Romans 10:9 & 10

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That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9, 10)

Preface

Romans 10:9 & 10 is a passage of scripture used by many evangelical in their endeavor to bring someone to a saving-relationship with Jesus Christ.  They most always use it to present one aspect of a “stepped-process” that they claim will bring the person who is “lost” to a “saved” (justified) position before God, thereby insuring that the person will go to heaven when he passes from this life.

By a “stepped-process” of salvation it is meant that a person appropriates eternal (spirit) salvation or justification by means of a series of steps or “things to do.”  It is understood that one will not appropriate salvation, which is clearly a grace-gift from God (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8, 9), unless he sees a need for it.  And this need, which is the realization that one is truly a sinner before God (Romans 3:23) and whose eventual destination in this state is an eternity apart from God in the Lake of Fire (Romans 6:23; Revelation 20:11-15), comes only by the convicting (persuasive) power of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8, 9).  So to speak about how a person appropriates (apprehends) eternal salvation (justification) is to specifically define the step or steps that a person must take (thing or things he must do) in order to secure for himself his personal justification before God.

The various steps cited by evangelicals in their attempts to bring the spiritually lost to a saving-relationship with Jesus Christ (all or some), depending upon the presenter’s personal persuasion, are as follow:

• Confess your sins
• Repent from/of your sins
• Ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins
• Pray the “sinner’s prayer”
• Ask Jesus into your heart
• Publicly confess Christ
• Make Christ Lord of your life (Lordship Salvation)
• Be baptized
• Believe in Christ

Although all of these steps sounds suitable, only one (but only if properly understood) has a basis in Scripture.  All but one introduces the concept of self-effort (“works”) as part of the salvation process.  In order to properly (scripturally) refute those that are erroneous would involve scope that is beyond the focus of this study.  For a more extensive consideration of these, it is suggested that the reader visit the various topical studies at www.bibleone.net.  But briefly, the following may be stated:

• No scripture requires a lost person to confess one’s sins.  The scriptural verse always used to support such a belief is 1 John 1:9, which applies only to Christians—not the lost.  Furthermore, the expression “confess your sins” is vague.  Must one confess each sin specifically or just the fact that he is a sinner, which is an admission resulting from the work of the Holy Spirit that always precedes the appropriation (apprehension) step of salvation.

• The Greek word translated repentance essentially means to “change one’s mind or direction.”  It most definitely does not mean penitence (sorrow for one’s sin), which is the Roman Catholic concept.  And it doesn’t mean to turn from the practice of sin.  A person, saved or lost, is unable under his own power to turn from the practice of sin—and this includes even the intent to turn from sin.  Briefly, biblical repentance is the “act of turning by faith to Christ from any other confidence (works, religion, etc.) for one’s personal salvation.  It is one act only and not two, well illustrated by 1 Thessalonians 1:9. It is the act of placing one’s faith totally in Christ.

• No where in the Bible is a lost person instructed to ask Christ to forgive him his sins in order to be saved.  But he is informed that the forgiveness of sins is one facet of salvation once it is obtained (Colossians 1:24; 2:13; Ephesians 1:7).

• The Bible never teaches a “sinner’s prayer.”  But it does profusely teach that a simple decision of faith (trust, confidence) in Christ alone must be made in order to apprehend eternal salvation.

• As a spiritually dead person you can never invite Christ into your heart or into your life.  The misguided interpretation of Revelation 3:20, a verse specifically to Christians and not the lost, is most usually used to support this “requirement” for salvation. When you invite Christ into your spiritually dead heart, you are inviting Him into a sewer; you are inviting Him into a tomb.  Instead, God summons you to share His eternal life through faith alone in Jesus Christ.

• The passage that is the subject of this study (Romans 10:9, 10) and Matthew 10:32 are the two passages in the Bible that are used to insist that either (1) a person must confess Christ publicly in order to be saved or (2) that a “truly” saved person will confess Christ publicly; and, if not, then he was never saved in the first place.  The first passage will be dealt with later.  As to the Matthew passage, the following remarks are by the late Lewis Sperry Chafer (one of last century’s greatest theologians—Dallas Theological Seminary):  This verse, which occurs in the midst of Christ’s kingdom teachings and as a part of His instructions to His disciples whom He is sending forth with a restricted message to Israel (cf. vss. 5-7) and which was to be accompanied by stupendous miracles (cf. vs. 8) such as were never committed to preachers in the present age, applies, primarily, to these disciples themselves in respect to their faithful delivery of this kingdom proclamation, and could be extended in its appeal only to the Israelites to whom they were sent.  The carelessness which assumes that this Scripture presents a condition of salvation for a Jew or Gentile in the present age is deplorable indeed.

• As a spiritually dead person you can never make Christ “Lord,” or gain the approbation (approval) of God by making a dedication, walking an aisle, raising your hands, jumping through a psychological hoop.  Making Christ “Lord” is a process of sanctification (spiritual growth), which alone applies to the person who has already received the grace-gift of eternal life.  Making Christ truly one’s Lord is a protracted and involved process that extends throughout the believer’s life—a factor of soul salvation (see the topical “Rule of Three” at www.bibleone.net).

• Baptism, in brief, has nothing to do with obtaining salvation.  But it is quite significant when it comes to sanctification, as it is the initial act of obedience required of the believer by Christ—as a public demonstration of one’s faith and the gospel message.

• Believe in Christ.  Biblical belief or faith is not “mental assent.”  It is placing one’s total and genuine trust or confidence in God incarnate—Jesus Christ.  There is upwards of 150 passages of Scripture that condition eternal salvation upon believing only in Christ alone.  The most recognized verse of Scripture defining the (complete) salvation message in the Bible is John 3:16, which conditions eternal salvation upon believing only in Christ alone.  The only book in the Bible specifically written to bring the lost to a saving-relationship with Christ is the Gospel of John (cf. John 20:31).  In it the only “requirement” for apprehending eternal life is upon believing in Christ alone.  The only time in the entire Bible that the specific question is asked as to how one must be saved is in Acts 16:30 when the “keeper of the prison” confronted Paul and Silas.  The specific reply by Paul and Silas was “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.”  The only salvation “formula” any lost person is to hear from a “witnessing believer” is that you can be saved (i.e., receive God’s grace-gift of salvation) by faith alone in Christ alone.

Linguistics

Although the translated words used in this Roman passage are true to the original Greek manuscripts, there is one word that is translated into English, which is often misunderstood by the English reader.  It is the Greek word homologeo (from homou “together with” and lego “to say”), which is translated “confess.”  To the English reader this is usually understood as “profess,” as in a public confession.  But it actually means “to concede or admit,” as in mental assent.

Context

Nothing is quite as important as context when it comes to interpreting a specific passage of Scripture.  And in this passage it is critical.  The primary reason believers fail to understand this passage is because they fail to consider its context.

After Paul’s salutation and thanksgiving/prayer; he takes up the need for righteousness, concluding that all mankind (Jews and Gentiles) are condemned (Romans 1—3:20).  He next explains how righteousness is imputed—showing justification by faith, illustrated, and enjoyed; and concluding that all can be made righteous (Romans 3:21—5:21).  After this Paul discusses sanctification as it relates to sin in principle, in practice, the law, and the Spirit (Romans 6:1—8:39).

Then in Romans 9:1 through 11:36, Paul takes up the vindication of the righteousness of God, and within this immediate context is the passage under discussion.  Within this framework Paul’s concern is for Israel—its past, present, and future.  He expresses his deep sorrow for his Jewish brethren, who were blessed above all people and who should have been able to recognize Christ as the Messiah, but instead rejected Him.  And after some discussion of the sovereignty of God and Israel’s history, Paul in chapter 10 expresses his heart’s desire that Israel would be saved.  He points out that the Jews are seeking to establish their own righteousness while rejecting God’s righteousness (Jesus Christ).  He uses an Old Testament verse (Deuteronomy 30:14) in Romans 10:8 to illustrate that the true gospel message is close at hand, even in their “mouth” and in their “heart.”

Then in Romans 10:9 he presents the requirements necessary for the Jew to receive the righteousness of God.  Specifically, he must confess with his mouth (mentally accede or assent to the deity of Jesus Christ—that is, accept as fact that Jesus Christ is God incarnate—for as a person “thinks” so he “speaks”) and believe in his heart (i.e., genuinely trust or place one’s sole confidence in) the gospel message pertaining to Christ (the person of Christ and His death, burial, and resurrection) in order to receive God’s grace-gift of righteousness.

He then in verse 10 differentiates between the first two facets of salvation i.e., (1) past tense salvation or justification, which is based solely on faith in Christ and is static and permanent; and (2) present tense salvation or sanctification, which is based on one’s life and works and is dynamic and leads up to the Judgment Seat of Christ and the coming Kingdom Age.  He subsequently in verses 11 and 13 verifies that “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”  To “call upon the name of the Lord,” first mentioned in Genesis 4:26 is the equivalent to “placing one’s total and genuine faith in the Lord,” instead of any other confidence.  And then in verse 14 Paul says “How then shall they call on Him [i.e., place their faith in Him] in whom they have not believed [i.e., accepted as factual that He is incarnate God]?”

Conclusion (Meaning)

To recap, this passage is not speaking about a public confession of one’s faith in order to be saved or to prove one’s salvation.  It is about the Jews who have rejected the deity and mission of Jesus Christ.  It verifies that the only means whereby the Jew can be saved is to accept as fact the deity of Jesus Christ and to trust only Him for personal salvation.