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Biblical Basis for Verbal Confession, Creeds, and Words |
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Requirement |
Scripture |
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Confession must be oral. |
9 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. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and
with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:9,10 |
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Confession must be in words. |
30 He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth
not with me scattereth abroad. 31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin
and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. 32 And whosoever
speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever
speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in
this world, neither in the world to
come. 33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree
corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. 34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil,
speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good
things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall
give account thereof in the day of judgment. 37 For by thy words thou shalt
be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. Matthew 12:30-37 |
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Confession must be public. |
32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father
which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I
also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 10:32,33 |
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Confession is to be the test for false prophets. |
7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought,
but that we receive a full reward. 9
Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not
God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and
the Son. 10 If there come any unto
you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: 2 John 7-10 |
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Words are to have meaning. |
7 And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or
harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known
what is piped or harped? 8 For if the
trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? 9
So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood,
how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air. 10
There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none
of them is without signification.
11 Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that
speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me. 12 Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are
zealous of spiritual gifts, seek
that ye may excel to the edifying of the church. 1 Corinthians 14:7-12 |
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True words dispel confusion. |
13 Who is a wise man
and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation
his works with meekness of wisdom. 14 But if ye have bitter envying and
strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. 15 This
wisdom descendeth not from above, but is
earthly, sensual, devilish. 16 For
where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is
first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and
easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and
without hypocrisy. 18 And the fruit of
righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. James 3:13-18 |
All
rights reserved, 1997. No portion of
this chart may be copied by any means, including electronic, without permission of C. W. Powell, New Geneva Theological Seminary, Colorado Springs, CO.