(Pt.1)... Israel’s “Confession” of Christ in the Kingdom Age during Christ’s Earthly ministry…
Matt 10:32-39…Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
Public confession showed Israel’s recognition and acceptance of the Messiahship of Christ. Remember, John the Baptist, Christ, the 12 disciples, and the 70 ordained of Christ, preached the Kingdom of Heaven message to Israel only. This message was forbidden by Christ to be preached to a Gentile or to a Samaritan. Why? The Kingdom of Heaven was promised strictly to the nation of Israel according to all Old Testament promises.
Acceptance of Christ as the promised Messiah allowed Israel to have a divine nature. The Divine nature made any man eligible to receive God’s promised Kingdom on Earth. After Israel received John’s baptism of repentance they became eligible to worship Christ as Messiah. Why? They obeyed the council of God which simply put is, “Israel obeyed the authority of the Torah!” Israel’s obedience to the Law of God opened their hearts to Christ and made them eligible to enter into the promised Earthly Kingdom. Both the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven messages were preached to Israel simultaneously. The Kingdom of God was an inner work of God, invisible and spiritual which thus made gave the believer in Christ a Divine nature. The Divine nature is what made Israel eligible to receive the Kingdom of Heaven or God’s promised Kingdom on earth.
Israel’s confession of Christ was based on an acceptance of Christ’s Messiahship according to the Law of God. Public confession of Christ showed Israel’s repentance from their disobedience to the Torah (Law of Moses). Israel’s error was made by practicing traditional Talmudic teachings (Rabbi’s interpretations of the Torah) that had made the authority of the Law of God of none affect. Jesus preached against the teachings of the Talmud.
Israel’s hearing of the Kingdom message and obedience to the authority of the Torah led the penitent Jewish believer to a recognition and acceptance of the Messiahship of Christ. The public confession from these converted Israelites brought deep rooted opposition from the family, from the social life, and from the hypocritical religious Jews that rejected the true authority behind the Torah and Christ as their promised Messiah and King of the Earth.
For those who accepted Christ as the promised Messiah they had to be willing to lose everything they had in society for the cause of Christ. To love God above all things was obedience to the first commandment. Tragically, Jewish people hated their own Jewish kinsmen who accepted and confessed the Messiahship of Christ.
Matt 10:32-39…Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
(Pt.2)...“Confession” of Christ in the Church now during the Grace Age…This confession is made by both Jew and Gentile…because they’re saved by Grace…
…Rom 10:9-10…That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation
After the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ a new and better dispensation with a greater blessing than the Law of Moses had been given to humanity. It’s called the, “Grace dispensation where the omnipresence of the Holy Spirit resides in the hearts and lives of believer’s in Christ.” In the Grace Age Christ as King does not rule physically on Earth as He did during the Kingdom Age of His Earthly ministry to Israel. Today, in the Church, Christ as King rules spiritually from the Throneroom in Heaven where He’s exalted with all power in Heaven and on Earth.
Since Christ died on the cross and arose from the grave... this present Grace Dispensation birthed the Church, the body of Christ where children of God are created and made nigh to God by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Forgiveness for our sins is only found through personal trust in Christ’s death on the cross and the effect that the Cross has on our personal hearts and lives.
The confession of a believer in the Church today is so different under Grace than it was in the Kingdom Age during Christ’s earthly ministry. Under Grace today… men “do not” confess Christ to be saved like they did in the Kingdom Age during Christ’s Earthly ministry! Men of God today “confess” Christ because of a work of God’s Grace they receive within the believing heart.
The effectiveness of Calvary through the precious blood that Christ shed is personally given to each individual believer that repents, and believes. This effectiveness of Calvary has power to change man morally and give him a good confession about the power and holiness of Christ in the heart and life of each individual believer. The effectiveness of Calvary by the Grace of God is for both Jew and Gentile…not just Jew only as it was in the ministry of Christ. God’s righteousness is bestowed upon the heart of any believer because of the effectiveness of Calvary within the human soul for personal forgiveness of sins. The believer in Christ knows every sin is forgiven and that heart is cleansed from sin by the divine power of the Grace of God.
Therefore a confession of Christ is made with the mouth of a believing Christian because that heart and that life… are made right… by the Divine power of God’s Grace.
…Rom 10:9-10…That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation
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