The Good Confession (1 Timothy 6:11-16)
The youngest of us three boys, Kyle, was born three weeks after I turned four. A few days before Kyle was born, Dad, who worked in quality control for Coca-Cola, had to pull an all-night shift. Mom went to fix supper, but she hadn’t been to the grocery store in a few days, so she couldn’t find anything to fix. Mom called her mother, and Nannie took us to Long John Silver’s.
While my very pregnant mother had two boys–4 and 18 months–in line to order, a gentleman came up behind us. I looked up at him with tears in my eyes and said, “Mister, my daddy’s not coming home tonight, and we don’t have any food in the house.”
Has a tongue ever gotten you into trouble? Have you ever mistakenly asked a woman when her baby was due? Have you ever lied? Has your wife ever started blabbing to the doctor and telling him far more than you wanted him to know?
Your tongue can get you into trouble, but your tongue can also get you into heaven. You confessed your faith in Jesus when you came to him, and you must understand what that confession really means: “Confessing Jesus changes your life.”
Scripture (1 Timothy 6:11-16)
verse 11:
In the previous paragraph, Paul discussed church dissension and greed. Timothy needed to flee those sins and pursue righteousness.
verse 12:
The Greek term “fighting” meant a wrestling match or some other athletic competition where one strove to overcome his opponent. Timothy needed to treat the Christian faith that way—strive valiantly for the faith and overcome the enemy.
Timothy was also to “take hold of . . . eternal life.” “Taking hold” in Greek means to get a good grip; Timothy needed to hold so tightly to eternal life that he would never let go.
Timothy first took hold of eternal life by making the good confession before many witnesses. The Greek term for “confession” literally means “to say the same thing,” and the word means to agree with someone. Jesus has set forth facts about himself, viz., he is the Son of God, and your confession recognizes that truth.
verse 13:
Charging one before a god was considered more binding than any other charge, but Paul did not charge Timothy before just any god; he charged him in the presence of the living God.
Jesus made the “good confession” before Pilate. Pilate asked Jesus if he were the King of the Jews, and Jesus said, “You have said so” (cf. Matt 27:11). Pilate was just repeating what he had been told without fully understanding what he was asking. Jesus however, freely admitted his identity.
verses 14-15:
Timothy was to keep the faith without reproach until Jesus returns. Jesus, not the Roman Emperor, is the only Sovereign and King of kings and Lord of lords.
Application
“Confessing Jesus changes your life.” When you confessed you believe Jesus is the Christ, your life forever changed. Peter’s life changed when he confessed Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt 16:16). Jesus gave him the keys of the kingdom and made him the chief of the apostles. How did confessing Jesus change your life?
One: A Courting Confession
Timothy’s confession was A Courting Confession, in other words, by confessing Jesus, Timothy committed to court—pursue—righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness. Confessing your faith bestowed moral obligations on you.
Christians court righteousness: “Put on . . . , as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other” (Col 3:12-13). Are you living A Courting Confession? What are you confessing by the way you live?
Two: A Capturing Confession
Timothy’s confession was A Capturing Confession, in other words, by confessing Jesus, Timothy was to “take hold of the eternal life to which [he was] called.”
You also made A Capturing Confession; you must take hold of eternal life. How? You do not turn back a single day from following Jesus. “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Lk 9:62). “My righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him” (Heb 10:38).
How is your Capturing Confession? Are you taking hold of the eternal life to which you were called by remaining faithful?
Three: A Copying Confession
Timothy’s confession was A Copying Confession; in other words, by confessing Jesus, Timothy made the same confession Jesus made: “Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession.”
You also made A Copying Confession: When you confessed your faith before others, you copied Jesus by making the same confession he made. And copying Jesus’s confession was simply the beginning of a lifetime of imitating Jesus. “By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 Jn 2:5-6).
How closely do you walk like Jesus? Looking at your life, can you honestly claim to imitate Jesus? When others see you, do they see your imitation of Jesus? How much like Jesus are you?
Four: A Complying Confession
Timothy’s confession was A Complying Confession; in other words, by confessing Jesus, Timothy committed to keeping God’s commands: He was “to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
You also made A Complying Confession: By confessing Jesus, you committed to compliance. Peter and the apostles said, “We must obey God” (Acts 5:29). “The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 Jn 2:17).
Are you complying with the confession you made when you were baptized into Christ? Do you need to come this morning and comply all over again?
This sermon was originally preached by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.