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And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:11)

And every tongue confess. Every creature, be they in heaven, on the earth, or after the resurrection should acknowledge Christ and all the authority in heaven and on earth that had been given to him.

That Jesus Christ is Lord. The Greek word (κύριος kurios) rendered Lord here, is used in the sense of a ruler, master, lord, one who exercises authority over, a title of respect, a title for God and Christ. The meaning is that all should recognize him as the universal sovereign.

To the glory of God the Father. All creation making such a confession would glorify and bring honor to God. Jesus said, “that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.” – John 5:23.

Max Anders writes, “The Lord, the Sovereign of the universe. These verses do not mean that all will confess him as Savior, for the Bible offers no second chances after death (Heb. 9:27). This is the combination of worship from those who believe in him and acknowledgment of his power and authority by those he has defeated. The honored place the Savior now occupies and the universal acknowledgment of his lordship in the future are all to the glory of God the Father.”[1]

Confess that Jesus Christ is Lord

Two things are a must in order for someone to receive salvation. The first is to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Jesus said, “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matt. 10:32-33) We need to openly profess this relationship and our dependence on Christ, who is our king and Savior, accepting him over all the temptations of Satan’s world. In our current human imperfection being mentally bent toward evil, with a treacherous heart, and the natural desire to do bad, we would be evidencing a tremendous amount of self-denial while professing our love for Christ, yet showing our disdain, hatred, and disapproval for the world, which is an enormous amount of courage and steadfastness on our part. The second is believing “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” (Acts 2:24) If this is not professed with the mouth and with evident demonstrations of faith, it is, but, a mockery of one’s Christian faith. The resurrection is the fundamental part of the Christian faith, for this shows Jesus to be the Son of God with all authority in heaven and on earth that has been given to him.

Romans 10:10 helps us to appreciate that we must first have faith in our hearts before we can acceptably confess with our mouths. “For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth, one confesses and is saved.” Faith is a condition of our justification, as Paul makes clear, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Rom 5:1) Faith is the source of our salvation ‘having cleansed our hearts by faith.’ – Acts 15:9.

It is with our mouth that we confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, that together we may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (Rom. 15:6) We do this by living according to the Word of God before the world that is alienated from God, especially in times of difficulty and persecution. Ralph P. Martin observes, “It is intelligent beings in heaven, earth, and the underworld (see GNB) who bend the knee in submission and whose lips make the confession which formed the earliest Christian creed, Jesus Christ is Lord.[2] It is part of our honoring God and Christ that every tongue shall confess. This is an integral part of salvation because it is the conditional confession that results in the fulfillment of the promise. – Matthew 10:32.

[1] Max Anders, Galatians-Colossians, vol. 8, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 227.

[2] Ralph P. Martin, Philippians: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 11, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1987), 114.