“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe
in thine HEART that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans
10:9). Salvation is of the heart, NOT
the mouth. I’ve actually heard radio preachers teach that a person needs to
audibly profess Christ in order to be saved. Would
you please show me that in the Bible?
On the contrary, we read the opposite in Matthew 7:21, “Not every one that saith unto me, LORD, LORD, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” We are NOT saved by saying certain magic words or by performing certain religious rites. The Scriptures are clear—we are saved by doing God’s will. And John 6:40 tells us what God's will is concerning salvation—to BELIEVE on Jesus Christ!
These people in Matthew chapter seven were
sincere I believe, they were religious no doubt. Let’s
hear their testimony in Matthew 7:22, “Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name
have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?” They
had done so many wonderful things “in Jesus name,” but listen to what Jesus
told them in Matthew 7:23... “And then will I profess unto them,
I NEVER KNEW YOU: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Whoa! These
people had spent their lives prophesying “in Jesus name,” casting out devils
“in Jesus name” and doing many wonderful works “in Jesus name.” Now
they're about to be cast into Hell for their disobedience. They
failed to do GOD’S WILL. People get
the wrong impression that they can earn their way to Heaven or merit
salvation by their own works—this is a lie of the Devil! There
is NOTHING we can do to earn Heaven. We ALL deserve to burn in Hell.
The
passage of Scripture we just read is perhaps the most shocking and
eye-opening truth in the Bible. It’s
hard to imagine these sincere people going to Hell after spending so much
time trying to help others in the name of Jesus. We
learn a few truths from this passage:
First,
The road to
Hell is paved with good intentions. Many
sincere and loving people will be shocked someday to find out that their
name is NOT in the Book of Life. They
thought they were going to Heaven, for any number of reasons, but THEY WERE
WRONG. “There is a way which
SEEMETH RIGHT
unto a man, but the end thereof
are the ways of death”
(Proverbs 14:12).
Second, Many false religions operate in Jesus’ name. I cannot stress this fact enough, beware! I once witnessed to a Hispanic couple in their home concerning Christ. The man barely understood English, but the mother was able to understand. They had several wonderful children. The kids had been coming to our Baptist church on the bus for awhile, but then stopped coming. We continued visiting them on Saturdays. Unfortunately, this family had been caught up with the Jehovah's Witness false cult. I tried to explain to the mother that these people were NOT their friends and were not of God. She said, “but they talk about Jesus.” I explained Matthew chapter seven to her. She said, “but they came to visit me when I was in the hospital and brought me a box of food.” I did my best to open her eyes to the truth, but she just wouldn’t listen. In her mind, anyone who came “in Jesus name” was of God and readily accepted into her home. I prayed with the family and then left. I only wish I could get people to realize that most religion is of the Devil. Jesus said in Matthew 7:23 that false prophets are “workers of iniquity.”
Third, The only way to be saved is by doing GOD’S WILL. What is God’s will? We find the answer in John 6:40, “And this is the WILL of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” God’s will is for each and every person to see Jesus as He is portrayed in the Word of God and to BELIEVE ON HIM. Many religions come to us today, but they have “another Jesus.” We must believe on Jesus Christ as he is presented in the Scriptures—as God manifest in the flesh.
Fourth, We are NOT all God’s Children. I often hear Modernists say, “We are all God’s Children.” Not so! We are all God’s creation, but we are definitely NOT all God’s Children. A “Modernist” is someone who speaks of spiritual matters, but is unsaved. They make light of the Bible. These are not God’s Children. Only those who are truly born-again can truthfully claim to be the Children of God. Someone has foolishly taught concerning salvation that all rivers lead to the ocean. Actually, it all depends how you look at it. It depends on which was you're traveling. Do all airplanes fly to Tokyo? Do all trains lead to Boston? It is frightening the way people think, and base their eternal destiny on such foolish thinking. God Authored the Bible for us, to show us the way of salvation, so we wouldn't have to guess or make erroneous conclusions.
“For with the HEART man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10). It is with the heart that we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved. The confession of the mouth can only follow the believing of the heart. It is the believing of the heart that makes us righteous in God’s eyes because of Christ’s righteousness which is applied to our record. If we believe on Christ in our heart but fail to confess Him to men with our mouth, we are still saved. Why? Because it is “with the heart” that a person believeth unto righteousness. The very fact that a mute person cannot confess Christ audibly is proof that God doesn't require it as part of saving-faith. Salvation is of the heart. We are saved by believing on Christ.
Neither is water baptism necessary for salvation, but it is something that God wants us to do if we have the opportunity to do so. When we get baptized, we are making a public profession of our faith. We are displaying outwardly what has happened inwardly. Baptism pictures the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We symbolize our faith in the Gospel in being baptized. It is similar to wearing a wedding ring. The ring doesn’t make you married, it is simply a symbol of ownership. You own each other. If the ring is destroyed, the marriage is still valid. Two people do not need a ring to be married in God’s eyes.
Likewise, water baptism does not save, nor is it required to be saved... “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that BELIEVETH NOT shall be damned” (Mark 16:16). The emphasis is upon BELIEVING. Water baptism cannot save a person any more than walking into a garage makes one an automobile. A wedding ring means nothing if you have no marriage. Likewise, water baptism means nothing if you haven't believed in your heart on the Lord. Salvation is of the heart.
It is NOT what you say in a sinner's prayer
that is important. In fact, you don't need to pray at all to be saved. What does
matter is that you BELIEVE in your HEART that Jesus is the Savior, the Son
of God, and you trust upon Him and His blood sacrifice to wash away your
sins. You need not open your mouth to
be saved, salvation is of the heart.
It is not uncommon these days to hear people claim that they “used to be a Christian.” That is not true. There's no such thing as a former Christian. They may have experienced the philosophy of Christianity, or belonged to a religious organization; but they never became a born-again Christian in Christ Jesus. So many people today have churchianity without Christianity. The world's churches are filled with religious people who are woefully ignorant of the truth of God's Word. Their minds have been filled with religious ideas and Biblical stories; but they've never personally come to God as a filthy, dirty, rotten, guilty sinner in need of salvation. It is only when we repent, by owning to God that we are as vile a sinner as He has declared us to be in His holy Word, and place our faith in the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ to wash away our sins, believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, that we are born-again anew.
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