"Believe The Word And Be Saved"

Romans 10: 6-10

6. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)

7. Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)

8. But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

9. 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.

10. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

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f we will be saved, we have no choice but to believe the Word. Believing fairy tales, folklore, old wives’ tales or anything else, does not gain one salvation, but rather, confusion.

We, of course, would prefer that salvation cost us nothing. But, on the contrary, Jesus died that we might know that salvation requires a commitment to be saved. That commitment means that we will not sin and that we will make the commitment to believe that which we might not always understand. Agreeing to do this for the Lord means that He will do all else. In all of salvation, this is all that matters. Whatever it takes, we must remain true to God.

This salvation upon which we have embarked is called “so great.” It takes developing an intimate relationship with the Lord to recognize just how great salvation is. Once that relationship has been developed, one will spare nothing to get others to partake of the same experience.

Though we have a responsibility to acquaint as many as possible with the saving power of Jesus, we are never to believe that salvation is “ours” to administer to whom we choose. Just as all men have sinned, so all have the right to have those sins forgiven.

The “message” of believing the Word is not as “passive” as it may sound. You see, the enemy is not simply going to allow you to read about, study and accept the things of Jesus “with ease.” Therefore, he makes it as difficult as possible for us to find time for, stay awake around and understand “the things of God.” Overcoming all of the “impediments” the devil puts in our path requires action on our part.

Among the many things that can affect our acceptance of the Word is our level of “personal involvement” in any situation. You see, when we have a “stake” in our situation, we will be “blinded” to its truths as well as its deceptions. This is why the Lord so stringently warns us against becoming personally involved in our situations.

So, how does one avoid this? By understanding that “situations” come into our lives to teach us to trust the Lord. Therefore, all that we need to do when they arise is to give the “situation” to the Lord and turn our attention to “learning the lesson.”

“Learning the lesson(s)” is part of laying the “foundation of truth” necessary in order for one to be saved. “Teaching the lesson” is a “different ballgame,” for in order to help someone, or, for someone to be helped, two parties must have an agreement about something. This means that if the Lord is to help us, we must agree that the “lesson” He wishes to teach us is one that we need to learn. Likewise, if we are to help another, we must be on the “same page” or at least, be willing to see the “page.”

How is it possible that so many souls claim to love the Lord, yet are so far apart in the things they believe of Him? How can we entertain so many different denominations—when there is only one Lord? The answer is simple: we have determined our own beliefs, meaning that we have not “believed the Word.”

There is only one “route” to salvation and that is to know and believe what Jesus says. Verses 6 and 7 of our text, today, clearly tell us that that which it is required of us to believe is outside of human rationale.

Though we are told that we must believe the Word in order to be saved, perhaps we need to be reminded of how to get this done. The answer lies in exercising faith. Surely, God expected that His plan would erase the doubts of Man for all time. After all, He manifested Himself in a body of flesh to ensure that the Word of God would be with us always. How is this possible? Once He is accepted (through the infilling), He is free to “dwell” in us, ensuring His place in our lives.

For most, just “being saved” is usually not enough. They have a need to be “used.” In itself, this is not a “bad” thing to pursue, but most are not interested in being used as God would use them, but rather, want to “choose” their “using.” What God’s people need to learn is that His use of us is determined by the extent to which we are willing to submit to Him.

On the surface, our subject scripture would appear to be self-explanatory. But, within those 5 simple words, lies the difference between spiritual life—and death.