Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven.
Parallel translations
- WEB Everyone therefore who confesses me before men, him I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven.
- KJV Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
- ESV So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,
- NKJV “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.
- NASB “Therefore, everyone who confesses Me before people, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.
- NLT “Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Whoever publicly confesses Christ, He will acknowledge before the Father. Faithful confession now leads to Christ's affirmation in heaven.
Overview
Jesus links present confession of Him with future vindication: those who own Him before others He will own before His Father. Such confession is the outward fruit of saving faith (Rom. 10:9-10). The promise heartens persecuted believers, assuring them that Christ Himself will be their advocate at the final judgment.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Rev 3:5Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His angels.
- Rom 10:9–10that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
- Luke 12:8–9I tell you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will also confess him before the angels of God.
- 1 Jn 4:15If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
- 2 Tim 1:8So do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me, His prisoner. Instead, join me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.
- Rev 2:13I know where you live, where the throne of Satan sits. Yet you have held fast to My name and have not denied your faith in Me, even in the day when My faithful witness Antipas was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
- 1 Sam 2:30Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever. But now the LORD declares: Far be it from Me! For I will honor those who honor Me, but those who despise Me will be disdained.
- 1 Tim 6:12–13Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession before many witnesses.
- Matt 25:34Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
- John 9:22His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews had already determined that anyone who confessed Jesus as the Christ would be put out of the synagogue.
- Ps 119:46I will speak of Your testimonies before kings, and I will not be ashamed.
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 10:32 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.