Profess or Confess?

This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. - 1 John 4:2

Have you ever stopped to consider the difference one word can make? The Southern Baptist's annual offering for international missions is named in honor of a former missionary to China named "Lottie Moon." A friend once mistyped it in an email and it auto-corrected as "Lottery Moon!" I thought, "Well, that might increase giving!"

In John's statement above, he said, "Every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God." Unfortunately, many so-called Christians substitute "confesses" with "professes," as if they were the same thing. They are not. The difference is huge.

To "confess" Christ is to live a life that is in total agreement with Christ's character and person. On the other hand, "profession" is simple, verbal acknowledgement. A person can profess something is true and still not yield to that truth in the conduct of his or her life.

Profession without confession is less than possession.

Hypocrisy can afford to be magnificent in its promises, for never intending to go beyond promise, it costs nothing. - Edmund Burke