Today, we continue to walk down the road of life, as we consider the five ways that we should respond to the Gospel message. Last time, we considered the response of repentance, which is a change of mind about who we are and who God is. It is a turning from our false worship of self to the true worship of God. The second way that we respond to the Gospel is through confession. For this, let’s read Romans 10:9-13 together. From the text, I want you to see the elements of confession, the essence of confession, and the extent of confession.
First, from verse 9, see the elements of confession. Romans 10 is picking up in the middle of an argument that takes Paul three chapters to work out. The argument begins, in chapter 9, with a problem: if the promise of salvation was made to the Jews, then why aren’t all the Jews coming to Jesus? Paul answers in three parts. First, he explains in chapter 9 that “not all are Israel who are of Israel.” In other words, salvation is not a matter of genetics. Just because you were born of Abraham, it does not guarantee that you are included in the new covenant established in Jesus. Rather, it is based on God’s mercy alone. Paul reminds the reader of God’s words to Moses in Exodus 32, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.”
But, this answer seems to create another problem: if we are not saved by our genetics and God shows mercy on whom he chooses, then how do we know the true covenant people? How do we know who is saved? Or, more importantly, how do we know if we are saved? For that, Paul moves to the second part of his argument, which we find here in chapter 10. His answer to these questions is found in verse 9: “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.” Now, this sentence is loaded with meaning, so let’s break it down by looking at the verbs and objects.
There are three verbs at work in this sentence - believe, confess, and saved. “Believe” is the Greek word pisteuo, which we typically translate as “to have faith.” This is an important distinction in our day, because the word “believe” has become so watered down as to mean either that we acknowledge the truthfulness of a set of facts or that we have wishful thinking about something. So, someone might ask you, “Do you believe that the earth is round or flat?” What they are asking is whether you believe the established science that has put men on the moon and determines every aspect of our daily lives through the technologies floating around in orbit, or do you believe the ancient myth of a flat earth? At the end of the day, whether you believe one or the other has no real bearing on your daily life. The satellites will still work, even if you don’t believe they are actually orbiting over your head. Biblical faith is not this sort of belief. It is not a mere acknowledgement of the fact that Jesus was a real human being who died and rose again. But, it is also not just wishful thinking or hoping against hope. Today, it is popular to speak of “manifesting”. Young people will use this term to speak of wishing something into existence, as if wishing hard enough enables some invisible force to work in your favor. This is just a rebranding of the “positive thinking” craze of the 80s. This is not what biblical faith is, either. Biblical faith does begin with an acknowledgement of the facts of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection, and it does include hope and a confidence in things not yet seen. But, true saving faith is anchored in something more.
That anchor directs us to our first object. Paul says that we should believe in our hearts “that God raised Jesus from the dead.” This is a loaded preposition, because it goes beyond just knowing facts. For one, it calls us to believe that Jesus is from God - “that God raised”. It is not enough to say that Jesus was a good man that God adopted to be his son. No, we should believe that God raised Jesus because he is the divine Son of God. Also, it calls us to believe that Jesus died. I know that seems uncontroversial to us, but there are numerous unbelievers and heretics who deny the death of Jesus. The Muslims reject the death of Jesus, teaching that Judas took his place. The Gnostic heretics teach that Jesus could not die because he was only a spiritual being, so he only appeared to die. The atheists propose that Jesus simply swooned on the cross and managed to roll the stone away and scare the Roman guards after 40 lashes and nails in his hands and feet. But, Jesus did die, and he died for a reason. He died as the sacrifice for our sins. Finally, this clause calls us to believe that Jesus rose again from the dead, and that his resurrection means something. The resurrection of Jesus is a promise of our resurrection. In Colossians, Paul calls Jesus’s resurrection the first fruits of our resurrection. In other words, it shows us what our resurrection will be like.
The second verb to consider is “confess”. The Greek word here is homologeo, which you’ll notice has two root words, “homo”, meaning the same, and “logos”, meaning word. So, confession is the act of saying the same thing or agreeing with someone about a subject. When you confess, you are agreeing with God in what he says. Again, Paul gives us a loaded preposition as the object of this verb. We are to confess “that Jesus is Lord.” When we confess, we are not agreeing to facts. This is not like agreeing that the earth is round. No, we are agreeing with God that Jesus is the Lord of heaven and earth. We are agreeing that Jesus is the Messiah. Because we live in a democracy, it is hard for us to grasp the idea of swearing allegiance to the king, to an actual flesh-and-blood person. But, we still have a parallel. Everyone who applies for citizenship in the USA is required, as their final and most important act, to swear an oath of allegiance to the constitution and flag of the US. Yes, there is a civics class and test that is required. But, even if you pass that with flying colors, you are still not a citizen until you swear allegiance to our system of government. In a similar way, you are not saved until you say with your mouth that Jesus is Lord.
The last verb we have is the word “saved”. The Greek word here is sozo, which means to protect or to rescue from danger. Through confession and faith, we are rescued from the danger brought on by our sins. Paul is clear in Romans that our sins have brought on the wrath of God, which culminates in physical and spiritual death. We cannot be rescued from that because of our heritage or our works. It can only be through faith in the work of Jesus and confessing that he is the Lord of all things.
This leads me to my second point, the essence of confession, from verses 10 and 11. Paul goes on, in verse 10, to put the focus on the places from which confession and belief originate. He says, “for with the heart one believes and is justified.” What he means here is more than just the center of our feelings, as we often use the word “heart” today. He is not saying that you just need to have good feelings about Jesus to be saved. The heart, according to the Jews, was the center of the whole person - the soul, if you will. It involves both the mind and the emotion. It is a realization that moves the whole man or woman to submission. Paul wants you to understand that soulless ritual is not enough. Some people think that the rituals and commitment to the church itself is what saves. It is possible to go through our worship service Sunday after Sunday, read the call to worship, sing the hymns, say the confession of faith, recite the Lord’s prayer, receive communion, and never actually believe in your heart that Jesus is the Son of God who died and rose again. If that’s you, no amount of ritual or church attendance can save you. Only true faith that comes from the core of your being can save you.
He also says, in verse 10, that it is with the mouth that one confesses and is saved. Here is the counterbalance to what I just said. There is also the risk of thinking that you have all the right feelings abut Jesus, and surely that is enough. People will often say, “Jesus knows my heart”, while resisting any outward act that would evidence what they actually believe. True, saving faith leads to action, and that action begins with using your mouth to confess to other people that Jesus is Lord. No, it is not enough to say it to your pillow at night. No, it is not enough to write it in your journal or on the last page of a Gospel tract. You must confess before men. Jesus says, in Matt.10:32, “If anyone confesses me before men, I will confess him before my Father in heaven.” Only those who pledge allegiance to Jesus as king will be saved.
Finally, consider the extent of confession, from verses 12 and 13. Paul ends this call to faith and confession by offering us confidence of the extent of God’s salvation. He explains both the availability and the assurance of our salvation. First, he says that this salvation is available to everyone without distinction. Specifically, he says that it is available to both Jew and Greek. This was a Jewish way of saying that salvation is available to all mankind, regardless of race. Remember, the original problem that led us here is the fact that not all Jews had accepted Jesus as the Messiah. Paul’s answer was that not all Jews are truly Jews because they are not all part of the new covenant. And, that new covenant isn’t just limited to the Jews. It is open to everyone, without distinction. It is open to anyone who would call on the name of the Lord.
Second, we have assurance of our salvation, if we have believed and confessed Jesus. Notice the certainty with which Paul speaks in these verses. In verse 9, he said that if we confess and believe we “will be saved”. He doesn’t say we start to be saved or might be saved. He says that we “WILL BE SAVED”. In verse 10 he says with the heart we believe and justified and with the mouth we confess and are saved. Again, believing directly leads to justification, which is the idea of being declared righteous. And, confessing directly leads to salvation. In verse 12, God bestows riches on all who call on him. And, in verse 13, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord WILL BE saved. Faith and confession are all that are required for salvation because neither faith nor confession is rooted in things we do. When we believe, we are not doing a work but taking with an empty hand what God gives to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus. And, when we confess, we are accepting the reality of the Lordship of Christ. Jesus is already Lord. He doesn’t become Lord when you confess. He is the Lord. So, there is nothing to add to your salvation, no merit you must earn, no additional sacrifice you must give. You need only believe it and confess it. So, won’t you do just that today?
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