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. Romans 10:9
Often in my walk with God I question whether or not I’m ‘lukewarm’
(Revelation 3:15-16). And this morning (without going into great detail) I was
praying that the Lord would free my mind from such confusion. I often wrestle
with what lukewarm means and I end up thinking about that passage in a
seemingly unhealthy way. But praise the Lord that He had freed my mind from
such confusion this morning from my confusion of sin, waking up to it and never
fully recognising the Lord’s holiness, sovereignty and supremacy. Now I know
that in dwelling on these things is unhealthy enough, since these great
attributes of the Lord can only be expressed in eternity.
As I was reading Romans 10:9, it was as if a wave of pure
and wonderful joy had hit me then and there. Certainty of salvation is found in
this one amazing verse! Now in knowing these beautiful truths, I know that I
cannot express the sheer depth of what this verse truly means. But since a wave
of joy had struck me, I felt it was my joy and duty to share likewise the truth
of this wonderful verse. Now I know that many Christians use this verse in an
unhelpful way, a way to defend their carnality and friendship with the world.
But surprisingly enough in reading this verse, I would think that such a verse
with tremendous depth would be enough to rebuke such people, allow me to
explain.
Paul is describing a Christian here in this verse a bit like
a well-oiled machine. For in confessing that “Jesus is Lord,” one must also
believe in their heart that the Lord did in fact raise Jesus from the dead.
Paul in NO WAY means a partiality of heart, what do I mean by that you say? As
I mentioned earlier of Christians who use this verse to defend their trivialities
with the world, they themselves would have to agree that there is division of the
heart, one that seeks after worldly desires and one that simply attends church
on a Sunday. I believe that when Paul wrote “believe in your heart” he actually
expects us to first examine ourselves to see where our heart truly is!
This verse expresses the conditions of salvation! Jesus
Christ has provided the foundation to build on, we’re to confess and believe in
our hearts. I don’t believe that Paul means a flippant way as well! Let us
never forget that Romans was written to a church that suffered extraordinary
persecutions which is exactly why Paul thanks the Lord for the faith of the
Roman church being heard throughout the world (Romans 1:8). What does it mean
to believe in your heart then? To believe in Christ is to live for Him that
each and every day is set aside for His desire, His calling and His shaping of
you. This is what it means to believe! And in believing you are unwavering in
your confession of Christ regardless of what opposition you may face, even if
that is certain death.
Christianity is a battle against the self. It is a battle
against the self when we become so caught up with not wanting to offend others
or ‘rattle a few cages’ regarding the message of the gospel. But let us learn
from this perfectly well put verse and spur one another on in representing
Christ with a believing heart and a confessing tongue.
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