This morning I am led to the 5th verse in the Roman Road to salvation, Romans 10:9 for my continued study on the word “heart”. This verse is enlightening yet it is verse 10 that captured me this morning as to my learning for the day.
“9because, 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. 10For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” – Romans 10:9-10 (ESV)
Yes, we believe in our heart and confess with our mouth. Here is how I was struck this morning. The mouth of the believer reveals our heart’s belief. It is something that cannot be forgotten or set aside. Our belief is not to be kept to ourselves. We are to declare our belief in the LORD for the world to know. We are to believe and declare.
Our heart is the vessel where the LORD resides in us. It is vital that we allow Him to take up residence in our heart. But those around us cannot see our heart and that He does indeed reside there. So we need a way to show the LORD to the world. The first way for that is to declare Him to the world by our mouth. We are to speak of the LORD. We are to sing of and to the LORD. We are to announce His presence in our lives and for all the world to see and take hold of Him, and that is done with our mouth.
I know what you may be thinking, but aren’t we to demonstrate the LORD to the world through our actions. The answer is yes, but look at how I indicated we declare the LORD to the world, “first” is with our mouth after we have believed with and in our hearts. Then we live our lives continuing to speak of the LORD and acting as He intends us to act to fulfill the work He has for us.
I am not great at either of these by some standards. I have work to do in being more and more like Christ would have me be. But one thing I do know is that those who are around me most do know that Jesus is LORD as I have declared my heart’s belief in Him with my mouth.
What is your process in declaring the LORD? Are you relying solely on your actions to speak for your beliefs? Where actions are important, what if you were to confess with your mouth that the LORD indeed resides in your heart?
Trevor's Thoughts 