Confess, Believe, Be Saved

Issues – February 2018 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Confess, Believe, Be Saved

“Confess,” “believe” and “be saved” are crucial words in what the apostle Paul called “The word of faith that we proclaim” (Rom. 10:8 ESV ): “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 ” (v.9).

Confessing That Jesus Is Lord
Confession must be more than casual, or trivial, as the parable of the ten virgins told by our Lord shows (Mt. 25:1-13). In this story, five virgins were prepared for the arrival of the bridegroom and five who were not. When he arrived, the unprepared virgins came, saying, “Lord, lord, open to us,” but he said to them “I do not know you” (vv.11-12). Superficially, they confessed him as lord, but he was not truly their lord!

The word in the Bible translated “confess” has several meanings in addition to a person’s admitting guilt. It also means “to declare openly by way of speaking out freely, such confession being the effect of deep conviction.”1 If he was indeed their “lord,” the one to whom their service was due, they would have been prepared for his coming; but they were not prepared, for they had no oil! These five unprepared virgins represent people who call Jesus Christ “Lord” but without any deep conviction. They are a picture of those who seemingly believe that He has risen from the dead and they go to meet Him, but being unprepared when He came, they were too late.

Oil is figurative of the Holy Spirit, and a time will come when it is too late to obtain Him. Scripture says that no one can really say “Jesus is Lord except in the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3). Anyone “who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him” (Rom. 8:9), and He is not their Lord. Our Lord said, “Not every one who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven’ ... On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name ... and do many mighty works in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me’” (Mt. 7:21-23). What we do must be “the will of My Father who is in heaven” (v.21).

Believing In Your Heart That God Raised Him From The Dead
A saving belief changes attitudes and actions. It is not simply a ritual creed that a person mouths. The person who believes that Christ has indeed risen by divine power will believe that the risen Christ will evaluate what we do in this present life and that “each will receive his wages [reward] according to his [or her] labor” (1 Cor. 3:8,14).

To believe that God raised the Lord Jesus from the dead, that He is living, and that He is “with” us “always” (Mt. 28:20) brings us help and comfort in this life. When we are cast down or in turmoil, we can turn to Him (Ps. 42:5). He will be our “refuge in the day of disaster” (Jer. 17:17). In contrast, those who do not believe in the resurrection suffer deep grief, such as at the death of a loved one, for they “have no hope” (1 Th. 4:13).

You Will Be Saved
The word in the Bible translated “saved” (Greek: sozo and its derivatives), has several meanings, some with respect to this life and others with respect to eternal life:

1. “Material and temporal deliverance from danger, suffering.”2 A saved person can say as Paul did, “I have had the help that comes from God” (Acts 26:22). Likewise the Psalmist said, “He has delivered me from every trouble” (Ps. 54:7).
2. “Present experiences of God’s power to deliver from the bondage of sin.”3 A saved person can say, “We who were once slaves of sin, have become [servants] of righteousness” (see Rom. 6:17).
3. We have been delivered from the fear of death (cf. Heb. 2:15; 1 Cor. 15:14-16). We know that we will be resurrected as promised (1 Th. 4:16-17) and that, if death threatens and we die, we will be “away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8).
4. “The spiritual and eternal salvation granted immediately [italics added] by God to those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.”4 We know that Jesus, “whom He raised from the dead ... [will deliver] us from the wrath to come” (1 Th. 1:10). More than that, a wonderful life lies ahead for us with the Lord – “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9). “We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5:2).

God’s Present Purpose For Our Salvation
God has a purpose for each and every person whom He saves. Scripture tells us, “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works ... that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). We are to be “steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord [our] labor is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58). Labor spent on earthly things, Solomon discovered, is not satisfying – it is “vanity and a striving after wind” (Eccl. 1:14). The Lord wants us to be saved from an empty life. He says that He came that we “may have life and have it abundantly” (Jn. 10:10). He wants us to have full lives serving Him!

ENDNOTES
1. Vine, W. E., An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words; vol. I, p. 224, Oliphants, LTD, 1964.
2. Vine, W. E., Ibid, vol III, p. 321.
3. Op cit. p. 321.
4. Op cit. p. 321.

By Alan H. Crosby