Thank you for helping to support Peace Devotions through your prayers, likes, and shares.
If you’d like to support our ministry financially, you can donate here.
Not for Cowards
Christianity is really not a religion for cowards, because confessing Jesus as our Savior and standing up for his Word, standing under Christ's cross can often be very difficult.
Matthew 10:32-33, Acts 4:12
Our devotion for today comes from Matthew chapter ten. Jesus says,
Everyone who confesses me before others, I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before others, I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 10:32-33)
Back in 1989, there was a large uprising of college students in China, and one of the most famous incidents from that uprising was known as Tiananmen Square. In a particular square one individual went and stood out in front of a row of tanks that were coming in from the government to put down this uprising, and managed to stop all of these tanks by just being this one man standing in front of all these tanks. It was probably the most iconic image from that uprising.
Sometimes that happens in history, where one individual has to take a stand. Martin Luther in 1521, there was a defining moment for the reformation of the church, and he kind of stood before the whole world in front of the emperor, confessing his faith, knowing that he could be put to death for doing so. And in the Bible, we often see examples of this of one individual alone, standing and confessing their faith in front of the world. The prophet Elijah in front of the prophets of Baal. Daniel before King Nebuchadnezzar. John the Baptist standing before King Herod.
So the true faith in Jesus as our Savior requires confession. And it also creates that confession, that willingness to state our faith inside of our hearts. And to believe something means that you also will confess it, that you will state it as your truth. There are no neutral grounds. Jesus is showing that here. It’s either confession or denial and confessing Jesus as our Savior is a natural byproduct of having faith in him and all he’s done for us. So when we believe something that means that we can make assertions about it, something that we know then to be true.
Christians delight in God’s truth. We love to hear it. We love to see it preached. We love to see others come to that truth. We love to see it taught and defended. And Christianity is really not a religion for cowards, because confessing Jesus as our Savior and standing up for his Word, standing under Christ’s cross can often be very difficult because there’s no neutral ground. It means admitting about yourself that you have no way of getting to heaven by how good you are, and that God had to do it entirely for you through Christ, and only in him do you have peace with God.
That’s why Peter boldly confessed this
“There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
Jesus disciples before his resurrection were kind of cowering in fear, but once he was raised from the dead, they went out all over the world boldly confessing him, sometimes facing difficulties and even death in order to let people know of this wonderful truth.
True Christian confession always has Judgment Day in mind, and Jesus is here reminding us of the blessings of that confession. It’s almost as if Jesus is saying, do not let fear overpower you, since those who might oppose you are only human beings, and the most they can do is kill you when you stand and confess me in my word, but you know that you stand with one who holds the keys to death and hell, and the keys to the entrance of everlasting life. May God keep us firm in that confession. Amen.
