"AS SIMPLE AS THAT" (An Article by Christian Henry) ~ 8/4/26

“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)

The Apostle Paul is currently writing to the believers in Rome who were dealing with a large culture clash in the church. Emperor Claudius had once expelled all of the Jewish people from Rome but later allowed them to return. When they did, they found a church that had become non-Jewish in both customs and practices, which created lots of tension and division. They disagreed about how to follow Jesus, but Paul used these tense circumstances as the ground to write out his fullest explanation of the Gospel: the good news that announces Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. The epistle seeks to reveal God’s righteousness, foster a new humanity in Christ, and explain how He fulfills all of His promises to Israel. He then concludes that this Gospel alone should unify the Church. True faith in Jesus creates new humans who are liberated to become a people characterized by love for God and their neighbors. God’s Spirit is transforming this new humanity and is the fulfillment of God’s ancient promises.

In today’s verses, Paul directly spells out the keys of salvation, and it’s really quite simple: the confession of Christ with our mouths, despite all persecution and danger that may befall us, and whole-hearted faith in His accomplishments before, during, and after the crucifixion. We must own Him as our Lord and our Savior, fully declaring that we are ruled and saved by Him, and Him only. This confession or profession expresses our agreement with what God holds to be true, and what He declares to be true. A profession of religion then denotes a public declaration of our agreement with what God has declared in His word (our lost state, our sin, our need of a Savior, His doctrines about His own nature, Christ, and the necessity of a change of heart, to name a few). To publicly express our devotion to the Redeemer is to declare our agreement with God. Why do you think we require a testimony before Baptism? It’s crucial to openly and honestly acknowledge our new attachment to Jesus Christ. We confess Him as Lord who has the right to rule over the soul.

The second element Paul lists is the heart change. It’s not necessarily an order of events like, first you make your profession, then you believe in your heart. These two really happen simultaneously (which I’m sure Paul agrees with); I only covered the declaration first because that’s how it’s written. Belief in the resurrection of Christ is essential to salvation because all other doctrines spring from it. Paul, therefore, puts this article above all the rest because the death and suffering of Christ would be of no avail unless He had risen again. By it, He obtained a perfect victory over sin, death, and damnation for all the Elect. This is the principal ground of our justification (Romans 4:25).

We must sincerely and truly believe this so that our external talk will reflect our internal feelings. To hold to Christ’s resurrection is to profess all the truths of the Christian religion. No one could believe this who did not also believe all the truths dependent on it. Hence, the apostles regarded this doctrine as so important and made it so prominent in their preaching. The one who truly affirms and avows this will be spared from death and hell, and it’s as simple as that.