Romans 10:9, 10 - Believe and Confess for Salvation.
Romans 10:9, 10 (NLT) 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. 10 For it is by believing in your
heart that you are made right with God, and it is
by confessing with your mouth that you are
saved.
Rom 10:9, 10 (CWR) If you confess with your
month that Jesus Christ is your Savior and Lord
and in your heart believe that God raised Him
from the dead, you will have the kind of
relationship with God that you need. 10 Faith is a matter
of the heart. It is by faith that we come to
Christ and are justified. So we live for God, not
in order to be saved, but because we are saved.
Rom 10:9, 10 (MSG) Say the welcoming word to
God - "Jesus is my Master" - embracing, body and
soul, God's work of doing in us what he did in
raising Jesus from the dead. That's it. You're not
"doing" anything; you're simply calling out to God,
trusting him to do it for you. That's salvation. 10
With your whole being you embrace God setting
things right, and then you say it, right out loud:
"God has set everything right between him and
me!"
COMMENTARY PEARL
Do you like to run? Most kids do, at
least for a short distance. Running around a
soccer field is fun. Racing around a track can be a
good challenge. But can you imagine running 3,100
miles? And you thought a marathon was long! Every
June since 1997, a group of runners has lined up
on a street in Queens, New York, to compete in
the longest certified road race in the world.
Competitors must finish 3,100 miles in fifty-two days or
less. That means they have to run nearly sixty
miles a day. Instead of running from New York to
Los Angeles (which is about the same distance),
runners take 5,649 laps around a city block.
Competitors wear through around twenty pairs of shoes as
they jog for nearly eighteen hours a day. Breaks
include lots of sleeping and lots of eating - around
10,000 calories a day (that's like consuming
twenty-three Chick-fil-A sandwiches).
Three thousand miles sounds like a long
way, but experts who study human behavior say the
longest distance in the world is fourteen inches -
the distance between your head and your heart.
Knowing something in your head and having
that belief change your life are two very
different things. Michael Licona, who wrote The Case
for the Resurrection of Jesus, says he knows
people who acknowledge that Jesus rose from the
dead but still refuse to accept Jesus into their
hearts. They want to remain the master of their
lives instead of giving the throne to God. "In
many cases - not all - it's a heart issue, not a
head issue," Licona said. "Some people just don't
like what Jesus is demanding of them."
Jesus demands our devotion. When we
accept Christ as Savior, he becomes Lord of our
lives and we are saved from our sins (Romans
10:9). As followers of Christ, we have to do just
that ... follow. We must put off selfish desires
and live according to God's laws. Your heart is
a place of passion. It's what drives you. God
wants you to live passionately for him. When your
relationship with Christ moves the distance from your
head to your heart, your passion for God will
shine through. [Case For Christ For Kids by Les
Strobel]
FOR THOSE WHO DESIRE DEEPER STUDY:
INTRODUCTION
The oldest creed of the church is, "Jesus is
Lord.'' [Disciple SB]
The gospel message in a nutshell is "believe
and confess Jesus as Lord, and you will be
saved." [Life Application Commentary]
How to become a Christian is stated here. If
we believe in our hearts and say with our
mouths that Christ is the risen Lord, we will be
saved. [Life Application SB mod]
WORD STUDY
JESUS is LORD
Jesus is Lord: The earliest Christian
confession of faith (cf. 1Co 12:3), probably used at
baptisms. In view of the fact that "Lord" is used over
6,000 times in the Septuagint (the Greek
translation of the OT) to translate the name of Israel's
God (Yahweh), it is clear that Paul, when using
this word of Jesus, is ascribing deity to him.
[NIV SB]
Lord, or Yahweh, is the OT name for God;
thus he who confesses that Jesus is Lord affirms
His deity. [Ryrie SB]
Jesus is distinct from all other religious
leaders: he is the only "Lord" to have risen from the
grave. This makes Christianity more than a
philosophy of life or a religious option; it is the
only way to be saved. [Life Application
Commentary]
BELIEVE with your heart
Belief normally precedes confession In v.
10 Paul gives the normal order of faith, then
confession. [SDA Bible Commentary]
In Biblical terms the heart is not merely
the seat of the emotions and affections, but
also of the intellect and will. [NIV SB]
The Jews regarded the heart as the seat of
the inner life of thought and feeling By
referring to belief with the heart Paul implies
that faith involves a complete inward change.
[SDA Bible Commentary]
CONFESS with your mouth
Confession is the outward evidence of the
inward change,.. A willingness to confess Christ in
word and deed has always been the test of true
discipleship. [SDA Bible Commentary]
When we confess that Jesus is Lord, we are
acknowledging his rank or supreme place. We are pledging
our obedience and worship; we are placing our
life under his protection for safekeeping. We are
pledging ourselves and our resources to his control
for direction and service. Lord is intended to
represent the highest authority to whom we submit.
[Life Application Commentary]
In this confession, it is not enough to
merely utter the words; they must be declared,
professed, proclaimed "from the heart," expressing our
full conviction. [Life Application Commentary]
SALVATION
Salvation involves inward belief ("with your
heart") as well as outward confession ("with your
mouth"). [NIV SB]
These are simultaneous actions: one inward
(heart) and the other outward (mouth). [Ryrie SB]
Confession and belief belong together like a
hand and glove. Believing and confessing are not
two stages in a process but two parts of one
action. [Disciple SB]
To believe and to confess involve
whole-person commitment Neither are these components
described in such a way that a person might accomplish
one without accomplishing the other, They are
two parts of a single step, just as lifting the
foot and then placing it back down are two
movements in the one act of taking a step. (Life
Application Commentary)
COMMENTARY
When we hear the word confess, we
probably think of sin. We know we're to confess our
sin so we can be forgiven and enjoy fellowship
with a holy God. From Genesis through Revelation,
we read about the dreadfulness of sin and the
importance of confession. Notice how confess is used in
Romans 10:9. The Greek behind this word means "to
say the same thing" or "to agree." In the
context of acknowledging sin, confess means agreeing
with God about our sinful condition. In the
context of Romans 10:9, confess means agreeing with
God about the importance of His Son's death and
resurrection. The simple but profound phrase "Jesus is
Lord" is considered the earliest Christian
confession.
Confessions of faith and of sin, however,
involve more than intellectual assent; these
confessions include the desire to align our lives with
God's truth. Confession of sin is perhaps
motivated initially by the knowledge of divine
judgment and our need for cleansing. But believers
whose relationship with Jesus is deepening are
moved to confession out of their heartfelt desire
to allow nothing in their lives to separate
them from their Savior. [Being Still With God
Every Day by Henry Blackaby]
As you confess Me before men, so I will
confess you before God and the holy angels. You are
to be My witnesses upon earth, channels through
which My grace can flow for the healing of the
world. So I will be your representative in heaven.
The Father beholds not your faulty character,
but He sees you as clothed in My perfection. I
am the medium through which Heaven's blessings
shall come to you. And everyone who confesses Me
by sharing My sacrifice for the lost shall be
confessed as a sharer in the glory and joy of the
redeemed. He who would confess Christ must have
Christ abiding in him. He cannot communicate that
which he has not received. The disciples might
speak fluently on doctrines, they might repeat the
words of Christ Himself; but unless they possessed
Christlike meekness and love, they were not confessing
Him. A spirit contrary to the spirit of Christ
would deny Him, whatever the profession. Men may
deny Christ by evil speaking, by foolish talking,
by words that are untruthful or unkind. They
may deny Him by shunning life's burdens, by the
pursuit of sinful pleasure. They may deny Him by
conforming to the world, by uncourteous behavior, by
the love of their own opinions, by justifying
self, by cherishing doubt, borrowing trouble, and
dwelling in darkness. In all these ways they declare
that Christ is not in them. And "whosoever shall
deny Me before men," He says, "him will I also
deny before My Father which is in heaven." {DA
357}
CLOSING THOUGHT
Can we know we are truly saved? The Bible
says, If you confess with your mouth, Jesus
is Lord, and believe in your heart that God
raised him from the dead, you will be saved
(Romans 10:9). Confess and believe and you will
have salvation.
Catch what the verse does not say: live
perfectly, be nice to everyone, dont mess up, always
smile - and you will be saved. Cant do it.
Impossible. Just confess and believe. Salvation will
follow. Its so easy yet so hard.
God wants us to know we are saved, for
saved people are dangerous people, willing to face
off with the world, unafraid of the consequences
since we know that, whatever happens, we will have
eternal life. Therefore, there is now no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans
8:1 NIV). Watch out, world! [Max Lucado Daily
Devotional at maxlucado.com]
LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THIS TOPIC
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2007/20070927-1108.html
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2010/20100625-1038.html
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2006/20060120-1046.html
EXCELLENT VIDEO SERIES ON 28 REVELATIONS OF
JESUS
1st of 28: Divine Dining:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_7j1QIKqmY
2nd of 28: Pictures of the Divine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lNI-OQ7-eQ
3rd of 28: A Dirty Bible:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMkPvBuuFd4
4th of 28: Cared For:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztXyJVdcCds
5th of 28: Saved:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX45kGRe1HI
6th of 28: You Can Change:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd0gkvK18fo
7th of 28: Reprogramming Our Brains:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov36f_RapXc
8th of 28 Our Holy Father:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XabXLEXsxbY
9th of 28 Gifts of Service:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtuGZviodkA
10th of 28 The Holy Spirit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in89XVs4cGo
11th of 28 The Law of God:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_Q601HjogI
Live ongoing series in progress.
YOUR COMMENTS
If anyone has a paraphrase, commentary or
testimony on this passage of Scripture, either
personal or otherwise, I would be interested in
hearing from you. Thanks in advance and let's keep
uplifting Jesus that all might be drawn to Him. Fred
Gibbs
