8^th July

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.”

Romans 10:9-10

What do you believe and why do you believe it? Do you just believe something that you were made to believe or do you personally sincerely believe it? Deep question right! Yet knowing what you believe and why, is the difference between life and death. It may seem rather dramatic but it is a truth we need to take seriously. Life and death, of course is ultimately eternal life or eternal damnation. Yet it could also mean life or death on this physical earth too. Many Christians boldly stand up for their faith in Jesus, in persecuted countries, then face the ultimate penalty for not denying Christ. This is the reality of what it truly means to know what you believe, why you believe it and in extreme cases, even be willing to die for your convictions.

If Jesus wasn’t truly sure He was God, then our faith would have been built on a lie. If Paul and Peter, kept wavering in their faith, and denying Jesus every time persecution came, where would today’s church be. In fact, as Paul addresses in this wonderful chapter, how can people be saved, if they don’t know what they believe?

Our role is firstly to get our own lives in check. We mustn’t sit on the fence of unbelief or in the courts of lukewarmness. We must know what we believe; that Jesus is Lord and He was raised from the dead to forgive our sins. This is the foundation of our faith and the truth we must hold firmly. After we are sure what we believe, we can then have enough of a conviction to share it boldly with others so that they might believe for themselves. “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news.” (Romans 10:15b)

What is your confession of faith?