"WITH THE MOUTH CONFESSION IS MADE UNTO SALVATION"

 

Our Lord said, "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matt. 12:34). That which a man knows, he can explain. That which a man believes, he can tell. That which a man has experienced, he can put into words. If you cannot tell anyone what you believe and why you believe it, it is very likely that you do not really believe. There are multitudes who say, "I believe in Jesus Christ." Almost everyone does. The devils in hell believe in Christ; but they do not know him. They are not saved. And most people who say they believe in Jesus Christ are like the devils, they are not saved. There are very few people in the church or out of it who can tell you anything about the Lord Jesus Christ. They cannot answer the most simple, basic, elementary questions about the Person and work of Christ - Who is he? What did he do? Why did he do it? Where is he now? What is he doing there? There is a reason for man's ignorance in these matters. He simply does not know Christ. You cannot tell what you do not know anymore than you can come back from where you have not been. If you know Christ, you can and will confess Christ. That which a man has experienced in his heart, he can and will confess with his mouth.

                A faith that I cannot explain is no faith at all. Peter says, "Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give answer to every man that asketh a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear" (I Pet. 3:15). A hope that I cannot explain is a false hope. A salvation that I cannot confess with my mouth, according to the Word of God, is no salvation at all. I do not say that a man must have great learning and knowledge in order to be saved. I do not say that a person must be a good speaker to be a child of God. But I do say that a person who has a good hope of salvation in Christ must be able to tell what his hope is. Where in the New Testament do you ever find that men were called Christians who knew nothing about Christianity?

                Our confession of Christ must be according to the Word of God. David said, "I hope in thy Word - Remember the Word unto thy servant upon which thou hast caused me to hope" (Ps. 119:81, 49). Paul said, "Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope" (Rom. 15:4). I have no reason to believe that I am a child of God, unless I can open the Bible and show you why, and upon what basis I have such a hope.

This is what I am saying: If you are a child of God, you can tell how you came to be a child of God (I John 3: 1-3). If you are redeemed, you can explain how you were redeemed (Gal. 3:13). If you are justified, you can declare how God can be just and yet justify the ungodly (Rom. 3:24-26). If you are regenerated, born again, you can tell men how God gives life to dead sinners (John 3:8; Eph. 2:1-5). If you have faith in Christ, you can explain what faith in Christ is (John 3:14-15). If you have experienced the grace of God in salvation, you can explain how it is that God saves sinners by his almighty, free grace in Christ (Eph. 2:8-9; II Tim. 1:9).

                If I am saved, if I am a child of God, I must be able to confess and declare my faith to you, and I will. I want to tell you three things which I know, three things which I have experienced, three things that I believe, according to the Word of God. I believe that ALL MEN WERE RUINED BY THE FALL OF OUR FATHER ADAM. Adam was the federal head and representative of our race before God. When he sinned, we sinned. When he fells we fell. When he died, we died. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Rom. 5:12). I believe in REDEMPTION BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, bore our sins in his own body on the cross, suffering the just penalty of sin as our Substitute, and obtained eternal redemption for all God's elect, by his sin-atoning sacrifice (Isa. 53: 10-11; II Cor, 5:21), I believe in REGENERATION BY THE. IRRESISTIBLE POWER AND GRACE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. In the time of God's appointment the Holy Spirit sovereignly gives eternal life to God's elect, producing faith in them (Ps. 65:4; John 3:8).