Luke 12:8–12 (ESV)
Acknowledge Christ Before Men
8 “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, 9 but
the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
will not be forgiven. 11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say,
12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
Jesus teaches about the blessedness of confessing
Him and the great dangers in denying Him and resisting His grace. In a culture increasingly hostile to traditional Christian belief, such warnings are timely, as the temptation to compromise our confession becomes more intense every day. Thank God for His
Holy Spirit, who strives all the more for us and for the integrity of our faith.
I pray: Lord Jesus, give us a rich measure of Your Holy Spirit, that we boldly confess
Your name before an increasingly faithless and hostile world. Turn the hearts of our enemies, that they receive Your salvation. Amen.
Edward A. Engelbrecht, The Lutheran Study Bible (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2009), 1740.