CONFESSION - continuation

What a beautiful morning to you from Canada!
Hello everyone! Trust that you are being encouraged and helped by reading our Blog. If you indeed are encouraged, then pass on our blogspot address to other of your family, friends and acquaintances.

As we said, we would continue on the topic of CONFESSION, so lets, together, see what more the Scriptures teach us about this subject-matter. This word is very well known in Aruba, as well as in the Antilles. In particular: auricular confession., which means to confess audibly to another person of what you did or did not do.

In our previous message about this topic, we read a portion of Scripture that speaks to us about this in Romans 10:8-11. We also suggested that you read the entire chapter ten of the Book of Romans. We hope you took time to do this, for it is important. Because, in this passage it clearly and authoritatively emphasizes the absolute necessity of personally confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord and that God raised Jesus from the dead, in order to be saved. It emphasizes here that it is with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth each must confess to be saved. That is why, I again beseech each one of you who read this, that you read the entire tenth chapter of Romans. And while, or even before, pray to God, that He will help you understand, and give you to courage to obey. You will never ever be sorry that you decided to put your trust in the Lord Jesus.

The other part of CONFESSION is that of confessing Christ before people. If you think that this is easy and uncomplicated, think again! We can be very mistaken. Sadly, very many people turn back to perdition, because of being afraid of other. Fear of Religious Leaders, fear of fellow family members, friends and co-workers, or your ties to social life, sports, etc., etc.

We call to your attention again, that for a person to obey the blessed Gospel of God, he himself needs the power of God in his life to make this decision. But thanks be unto God, that this power accompanied the Gospel from the beginning, and accompanies it to this very day, and will do so until the end if the age. That is why God gave the Holy Spirit to the Lord Jesus, Who sent this Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, to remain with us to the end of this age. You can read this in John 15:26,27, and John 16:5-16, and also in Acts 2:29-33.

Now, going back to the importance of confessing Jesus before others. We can read the following words in Matthew 10:32: “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns Me before men, I will disown him before My Father in heaven.”

Friends, that is why there is such an urgency in these words in the Scripture: “As fellow workers, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain, for He says, In the time of My Favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you. I tell you now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:1, 2

What’s more in the book of Acts we are given this exhortation: “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent. For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising Him from the dead.” (New International Version).

Dear friends, we join you in asking God for His help at the right time to obey the Gospel, and be freed and liberated in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Remember: Procrastination is Disobedience.
Written and prepared by Bicento & Betty Henriquez: bbhenriques@shaw.ca

CONFESSION - what does it mean?

Un mainta tipical na cas di nos sobrino y su esposa!

Welcome to our Blogspot! Here in Canada we are in the FALL SEASON. Our trees are turning from green to yellow, orange, brown, and red! The leaves are falling fast, leaving the trees bare and desolate. Winter is around the corner.

Today we want to talk about Confession, or what it means to confess. To this very day this was, and still is something that is well known here in Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles.

In the Scriptures the word “confess” has more than one meaning. We will try and discuss two of them today. The first is found in Romans 10: 8-11: “But what does it say? The Word is near you: It is in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That 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. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trust in Him will never be put to shame.” I would recommend that you read the entire chapter ten of Romans, and also Matthew 10:32-33.

The invitation here to receive pardon and eternal life is offered to all people everywhere in the world without exception. Please pay very close attention to the fact that this word of confession must come out of each person’s own mouth, when or after we have believed in our hearts.

Friends, no one, but no one can believe for us, or confess for us. The word “to confess” means to admit, or to acknowledge. It is we who have to admit and acknowledge, and no one else, that we are sinners, and must believe from our hearts, that God raised His Son from the dead. And we must understand that it is for our very own sins He died, because He, Himself, did not know sin, and no untruth was found in His mouth. We must understand very well that we cannot hide sin before God. He knows each one of us exactly as we are!

The word confession can also mean: “conceding or to say the same thing”. This means that we concede, agree, or say the same thing as to what God already knows about us. We may ask: “How is it possible for God to love a sinner as me, when in fact He already knows how I really am?” The answer is clearly and truthfully written for us in the Scriptures. For example in the book of Romans 5:6-8 we read: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will a man die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly die. But God demonstrates His love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Therefore, friends, do not turn a deaf ear to the loving call of God today. Repent of your sins, and accept the pardon that God offers to you today. Do not close your heart’s door, because no one knows what the day may bring forth.

The Lord willing, we will POST the second part of this message on Confession in a few days. Have a good and safe day. We would love to hear from you either under COMMENTS or bbhenriquez@shaw.ca

Your friends,
Bicento and Betty Henriquez, writing from our retirement home at 534, 120, LaRonge Road, Saskatoon, SK., Canada, S7K 7Z9