Our text is Romans 10:9-10. It says, "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. For with the heart
one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses
and is saved."
This is one of several texts in Paul's epistles where he
sums up the gospel message in a simple, short sentence or
two. Every now and then, in Paul's writings, he'll make a
concise summary statement about the way of salvation,
summing up the heart of the gospel in a simple, condensed
statement. And these are all vital biblical references.
Ephesians 2:8-9 is one of them: "For by grace you have been
saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift
of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." Titus
3:5 is another: "he saved us [Christ did], not because of works
done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by
the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit."
Romans 4:4-5 is another: "Now to the one who works, his
wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one
who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly,
his faith is counted as righteousness." Galatians 2:16 is
Romans 10:9-10 2
another: "We know that a person is not justified by works of the
law but through faith in Jesus Christ."
Always, Paul's focus is the same: salvation is not
something that can be earned by merit or obtained by human
works, but justification is a work of God' grace, by which
"the righteousness of God [is imputed] through faith in Jesus
Christ for all who believe" (Romans 3:22). Salvation is
wrought through Christ's work on our behalf. God saves us
for Christ's sake, not to honor us or reward us for anything
we do, but to honor Christ for what He did. Salvation is a gift
of God, not something earned by works. And faith is the sole
instrument by which we lay hold of it. That is the consistent
teaching of the apostle Paul, and it is the consistent teaching
of all Scripture.
Now, to some of you, these may seem easy and
elementary truths, things you hear about all the time. You
may even be tempted to tune me out and think this message
isn't for you, because you have already believed the gospel
and embraced Christ by faith as Savior. But I want to urge
you not to tune me out. If you think you've reached the point
where you don't need to hear basic gospel truth taught and
explained, then maybe you haven't quite laid hold of the vast
fullness of the gospel message yet. Because the gospel is not
only the way of salvation; it is the ground of our assurance as
well. And the faith that first lays hold of justification at the
initial moment of conversion is the same faith that is
Faith and Confession 3
instrumental in sanctification as well. We all need to be
reminded of the basic truth of the gospel all the time. So
don't tune me out, even if you are someone who has been a
Christian for many years. The truth of this text is for you,
too, and you need to be reminded of it.
Still, there's nothing particularly complex or difficult
about these two verses. They are a simple summary of the
way of salvation, and they feature in very few words a
number of key ideas that lie at the heart of the gospel
message, and therefore at the core of the Christian faith.
Like all Scripture, this passage is not to be considered in
isolation from the rest of Scripture, and its full meaning is
made clear by the context. So we'll examine both the
immediate and the broader contexts as we work our way
through this text, but I want to do it by highlighting the same
key concepts Paul mentions in the text itself.
There are three ideas that are repeated in each of these two
verses. Notice: both verses speak of confession; both speak
of faith; and both speak of salvation. In verse 9, it's
confession, then faith, then salvation. In verse 10, it's faith,
then confession, then salvation. And I want to examine each
of those ideas in reverse order from the way they appear in
verse 9. First isC
Romans 10:9-10 4
1. SALVATION
The context makes clear that the subject is spiritual
salvationCsalvation from sin; redemption from the guilt and
the penalty of sin; rescue from the wrath of God and the
eternal punishment that Scripture says is owed to everyone
who violates the law of God.
In fact, the immediate context is dealing with the question
of salvation for Israel. Paul is speaking particularly of the
unbelieving leaders of Israel (the Sanhedrin, the leading
Pharisees, the leading Sadducees)Cthose who hated Christ
mostCas well as the majority of the Jewish nation who
looked to them for leadership. National IsraelCthe earthly
nation. Paul says they had rejected and killed their own
Messiah; they had spurned the true righteousness of God;
and they were going about trying to establish a substitute
righteousness of their ownCan external, hypocritical, selfrighteousness
that would ultimately result in their
condemnation rather than their salvation.
You're in Romans 10. Look back at verse 1:
Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is
that they may be saved.
2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God,
but not according to knowledge.
3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and
seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to
God's righteousness.
Faith and Confession 5
Now, the fact that he's talking about salvation presupposes
the need for salvation. That should be obvious, but it
nevertheless needs to be pointed out. There's an implicit
acknowledgement of our human fallenness, our dilemma as
sinners, in the very idea of "salvation."
In other words, there's something we need to be saved
from, and it's our sin. That's where you have to start in order
for any of this to make sense. You have to acknowledge, first
of all, that you are a sinner in need of salvation.
In fact, that's the very issue Paul did start with back in the
first three chapters of this same epistle to the church at
Rome. He's giving a detailed, systematic account of the
gospel, and he starts with the fact of sin. Starting in Romans
1:18 and continuing through Romans 3:20, Paul had already
systematically demonstrated that everyoneCincluding the
out-and-out pagans, the religious Gentiles, and the
JewsCeveryoneCis sinful and in need of salvation. He sums
up the point in Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned, and come
short of the glory of God." Romans 3:10: "There is none
righteous, no, not one." But (Romans 3:9) "both Jews and
Gentiles . . . are all under sin."
And, by the way, because we are under sin, we are also
under the wrath of God (Romans 1:18): "For the wrath of God
is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men."
Romans 10:9-10 6
That's the human dilemma. It's not just loneliness, or low
self-esteem, or depression, or an empty lifeCor any of the
other personal problems people today like to focus on instead
of their sin and their guilt. All those other things are fruits of
sin, but they're not the root of the problem. The real problem
with our sin is not just that it makes us feel bad or causes us
emotional stress. It's that our sin has separated us from God
and placed us under His wrath. We need to be right with
God, and that is a more pressing and important need than all
the self-centered needs most people today spend their time
obsessing over.
That is the starting point of the gospel. That's the problem
and the universal human dilemma the gospel addresses: We
are all sinners, and therefore we are subject to judgment and
eternal wrath. We cannot do anything to save ourselves from
that predicament. We need someone else to save us. And
only Christ can do that. Acts 4:12: "And there is salvation in
no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given
among men by which we must be saved."
Now the Pharisees, and the Sanhedrin, and the majority of
Israel rejected the idea that their spiritual condition was that
hopeless. They would have embraced a Messiah who would
have ended their oppression under the Roman emperors.
They were ready to follow a Messiah who would give them
food and physical healing and make them feel better about
themselves. But as soon as they realized Christ's mission was
Faith and Confession 7
to rescue them from sinCand that required them to admit that
they were hopeless sinners in need of that kind of salvation,
they turned against Him and ultimately killed Him.
Now, don't misunderstand me: Most of them probably
would have admitted that they had sinned, just like most
people today, if you press them, will say, Oh sure, I've
"sinned." I've made mistakes. I've done things I'm not proud
of. I'm not perfect. Nobody is. But I'm not that bad. My
situation isn't really hopeless. I'm getting better. Every day
and in every way, I'm getting better and better.
According to Romans 10:3, they still believed they could
establish their own righteousness. They didn't see their own
sin as any real impediment to earning God's approval. They
were "ignorant of the righteousness of God," Paul says. They
didn't understand the utter perfection God demands. They
wouldn't submit to His righteousness, because it would have
condemned them. And they refused to acknowledge the
hopelessness of their condition. They were convinced that
their external obedience to the ceremonies and the rituals
prescribed in the law made them better than everyone else.
So they were satisfied with an external show of
righteousness, and they were ignorant of their need for a
better kind of righteousness.
That is why Paul makes such a clear and dramatic contrast
in verses 5-6 between two kinds of righteousness. One is
self-righteousness, which always condemns and can never
Romans 10:9-10 8
save. In verse 5, he calls it "the righteousness that is based on
the law."
In other words, the kind of righteousness that depends on
what I do always condemns, (even if what I am trying to do
is be obedient to God's law) because I cannot fulfill the law's
demand for perfect obedience. I never obey perfectly. But the
law demands total perfection. James 2:10 says, "For
whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point,
he is guilty of all." Jesus said it this way in Matthew 5:20:
"[Unless] your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of
the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the
kingdom of heaven." And then Jesus said in Matthew 5:48,
"You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is
perfect."
Paul said that if you want to work for your own salvation,
you'll be paid whatever wage you earn. He made that very
point back in Romans 4:4: "Now to the one who works, his
wages are not counted as a gift but as his due." If you want to
get paid a reward according to your own works, just
remember that the wages of sin is death, and it only takes one
infraction of God's law to be accounted a sinner and worthy
of death. That's why it is utterly hopeless to think you can
earn favor with God by what you do. To attempt to do that is
the very definition of self-righteousnessCself-dependence on
your own righteousness.
Faith and Confession 9
But there's another kind of righteousness. In verse 6, Paul
calls it "the righteousness based on faith." In verse 3, he
makes it clear that it's God's righteousnessCa truly perfect
righteousness because it is God's own righteousness. Back in
Romans 3:22, Paul said that "the righteousness of God [God's
own perfect, flawless righteousness] . . . is [bestowed through]
faith [in] Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe."
Romans 4 then goes on to describe in detail how that
righteousness is imputed, or reckoned, to the account of
every believer, by faith, apart from our works. So those who
simply believe get credit for a perfect righteousness that is
not in any way the fruit of what they do. It's something they
receive by faith. It's a righteousness they don't earn, but they
get credit for it. That's the righteousness that saves.
Notice: Here in verse 4, Paul says that the righteousness
that saves is the righteousness of Christ. It's not only God's
righteousness; more specifically, it belongs to Christ and
was wrought by Him for us. Verse 4: "For Christ is the end of
the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." The word
translated "end" is the Greek word telos. It means Christ is
the object, the goal, and the fulfillment of the law on our
behalf. You might read the English expression and think it
means simply that Christ has put an end to the law by
overthrowing it or declaring it null and void. That's not what
it means. It means that he has fulfilled the law on our behalf.
He is the end (He is the goal and the object) of the law. He is
Romans 10:9-10 10
that to which the law points. Obviously, He fulfilled the law's
moral demands perfectly, because He was sinless. But He
also fulfilled the penalty God demands of those who
transgress His law. He did both things as our substitute. He
fulfilled the law in our place; and He bore the law's penalty
in our stead. Therefore His righteousnessCthe perfect
righteousness of God incarnateCis put to our account, in the
very same way that our sins were put to His account on the
cross. He is quite simply the perfect fulfillment of every
intention and every design that was built into God's law.
That is why self-righteousness can never save, but there is
a righteousness that does save. It's God's righteousness, not
ours. It is Christ's righteousness and the perfect fulfillment of
the law. And it's received by faith, not earned by works.
By the way, Paul makes a similar contrast between the
two kinds of righteousness in Philippians 3:9, where he says
he wants to be "found in [Christ], not having a righteousness of
my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through
faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on
faith."
So that is what salvation is all about. That's the only way
salvation is possible. It is the result of a righteousness that
we don't earn or contribute to with our own works. It's
something Christ alone has done for us, on our behalf. And
you can't have it if you want to earn it on your own. Because
if you think you can earn it on your own, you're not really
Faith and Confession 11
looking for salvation; you're imagining that you can earn
eternal life as a reward, and that was the very error that kept
the unbelieving Israelites cut off from the possibility of
salvation.
It's important to understand those truths at the very
beginning: you need salvation. You need to be saved from
the wrath of God and be justified in His eyes. You cannot
save yourself. Even if you could reform yourself enough to
be absolutely perfect from now until the end of your life, you
still can't afford the price you would have to pay for your
past sins. But more than that, God's standard of
righteousness is so high that you could never attain it
anyway. So don't imagine that you can do anything to save
yourself.
But here's why the gospel is good news: the very thing
you need most is available by faith to all who simply put
their trust in Christ. The perfect righteousness you need but
could never earn on your own is the very thing verse 10
means when it says, "with the heart one believes and is
justified." The familiar King James Version says the same
thing, but says it this way, "with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness." Perfect righteousness. Not your own
righteousness, but the righteousness of God, unto all and
upon all who believe. And that brings us to the second of the
three great ideas that stand out on the face of our text:
Romans 10:9-10 12
2. FAITH
In many ways this goes to the very heart of Paul's point. It
is faith in contrast to worksCsomething you believe as
opposed to something you do. Paul's answer to the Philippian
jailer's question is notable for its single-minded simplicity. In
Acts 16:30, the jailer asked, "What must I do to be saved?"
Paul didn't give him a list of works to perform or a liturgy of
sacraments to observe. This is the simple, biblical answer to
the urgent question of every seeking heart (Acts 16:31):
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."
In our text, Paul is saying the same thing. "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, at first
glance, you might think he has added an act of verbal
confession to the simple condition of faith, but that's not the
point, and I'll show you that in a moment. For now, though,
let's examine what he means by the idea of believing in
Christ with your heart.
The context makes clear that Paul is stressing the utter
simplicity of faith in the finished work of Christ. Look at the
preceding verses, starting with verse 5. This is not an easy
passage to understand, but when you see what Paul is saying
here, his logic is brilliant.
Remember, he is contrasting two kinds of
righteousnessCself-righteousness versus imputed
righteousness. The mistake of the unbelieving Israelites was
Faith and Confession 13
that they thought they could establish their own
righteousness. They were pursuing a legal righteousness that
they imagined was derived from their obedience to Moses'
law.
So Paul calls Moses himself as a witness against that kind
of works-religion. And in verse 5, he is quoting from
Leviticus 18:5, which is simply a promise of life and
blessing to those who obey the law. Listen to Leviticus 18:4-
5. God is speaking, and He says: "You shall follow my rules
and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God.
Lev 18:5 You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a
person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD." That
was the promise of the law: "do and live." And the same
thing is reiterated repeatedly in Scripture. You find that same
verse quoted again in Nehemiah 9:29 and three times in
Ezekiel 20. I believe Jesus was making reference to that very
same text (Leviticus 18:5), when a certain lawyer asked the
same question as the Philippian jailer. Luke 10:25 says,
"behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying,
'Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?'"
Now, there's a significant difference between this guy and
the Philippian jailer. The jailer was feeling his sin and
sincerely seeking salvation. The lawyer, notice, was just
putting Jesus to the test. He didn't really sense his own need.
So Jesus turned the question back on him and pointed him
back to the law: What do you think? What does the law say?
Romans 10:9-10 14
So the lawyer recited back to Jesus the first and second great
commandments: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with
all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." He gave the
legal answerCthe answer of the law, rather than the answer
of the gospel.
Luke 10:28 says Jesus told him, "You have answered
correctly; do this, and you will live." That is the only answer
the law can give: do and live. But the gospel has a
completely different answer, as we're going to see.
Before we see that, though. Notice this: there's another
message also contained in the law. There's not only a
promise of life to those who obey; there's also a curse for
those who disobey. Galatians 3:10: "For it is written, 'Cursed
be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book
of the Law, and do them.'" That's a quote from Deuteronomy
27:26. Also, Jeremiah 11:3 says, "Thus says the LORD, the
God of Israel: Cursed be the man who does not [heed] the words
of this covenant."
You can't have the promise of the law without the curse,
too. And that is Paul's point in verse 5. "The man who
practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by
that righteousness." You have to obey the law perfectly to
benefit from its promise of life, and if you don't, the
righteousness which is by law demands death as a penalty.
Faith and Confession 15
In Galatians 3 Paul says something very similar to what
he says here in Romans 10, and it's worth looking at, because
it sheds some light on this passage and the meaning of
Leviticus 18:5 and the law's promise of life for obedience
("So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a
man may live if he does them.").
So turn for a moment to Galatians 3:12. Keep a marker
here, but turn over to Galatians 3. Notice, verse 10 is where
Paul cites the curse of the law. Therefore, he says, you can't
be justified by doing the law (verse 11) because you can't do
it perfectly and the law curses every imperfection. But, he
points out, even the Old Testament recognized that the just
shall live by faith. And there Paul is quoting Habakkuk 2:4,
which he also quotes in Romans 1:17 as proof that justifying
righteousness is acquired by faith, not by works. That's
gospel truth, not legal truth, because, as he says in Galatians
3:12, "But the law is not of faith, rather 'The one who does [the
commandments] shall live by them.'"
So that is Paul's argument against those who try to justify
themselves before God by their own works: works cannot
justify, because the same law that promises life for obedience
also pronounces a curse for disobedience, and that makes
true righteousness utterly impossible for sinners. So the law's
promise of life is illusive and impossible. It's "not of faith,"
he says, and faith is the true way of salvation. That is the
Romans 10:9-10 16
promise of the gospel, and it's better than the promise of life
that was attached to the law.
Notice, also, that he goes on to say in Galatians 3:13 that
"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law."
Now, listen, because this is the heart of the case Paul is
making: Christ not only redeemed us from the curse of the
law; he also obtained the promise of the law on our behalf.
That's why the law promised life in the first place. Because a
redeemer would come who could obey the law perfectly, and
He would do it on our behalf. He has done everything the
law requires of usCincluding die. Look at Galatians 3:13:
"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a
curse for us--for it is written, [written in Deuteronomy 21:23]
'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.'" Or as
Deuteronomy 21:23 has it, "A hanged man is cursed by God."
Christ was cursed for usCmade the living embodiment of
every curse ever uttered. But God accepted His sacrifice as
payment in full for the sin of others, and the proof of
thatCthe ultimate vindication of Christ and the proof of our
salvationCis seen in the fact that God has raised him from
the dead.
Now, go back to Romans 10 and look at this: Verse 5 tells
us what the law says: you get life for perfect obedience.
That's the righteousness of the law. It is unattainable for you
and me by our own works.
Faith and Confession 17
But remember, there's another righteousnessCthe
righteousness of faith. This is the gospel-promise. And Paul
turns to this other righteousness in verse 6:
But the righteousness based on faith says, "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 that we
proclaim);
Again, Paul is citing Old Testament verses. He draws his
proof-texts about the righteousness of faith from the Old
Testament, proving that even to those who were under the
law, the way of justification by faith was promised. The
gospel-promise was hidden in the law.
And I wish we had time for an in-depth look at the
context of the verses he cites, but we don't. So be sure you
get the point here.
Paul is quoting from Deuteronomy 30, where Moses sums
up the meaning of the law in a way that points the people
toward faith rather than works. Moses sets before them a
choice between life and death, good and evil. And the apostle
Paul is saying that Moses' words, the very capstone of the
law, pointed the people to faith. They implied the promise of
Romans 10:9-10 18
the gospel. They gave hope despite the curse of the law.
Deuteronomy 30:11-15:
For this commandment that I command you today is not
too hard for you, neither is it far off.
12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, "Who will
ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may
hear it and do it?"
13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, "Who
will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may
hear it and do it?"
14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in
your heart, so that you can do it.
15 See, I have set before you today life and good, death
and evil.
Paul then takes that text and applies it to Christ. In effect, he
pulls back the curtain and shows that all along, the purpose
and the intent of the law was to point people to Christ by
making them see the futility of trying to be righteous on their
own and leaving them with no recourse but faith as the way
of salvation.
In other words, even in its Mosaic context, this was a
gracious, gentle, expression of God's willingness to save.
And Paul explains the sense of it by applying it to Christ. We
can't ascend to heaven in order to bring Christ down. And we
can't descend into the deep in order to bring Him up from the
dead. But everything that needs to be done for our salvation
Faith and Confession 19
has already been done on our behalf. There is nothing left for
us to do but lay hold of it by faith.
And, Paul says, that is "the word of faith, which we preach."
It's about faith, not works. It's about believing, not doing. It's
about laying hold by faith of that which we could never do.
But Christ has already done it on behalf of his people. He
obtained the law's promise of life, by obeying the whole law
perfectly as our substitute and our proxy. And then he
redeemed us from the curse of the law by being made a curse
for us and dying to pay the penalty that was owed us. That
penalty he also paid as our substitute and our proxy. The
proof that God accepted His work is gloriously declared in
His resurrection.
We lay hold of Christ and the promise of justification by
faith, and by faith alone. We cannot earn salvation by any
merit of our own, because we have no merit of our own. So
faith is the only possible way we can lay hold of it.
Now, two more points about faith before we move on.
First, faith is objective, not subjective. In other words, faith
is not some indistinct, ethereal feeling that we get, but it has
a definite object. And the only true and valid object of saving
faith is Christ. But it's again not just a vague and indistinct
notion about Him. There is specific content to our faith. It
involves certain biblical doctrinesCessential articles of
faithCthat I don't want you to miss.
Romans 10:9-10 20
Verse 9; we must confess "that Jesus is Lord." In other
words, there must be a recognition of His deity. Whenever
the New Testament refers to Him as "Lord," the emphasis is
on His deity. Paul uses the very same word you would use in
Greek to translate YHWH, the covenant name of God. Jesus
is God incarnate, and that is also what's implied in verse 6,
when Paul speaks of bringing Him down from above.
The title LORD also involves an implicit recognition of
His absolute right to rule. True faith in Christ as Lord is
incompatible with hard-hearted rebellion against His
lordship. You're not a true Christian if you haven't embraced
Christ by faith as your Lord and God and yielded your heart
to His lordship and authority.
It should also go without saying that the expression also
implies an unquestioning recognition of His ability to save.
True saving faith leans on Christ alone as God and Lord and
SaviorCand that is why if you haven't abandoned all hope
whatsoever in anything else you might think will save you
from your sin, you're not believing in Christ in the sense our
text requires. If you're holding on to acts of penance, or if
you think church membership alone will do it, or if you
retain any hope that your own good works will earn you
favor with God, then you haven't believed in your heart the
way our text demands.
And the objective, doctrinal content of genuine saving
faith doesn't stop there. Notice the second half of verse 9.
Faith and Confession 21
You must also "believe in your heart that God raised him from
the dead." After all, if the resurrection is proof of Christ's
justification, you can't doubt the testimony of Scripture about
that objective, historical fact and still be saved. First
Corinthians 15:17: "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is
futile and you are still in your sins."
So our faith has objective content, and the one true object
of saving faith is the Lord Jesus Christ, as He is revealed to
us in Scripture. That's where saving faith begins, and that is
where true faith must ultimately rest.
If you believe those things in your heart and confess them
with your mouth, Paul says, "you will be saved."
That brings us to the third key idea we find in these two
verses. It's the idea ofC
Romans 10:9-10 22
3. CONFESSION
Now, let me say as clearly as possible that when Paul
speaks of confessing with your mouth, he is not saying this
external act is a work that must be added to faith in order to
merit salvation. He is not suggesting that some work must be
added to faith in order to make it efficacious for salvation.
Throughout his epistles he consistently teaches that no work
is necessary to merit salvation. Romans 4:5: "To the one who
does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his
faith is counted as righteousness." Remember Titus 3:5,
which I quoted already: "[Christ] saved us, not because of
works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own
mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy
Spirit." And 2 Timothy 1:9 says God "saved us and called us
to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his
own purpose and grace."
But here Paul includes the idea of confession for two
reasons. First, notice once again verse 8: "The word is near
you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith)."
So it's all about faith. But remember that verse 8 is a
quotation from Deuteronomy 30:14: "The word is very near
you. It is in your mouth and in your heart."
Paul is still thinking of that text, and its reference to the
mouth and the heart. He's pointing out that the way of
salvation is not through something external, like the law
inscribed on tablets of stones. But we lay hold of salvation
Faith and Confession 23
by genuine faith, and genuine faith is expressed in the mouth
and the heart.
And that's the second reason he stresses confession with
the mouth: he is talking about the expression of genuine
faith, not the ontology of faith. In other words, when we
make a true verbal confession of faith, that is just how true
faith shows itself; it's not how you get faith, or muster faith
within yourself. Verbal confession is the natural and
expected result of true faith. It's therefore a valid test of
faith's reality. Faith is the sole instrument of justification; but
if it's real faith, it will bear the fruit of confession, because
(verse 11) "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to
shame"Cor as the King James Version has it, "Whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed."
This is very similar to what James says in James 2:18:
"Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you
my faith by my works." We could adapt that phrase to what
Paul is saying here: You try to testify about your faith without
a confession if you can find a way to do that; I'll show you
my faith by confessing it.
Faith and good works are not the same thing, but if it's
true faith, it will bear the fruit of good works. True faith and
a confession of faith are not the same thing, either, but
authentic faith will bear the fruit of a sound confession.
That's what Paul is saying.
Romans 10:9-10 24
How do we confess our faith? There are many ways.
Baptism, properly understood, is a confession of faith. That's
why here at Grace Church we follow the apostolic practice of
asking converts to give a confession of faithCa testimony
about how they came to faithCwhen they are baptized.
Baptism ought to be one of the first steps of obedience for
every Christian, and if you consider yourself a believer but
have never been baptized, especially if you are holding off
baptism because you are afraid of confessing your faith
publicly, you ought to examine yourself to see whether you
are truly in the faith.
Now, I'm not saying that you ought to regard a baptism or
a verbal confession of faith as automatic proof of genuine
faith, and Paul wouldn't say that, either. Notice (verse 10):
"with the heart one believes and is justified." Faith must be
borne in the heart before it can be truly expressed on the lips.
And that's the proper order. (The only reason Paul mentions
confession before faith in verse 9 is because he is doing an
exposition of Deuteronomy 30:14, so he follows Moses'
word order.) But it's obvious (isn't it?) that faith must
precede any honest confession.
Confession of faith doesn't end with baptism, either. I
hope you are bold to confess your faith in the workplace, or
at school, or wherever you encounter unbelievers. If you shy
away from that kind of verbal confession of your faith, again,
I would urge you to examine your heart.
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Matthew 5:16 says: "Let your light shine before others, so
that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father
who is in heaven." Now if you understand that text in light of
our text, a couple of vital truths become clear. First, the chief
way to let your light shine before other men, and the most
important "good work" that should be visible in your life, is
your confession of faith in Christ. I hope you tell everyone
you know that you are a Christian. If you're keeping that a
secret, you are not letting your light shine the way Jesus
meant. And I hope you tell people why you are a Christian
and how they can also be Christians. That's one of the main
points of Romans 10: "how shall they believe in him of whom
they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a
preacher?" (v. 14). You need to speak up; "Confess with your
mouth that Jesus is Lord."
Now, someone might point out that the verse I just read
from Matthew 5 connects the idea of letting your light shine
with the fact that people should be able to see the good
works you do. And a lot of people mistakenly assume it is
possible to be a faithful witness for Christ simply by the way
you liveCwithout ever speaking a word. You've heard the
saying, I'm sure: "Preach the gospel at all times. When
necessary, use words."
That's a cute sentiment. (It's usually attributed to St.
Francis of Assisi), and there's a hint of truth to it: what you
do is often more effective than what you say in convincing
Romans 10:9-10 26
people that the gospel is true. But what our text makes
inescapably clear is that what you say is not optional. You
cannot faithfully preach the gospel at all without words. If
you try to leave off the words, all you will be doing is
impressing people with your own good works (which the
Bible says are like filthy rags anyway), instead of pointing
them to the work of Christ (which is truly perfect). Truly
preaching the gospel necessarily involves wordsCincluding a
verbal confession of faith. That, again, is one of the main
points of our text: "With the mouth one confesses and is
saved."
Notice one other thing before we draw this to a close, and
it's this: the fact that we are to make a confession of faith also
underscores the fact that true faith is objective, not
subjective. Articles of faith are expressed in true
propositions. That's what our doctrinal statement is all about.
That's why doctrinal statements are often referred to as
"confessions of faith."
I hope your faith is real, and objective, and something you
think about in such a way that you can articulate it in a sound
confession. That is the natural, expected, and inevitable
result of true faith, and as that's why as you study God's
Word and learn sound doctrine and feed your soul with the
truth of Scripture, your faith will be strengthened.
Meanwhile, you ought to be confessing your faith verbally,
every opportunity you get.
Faith and Confession 27
In closing, let me point out that this text we have been
looking at today is a promise. "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." That's the gospel promise.
Believe it in your heart in such a way that you cannot help
confessing it with your mouth, and you will be saved. The
gospel is just that simple: “Whoever calls on the name of the
Lord shall be saved.”
It's also an invitation. If you labor and are heavily laden
and weary of the struggle of trying to earn God's approval on
your own, lay hold of Christ by faith. Recognize that He
alone can doCand has already doneCwhat the law demands
of you (and what you could never do for yourself)Cand turn
to Him in faith as your risen Lord and only Savior. The
promise of God is true: when you do that, you will be saved.