Confess and Believe

   “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.”  (Romans 10: 9)

   These words of Paul are as applicable today as on the day he spoke them.  But what do they mean to us and how we live our life today?

   When we confess that Jesus is Lord is that enough?  It's easy enough to say but if it isn’t in our heart and the way we live I don’t believe it meets Paul’s criteria.  Not only do we need to verbally confess the Lordship of Jesus but it must be evident in the way we live.  Our entire attitude must be one of confessing that Christ is Lord of our life.  In other words we can’t just talk the talk, we must walk the walk.

   If we believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead we are expressing not only our belief in His resurrection but in the hope of our own resurrection through Him.  For that is what He taught.  If we believe what He taught about His resurrection we must believe the rest of His teachings as well.  We can’t pick and choose which we will follow and which we will ignore if we are to be saved.  Each of His teachings is a part of the path to salvation.  When we attempt to decide for ourselves which are important and which aren’t we are letting selfishness and pride over-rule His commands.

   Confessing that Jesus is Lord and believing that God raised Him from the dead is where we start down the Christian road.  Confessing His Lordship by the way we live, believing all His teachings and living them the best we can is how we complete the journey.

Lord, help us confess your Lordship.

Not only in words in but the way we live.

Jesus, help us to believe and follow Your teachings.

Not just those we understand, but also those we struggle with.

Amen