Confess and Believe

Romans 9:25-10:13 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

As He says also in Hosea,

“I will call those who were not My people, ‘My people,’
And her who was not beloved, ‘beloved.’”
²⁶ “And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘you are not My people,’
There they shall be called sons of the living God.”

²⁷ Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “Though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved; ²⁸ for the Lord will execute His word on the earth, thoroughly and quickly.” ²⁹ And just as Isaiah foretold,

“Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left to us a posterity,
We would have become like Sodom, and would have resembled Gomorrah.”

³⁰ What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; ³¹ but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. ³² Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, ³³ just as it is written,

“Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense,
And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.”

10 Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. ² For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. ³ For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. ⁴ For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

⁵ For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness. ⁶ But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), ⁷ or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” ⁸ But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, ⁹ that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; ¹⁰ for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; ¹³ for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

In John 3:16, Jesus says:  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”    Whoever believes in Him. It is more than simply an acknowledgement of Jesus, God’s Son which leads to eternal life, redemption, salvation and restoration. It is believing in Him, believing who He is and what He did. In today’s text Paul says:  that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.     Jesus is Lord. Revelation 19:16 says:   And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."    That Jesus is Lord is more than just a title which shows respect. He is the “King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.” If we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, then we acknowledge that He is the highest authority. He has ultimate dominion. If we confess that Jesus is Lord, then we should ourselves be fully subject to His rule in our lives. That’s who He is.

If we believe in Him, then we also believe that God raised Him from the dead. Believing in the resurrection, believing that God raised Jesus, not just in some mystical, spiritual state, but physically raised Jesus in body, from the grave back to life is vital to the life and faith of everyone who believes. It is vital because it is in that belief that we have confidence that Jesus has overcome sin and death. If we believe that God raised Jesus “from the dead”, then we believe that Jesus did indeed die. He died on the cross.     He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.(1 Peter 2:24)      That’s what Jesus did. If we believe in Him, we believe that He died for our sins, conquered sin and death, was raised that we to might “live to righteousness” in Him.

The text says: for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness.  So the righteousness we have in Christ is not a righteousness of our works. It is a righteousness of belief, righteousness based on faith not works. Romans 4:3 says: For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness."     This refers to the promise that was given to Abraham in Genesis 15, the promise that Abraham would be the father of God’s people. Abraham’s actions did not always line up with his faith, but his righteousness was credited because he believed, not because of what he did. We too,  may at times not live in perfect righteousness, but if we believe in Christ His righteousness is credited to us.   For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)  

Do our actions no longer matter then? Are we saved by faith regardless of how we live? Only God, only Jesus, only the Holy Spirit can say for sure. 1 Samuel 16:7 says: “God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”      God judges the heart, the heart where we believe. Remember though the text also says:  that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord…   The confession of our mouth reveals what is in our heart. In Luke 6:45 Jesus says:  The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.    Our words, what we say reveal our true heart, what we believe. Jesus continues in Luke 6:46-49 saying:    “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?  Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like:  he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.  But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”     If we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, then our actions should be to do what He says. If Jesus is Lord we will follow Him. The psalmist says: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.  He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. (Psalm 23:1-3)  If Jesus is Lord, then He will lead. We will not expect Him to follow us in unrighteousness, we will do what He says. We will go where He leads.

Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”  For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him;  for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Lord Jesus, I believe. I confess that You are Lord and I believe that You died for my sins. I believe that God raised You from the grave so that I might live in the resurrection with You. May my words and actions reflect Your righteousness credited to me by faith. May I through the Holy Spirit faithfully follow You in the paths of righteousness, Lord Jesus.    Amen