by Duane Maust
February 25, 2007
Romans 10: 8b-13
“It is in your mouth is what is in your heart.” That is just what we needed to be reminded of this morning. How is that? What is down in here (in your heart), just spills out here (mouth). That is just the way we are wired.
Paul wants us to use our mouth in a positive way for Jesus. He wants us to use our mouths to tell people what is happening in our hearts.
“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.”
That lays it out in a simple way. These verses are the core of what we believe. (We can have assurance that we are on the right track if we let these verses get into our hearts.) We can have assurance of salvation. Paul says, “you will be saved.” Each of us can be sure we have that saving power. We can be sure of heaven. You can be sure you don’t have to go to that hot place.
When we have a baptism or bring in a new member, it is important to Elaine and I that the participant gives his or her testimony. We don’t just want to ask you to do something that may be embarrassing to them. We will let you read a poem or write something. You can even sing a song. What ever is the most comfortable to you. The reason this is important to us is this verse. We feel it is important to confess and tell what is going on in your heart. It is helpful to us to hear and does you good to be able to verbalize what is in your heart.
In Matt. 10:32 Jesus says, “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will acknowledge him before my father in heaven.”
Think about that. If we confess or talk about Jesus, Jesus will do that for us in heaven. He will talk about us before God. Is that cool? Maybe that will help loosen some of us up.
Imagine for a moment that you’re in a church on your wedding day. The preacher is looking at you, and you are looking deeply into the eyes of your loved one. The preacher asks you a question, “Do you accept this person to be your lawfully wedded spouse, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful to this person until death do you part?” What would happen if you would just stand there silently? If you keep your mouth shut. I guarantee you that you could forget about any honeymoon!!!!
If you’re not willing to publicly declare that you accept the wonderful person’s love and if you aren’t willing to say out loud that you love that person standing before you on your wedding day, then the wedding is over. On your wedding day there is only one response needed because there is only one response that matters. The most important thing you can do is let the belief in your heart travel to your lips and say, “I do.”
If we don’t confess with your lips then there’s not love, is there? The heart of a Christian is the heart of belief that God loves the world so much that he gave Jesus to be our Savior. God wants us to accept his love in Jesus and be so filled with joy about his love that we cannot help but shout it out to the world.
The question is not, how good have you been or how good can you be? The Question is, “Do you take Jesus Christ to be your Savior, from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all other, being faithful to Jesus, know that not even in death will you part?” There is only one response needed because there is only one response that matters. Let the belief in your heart that Jesus is your Savior travel up to your lips and say, “I do.”
Let’s remember Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you are saved.
You must say Jesus Christ is Lord. We must believe that Jesus is risen from the dead. We must also believe not only that Jesus lived, but also that he lives. We must not only know about Christ. We must know Him. We must not only believe in our hearts. We must confess with our lips that Jesus is Lord.