voted against him may or may not acknowledge/confess his right to make those decisions but he does make them just the same as his rights and privileges of the office do not change regardless of what people think or if they like it or not.

Jesus is Lord of the Universe and indeed owns us, the devil, and unbelievers.  How we feel about it doesn't change that.  The devil and unbelievers will have to acknowledge/confess that in the end but they will not like it nor will it benefit them.  When a lost person hears the Gospel and believes it they are confessing/acknowledging Him for who and what He is or confessing Him as Lord of the universe and their lives even though as I said it may take years for them to fully understand all that means.  

Context is everything. No, the devil will not acknowledge Him as the one who died for him but then the context of this verse is not really directed towards him as Jesus only died for humans albeit elsewhere it does say he will bow and confess Jesus as Lord.

I believe that lost people will acknowledge that He died for them and that salvation was available for them but because they chose not to acknowledge/confess those facts here they are lost by their own choice or free will. They will definitely confess that He is Lord or the possessor of them and has the right to do what He wants with them and/or to them.  In their case that will mean to place them in Hell for eternity.

When you become a Christian and turn from all other faiths and your own works to place your faith in Him you have declared Him Lord whether you mouthed those words or not. He  became your Savior but He was always your Lord.  You now freely acknowledge/confess that fact.  

Please do not twist yourself in a knot over this phrase.

John 3:16 says that we must believe on the Son.

I John 5 tells us that we must believe the record of who Christ is and it says that He who has the Son hath life.  The word Lord is not in either passage but if you believe in what the record says about the Son you believe He is Lord.  

Romans were polytheistic so Paul had to emphasize to them that they were not to just add Jesus to their pantheon of gods but that He replaced all their gods because He was the only Lord.  Ceaser was also called kurios as he claimed to be god as well. The word was a slap against all that Rome was built upon. The Jews knew this but Gentiles would also be reading this epistle or have it read to them so he covered all the bases.  

Do you believe in Apollo, Venus, Mars or any other god?  No, then by virtue of you believing the Gospel, which includes the Lordship of Christ, then you have confessed Him as Lord because you forsook all other gods, ancient or modern.  It was in your heart when you called on Christ to be saved and unless you are praying to Christ and someone else then you have confessed, do confess, and shall confess Him as Lord. It's done!  It's finished.  Let the doubt go!  Just rest in His promise and power!  He is not confusing you.  Confusion is of the devil and he wants you neutralized since He can't have you. If you stay stuck in doubt you won't be doing anything to disrupt his game plans like winning someone to Christ if you are all tied up in words and doubts.

Father, I ask you to bring peace and assurance to Joe.  Use him mightily in your service and may he be used to bring much discomfort to the devil and disrupt his plans through Your power.  Amen


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I see, good analogy by the way. I am almost sure that to confess Jesus is Lord is to confess that He is in fact Lord of the Universe. I still doubt it though. I thank you for your prayer. It's too bad that there will be so many lost people. I am so happy when I hear of a new convert. It makes my year. The record of Christ is to believe that He is the Son of God right? Is there a difference from believing IN the Son rather that ON the Son? I thank you once again for offering your time.

Answer
Well, the demons believe IN Christ and many people say they believe IN Christ but since they have not placed their faith in Him for salvation they have not believed ON Him so there is a difference in a sense but some may be expressing true faith when they say they believe IN Him.  You have to know the person's meaning of the use of the words to be sure where their head is.

Yes, it is sad that few will be saved but it isn't because the Lord did not try.  He made it very easy actually.  Man and his theology make it hard.