That 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. Romans 10:9
More than 40 years ago, my doctors insisted that I was in need of surgery. I was in no condition to argue, given my raging fever, the stabbing pain in the Chrohns mass in my abdomen, and the horribly discoloured urine I was passing. They explained to me what the surgery would entail, and what things would be like afterwards. They were all ready for the surgery, the surgeon was the best in his field, and everything was prepared. As a Canadian and a resident of New Brunswick, there would be no cost to me for the operation. Just one thing remained: there was a form that I had to sign. Until I signed it, nothing could be done. I signed the form, the surgery went well, I made some major adjustments in my diet, and I remained free of Chrohns for the next 40 years. This all reminded me of my salvation, and yours too.
Signing that form was my acknowledgment of my condition, my confession of faith in the doctors, my expression of confidence in my heart that they were able to give me relief from my illness. Everything else was up to them. So it is with our salvation; it is God Who saves. But He does so only when we agree that we are in need of His help and when we agree that He can and will help us. God’s salvation is free too, more free than the medical care provided by our province, which is paid for through our taxes. But God has covered the entire cost of saving us, an infinite cost that was fully met by the offering of Jesus Christ at Calvary. The words ‘thou shalt be saved’ are so very precious to us. We are saved from eternal damnation, saved through daily needs and tribulations, and saved for everlasting bliss.
Actually, there is another element of our salvation that we must not overlook, the confessing with our mouths the Lord Jesus. How important is this? It is so important that it is listed as one of two things that must be combined to be saved. In actuality, it is not the confession with our mouths that saves us, otherwise our salvation is partially of works. But without the confession, nobody would ever know we were saved. Without the confession, there would be no evidence of divine life, no worship or acknowledge of the lordship of Christ, no service rendered in appreciation and obedience to Him. Without confession, our salvation would be totally meaningless, and God never saved us for a meaningless life. A soul that is delivered from sin and prepared for Glory must respond in confession of the Lord Jesus. Otherwise there is very little likelihood that there was ever any belief in the heart.
Our salvation may have been many years ago, but it is good for all eternity. And it is good for today, too, if we will joyfully confess our Lord. -Jim MacIntosh