being saved

Breaking the law

The Ten Commandments were given to the Israelites shortly after they were delivered from slavery in Egypt. When they arrived at Mount Sinai, Moses was called up to God and told:

“Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” (Exodus 19:3-6)

“God made a conditional promise to the Israelites that if they would obey him and keep his covenant, he would regard and treat them in a special way” (note on Exodus 19:5, 6). Three days later, God spoke the Ten Commandments directly to the people of Israel. “With these Ten Commandments, God’s covenant with the Israelites began. Ancient rabbis isolated 613 separate commandments in the entire law of Moses, but these ten are the principles upon which the rest are based. By themselves they are called ‘the words of the covenant’ (Exodus 34:28). The first four commandments concern man’s relationship with and especially his reverence toward God, while the latter six address man’s relationship with other human beings. The first four have total love for God as their theme (cf. Deuteronomy 6:5). The last six are summarized by the statement, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ (Leviticus 19:18). Jesus took all the commandments in the law of Moses and summarized them with two: love God and love your fellow man (Matthew 22:35-40)” (note on Exodus 20:1-17).

Mark’s gospel tells us that Jesus made it a practice to teach his followers when he was with them (Mark 10:1). On one occasion, when he was teaching the crowds that were gathered around him, the Pharisees asked Jesus a question that was meant to trip him up. Mark 10:2 states, “And the Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?’” The Greek word that is translated lawful, exesti (exˊ-es-tee) is a compound of the words ex “denoting origin (the point whence motion or action proceeds)” (G1537) and eimi (i-meeˊ), which means “I exist.” The meaning that these two words convey is a departure from existence or what we might think of as death, but their meaning also has to do with God’s covenant with Israel. Jesus’ explanation points back to the Ten Commandments and to God’s original intent when he made humans both male and female. Mark 10:3-12 states:

He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

Adultery was among the six commandments that addressed man’s relationship with other human beings and was considered a core principle of God’s covenant with the Israelites (note on Exodus 20:1-17). Jesus’ interpretation that remarriage after divorce caused a person to commit adultery was likely a shocking revelation to the people who thought that sexual intercourse was permitted as long as the two persons were married. Jesus pointed back to the natural order that existed when God created the world and said that a husband and wife through sexual intercourse became “one flesh” and then, he concluded, “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (Mark 10:8-9). The words joined together and separate not only have to do with a person’s geographical location, but also the bond between two people that is developed through shared experiences. The Greek word sun (soon) denotes a union that is the result of “companionship, consort, where one is said to be, do, suffer with someone, in connection and company with him” (G4862).

The point that Jesus wanted to make when he explained that divorce caused a person to commit adultery was that it was God’s design for relationships between husbands and wives to be permanent. Just as God designed the world so that there would be night and day, light and darkness, “God made them male and female” (Mark 10:6) because, “It is not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18). In other words, God designed man to have a lifelong connection with a person of the opposite sex rather than living his life as an independent person. Jesus followed his comment about committing adultery with an analogy of spiritual success. Jesus told his disciples, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” (Mark 10:14-15). A child is dependent upon others for its survival. A child does not try to take care of itself. At the core of my independence is a belief that I can take care of myself, I don’t need God or anyone else.

Jesus took spiritual success one step further in his conversation with a rich young man. When the man approached Jesus, he asked him a question about the ultimate goal for someone who is trying to live a moral life. Mark tells us, “And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’” (Mark 10:17). The Greek word that is translated inherit, kleronomeo (klay, ron.om-ehˊ-o) in the New Testament is “spoken of the friends of God as receiving admission to the kingdom of heaven and its attendant privileges” (G2816). The rich young man may have wondered if there was some kind of a loop hole to God’s Covenant with Israel, but Jesus responded, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother” (Mark 10:18-19). Jesus skipped the four commandments that had to do with man’s relationship with God and referred only to the six commandments that addressed man’s relationship with other human beings. Remarkably, the rich young man responded, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth” (Mark 10:20). Jesus’ response indicated that even though the man was not guilty of breaking the law, his heart was not right with God. Jesus told the man, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” (Mark 10:21). The one thing that the man lacked was a concern for others. Mark tells us the man was “disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions” (Mark 10:22).

Self-sufficiency was a stumbling block to the rich young man’s desire to obtain something that only God could give him, eternal life. Jesus concluded his discussion on the topic by pointing out that breaking the law was not the thing that would keep most people out of heaven, but a desire to rely on oneself for daily provision rather than God. Mark 10:23-27 states:

And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

Jesus pointed out that it is not only difficult, but impossible for anyone to save himself. The Greek word sozo (sodeˊ-zo), which is translated saved in this verse, speaks “specifically of salvation from eternal death, sin, and the punishment and misery consequent to sin. To save, and (by implication) to give eternal life” (G4982). Without skipping a beat, Jesus followed up by stating that it is not impossible for God to save a person, even one who is wealthy, because “all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27). God’s ability to save us is not limited by the extent to which we have broken his laws or how great a desire we have to live independent of him. The only thing that can or will stop God from saving a person is a lack of concern for the needs of other human beings.

Losing your Life

Jesus prepared his disciples for his departure from earth by telling them exactly what to expect in the final days of his ministry. Mark tells us, “And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly” (Mark 8:31-32). Jesus didn’t want there to be any misunderstanding about his intention of dying for the sins of the world. Surprisingly, Peter thought that Jesus was mistaken about the need for him to sacrifice his life in order to accomplish God’s will. Mark said of Jesus, “And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man’” (Mark 8:32-33). Jesus pointed out that Peter was being influenced by Satan and that his mind was focused on the wrong things. You might say that Peter had a temporal point of view; he wasn’t looking at the bigger picture. The thing that Peter missed was the fact that after three days, Jesus was going to rise from the dead (Mark 8:31).

Following his interaction with Peter, Jesus spoke to the crowd around him about a key principle of God’s kingdom that has to do with eternal life. Mark said of Jesus:

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.” (Mark 8:34-9:1)

Jesus was looking at things from a human perspective when used the example of gaining and losing something to explain the concept of eternal life. The thing that was at stake, that which could be gained or lost when it came to eternal life was the human soul. The Greek word that is translated soul in Mark 8:36-37 is psuche (psoo-khayˊ). “The soul, that immaterial part of man held in common with animals. One’s understanding of this word’s relationship to related terms is contingent upon his position regarding biblical anthropology. Dichotomists view man as consisting of two parts (or substances), material and immaterial, with spirit and soul denoting the immaterial and bearing only a functional and not a metaphysical difference. Trichotomists also view man as consisting of two parts (or substances), but with spirit and soul representing in some contexts a real subdivision of the immaterial. This latter view is here adopted. Accordingly, psuche is contrasted with soma (G4983), body, and pneuma (G4151), spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23). The psuche, no less than the sarx (G4561), flesh, belongs to the lower region of man’s being. Sometimes psuche stands for the immaterial part of man made up of the soul (psuche in the restrictive sense of the life element), and the spirit pneuma. However, animals are not said to possess a spirit; this is only in man, giving him the ability to communicate with God. Also breath (Sept. Genesis 1:30; Job 41:12), and in the NT, usually meaning the vital breath, the life element through which the body lives and feels, the principle of life manifested in the breath” (G5590).

One of the key indicators that is typically used to determine if a person is dead or alive is breathing. When we stop breathing, we are usually thought of as being dead. In the context of eternal life, Jesus’ statement, “whoever would save his life (psuche) will lose it, but whoever loses his life (psuche) for my sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mark 8:35), was referring to the soul as an indicator of spiritual life or death. Jesus said, “whoever would save his life will lose it.” The Greek word that is translated save, sozo (sodeˊ-zo) is used “specifically of salvation from eternal death, sin, and the punishment and misery consequent to sin. To save, and (by implication), to give eternal life…The participle is used substantively to refer to those being saved, those who have obtained salvation through Christ and are kept by him (Luke 13:23; Acts 2:47; 1 Corinthians 1:18; 2 Corinthians 2:15; Revelation 21:24)” (G4982). From that standpoint, losing your life would mean that you stop attempting to pay the penalty for your sins against God.

The prophet Ezekiel foretold of an everlasting covenant that God would establish after Israel broke the covenant that was associated with the Mosaic Law. Ezekiel stated:

“For thus says the Lord God: I will deal with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant, yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant. Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you take your sisters, both your elder and your younger, and I give them to you as daughters, but not on account of the covenant with you. I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord, that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 16:59-63)

God said that he would atone for the people. The Hebrew word kaphar (kaw-farˊ), which is translated atone for, is “A verb meaning to cover, to forgive, to expiate, to reconcile. This word is of supreme theological importance in the Old Testament as it is central to an Old Testament understanding of the remission of sins. At its most basic level, the word conveys the notion of covering but not in the sense of merely concealing. Rather, it suggests the imposing of something to change its appearance or nature. It is therefore employed to signify the cancellation or ‘writing over’ of a contract (Isaiah 28:18); the appeasing of anger (Genesis 32:20[21]; Proverbs 16:14); and the overlaying of wood with pitch so as to make it waterproof (Genesis 6:14). The word also communicates God’s covering of sin. Persons made reconciliation with God for their sins by imposing something that would appease the offended party (in this case the Lord) and cover the sinners with righteousness (Exodus 32:30; Ezekiel 45:17; cf. Daniel 9:24). In the Old Testament, the blood of sacrifices was most notably imposed (Exodus 30:10). By this imposition, sin was purged (Psalm 79:9; Isaiah 6:7) and forgiven (Psalm 78:38). The offenses were removed, leaving sinners clothed in righteousness (cf. Zechariah 3:3, 4). Of course, the imposition of the blood of bulls and of goats could never fully cover our sin (see Hebrews 10:4), but with the coming of Christ and the imposition of His shed blood, a perfect atonement was made (Romans 5:9-11)” (H3722).

Ezekiel went on to say that “the soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4, 20). “One prominent feature of the book of Ezekiel is the declaration of individual responsibility (Ezekiel 3:16-21; 14:12-20; 18:1-32; 33:1-20). In this passage, the Lord was setting aside an old proverb in Israel (Ezekiel 18:2, cf. Jeremiah 31:29, 30) and replacing it with one of his own: ‘The soul who sins shall die’ (Ezekiel 18:4, 20). In the Old Testament, God’s people were treated as a national unit, and their sustenance and material prosperity were often affected by sins of the minority (cf. Joshua 7:1, 4-11, 16-26). Consequently, God was just when he spoke of ‘visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children’ (Exodus 20:5). This passage, however, looks beyond material ramifications and considers the eternal results of sin. This is implied by the use of the term ‘soul’ (v. 4) and the command to ‘make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit’ (v. 31). Many righteous people were going to die in the siege, and many would be carried to Babylon (as Ezekiel and Daniel were). The eternal fate of each person, however, was determined by his or her individual relationship with God” (note on Ezekiel 18:1-32).

Paul explained in his letter to the Romans that righteousness can only be obtained through faith in Jesus Christ. After he declared that “none is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God” (Romans 3:10-11), Paul went on to state:

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:21-26)

Paul indicated that Jesus was “put forward as a propitiation by his blood” (Romans 3:25), meaning that Jesus was intended to be a substitute for all who would accept his sacrifice on their behalf (G2435).

Jesus prefaced his remark about losing one’s life with the statement, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34). To deny oneself means “to disown and renounce self, to disregard all personal interests and enjoyments (Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34)” (G533). This stipulation might make it seem as if Jesus wanted his followers to give up all of their material possessions and to renounce any activity that brought them pleasure, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. Jesus told his disciples shortly before his death on the cross, “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:9-10). The Greek word that is translated abundantly, perissos (per-is-sos) means “superabundant (in quantity) or superior (in quality); (by implication) excessive” and as an adjective perissos is used to convey “over and above” having “more than enough” (G4053). Jesus indicated that being saved is what causes a person to have an abundant life (John 10:9), but the word Jesus used for life, zoe (dzo-ayˊ) suggests that atonement changes life’s appearance or nature. Rather than one’s psuche becoming more vibrant, a zoe type of life replaces or covers over their psuche after a person is born again.

Zoe is comparable to psuche in that it represents “physical life and existence as opposed to death and nonexistence,” but it goes farther in referring to life “in the sense of existence, life, in an absolute sense and without end” and “in the Christian sense of eternal life, i.e. that life of bliss and glory in the kingdom of God which awaits the true disciples of Christ after the resurrection” (G2222). Jesus explained in his parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:13-21) that abundant life is not about having the security of material possessions, but about having the kind of security that eternal life provides. After the rich man had torn down his barns and built larger ones to store his crops, “God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you’” (Luke 12:20).

Jesus differentiated between psuche and zoe when he told his disciples, “Whoever loves his life (psuche) loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life (zoe)” (John 12:25). Losing your life in this verse seems to be connected with an acceptance or rejection of the thoughts, feelings, and desires that our souls generate with us. Paul gives us an example of hating your life in his letter to the Romans, where he confessed, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). On the other hand, an example of loving your life might be found in the words of King Nebuchadnezzar, who said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30). Following this statement, Nebuchadnezzar lost his life from a spiritual standpoint, when God issued a decree against him. Daniel tells us, “While the words were still in his mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, ‘O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you is it spoken: “The kingdom has departed from you, and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the breast of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will”’” (Daniel 4:31-32).

Lip service

Jesus’ frustration with the hypocrisy of the Jewish religious leaders was evident in his response to their inquisition into his teaching and ministry. When he was asked, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the traditions of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” (Mark 7:5), Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men’” (Mark 6-7). Jesus pointed to the inconsistency between the Jews’ worship of God and what was in their hearts. Jesus said, the Jews’ hearts were far from God, and in vain did they worship him. The Greek word that is translated vain, maten (matˊ-ane) is a derivative of mataios “through the idea of tentative manipulation, i.e. unsuccessful search, or else of punishment); folly, i.e. (adverb) to no purpose” (G3155). The scribes and Pharisees’ worship was not intended to bring them closer to God, but only to give the impression to others that they were close to the LORD. Jesus indicated that their worship was an empty, futile effort.

Jesus went on to explain that the scribes and Pharisees had established traditions that contradicted the Ten Commandments, giving the people of Israel the false impression that it was alright for them to bend the rules. Jesus used a parable to drive home his point that the condition of an individual’s heart is what really mattered to God. Jesus explained to his disciples:

“Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (Mark 7:18-23)

Jesus linked a person’s actions to his thoughts and said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him” (Mark 7:20). The Greek word that Jesus used, koinoo (koy-noˊ-o), which is translated defiles, is derived from the word koinos (koy-nosˊ), the base word for the terms koinonia (koy-nohn-eeˊah) and koinonos (koy-no-nosˊ). Koinonia has to do with fellowship and communion with Christ (G2842). Jesus’ reference to becoming defiled was likely meant as false fellowship or believers being connected to unbelievers instead of to each other and Christ.

Jesus’ accusation against the scribes and Pharisees contained both positive and negative aspects. Isaiah’s prophecy stated, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Mark 7:6). The Jewish religious leaders were half right in that they were honoring God with their lips, but because their hearts were not right with God, it appeared that they were only giving him lip service, a verbal but insincere expression of their agreement with God’s commandments. In his letter to Titus, the Apostle Paul made note of the fact that there were many who were teaching false doctrine and claiming to be Christians who were not. Paul said:

For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach…To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work. (Titus 1:10-16)

Paul indicated that unbelievers may profess to know God, but will demonstrate whether or not they are a follower of Christ by their actions. The Greek word that is translated deny in Titus 1:16, arneomai (ar-nehˊ-om-ahee) means “to contradict, i.e. disavow, reject, abnegate” (G720).

The people of Israel demonstrated their denial of God for many years before they were taken into captivity. In the desperate years leading up to Israel’s conquest by the Assyrians, the Israelites resorted to cannibalism and the king of Israel, rather than repenting and seeking God’s help, threatened to kill the prophet Elisha because of the nation’s problems. Second Kings 6:24-31 states:

Afterward Ben-hadad king of Syria mustered his entire army and went up and besieged Samaria. And there was a great famine in Samaria, as they besieged it, until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver. Now as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!” And he said, “If the Lord will not help you, how shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the winepress?” And the king asked her, “What is your trouble?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ So we boiled my son and ate him. And on the next day I said to her, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him.’ But she has hidden her son.” When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes—now he was passing by on the wall—and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth beneath on his body—and he said, “May God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today.”

The king of Israel appeared to be mourning when he tore his clothes in response to the woman’s trouble, but his threat to kill Elisha, who was God’s appointed spokesman, contradicted his action and showed that his heart was hardened toward God.

The Apostle John described having fellowship with God as walking in the light. John said:

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:5-10)

John said that confessing our sins will result in God forgiving our sins because he is faithful and just, but John also indicated that denying our sins makes God a liar, proving that his word is not in us.

Jesus used the example of a tree and its fruit to illustrate his point to the Pharisees that the heart was the source of each person’s thoughts and actions. Jesus said, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:33-37). Jesus’ emphasis on the words that we speak had to do with a key aspect of salvation, confession or rather making a profession of faith. Paul explained this aspect of salvation in his letter to the Romans. Paul said:

For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, 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 with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. (Romans 10:5-10)

Paul indicated that believing originates in the heart, but it is with the mouth that one confesses and is saved. The Greek word that is translated confesses, homologeo (hom-ol-og-ehˊ-o) means “To speak or say the same with another, e.g., to say the same thing, i.e. to assent, accord, to agree with” and also “to promise” (G3670). When a person confesses that Jesus is Lord, he is agreeing with what is written in the Bible, the inspired word of God. If the person believes in his heart what he is saying is true; it is not just lip service, but a promise, an actual profession of faith and will result in the person being saved.