S) "9 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, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."
Romans 10:9-10 (NASB)
O) It's not enough to believe simply, that Jesus is the Son of God. Satan and the angels believe that (see ). So, the difference is that we don't just "believe in Him" but that we "believe Him" all of Him, all that He says. We believe in our heart that Jesus is whom He said He is, and will do what He said He will do. That is the belief that produces righteousness. Abraham believed in the LORD just fine, after all, he was talking with Him. But Abraham believed in what the LORD was saying, and it was credited as righteousness. Then also, confessing sins is good, and that's how we receive mercy, but it's so much more than that. It's a confession of dependency on God, a confession of His sovereignty over us, a confession that He is in charge, not us. These two things (belief and confession) cannot truly be separated, in my mind at least. It seems pretty clear that, if it's authentic, one produces the other.
A) Neither one of these actions are emotional, so I need to continue deliberately, believing by choice that everything that's in the Bible is true, and what God speaks to me is true, and take Him at His word because His words are life to me. For the confession side of things, confession to God is often easier than confession to people. But, the solution is this: I continue to stand firm in my declaration that I am not ashamed of the gospel, according to Romans 1:16.
P) Father, increase my faith. I also read in verse 17, that faith comes through hearing Your words about Christ. I have been studying Your words carefully, daily, for almost a full year now, God. I feel like You've taken that and used it to help me grow and help me mature and, without a doubt, my faith has increased according to that promise in Romans 10:17, but I ask that You would also put in me an increase of faith beyond that. Holy Spirit, couple that faith with courage and strength. I am choosing to believe Your words instead of anything else I perceive, LORD. I want to couple that with confession, not just to You directly, but to anyone, and I mean anyone who cares to know it. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
A) Neither one of these actions are emotional, so I need to continue deliberately, believing by choice that everything that's in the Bible is true, and what God speaks to me is true, and take Him at His word because His words are life to me. For the confession side of things, confession to God is often easier than confession to people. But, the solution is this: I continue to stand firm in my declaration that I am not ashamed of the gospel, according to Romans 1:16.
P) Father, increase my faith. I also read in verse 17, that faith comes through hearing Your words about Christ. I have been studying Your words carefully, daily, for almost a full year now, God. I feel like You've taken that and used it to help me grow and help me mature and, without a doubt, my faith has increased according to that promise in Romans 10:17, but I ask that You would also put in me an increase of faith beyond that. Holy Spirit, couple that faith with courage and strength. I am choosing to believe Your words instead of anything else I perceive, LORD. I want to couple that with confession, not just to You directly, but to anyone, and I mean anyone who cares to know it. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment