Who Is Saved?

 May 31, 2024

Friday

How is it that a person is saved? Romans says: 

Romans 10:9 (NASB 2020)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;

Jesus Himself says: 

Matthew 7:21 (NASB 2020)²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.

On the one hand, we have Paul telling us that our words will save us with a heart belief that Jesus is raised from the dead. On the other hand, Jesus tells us that not everyone who calls Him Lord will enter heaven. So, which is it?

There is no contradiction here. The key to understanding scripture is always to take it in context. (That is the same for all communication no matter what the political ads or news outlets tell you.) Paul explains his statement in verse 10:

Romans 10:10 (NASB 2020) ¹⁰ for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

I think it is interesting that Paul's first statement puts the mouth before the heart but in the second statement it is switched. The most visible evidence of salvation to others is from what we say. The second is in what we believe. But when it comes to realizing salvation, the mouth follows the heart.

Jesus says that no everyone who says to Me; Paul says that everyone who confesses. These are two different actions. The person who says that Jesus is Lord without the commitment of seeing Him as Lord has said magic words that he hopes will save him. "I said the right thing!" will be his cry before the Lord. But the one who confesses must say what Jesus has said is lordship. It is giving all for the sake of the one called Lord. That doesn't come from words. It comes from the heart.

I once say a bumper sticker many years ago that said, "Tithe if you love Jesus, any fool can honk." Many people will say that Jesus is Lord but they do not have the evidence from what they do. Their hearts have nothing to do with Him being Lord. Even if they dabble in things that are for the Lord, their commitment is not to Jesus as Lord. They are doing this to earn salvation. No one can earn salvation.

Words will reflect righteousness but they will not necessarily prove righteousness. People can say a prayer of salvation but not mean a word of it. They might just be trying to get the pesky Christians out of their homes. Saying that prayer seems to be the quickest way.

We had a homeless guy in one of the churches that I served whom we had helped quite a bit. His requests got greater and greater. We finally told him that he would have to show some responsibility and we limited the help we would give him. He said, "I bet you would help me if I was a member of the church. We had three morning worship services and one evening service on Sunday. So he came forward to join in the 8:30, 9:30, 11:00 and 7:00 services. He wanted everyone to know that he was joining the church. Was he really joining us in our mission to make disciples? No! He was trying to get more from us.

The person who says the right things, no matter how many people he has said them to, has not necessarily been saved. He may convince you and me from his many words but his heart will prove who he is before the Lord.

I believe there are many people who are in our churches today who do not truly know Jesus as Lord. They have said the right thing but their hearts have not made the commitment. They have not truly confessed Jesus by making their commitment to Him. Thus, they may know a lot about Jesus but they do not know Him.

I believe these are the people who give churches bad names. They are the ones condemning those outside the church. They are the ones claiming righteousness without the commitment that receives righteousness. They are the ones who are the tares planted among the good wheat. They are the ones causing the troubles in churches. They say the right words but their commitment to the Lord is missing no matter how many works they do.