Evidence for God from Science

I was recently thinking about verses that I could use to lead others to Christ. One verse quite often used/referenced is Romans 10:9 "If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Assuming the person is being faithful and honest in his or her confession/belief, is it really that simple? Matt 7:13-14 seems to indicate otherwise for it says “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." This indicates to me (and I may be off?) it's not as "easy" as it seems. Then you have Luke 13:3 which says "I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

So...can one be saved if they JUST follow Romans 10:9? Because that is what the verse seems to indicate. Just a little confused. I want to start being more intentional about sharing my faith verbally and leading others to Christ. I was looking for several key verses and then this conundrum came up. Hope you can understand where my confusion might lie.


Thank you,

Ottoman

Ottoman wrote:I was recently thinking about verses that I could use to lead others to Christ. One verse quite often used/referenced is Romans 10:9 "If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Assuming the person is being faithful and honest in his or her confession/belief, is it really that simple? Matt 7:13-14 seems to indicate otherwise for it says “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." This indicates to me (and I may be off?) it's not as "easy" as it seems. Then you have Luke 13:3 which says "I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

So...can one be saved if they JUST follow Romans 10:9? Because that is what the verse seems to indicate. Just a little confused. I want to start being more intentional about sharing my faith verbally and leading others to Christ. I was looking for several key verses and then this conundrum came up. Hope you can understand where my confusion might lie.


Thank you,

Ottoman

You bring up a good point which actually comes back to how one defines believe, confess, and repent. It is we who miss the obvious.

In Romans 10:9 the Greek word translated confess in the text has in its basic meaning to publicly - openly declare something in front of all, in this case ones total allegiance alongside this caveat in regard to the context of the text: the one announcing totally consents with the desire of another (Jesus Christ)... openly. In other words, they live life for all the world to see how, what, and in who they believe in confesses their faith. That pretty much sums up the text and helps shed light that in no way does Rom 10:9 contradict the other verses you mentioned.

For example, today, I was followed to closely by a person driving a large pick truck who was annoying me. I was not very Christian in my thoughts and actions toward this person so the passenger in my car had the privilege of seeing me repent for the words ill spoken. We live out our faith in many different ways for others to see. It is not about walking in the clouds and being holier than water in a Catholic church. That is not what it means by confessing Jesus but rather how folks see you overcome life's trials and hardships in ways they cannot; they see your struggles and become a better person speaks more for how one realistically consents to the desire of Jesus. In this, the Lord is glorified and you may help another enter the Kingdom of God too.

Hope this helps and you would not happen to drive a truck?
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It is always important to try to understand what it means to CONFESS , to PROCLAIM Christ, what it MEANS and all the "baggage" that comes with it.
In short, one can't truly confess and proclaim Christ without the HS in Us and IF that has happened then repentance is already working in US by Christ's love and grace.
You really can't have one ( faith) without the other ( Christ) in you.

To the OP, because, as I've argued here and here, Romans 10:9-10 probably has little to nothing to do with leading people the Lord to be "saved" (in the Baptist sense, talking here of eternal salvation, being born again, being saved from hell, etc.). I don't recommend the so-called "Roman Road."
If you want a good verse, just use John 3:16. If you think that's too much, be even simpler and go with John 6:47.

B. W. wrote:

Ottoman wrote:I was recently thinking about verses that I could use to lead others to Christ. One verse quite often used/referenced is Romans 10:9 "If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Assuming the person is being faithful and honest in his or her confession/belief, is it really that simple? Matt 7:13-14 seems to indicate otherwise for it says “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." This indicates to me (and I may be off?) it's not as "easy" as it seems. Then you have Luke 13:3 which says "I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

So...can one be saved if they JUST follow Romans 10:9? Because that is what the verse seems to indicate. Just a little confused. I want to start being more intentional about sharing my faith verbally and leading others to Christ. I was looking for several key verses and then this conundrum came up. Hope you can understand where my confusion might lie.


Thank you,

Ottoman

You bring up a good point which actually comes back to how one defines believe, confess, and repent. It is we who miss the obvious.

In Romans 10:9 the Greek word translated confess in the text has in its basic meaning to publicly - openly declare something in front of all, in this case ones total allegiance alongside this caveat in regard to the context of the text: the one announcing totally consents with the desire of another (Jesus Christ)... openly. In other words, they live life for all the world to see how, what, and in who they believe in confesses their faith. That pretty much sums up the text and helps shed light that in no way does Rom 10:9 contradict the other verses you mentioned.

For example, today, I was followed to closely by a person driving a large pick truck who was annoying me. I was not very Christian in my thoughts and actions toward this person so the passenger in my car had the privilege of seeing me repent for the words ill spoken. We live out our faith in many different ways for others to see. It is not about walking in the clouds and being holier than water in a Catholic church. That is not what it means by confessing Jesus but rather how folks see you overcome life's trials and hardships in ways they cannot; they see your struggles and become a better person speaks more for how one realistically consents to the desire of Jesus. In this, the Lord is glorified and you may help another enter the Kingdom of God too.

Hope this helps and you would not happen to drive a truck?
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Thank BW.

If I am following your correctly, what you're saying is that confessing Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior is something that we not only confess with our mouths, but also live openly for others to see? That, I agree with. Im just wondering why repentance was left out, because it seems that it also necessary for salvation.

PaulSacramento...what you're saying is that if one truly confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, repentance is already at work in the believer?

Jac, thanks for the advice. I will read over those two links when I get some time. Thank you. Any helpful tips/advice on how you use John 3:16 to bring others to Christ? Im just looking for something simple, yet effective, that cuts right to the heart. Any others wish to offer advice, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you to all who have repsonded. Im a little slow sometimes, forgive me.

PaulSacramento...what you're saying is that if one truly confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, repentance is already at work in the believer?

Yes, I believe so.
I don't think anyone can truly proclaim Christ unless the HS is indwelling in them and if that is the case, the process of repentance is already at work.

Ottoman wrote:...Thank BW.

If I am following your correctly, what you're saying is that confessing Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior is something that we not only confess with our mouths, but also live openly for others to see? That, I agree with. Im just wondering why repentance was left out, because it seems that it also necessary for salvation.

Yes, it is walking the walk as they say. It has to do with living sanctification which indicates a change of mind which by the way, repentance as you understand it, means. So it is implied.

Back to John 3:16 - the Lord ask's us this: trust me

He proved such trust valid John 3:14, 15... and he did this for us when we do not deserve it - so in this - We can Trust Him...

So when when one - Trust's Him - they are changed by God's grace and their mind changes out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Eph 2:8 NKJV, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God...

Titus 2:11-15 NIV: For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope--the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. 15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.

As you can see, salvation does not end at the sinners prayer, it only just begins as PaulS also pointed out above and Jac too...
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Thanks for taking the time to clarify for me. And yes, I do drive a truck by the way, but not today..my wife was driving it

And thank you Jac for the links. They helped also.

Ottoman wrote:
Jac, thanks for the advice. I will read over those two links when I get some time. Thank you. Any helpful tips/advice on how you use John 3:16 to bring others to Christ? Im just looking for something simple, yet effective, that cuts right to the heart. Any others wish to offer advice, it would be greatly appreciated.

I would say to keep it simple. Explain who Christ is and what He has done. Then trusting in Him for salvation is what John 3:16 is about.

Yes, I want to keep it simple. but I am a type-a person, so I need things to follow order. I found the Billy Ghraham "Steps to Peace with God" process, but that seems too long. I think I will just stick with John 3:16 and use that since it is the one verse that non-christians seem to recognize the most.

Our tendency is to try and prooftext the bible and find prescriptive verses to get people saved.
I believe, and think Jac would agree, that John 3:16 is probably the closest thing to an actual summary statement of the Gospel, perhaps alongside 1st Cor. 15:3,4.

I agree with Jac that Romans 10:9 isn't such. I had this discussion recently with my men's group. This led to some claiming that if you weren't willing to stand up (even in the face of death) and declare Christ then you weren't really saved. The problem is that salvation then becomes an issue of the individual's ability to generate virtue, in this case courage. And if our ability to generate such a virtue is necessary for salvation, then salvation is not only cooperative, but requires our virtuous contribution. Therefore faith is not enough, but faith plus some degree of works or virtue. This came up in the context of the Jews (specifically Pharisees) mentioned in John who believed but wouldn't go public for fear of being cast out of the temple.

There are a lot of individual verses where different elements are mentioned. Some mention confession, some not at all. Some repentance and others baptism and others not at all.

If you believe, confess and repent, does that save you?

I like the Roman Road because it was used on me and it worked.

PaganC wrote:If you believe, confess and repent, does that save you?

Yes.
But you do realize what all that means right?

jlay wrote:Our tendency is to try and proof-text the bible and find prescriptive verses to get people saved.

... The problem is that salvation then becomes an issue of the individual's ability to generate virtue, in this case courage...

I just love this bit, confessing that we have no virtue
... that we rely on the grace of God through Christ alone,
this confession IS repentance.

So the Christian's "belief, confession and repentance" is a love response, a submission to love, all the one and same thing.

Don't sinners have a self justifying programs? Adam - "She made me do it," King Saul - "I did it for religious purposes."
Repentance is the end of self justifying, a confession of our helplessness, and more so our hope.