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.
For with the heart one believes
and is justified,
and with the mouth one confesses
and is saved.
To confess is to say the same thing as God. In salvation it is the mouth agreeing with the heart that Jesus is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead. Romans 10:9-10 joins confession and belief. With the heart one believes and is justified. With the mouth one confesses and is saved. Confession is not a work that earns salvation. It is the outward expression of the inward faith that receives it.
- Confession of Jesus as Lord is the public acknowledgment of His name.
- It is connected to calling on the name of the Lord. Everyone who calls on that name will be saved.
- Confession of sin is a related but distinct act. First John 1:9 speaks of confessing sins so that God is faithful and just to forgive.
- The church confesses the name of Jesus in baptism, in witness, and in worship.
The mouth confesses what the heart believes. Both are necessary. The result is salvation.
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 10:9-10 is the primary text for confession in salvation.
- Confession is with the mouth; belief is with the heart.
- The content of the confession is that Jesus is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead.
- Confession is the expression of faith, not a meritorious work.
- Confession of sin (1 John 1:9) is a related but distinct biblical use of the word.
- Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
- The Mouth – Confession is spoken.
- The Heart – Belief that justifies.
- The Content – Jesus is Lord; God raised Him from the dead.
- The Result – Salvation.
- The Name – Calling on and confessing the name of the Lord.
- The Distinction – Confession of Christ for salvation; confession of sin for forgiveness.
- Romans 10:9-10 – “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. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
- Romans 10:13 – “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
- Matthew 10:32 – “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven.”
- 1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
- Philippians 2:11 – “And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
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.
For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
Confess is saying the same thing as God. The mouth agrees with the heart that Jesus is Lord. Everyone who calls on His name will be saved.
Entry compiled for the JESUSaves.com Bible Glossary. Optimized for wiki.js Visual Editor.