Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Relationships and Religion
what about the things we confess? | Philippians ii.12

what about the things we confess? | Philippians ii.12

Last updated on: January 19, 2023 at 9:00 am by Rev. Jared V. Ingle

what about the things we confess? | Philippians ii.12 2022-12-16T15:26:43-05:00 Rev. Jared V. Ingle

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

sunrise-valley-church-roanoke-virginia

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father. (Philippians 2.10-11, KJV)

What specifically are we confessing about Christ?

We confess that Jesus Christ is Lord

To understand the term Lord, it may be best to look at how the New Testament (NT) Church uses the term.

We tend to call Jesus our “Lord and Savior.” We testify about when Christ saved us from sin, and how He frees us now.

Do you know the term “Savior” only occurs 24 times in the NT?

The NT emphasizes something else. The NT does recognize the saving power of Jesus, without a doubt. But the NT Church emphasizes the Lordship of Christ far more often. In the NT Greek alone, there are 8 different words for Lord.

The word for ‘Lord” in this passage – kyrios – occurs 667 times in the NT in reference to Jesus Christ.

Christians in the NT confess their sins to Jesus and see Him as Savior. However, the most common confession of the NT is Jesus Christ is Lord.

What is the difference between Savior and Lord?

We need a Savior, a Redeemer. We need the cross as we’ve discussed in prior posts.

when you suffer, look to the cross | Philippians ii.7 CLICK

We need a Savior, but we also need a Master who frees us from sin and frees us to live for Him. If our idea of Christianity is just confessing our sins, then we are missing so much. We need to confess the Lordship of Christ to lead us into what He has for us.

Is He Lord of all of my life, literally?

This is the climax of the hymn – this positive confession. We make a declaration. There is nothing or no one else who will rule our lives.

However, we make counterfeit confessions all the time. What about the things we “confess”?

We confess things about ourselves:

“You see that’s just the way I am.”
“It’s genetic.”
“It’s an addiction.”
“I just think never think before I speak.”
“If I wasn’t a Christian!”

We make confessions about others:

“Well you don’t know how they hurt me.”
“I don’t go to Church because they’re nothing but hypocrites.”
“You know, I don’t go to Church because I don’t like the music.”
“I don’t go to Church because I don’t like the Preacher.”
“I don’t go to that Church because they all gossip about each other all the time. I’ve only told you and a few others about it, so you can pray.”

We make confessions about things as well:

“I could do more for God if only I had . . . FILL IN THE BLANK.”
“I could do more for God if I didn’t have to deal with . . . FILL IN THE BLANK.”

What do we confess?

What holds us back?
Do we make excuses for not completely selling out and following the Lord?
What or who becomes a master, a lord, ruling our decisions?

As Christians, we do not confess the lordship of anyone or anything else. We only confess, throughout the day, everyday, the Lordship of Jesus Christ!

The NT Church confesses the Lordship of Christ so often in the NT, it is difficult to number the times

They continually call on the Lord in prayer and worship in the congregation. They also continually call on the Lord for guidance in everyday life!

Do we openly and habitually confess Jesus Christ as Lord, Master, Ruler, King of our lives?

Either we can choose to exalt Him as Lord over our entire lives now or take our chances later.

I’m always amazed, not surprised anymore it’s so common, at lifelong Christians who are really not letting the Lord rule their lives. Their decisions are based on other things, other factors, other issues, other people . . . lesser lords.

What if we allowed the Holy Spirit to examine us right now?
Would He find something we’ve allowed to limit us from what our Lord wants to accomplish in us?
Are we fully living for Jesus Christ, to glorify the Father?

notes:

pic credit: me | sunrise over Valley Church Roanoke | 10.23.21

This series has been a Word study, line by line, on Philippians 2.5-11 CLICK

To review this series go to the Word Study or Theology categories in the Archives.

General Christian

Relationships and Religion

History and Religion

Previous Post

January 16, 2023

now or not yet | Philippians ii.11

Next Post

January 23, 2023 What Bible Scriptures are most often interpreted wrong?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Communion Cruz Ingle Crystal Ingle Early Church Engaging Culture Ethics & Society Family Formation History In Dialogue Jared & Crystal Kingdom of God Majority World Church Mateo Ingle Messenger College Mission Narrative Pentecostal Church of God Prayer Shepherding The Sermon The Writings Theology Theology & Psychology Traverse City Uncategorized Vernell Ingle Word Study

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 May 2017 March 2017 March 2014 February 2013 January 2013 October 2012 July 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 August 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did Jesus do at the Last Supper?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Washed the floor Broke bread and shared wine Wrote in the sand Built an altar