…that 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; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

Romans 10:9-10

Once we have established that we all need restoration, we can begin to explore how this actually takes place. And with any look at restoration, we have to begin with salvation, the redemption of our heart, mind, and soul. The word “redeemed” means to “buy back.” Redemption is when a ransom is paid in order for something or someone to be returned to its rightful place. We can think of the extortionist who kidnaps a person and holds them for the purpose of gaining the ransom money. The victim of the kidnapping is held until their family members can come up with the necessary money to secure the return of their loved one. This is what Christ has done for us on the cross. Until we understand the depths of just how filthy, disgusting, and damning our sin is can we ever begin to understand why someone must die. And in the case of humanity, we can either die for our sin or we can call on a Redeemer to take our place. God so loves us that He was willing to stand in the gap for humanity and to take the punishment due to us while giving us new life that we simply do not deserve. This is redemption and it is the beginning of our restoration process. The only way that we can ever truly be restored is when we have been redeemed, saved, and brought from spiritual death to spiritual life (Colossians 1:13-14). And all of this activity is from God and can only come as we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ. 

It is for this reason alone that the Christian faith is not one of many options rather it is the only option for the redemption of our souls (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). And this salvation doesn’t come through religious motion alone, it requires a surrendering of our lives to Jesus and a complete overhaul of our heart, mind, soul through the power of the Holy Spirit, which we receive at conversion (Acts 2:38). We are not converting to a religion, a specific denomination, or even a set of theological precepts. True conversion comes when we meet the Person of Jesus Christ personally, surrendering our lives to Him, and beginning a new life of walking in the power God’s Spirit living with our heart. This is what redemption and restoration look like and nothing short of this saving faith experience will deliver the results for which we are all longing. Our passage today yields some very helpful information on just how we are saved, redeemed, and restored. Notice that receiving the redemption offered to us by God through Christ involves two key components: confessing and believing.  

Confessing and believing work in tandem. We really can’t have one without the other. And the order is important as well because we will never (genuinely and sincerely) confess the name of Jesus until saving faith has taken place in our heart. For it is what is in our heart that will eventually flow out of our mouth, guide our thinking, and direct our lifestyle (Proverbs 4:23). So saving faith begins with believing. To “believe” or to “have faith” actually come from the same root word in the original language of the New Testament. This is important because some may be led to think that as long as they acknowledge the existence of God, that this is saving faith…but nothing could be further from the truth. The Bible reminds us that even the devil believes that God exists and the demons shudder at the name of Jesus (James 2:19). So, simply, intellectually making the comment that God probably exists is not saving faith…far from it. Actually the words “faith” and “believe” derive their meaning from the word “trust.” Saving faith means trusting God and trusting what Jesus did for us on the cross as the basis for being accepted by God. This saving faith is not a combination of faith and works rather it is something that we receive as a gift from God the moment that we call on His name for salvation (Romans 3:28, Romans 6:23, Romans 10:13). The Amplified Bible describes saving faith this way: “a personal trust, a confident surrender, and a firm reliance,” John 3:16). This is what it truly means to believe with our heart. And once we have been born again (John 3:3), we can begin confessing with our mouths, to the world, what Christ has done for us. Outward, public professing of our faith in Jesus begins with believers baptism (Acts 2:38) and continues throughout our lives as Spirit- filled believers in Jesus. So “confessing Jesus as Lord” and “believing in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead,” work in tandem to bring about God’s redemption and the salvation of our soul. 

But Paul also explains about the results that confessing and believing Jesus bring into our lives. (A quick but important aside…only faith in Jesus brings about salvation. People may throw the word “faith” around a lot in our modern society but we need to make sure that we are talking about faith in Jesus and the work of the cross before moving any further). So what is the result of believing in our hearts? Paul reminds us that the result of believing is our “righteousness.” Two things here…one is a proper understanding of what righteousness is and the second is from where does this righteousness come. 

First, righteousness means to be in “right” standing with God. When we are declared righteous by God, we know that we have been saved (for that is the only way that any human could be declared righteous by God). Secondly, this right standing with God is a gift that comes by faith in Jesus and the work of the cross as sufficient for our acceptance. We can’t ever do enough good things to be declared righteous however, when we belong to Christ, we are accepted by God because we belong to Jesus, the only One worthy to be declared righteous. So when we are converted, we move into a position of being right with God, understanding that this spiritual position has not been earned rather it has been received as a gift. The concept of doing “good” things and doing “bad” things, hoping that the good outweighs the bad, is nothing short of false doctrine. And this doctrine has the potential to fool the masses unless countered with the truth of the gospel. So believing results in our right standing with God and puts us in the spiritual position of being righteous. This is difficult for those who have been taught that their righteousness is somehow connected to their lifestyle. Yes, as Christians, our lives have been redeemed, restored, and changed (Ephesians 4:22-24), but at no time does our right standing with God change once we belong to Christ and have the Spirit living within our heart. This is important for us to remember if we are ever to find spiritual victory over sin in our daily lives. 

So if believing in our heart results in our right standing with God, what does confessing Jesus as Lord bring into our lives? Paul reminds us that confessing with our mouths, “Jesus as Lord,” brings about our salvation. This is largely in part to the fact that we will never make this bold and unapologetic declaration apart from the Spirit at work in our lives (1 Corinthians 12:3). The fruit of our mouth, our priorities, and our lifestyle will give away our spiritual condition. Believing is important but confessing Jesus is also a big part of demonstrating, to the lost world, that we belong to Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). 

We simply cannot talk about our lives being restored apart from Christ, apart from redemption, and apart from salvation. Unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of heaven (John 3:3). Are you ready for real life change? Surrender your life to Jesus today! He will bring you into right relationship with Himself, forgive you of all of your sin, fill you with His Spirit, and guide you into a life full of restoration, a future, and great promise!

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

  Ephesians 2:8-10