“… Everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.”
–Luke 12:8-9
When you and I look at the New Testament, we see that every person who came to Christ came openly and publicly. There were no secret disciples – each person who followed Christ took up his or her cross and followed Jesus openly. In fact, public confession of the Lord Jesus is one of those “things that belong to salvation,” (Hebrews 6:9). Confessing Christ simply goes hand in hand with salvation.
Now, in Jesus’ time, when you saw a man carrying a cross, you could be quite certain he was on his way to a public execution. In this same sense, when Jesus calls us to pick up our cross and follow, he’s not only bidding us to die to ourselves, but also to live openly for him! So while salvation is intensely personal, it’s never private; it’s always public!
Have you made a public confession of your faith in Christ Jesus?
In black and white, today’s verse says that if we want Jesus to acknowledge us before God, we must acknowledge him before men. This is more than walking down a church aisle and shaking hands with a pastor.
If Jesus lives within you, use your God-given breath to tell your world about him!
WHILE SALVATION IS INTENSELY PERSONAL,
IT’S NEVER PRIVATE; IT’S ALWAYS PUBLIC!
