28. Confess before Father
Matthew 10:32
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
This is a conditional promise: if you confess me before men, then I will confess you before my Father. The promise of Jesus confessing me before God is significant for it means that Almighty God must accept me, grant me the riches of His grace, and welcome me into the eternal mansions and pleasant meadows of Paradise; for the Father will be absolutely certain to act on the Son’s recommendation. There is not now and never shall be anything greater than acceptance by my heavenly Father. Jesus will say: “My Father, I confess this person before you, that I died for him, he believes in me, he is forgiven eternally, and he has my life. Receive him.”
The condition of confessing Jesus before men is the outward evidence of inner faith worked by the Holy Spirit in the Gospel: he who believes is saved and he who believes confesses with his mouth that Jesus is Lord. In like manner, whoever denies Jesus before men Jesus will deny before the Father. Jesus Himself is the fulcrum, the knife’s edge, the division over which all men will fall on one side or the other; there is no middle ground or fence sitting; it is one or the other for all people: 1) Believe and confess and be saved, OR 2) Remain in unbelief and deny and stay under condemnation. Jesus could not be clearer.
Peter did deny Jesus before men, but then repented in shame and disgrace confessing Jesus as Lord and God; Jesus restored him. Judas also denied Jesus before men, but in his remorse did not repent and confess and believe. Judas suffered eternal death not because he betrayed Jesus but because he refused to repent and confess; thus he evidenced unbelief and so is condemned already.
This promise of Jesus makes us bold to publicly confess even in the face of rejection, ridicule, threat of pain and torture, or simple ignoring by the world. This promise makes us proud to boast in the cross of Christ, confessing our utter sinfulness and abject failure and at the same time confessing Christ’s complete righteousness and unmitigated success given to me. It is 100% by grace so that I have not a shred of nothing to boast of, but I confess, even boast in, the suffering and death of Christ on the cross. I remember my Baptism and fall into death trusting Jesus to raise me up and confess me before the Father in heaven.