ββ¦if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvationβ (Rom. 10:9,10).
In these sublime words the Apostle Paul sets forth Godβs simple plan of salvation. He calls it, in the preceding verse,Β βThe word of faith, which we preach.β
But often babes in Christ are urged to get to their feet inΒ public testimony on the basis of the words: βIf thou shalt confess with thy mouth . . . thou shalt be saved.β Thus new Christians are given to feel that a heart faith is not enough to make them secure; that not until they have risen in public testimony are they savedΒ and safe.
But what, then, does the Apostle mean by these words? Does he not plainly say,Β βIf thou shalt confessβ¦Β thou shalt be saved?β Yes, but here again, as with so many other passages, a traditional meaning has been superimposed upon the actual words of Scripture. What does the English word βconfessβ mean? Why, nothing more than to βacknowledge,β to βadmit.β And this is exactly what the original Greek word means too, nor does Romans 10:9,10 say anything about confessingΒ before men.
The trouble is that the idea of confession has been changed toΒ professionβ evenΒ publicΒ profession β and multitudes have followed the tradition of the fathers instead of examining the Word to see what it actually says. And so βthe Word of faithβ has been corrupted.
But does not the Apostle clearly say βIf thou shalt confessΒ with thy mouthβ¦Β thou shalt be saved?β Indeed! And he adds,Β βand shalt believe in thine heart!β Now let us ask: Is it with that physical organ which pumps blood into our veins that we believe on Christ as our Savior? Oh, no! You say that is merely a figure of speech; somehow the heart is associated with believing. Exactly! Then you would insist that it is with the physical mouth we must confess! Can mutes not be saved then?
As if anticipating the misinterpretation of his words, the Spirit-inspired Apostle adds:
βFor the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamedβ¦ For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be savedβ (Rom. 10:11,13).
This isΒ βthe Word of Faith, which we preach.β source
