Confess Who You are in Christ (Not in AA)

"I believed therefore I have spoken." (Psalm 116: 10)

I have lived for so long trying to figure out what I had a hard time believing the promises written in the Bible about Christ in me, and about me in Christ.

Why did I have a hard time believing? We have to speak out what we believe. Belief is not a mental assent. We are called to speak forth what we believe:

"I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted." (Psalm 116:10)

Paul quoted this verse in his second epistle to the Corinthians:

"We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;" (2 Corinthians 4:13)

God created the heaven and the earth by speaking:

"3And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

4And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

5And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day." (Genesis 1: 3-5)

We are saved by believing on Jesus, which we then speak forth:

"But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9That 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. 10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Romans 10: 8-10)

Furthermore, faith comes by hearing the Word of Christ (Romans 10: 17)

So, confessing who we are in Christ, in line with His Word, renews our mind to who we are in, what we have, and what He does in us (Romans 12: 2)

A few days ago, I was asking myself why I had a hard time believing who I was in Christ. Within my spirit, I heard the missing element:

"You need to confess it."

This confirms perfectly with what Jesus teaches his disciples in Mark 11: 22-26)

"And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. 23For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. 24Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. 25And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. 26But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses."

The emphasis is on "saying". Jesus said "believe" once, but "say" three times. The "forgiveness" element is taken care of for us at the Cross, so that the more we see how forgiven we are, then we in turn forgive others:

"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. " (Ephesians 4: 32)