This blog is part of a series of blogs concerning the Resurrection realities found in the book of Romans. To read the intro to this series, go here.
We’ve made it to the last official stop on the Roman Resurrection road, and perhaps the most important stop of all. Romans 10:9 is the place where the resurrection road and the classic “Roman Road to Salvation” intersect.
Let me state it plainly before we dive in: The Resurrection is crucial to your salvation. If you don’t believe in the resurrection, I reckon you have no business at all calling yourself a Christian. You may enjoy Christ and His teachings and try your best to emulate His life, but the resurrection is one of those non-negotiables in the faith. We live in a culture that despises absolutes, and yet I will never back down from this one. The resurrection is legitimately that important.
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 [e]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; 10 for with the heart a person believes, [f]resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, [g]resulting in salvation.”
Romans 10:8-10
The gymnastics required to skirt around this straightforward, prescriptive text are laughable. The Word plainly says that we confess Jesus as Lord (as in, THE Lord) and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead. Period.
This is a significant dividing line. You either believe it, or you don’t. Many get mad at the “who’s in” or “who’s out” mentality. I understand arguments about the rapture, church structure, the gifts, and a smattering of other topics, but this one isn’t one of those arguments. I am confident of this: as universalist and ‘inclusive’ as your leanings may be, denying the resurrection is a disqualification.
Imagine looking the Risen Lord of Glory in the face at the end of your days and telling Him you don’t believe He rose. It’s lunacy.
Apologetics was never my mission in this series, and yet this stop is such a linchpin, so crucial, that I would be remiss if I didn’t state the matter in this way. The resurrection is vital to your salvation.
There’s a popular “progressive Christian” lie that “God doesn’t care what you believe, only how you behave.”
These messages seem “right” to the natural man, but we know where the way that “seems right” to a man leads (See Proverbs 14:12). Right belief actually matters. Quite a bit:
“4 For Christ is the [a]end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
“10 for with the heart a person believes, [f]resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, [g]resulting in salvation. “
“11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be [h]disappointed”
“14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard?”
This is just the immediate context in Chapter 10 surrounding the main verse I highlighted at the beginning. Belief is actually paramount, especially in regard to the crux of the matter, the resurrection.
That’s why I am so glad my stepfather Larry made sure I knew at least one verse from the Word as a young boy. Romans 10:9. In all my wanderings, in all my prodigal years, all my rebellion, all my sin, I couldn’t forget that verse. He deposited that seed, and no matter how far I ran, when I finally came to Him, I knew it to be the absolute truth. He is risen. And I will never deny that fact.
I go about my days proclaiming Jesus as Lord, and I hold in my heart this burning truth that my entire belief system hinges on: Jesus really rose from the dead.
I have shared the benefits and implications of the resurrection for page after page for some time now. I want you to know what this resurrection affords. And yet, I have this sober reminder that someone may read this and still deny the resurrection. For that person, there is no benefit to you, as harsh as that may sound.
There are even people who claim leadership in Christianity and say that you don’t actually have to believe in the resurrection to be a believer. Run from them. They have no merit in preaching the Word of God to you.
The message of the church at the beginning is the same as now. They went about proclaiming the Kingdom, and the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. They refused to deny it.
Many scholars have stated this sentiment that bears repeating: the church did not create the resurrection stories; instead, the resurrection stories created the church.
Though I spent most of my efforts on the idea of “not” believing in the resurrection, for you who do, you have everything. You confess Jesus as Lord, and you believe that He rose – you can be confident that you will be saved. You can be confident of all the benefits and implications that I’ve spent weeks unfolding to you.
If He stayed in the tomb, your faith is worthless, amounting to nothing.
Yet we know and believe that He rose, and it is everything.
This is one belief we can never compromise. It is essential for salvation.
I am a Pastor, Author, and Teacher based out of Kansas City, MO. I am passionate about the message of the Kingdom, Grace, Healing and the renewing of the mind. I have been following God since age 18 when I was radically transformed and inserted into revival. I have learned some hard lessons and seen some wonderful fruit in the Kingdom, and my goal is to impart wisdom and grace to you to walk in fullness. I have a walking miracle for a wife and three amazing boys.