Be saved! Say that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that he was resurrected - Romans 10:9
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
- Romans 10:9, NIV
More About This Verse
Meaning
We are saved by sincere faith in Jesus and the grace of God. We must call on God to help us, but it’s more than just saying the words. If you declare Jesus is Lord but live an evil life, or live as if you can do whatever you want without consequence or concern for God, then you have not really believed in your heart.
You see, your heart is what matters. It’s the combination of both parts of the statement—declare with your mouth and believe in your heart—that offer salvation. When you make a declaration from the heart that Jesus is Lord, and you really believe that God raised him from the dead, your desires will naturally begin to shift to a life that is being transformed by God.
The Bible in One Year study guide puts it this way:
“The Christian message is both exclusive, because Christ is the only name given for our salvation, and inclusive, because everyone in this world can call upon his name.
Jesus is easily accessible to all of us. ‘No precarious climb up to heaven to recruit the Messiah, no dangerous descent into hell to rescue the Messiah.’ He continues:
‘The word that saves is right here, as near as the tongue in your mouth, as close as the heart in your chest’ (vv.6–8, MSG).
It is interesting to note in passing the importance, not only believing in our heart, but actually saying that we have done so.
EXPLORE THIS PASSAGE MORE
We get the most out of each verse when we understand them in context. So, feel free to dig a little deeper into the meaning of this verse with these resources:
If you’re a new Christian, here are some sermons that might be helpful to you.
The Message version says this verse this way:
“Say the welcoming word to God—“Jesus is my Master”—embracing, body and soul, God’s work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That’s it. You’re not “doing” anything; you’re simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That’s salvation.” (Romans 10:9, MSG).
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