"You will be Saved!”

“But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”  (Romans 10:8-10 ESV)

In early posts, I have shared the four verses in Romans that typically make up the “Romans Road to Salvation”.  Romans 10:9 is the final verse of the road.  This road shows each individual’s need for salvation, that we are all sinners, every one of us has sinned (3:23), and what we deserve for that sin is death (6:23), (spiritual separation from a Holy God). Still, God so loved us that, instead of giving us what we deserve (our wages), God’s gift is eternal life with Him because Jesus took our penalty upon Himself, and while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (5:8).

Now, once we understand that our way of trying to be good enough to earn God’s love and eternal life was completely wrong, and that God’s plan of salvation, which is a gift, is the right and only way of salvation. The natural question that must be asked is, then, how do I receive this wonderful gift of God’s grace? Now Romans 10:9 tells us, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.” No mention that we must stop sinning, or start getting our life right first, no mention of never sinning again, or giving of money, or church attendance, no mention of any works that you must do to receive this gift of eternal life. So how do I receive this gift? By Grace alone, through Faith alone, in Christ alone!

Some folks over the years have gotten a bit confused about the requirement of “confess” with our mouth, Jesus as Lord. The Greek word “confess” means to “speak the same thing”, to agree that Jesus is Lord. It doesn’t mean that you must stand up in front of any group of people and “proclaim the gospel message”, it simply means that you speak what you believe in your heart. We are also told in other passages that we need to repent, which means to change our minds about God’s plan of salvation. We need to stop thinking we can earn God’s love and forgiveness on our own and start accepting God’s salvation as a gift we receive by faith.

Romans 10:9 is nothing new; Paul is simply stating here what he teaches throughout the book of Romans. Salvation has always been by God’s plan based on Faith that God will provide the promised messiah (for Old Covenant saints), and that God has provided the promised messiah (for New Covenant saints). The object of our faith has always been Jesus.  Paul is simply saying that if we say what we believe in our hearts, we will be saved. The word faith is belief or trust or confidence, showing that we have been persuaded by the Gospel of God’s grace to by faith accept that Jesus is Lord.

Paul continues showing his readers that no one can earn God’s love. In verses 12-16, Paul shows that everyone, Jews and Greeks, all come to salvation in the exact same way, through faith in God’s gift to all of us, the Lord Jesus.

I really love these verses 13-14 “for ‘WHOEVER WILL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’ How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” Then, in verse 17, Paul states a wonderful truth about salvation: “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” As you have seen throughout the book of Romans, “faith” is the only thing that pleases God.

So beloved of God, we don’t need to wonder and fret over our salvation; we can know without a single doubt that we belong to God. All we must do is to speak with our mouths what we already believe in our hearts, that “Jesus died for my sins, He was buried, and that He rose from the dead.” (I Cor. 15:3-4)

It’s that simple and that wonderful. Salvation is a gift from God. If you haven’t yet spoken what you believe in your heart, please do so today. God’s gift of salvation is available to all who will accept His gift by faith.

 "Living in Grace is not about what I can do, but about what Jesus has already done!"