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Parent: JesusWordsOnly
Don't Paul and Jesus Agree on Confession with the Mouth?
What do Paulunists say about confession of Jesus before men? As noted earlier, Jesus promised this was one way to become saved. (Luke 12:8.) But verbal confession is more than belief (John 12:42, rulers believed but would not confess), and hence a work in the Pauline sense. What would Paulunists say about that path to salvation?
Paul in his famous dictum on how to be saved in (Rom. 10:9) said one part is "saying with the mouth" that Jesus is Lord. This appears to be an action beyond mere belief which even Paul endorsed. However, Paulunists stress Paul's other salvation formulas that eschew any kind of work as necessary for salvation. Thus, most Paulunists also dispense with confession with the mouth as a step in salvation. If confession were necessary in any fonnula, the Paulunist insists Paul would be contradicting his own teaching against works in (Eph. 2:8-9). In other words, the public confession of Jesus as Lord, if necessary for salvation, would be a work, mainstream Paulunists insist. Thus Dr. Bob Wilkin says Paul teaches against the idea that public confession is a step in any formula for salvation. He bases this upon Ephesians 2:8-9 and Romans 4:4. If a public confession were really necessary, Dr. Wilkin says such an idea "results in works salvation." To keep Paul squared with Paul, Dr. Wilkin says public confession is the fruit of faith. Public confession is not what saves you despite Paul saying this is so in (Rom. 10:9). 13
Yet, Jesus promised a public confession of Him "before men" would be matched by His confession of you before the Father. You will be treated like the thief on the cross. If you died that same day as your confession "before men," Jesus would promise you salvation just like He gave the thief on the cross. Jesus gave no mixed messages that a silent confession of belief alone had the same promise of salvation. (Luke 12:8.) Jesus told us plain and clear that confession with the mouth "before men" was one path to salvation. Jesus never cast that principle in doubt by excoriating anyone who would add any kind action to any salvation formula.
When previously we compared Jesus' and Paul's main salvation message, they were at direct odds at so many points. However, even when they appear consistent such as on the confession issue (Luke 12:8; (Rom. 10:9)), the Paulunists dodge even drawing a parallel. They insist upon rereading Paul to not line up with Jesus. They re-interpret Paul to match Paul's faith alone statements in Eph. 2:8-9 and Romans 4:4. They do not acknowledge that confession with the mouth -a clear action -is a necessary step to Paul's formula in Romans 10:9, even though Paul says so in this verse.
- Bob Wilkin, Is Confessing Christ a Condition of Salvation? (1994) (reprinted online at http://www.faithalone.org/news/yl994/ 94july3.html). Ironically, Wilkin says "[s]ince the Bible [i.e., Paul] is clear that eternal salvation is a free gift and that it is not of works..., this passage [i.e., from Luke 12:8, 'confess me before men, and 1 will confess before the Father'] cannot be dealing with the Gospel ." Jesus' words are thereby nullified based on Paul
! Wilkin is the author of such works as Confident in Christ. Fie is also the head of the Grace Evangelical Society.
- The word translated confess that Paul uses is homologeo. (It is the same word used in Luke 12:8.) It means to have the same word or agree. Paul then says this must be in your stoma. This means mouth. Thus, in context Paul is saying agreement with your mouth has a promise of salvation if combined with a subjective belief in the resurrection. If an agreement with the mouth is truly part of the formula, then how is salvation by faith (belief), not works ? (Eph. 2:8-9.) They are inconsistent. This is why most Paulunists re-read Paul in (Rom. 10:9) to mean believe in your heart Jesus is Lord. Then they see the fruit of this will be public confession. Thus, when you first believed in your heart, you were instantaneously saved without the work of a confession in public. (See prior footnote.) Thus, if you pay close attention to Paul's formulas, he is not always consistent.
Yet, it is not their fault: Paul does utter self-contradictory statements that undennine the very formula for salvation he gave in (Rom. 10:9). Paul's self-contradictions thus make it always impossible to line up Paul with Jesus even when Paul says the very same thing as Jesus.