A confession before faith would be a false confession. One has to believe in what he confesses. When one hears that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and truly believes it, he then can confess that truth. It is also seen that confession is made before baptism. In fact Philip, the inspired teacher, demanded it as a condition preceding baptism.
Confession is a condition of salvation and therefore precedes remissions of sins.
This is the order in which the Ethiopian became a child of God. From searching the Scriptures we learn that a verbal confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God is a condition of salvation, is made after belief, and followed by baptized in order to be saved. Once one sins having become a Christian, he must confess his sin in order to receive forgiveness.