What does it mean to use one’s lip to
confess Jesus and call on him as Lord? To confess Jesus as Lord is to make a
public acknowledgment of his lordship and to profess allegiance to him. It is
likely also a confession of his divinity—that is, worship. In Philippians 2:11,
Paul uses language that is very similar to Romans 10:9: “Every tongue [will]
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” This verse
is an allusion not the Greek translation of Isaiah 45:23, which prophesies that
“every tongue” will make a confession to God. Thus, a confession of Jesus as
Lord is likely a confession that he is the one true God who saves 9cf. Isa.
45:22-25). (Kevin W. McFadden, Faith in the Son of God: The Place of
Christ-Oriented Faith within Pauline Theology [Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway,
2021], 168)
BDAG
on ομολογεω, 4b:
b. of profession of allegiance (ὁμολογῶ εἶναι χριστιανός
Theoph. Ant. 1, 1 [p.
58, 11]) —Esp. of confessing Christ, or the teaching of his community/church;
w. double acc. (B-D-F §157, 2; 416, 3; Rob. 480.—Jos., Ant. 5, 52; Just., A II,
5, 1 εἰ θεὸν ὡμολογοῦμεν βοηθόν, D. 35, 2 Ἰησοῦν ὁμολογεῖν καὶ κύριον καὶ χριστόν) ἐὰν ὁμολογήσῃς κύριον Ἰησοῦν if you confess
Jesus as Lord Ro 10:9 (cp. τὸν Δία ὁμ. θεόν Orig., C. Cels. 5, 46, 7). αὐτὸν ὁμ. Χριστόν confess that
he is the Messiah J 9:22. ὁμ. αὐτὸν σαρκοφόρον ISm 5:2. ὁμ. Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ἐν σαρκὶ ἐληλυθότα acknowledge
that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh 1J 4:2; cp. 2J 7. W. acc. and inf. (Isocr., Or. 4, 100, 61d; Aelian, VH
1, 27; Orig., C. Cels. 1, 41, 9) ὁμ. Ἰησοῦν Χρ. ἐν σαρκὶ ἐληλυθέναι Pol 7:1a; 1J 4:2 v.l. ὁμ. τὴν εὐχαριστίαν σάρκα εἶναι τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ᾽Ι Χρ. ISm 7:1. W. ὅτι foll. (Isocr., Or. 11, 5, 222d, but w.
mng. 2; Just., D. 39, 6) ὁμ. ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ 1J 4:15. ὁμ. ὅτι κύριον ἔχετε Hs 9, 28, 7
(opp. ἀρν.). W. a single acc. of the pers. whom one
confesses, or whom one declares to be someth. that is revealed by the context
(Just., D. 35, 1, 2 Ἰησοῦν … ὁμολογεῖν; Did., Gen. 176, 13 ὁ γὰρ ὁμολογῶν
τὸν
θεὸν
ἐν
Χριστῷ τοῦτο ποιεῖ; Theoph. Ant. 3, 9 [p. 222, 13] θεὸν ὁμ.): ὁμ. τὸν υἱόν 1J 2:23 (opp. ἀρν. as Mel., P. 73, 537 ἀπαρνήσω τὸν ὁμολογήσαντά σε). μὴ ὁμ. τὸν Ἰησοῦν 4:3 (s. λύω 4, end). Cp. 2 Cl 3:2a. τινὰ ἔν τινι someone by someth. ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις 4:3; cp. 3:4. ἐὰν ὁμολογήσωμεν δι᾽ οὗ ἐσώθημεν
if we confess him
through whom we were saved 3:3. The acc. (αὐτόν) is supplied fr. the context J 12:42;
cp. Hs 9, 28, 4.—W. acc. of thing ὁμ. τὸ μαρτύριον
τοῦ
σταυροῦ Pol 7:1b. ὁμ. τὴν καλὴν ὁμολογίαν 1 Ti 6:12 (ὁμ. ὁμολογίαν=‘make a promise’: Pla., Crito 52a; Jer 51:25; but =
‘bear testimony to a conviction’: Philo, Mut. Nom. 57, Abr. 203).—Instead of
acc. of pers. we may have ἔν τινι confess someone, an Aramaism (s. Mlt-H. 463f; B-D-F §220, 2; EbNestle, ZNW 7,1906, 279f;
8, 1907, 241; 9, 1908, 253; FBurkitt, Earliest Sources for the Life of Jesus
1910, 19f). ὅστις ὁμολογήσει ἐν ἐμοὶ ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων whoever
confesses me before people Mt 10:32a; sim. Lk 12:8a. But 2 Cl 3:2 uses the acc. when it quotes this
saying (s. above.—In these last three pass. opp. ἀρν.). Jesus’ acknowledgment of the believer on judgment day complements
this confession: ἐν αὐτῷ Mt 10:32b; Lk 12:8b. αὐτόν 2 Cl 3:2b (opp. ἀρν. in all these pass.—GBornkamm, D. Wort Jesu vom Bekennen [Mt 10:32]:
Pastoraltheologie 34, ’39, 108-18). τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Rv 3:5.—Abs. pass. στόματι ὁμολογεῖται with the mouth confession is made Ro 10:10.
