If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
Romans 10:9-10 NIV
Paul has argued that righteousness based on the law requires perfect obedience, which no one does. But another righteousness is available to us, the righteousness of God given to all who believe in the Lord Jesus (Rom. 3:21-22). And in these two verses (Rom. 10:9-10), he is more explicit in what a person must do to obtain this righteousness that is by faith (Rom. 10:6).
If I will . . .
- declare with my mouth that Jesus is Lord
and . . . - believe in my heart that God raised Jesus from the dead
then . . . - I will be saved
Declaring “Jesus is Lord” is a public declaration that Jesus is God and that he is your master. It is publicly professing that you will be following and obeying him.
Believing in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead is more than an intellectual acknowledgment of the resurrection. To believe is to put one’s faith and trust in Jesus. Not just for a moment, but into the future. And this faith and trust will result in obedience to him (Matt. 7:21).
And the one who does that, who believes and professes, will be saved. Make no mistake. This is not a salvation that is earned by our works. Nor is it a salvation that requires little from us. This is a salvation that requires the surrender of self to the lordship of Jesus. But the one who does that will be saved and experience eternal life, now and into the future.
