Thou Shalt Be Saved

Romans 10:9 "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."

This is probably one of the most known verses in the Bible, right alongside John 3:16. There is so much truth flowing from it as it beautifully lays out "what you must do to be saved".

The word "confess" means "to say the same thing as another, i.e. to agree with, assent". In other words, we are to "say the same things" as the Lord Jesus, we are to agree with He Who is the Truth. He says that we are sinners in need of a Savior. We say that we are sinners in need of a Savior. He says that He is the only way. We say that He is the only way. This is the confession Paul is talking about.

The word "believe" means "to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence in". The classic example is a man tight rope walking a wheel barrel across Niagara Falls. You may think that he can do it, you may even watch him do it and know it can be done. But true belief comes when you let him tight rope walk across the falls with you in the wheel barrel. That's the point where you've put your confidence in him. It's not merely mental assent, you believe and your confident enough in that belief to commit.