Read Romans 10-5-11
By John McCoury
Roan Mountain, Tennessee
That is the clearest statement in the Word of God on how to be saved. Paul makes it very simple. He says that it begins with the confession of the mouth: Jesus is Lord. Don’t twist those words to mean that you have to stand up in public somewhere and announce that you believe Jesus is Lord before you are saved. Paul does not mean it that way, although it does not exclude that. He means that the mouth is the symbol of the conscious acknowledgment to ourselves of what we believe. It means that we have come to the place where we recognize that Jesus has the right to lordship in our lives. Before this point, we have been the lord of our lives, and we have run our own affairs. We have decided we have the right to make our own decisions according to what we want. But there comes a time, as God’s Spirit works in us, that we see the reality of life as God has made it to be, and we realize Jesus is Lord.
He is Lord of our past, to forgive us of our sins; He is Lord of our present, to dwell within us, and to guide and direct and control every area of our life; He is Lord of our future, to lead us into glory at last; He is Lord of life, Lord of death, He is Lord over all things. He is in control of history. He is running all human events. He stands at the end of every path on which men go, and He is the ultimate one we all must reckon with. That is why Peter says in Acts 4:12: “Salvation is found in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
You cannot read the book of Acts without recognizing that the basic creed of the early Christians was: Jesus is Lord. These are days when you hear a lot about mantras, words that you are supposed to repeat when you meditate. I suggest you adopt this as a mantra: Jesus is Lord. Say it repeatedly, wherever you are, to remind yourself of this great truth. When Peter stood up to speak on the day of Pentecost, this was his theme, Jesus is Lord.
Paul tells us here that Jesus is Lord, and when God has led you to the place where you are ready to say to yourself, Jesus is my Lord, He then acts conclusively. Through that confession God does something. No man can do it, but God can. He immediately brings about all that is wrapped up in this word, saved. Your sins are forgiven. God imparts to you a standing of righteous worth in His sight. He gives you the Holy Spirit to live within you. He makes you a child in his family. He gives you inheritance for eternity. You are joined to the body of Christ as members of the family of God. You are given Jesus himself to live within you, and you will live a life entirely different than you lived before. That is what happens when you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. Father, I am grateful for these clear words from Paul. Today I reaffirm my confession that Jesus is Lord.
Is our verbal confession congruent with our acceptance of Jesus as Lord? Do we need to review the radical implications of our inheritance as Christ’s disciples? Is Jesus in reality Lord of our body, soul, and spirit?
________________________________________________________________________________
John McCoury is pastor of Evergreen Freewill Baptist Church in Roan Mountain, Tennessee and the chaplain at Roan Highlands Nursing Center. You can read more good Christian news from John HERE.
________________________________________________________________________________
