When you hear the word faith, what do you think of? Several words may come to mind: belief, grace, hope, confidence, among others. What about the word confession? When you think of faith, does confession automatically come to mind? For many, probably not. But the author of Hebrews had precisely that word in mind.
“Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession,” Hebrews 3:1
Why not “the apostle and high priest of our faith”? Using the word faith instead of confession would not drastically change the meaning of the verse. Or would it? There is an important meaning communicated in using the word confession rather than faith.
By using the word confession, faith in Christ is elevated above and beyond simple belief. When I throw a football, I have complete faith that it will come back down to the ground. I never doubt it. In fact, many times I am disappointed that it did not stay airborne longer. My faith is unspoken. I do not have to continually verbalize my faith in gravity to pull the ball back to the earth. I take for granted that gravity will do its job.
Many of people have this kind of faith with God. They believe in him. They believe he has a plan for our lives. They believe he loves us and wants the best for us. They believe that Jesus died and rose again. But they never verbalize it. It is never confessed. Biblical faith in Christ is a confessed faith. Confession usually conjures up images of confessing our sins – and that is true. However confession is also a declaration. When we confess Christ, we declare our love and allegiance to him. The early church called people who were persecuted (and many times martyred) for their faith confessors. If our faith in Christ is not confessional, it is not genuine. Jesus’ declaration makes this issue very clear.
“So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 10:32-33
An unconfessed faith is a faith that takes for granted the object of faith. Jesus will not be taken for granted.
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