Jesus is the only way be which humanity can be saved from the wrath to come (Jn 14:6, Acts 4:12). His Gospel message of salvation is for all, which is the only avenue by which belief is possible.
How is such salvation obtained? Are we required to build up enough good works (that will outweigh our bad) before we can approach God? Do we need to acquire some sort of high level of supernational knowledge of God before faith can be granted? Is there a spiritual discipline and exertion we must demonstrate before God deems us worthy of saving? The answers to all of these are NO!
These questions that humanity continually struggles with is the reason why the Gospel is the good news! Jesus has done the hard part for us by his life, death, and resurrection. As a result, salvation is obtained simply by confession of faith, AND having that faith of him in our hearts according to Paul. Lets unpack his words a little deeper:
Paul says, “…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord…” A confession is simply our acknowledgement of our sins to God and that Jesus is the only way by which such sin can be atoned for. It involves usage of our lips as words of such faith flows out of mouths. When we do so, we declare God is true in what Jesus said about himself and therefore, we give him honor and glory. When we confess, our words are saturated with thanksgiving that we have a deliverer that we can run to as our refuge, thus (Heb 13:15), “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.” But our words (confession) are not enough on its own.
Paul continues, “…and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” In other words, the confession of faith from our lips proceeds from faith that already exists in the heart. This is why Paul identifies a divine order of such transformation when he says in (v10), “For with the heart one believes and is justified….” Because faith leads to being made right with God. Then out of the faith that God has filled our hearts with (first), our mouths confess! Jesus declared (Lk 6:45), “…for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Remember his encounter with the Samaritan woman about the impact of God-given faith. To communicate this truth, Jesus used the imagery of water to illustrate that God is the source and giver of faith (Jn 4:14), “…The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The point is that faith and confession are inseverable. You cannot have one without the other and claim to possess genuine faith. A belief that is simply of lip service without heart transformation is mockery to God (Mt 15:8-9). Let us receive the simplicity of salvation given to us by the mercy of God. Let us holdfast to our confidence in Jesus who has perfectly fulfilled the requirements of God’s law on our behalf, that we can come to him freely to receive his salvation by grace. Let us abandon all human efforts to please God in self-righteousness and run to Jesus today. He is our only refuge from the wrath to come, and security of eternal life with him. Faith that lives in the heart is key. If it exists, our mouth cannot help but declare it to all who will listen! Amen.
Blessings,
Dr. Jason S. Price, Th.D.
www.springoflivingwaters.com