13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
1 John 4:13-16, ESV
It’s tempting to read this passage from the Apostle John and come away with the idea that all a person has to do is say the words (confess) that Jesus is the Son of God to be saved. This isn’t a casual dating relationship you’re entering. It is a covenant. This confession changes your life. It separates you from the world and your former way of thinking. You will become a new creation. This is permanent, forever, eternal. The Jesus we are confessing MUST be the same Jesus of the Bible.
Your experience with Jesus isn’t unique. What we testify about Him must align with what the Apostles testified. How do we know what they saw? We have the lovely convenience of reading their stories in God’s Word.
One example of how we can get this wrong is saying we are a Christian while also saying that Jesus is just ONE of the ways to God. This New Age thought infiltrating our churches today that there are MANY ways to God is entirely inaccurate. Jesus is THE way, THE truth, and THE life. No one gets to the Father except through Jesus. Creating a version of Jesus that strays from the Bible is idol worship. We must make sure the Jesus we are confessing is the same Jesus of the Bible.
Confession isn’t as easy as simply saying a particular phrase. Our actions must back up our words to be believable. The prerequisite to this is knowing the truth about the Jesus we confess. Otherwise, they are just words. And words don’t save you. Only the ONE TRUE GOD can do that.