ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Lexicon

G3670 - homologeo

Strong's: G3670 · BLB lookup Pronunciation: hom-ol-og-eh'-o Part of speech: verb Etymology: homou (together / same) + logos (word), literally "to say the same word as another" NT occurrences: ~26

Semantic range (Thayer / BDAG)

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  1. To say the same thing, agree, concede, the etymological core; to express the same statement another has made.
  2. To confess, acknowledging what is true (whether about oneself, one's faith, or one's sin).
  3. To profess publicly, open declaration of conviction or allegiance.
  4. To promise, giving one's word without reservation (Matthew 14:7).
  5. To praise, by extension, public acknowledgment of God's character (Hebrews 13:15 karpon cheilōn homologountōn).

The verb is theologically loaded because it captures public alignment, confession is not private belief but external alignment with what is true.

Theological force

Homologeō names the public dimension of saving faith, distinct from but inseparable from the internal dimension named by G4100 - pisteuo (believe). Pauline soteriology pairs them:

"if you confess (homologēsēs) with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe (pisteusēs) in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9)

The combination is decisive: faith is internal trust; confession is external alignment. Both are integral to saving response, not because confession adds to the internal trust, but because saving faith naturally produces confession (Matthew 10:32, "everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father"). A faith that refuses public confession when called to confess is suspect (Matthew 10:33).

Key applications

1. Confession of Christ as Lord, the central NT confession.

  • Romans 10:9-10, kyrion Iēsoun homologēsēs, "confess Jesus as Lord"
  • Philippians 2:11, every tongue will exomologēsetai (intensified form) "Jesus Christ is Lord"
  • 1 John 4:2-3, confessing "Jesus Christ has come in the flesh", the test of true vs false spirits
  • 2 John 7, the antichrists do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh

2. Confession of sin, repentance vocabulary.

  • 1 John 1:9, "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive"
  • James 5:16, "confess your sins to one another"
  • Mark 1:5 / Matthew 3:6, those baptized by John "confessing their sins"
  • Acts 19:18, Ephesian converts "confessing and disclosing their practices"

3. Public confession before persecution, the martyr-context.

  • Matthew 10:32-33, "everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father… whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him"
  • Luke 12:8, parallel
  • 1 Timothy 6:12, Timothy "made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses"
  • John 9:22; 12:42, those who hesitated to confess Christ for fear of expulsion from the synagogue

4. Doxological / praise confession, confession as worship.

  • Hebrews 13:15, "the fruit of lips that give thanks (homologountōn) to His name"
  • Romans 14:11; 15:9, every tongue confessing to God

The Romans Road context

The verse Romans 10.13's "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord" is grounded in v. 9's "confess… and believe." The Romans Road structure:

  1. Romans 3.23, universal sin
  2. Romans 6.23, wages of sin / gift of God
  3. Romans 5.8, God's love demonstrated
  4. Romans 10.9, homologēsēs + pisteusēs = saved
  5. Romans 10.13, universal scope

The fourth step is homologeō, the personal-confessional response.

Patristic / scholarly note

The early creeds, Apostles' Creed, Nicene Creed, are formal homologiai (confessions). The credal tradition is the church's structured response to "what shall we confess?" Tertullian (Prescription Against Heretics 13, c. AD 200) and Irenaeus (Against Heresies I.10) appeal to the regula fidei, the rule of faith, as the church's earliest homologia.

The Reformation pressed confessing as integral to faith, Luther's Heidelberg Disputation (1518) and Calvin's Institutes IV (the church and sacraments) develop confession as the external mark of true faith. The Reformed confessions (Belgic, Heidelberg, Westminster, etc.) are formal homologiai in this tradition.

Modern evangelical: J. I. Packer (Knowing God); Tim Keller (Center Church), confession as the public dimension of faith; baptism and the Lord's Supper as embodied homologia.

Verses in this codex

See Obsidian's backlinks pane for every verse page linking here.

See also