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).
Many new Christians are led to understand that a heart faith is not enough to make them secureβ¦that not until they have risen in public congregation are they saved and safe.
So what then does the Apostle mean by these plain words, βIf thou shalt confessβ¦ thou shalt be saved?β 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? It means to βacknowledge,β to βadmit.β And this is exactly what the original Greek word means as well. Yet Romans 10:9-10 says nothing about confessing before men.
The trouble is that the idea of confession has been changed to professionβ¦even public profession.
But Paul also adds, βand shalt believe in thine heart!β Now ask yourselfβ¦Is it with that physical organ which pumps blood into our veins that we believe in Christ as our Savior or just merely a figure of speech? Of course itβs the latter. So then why would we insist that it is with our physical mouths that we must confess? Can mutes not be saved then?
Thankfully, the Word of God is clear: An internal belief is all we need (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
