Confess

In Romans Paul writes, "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" (Rom 10:9-10). Now, we get that whole "believe in your heart" kind of thing. We understand "saved by faith." It is the Christian distinctive. Every other religion believes in "saved by works"; we're saved by faith. Got it. So what's with the "confess with your mouth"? How necessary is that?

Paul seems to suggest it is absolutely necessary. Faith justifies, but confession saves. Now, to be fair, "justifies" and "saves" in this context are somewhat synonymous. Still, Paul makes a distinction, and it seems to be significant. So what is this "confess with the mouth"?

I think it would be a mistake to assume it is a simple, "I believe in Jesus." I think it would be a mistake to think that it's just once. I think that "with the mouth" is good, but not necessarily complete. So what is this thing called "confess"? The Greek behind it means literally "the same word" -- homologeō. In English, "confess" carries a similar literal root. "Con" is "with" and "fess" is "say," so to "confess" is "to say with." What does it mean to "say with" Christ?

Let's put this together. Paul links faith and confession as the two necessities for justification and salvation. We shouldn't separate them. Why? Jesus said, "The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks" (Luke 6:45). It is possible for someone to say, "I believe in Jesus" and yet have no faith. It's what theologians refer to as "a lie." It isn't this confession that helps anything. The confession that is essential is the confession that is a product of genuine faith. Real faith produces results (James 2:17). Those results are the "confession" in view here -- the outward manifestation of an inward, living faith. So this confession would include public worship with fellow believers. It would include baptism as a public sign of being a follower of Christ. It would include a dedication to God's people in prayer and action. It would include rejoicing in persecution. And it would obviously include taking the gospel to others and the subsequent making of disciples. In short, this confession, as a product of faith, would be a visibly changed life with words and deeds that accompany genuine trust in Christ.

If this is accurate, you can see that "confess with your mouth" is much bigger than a whispered "I believe" or even repeating a Sinner's Prayer. Rooted in genuine faith, it is the natural result of that faith and, consequently, unavoidable. It will put us at risk with those who are hostile to Christ, but that doesn't matter. Who can separate us from the love of Christ (Rom 8:35-39)? To put this another way, if we are saved by grace through faith apart from works (Eph 2:8-9) for good works (Eph 2:10), how can we not confess this way if we have saving faith?