If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Rom 10:9)It's a popular verse in evangelism. For many, it's the reason for altar calls. You need to make a public profession of your faith. "Confess with your mouth." And, of course, you need to "believe in your heart." Got it. Clear as a bell. But ... what is "confess"? We're not talking about simply stating something. You can't hand someone a card that says, "Jesus is Lord," have them read it, and call it "confessing." Confession is literally "saying with." We need to be in agreement with God. That's the point. And "believe"? We have a variety of uses for "believe." There is the acknowledgment of a fact, but this "believe" is "pisteuō -- faith. This faith is a confidence that causes action. The old, "Do you trust that chair enough to sit in it?" It isn't acknowledgement. It is a life-changing confidence.
But wait. What is it that we are supposed to confess? "Jesus as Lord." And what is it we're supposed to believe in our hearts? "God raised Christ from the dead." That's interesting to me. Two factual statements. Jesus is Lord; we need to openly admit that it's true. Jesus is Lord. That's a necessary position of submission. We're supposed to agree with God that we are not the masters of our soul; He is. But the second isn't quite what we think either. We think we're "believing in Jesus," and we are, but the thing is more specific. We need to believe ... in the resurrection. The resurrection? That's the critical piece? Paul wrote to the church at Corinth,
Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. (1 Cor 15:1-5)This is "the gospel" to Paul. It is "of first importance." What? Jesus lived, died for our sins, was buried, and raised again. All according to the Scriptures. All essential.
John MacArthur wrote a controversial book on Lordship Salvation arguing that salvation is dependent on taking Jesus as Lord. Critics complained. "Too much like 'saved by works'." But Scripture says one basic requirement is that we verbally agree with God that Jesus is Lord. Is He? Scripture says belief in the Resurrection is of utmost importance in salvation. You can't set aside that He died for our sins and expect salvation. You can't "believe in Jesus" but discount the Resurrection and expect to be saved. Without the Resurrection, "you are still in your sins" (1 Cor 15:17) and "we are of all men most to be pitied" (1 Cor 15:19). These are basics of salvation, all by faith, not by works, but not quite as simple as we might have been told.
It's kind of an aside, but who are the twelve Paul is speaking of? By the time of His resurrection, there were only 11 and they hadn't chosen a 12th yet. Or is it just a turn of phrase to identify the Disciples?
ReplyDeleteI've been in debate about Calvinism a lot lately, and they keep accusing me of not getting a Christian, expect then I give the basis of salvation as indicated here. We can debate all sorts of fine points of theology and still be Christian, as long as we remain true to these core beliefs: we are sinners in need of salvation, Jesus became incarnate as truly human and truly God, lived a sinless life, died for our sins, was buried, resurrected, and ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father, and will return one day to judge the living and the dead.
They replaced Judas with Matthias quickly (Acts 1). Jesus had more than 12 disciples, and I assume Matthias had witnessed the living Christ with the rest of them.
DeleteI am glad to see you continue the good thoughts you shared in Sunday’s video--i.e. that Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead is “of first importance.” Indeed, belief in the Resurrection inspires “a life-changing confidence,” as you say, as it replaces despair with hope--not only for the eyewitnesses ~2,000 years ago but for all who believe.
ReplyDeleteTo me, “confessing [Jesus is Lord]” and “believing [that He rose again]” are crucial elements of the Gospel; both will be present in true saving faith, as God opens one’s spiritual eyes to His truth. Regarding the profession that “Jesus is Lord,” I believe that the “Lordship salvation” teaching (such as that which John MacArthur promotes) is meant to highlight and confirm this core component of the full Gospel (which many wish to downplay), rather than add any “works-based” requirements to saving faith. (In fact, John MacArthur makes this very clear in his follow-up book on “Lordship salvation,” The Gospel According to the Apostles: The Role of Works in the Life of Faith.) Indeed, the Bible is clear: We are not saved by [our] works but by the work of the One who is Lord and who rose again. Those basic truths, which I firmly believe and confess, are cornerstones of the solid foundation about which you posted on Tuesday.
Martin Luther is famous for having said, "We are saved by faith alone, but not by faith that IS alone." Paul wrote the famous "saved apart from works" text (Eph 2:8-9) and followed it immediately with "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them" (Eph 2:10). Not saved by works, but for works. Or, as James said, "Faith without works is dead" (James 2:17). In other words, faith changes us.
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