BELIEVE AND BE SAVED

9–10. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus. Paul has just made reference that the gospel has been in the mouths of the Jews. Now he builds on that thought. He explains that the confession “Jesus is Lord” refers to the lordship which Jesus exercises as the exalted Christ. Salvation must entail faith in One who is Lord. Confession of the lordship of Christ presupposes the incarnation, death, and resurrection of the Lord. The apostle goes on to say that in order to be saved one must believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead. Necessary belief in the resurrection is mentioned because new life to the believer is contingent upon a living Lord.

Token assent that Jesus is Lord and the fact of His resurrection is not sufficient for salvation. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness. Belief in the saving power of the risen Christ must come from the innermost part of man’s being. This is described as man’s heart. But more than that, with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Confession with the mouth is evidence of genuine faith in the heart. Frequently both our Lord and the Apostle Paul indicate the coordination of faith and a confession (cf. Mt 10:22; Lk 12:8; 1 Tim 6:12). The natural response of the lordship and resurrection of Jesus Christ believed is the lordship and resurrection of Jesus Christ confessed. Confession with the mouth does not bring about genuineness of belief in the heart, but it gives evidence to it.¹

THE TRUTH IS THE GOSPEL IS SIMPLE

Jesus is known not through theology, not through philosophy, but through childlike simplicity. That is, you believe in your heart that He is risen, that He died for your sins and is alive. And you make a simple confession with your mouth: “Jesus is my Lord. I’m going on record verbally. I believe in my heart internally that He died for my sins; He’s risen; and He’s my Lord.” You don’t have to float off into space or dig deep into thought. The word is near you—even in your mouth. It’s so very simple: Just believe and confess²

What must we do to be saved?, is nowhere in Scripture stated more succinctly than in these verses: That 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. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved (verses 9, 10).

There are times when we are called upon to open our mouths and make simple declarations. When I got married I had to say before God and certain witnesses ‘I do’ or ‘I will’. A Christian is to publicly reveal that he has been saved. One way to do this is to say, ‘Yes, Jesus is Lord.’

The second necessary condition that must be fulfilled if salvation is to take place is to believe in the heart. The word for ‘believe’ is pistauo, which means ‘to put your personal trust and confidence in’. This is why justification is by faith. Now where is that faith? In the heart. Paul is not using the heart as a term to describe merely the seat of emotions. When he speaks about the heart, he is speaking about the core of one’s being. It includes the mind but it involves more than the mind. From the depths of my being, I trust that God raised Jesus from the dead.

This is why orthodox Christianity declares belief in the resurrection of Christ to be essential. If a person denies the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, then he cannot possibly be a Christian. Christians can make mistakes in theology and not everybody is perfectly orthodox. Indeed, if we had to wait until we were perfectly orthodox before we were saved, none of us would be saved. But the denial of the resurrection of Christ is an intolerable error. You cannot be saved if you do not believe in the resurrection of Christ.³

10:9 The word is near—as near as your lips and heart (10:8; Deuteronomy 30:14). To confess means to “give verbal affirmation,”—in this case to acknowledge with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and was raised for you. 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.

Anyone can say he or she believes something, but God knows each person’s heart. 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. The gospel message in a nutshell is confess and believe and you will be saved. There is no reference to works or rituals.⁴

1 Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (pp. 2251–2252). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

2 Courson, J. (2003). Jon Courson’s Application Commentary (p. 959). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.

3 Sproul, R. C. (1994). The Gospel of God: An Exposition of Romans (pp. 178–180). Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications.

4 Barton, B., Comfort, P., Osborne, G., Taylor, L. K., & Veerman, D. (2001). Life Application New Testament Commentary (p. 616). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale.