Romans 10:5-13 (NIV)

The Lord is good and He is good all the time.

Romans 10:5-13 (NIV)
5 Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: "The man who does these things will live by them."
6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down)
7 "or 'Who will descend into the deep?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
8 But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming:
9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
11 As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,
13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

If you live by the law you will live or die by the law. The righteousness that is by faith can do nothing to affect Christ. Righteousness that is by faith simply receives what the Lord has done. We are now coming to the heart of the Gospel. Perhaps you have used the Romans road presentation where you start out with Romans 3:23 to show we are all sinners. Then you move to Romans 6:23 where it is revealed that the wages of sin is death, but through Christ we live. How do I then connect with God. Now we are at Romans 10:9. It is summed with confession and belief in Christ. Some have asked me, "Do you have to first say Jesus is Lord and then believe." The answer is no. The point Paul is making in context is that we do nothing for this gift of salvation. Anyone who truly believes will eventually confess with their mouth. They will tell others of their faith in Christ. If they don't do that, then there is a chance they have not believed in Christ. In verse 10 Paul goes into the mechanics that happen inside of us. We believe in our hearts and with our mouths we make that belief known to others. Let it be said here and now there are no secret believers. In verse 13 we move to the next part of the Romans road plan of salvation. Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved! Do you believe that the Gospel is truly for everyone? The Lord blesses, no richly blesses, all who call upon Him. We have a great message and I believe the only message of salvation for the world.

Please pray with me and for me and our team that we become even more effective in helping people understand Christ's message.

Our task is to live our personal communion with Christ with such intensity as to make it contagious.

Paul Tournier (1898–1986)