If you take a ruler and place it at your mouth and extend it downward to your heart, you will see the distance will be about thirteen inches. Now Scripture says, "That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteous, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Romans 10:9-10). If you desire salvation, your mouth and heart must agree. Those thirteen inches between your mouth and your heart will make the difference to where you will spend life eternity.
In the Book of Romans, Paul begins his message to the Romans by vividly portraying the sinfulness of all mankind, explaining how forgiveness is available through faith in Christ. He makes it clear that all the sinner has to do to be saved is confess and believe that God the Father raised God the Son, from the dead.
The confession part seems simple, but the confession for the sinner means that he or she has accepted the fact that Jesus came from heaven, lived the gospel experience, was arrested, hung on the cross, was buried and has risen. If there is any doubt about any of Jesus' life, then you can't make this confession.
These two great theological statements are the foundation for the believer's salvation, guaranteeing the believer eternal life in heaven. You accept Romans 10:9, by not wavering, because Scripture makes it plain that the believer shall be saved, yet salvation is an ongoing process. You are saved, you have been saved, you are going to continue to be saved.
When you step out on faith, plus nothing else, you become a child of God. Once you are saved, you are always saved. This is called eternal security. You are sealed with the Holy Spirit, "Who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory" (Ephesians 1:14).
Salvation belongs to God. It is His gift bestowed upon us. By acknowledging these statements, we are saved by grace through faith and nothing else. "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Romans 10:9, has been repeated by many people who merely felt that at the moment, this was the right thing to say or do. It is God who make the way to salvation and it is God who knows if the sinner's confession is of faith. It is God's will that no one should perish, but man's will doesn't always line-up with God's will.
Paul was a Jew and he was also the ordained apostle to the gentiles. His heart was deeply sadden by his people rejecting the grace of God. Paul said, "Brethren, MY heart's desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation" (Romans 10:1). Paul understood their condition, for he himself had been a thorn in the side of the church until he had his Damascus Road experience. "For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge (Roman 10:2). They were lost and ignorant of God's righteousness, seeking to do their own thing. They were set on getting to a place of their own righteousness, devoid of God.
Do you remember the experience of those at the temple of Babel? Nimrod lead the people to think that they could build a tower to reach heaven. Because of their determination, God confused their language and all their efforts. Their dispersion was God's way of moving forth with His plan.
God will never allow His people to be an obstruction or destruction to whatever He desire of us. Of course, He will allow the thoughts in our brain to form, to really believe that we can, but in the end, there is no end until God finally says that it is final.
Our righteous standing before God has nothing to do with our effort. Righteousness is positional and is bestowed upon us as sinners being set aside for His great pleasure. Israel, God's chosen people was peddling against the current of grace. Christ was the end of the law, for righteousness to everyone who believed.
Jesus was the fulfillment of the law. Jesus' death brought forth the covenant of Grace. The Law was a work religion. Do this and do that and receive the blessings of God. Grace does not place demands on you, but God's love and favor provides for us. Grace's foundation is love, the Law was works.
There is a righteousness that is bestowed upon the believers that is solely by faith. Accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior ends the sinner's futile quest for righteousness of his own volition, through his imperfect attempts to save oneself, by his efforts to obey the law.
When the sinner acknowledges the need of a Savior, Christ Jesus as our Advocate, then the only righteousness God's accepts is His own. When the sinner acknowledges with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation, because without faith it is impossible to please God. This is a deep and personal conviction.
When the sinner acknowledges from the heart, one believes unto righteousness. Then the Word of truth comes out as it have already gone in. When the sinner acknowledges that by confessing and believes, they will not be ashamed. For God is their Advocate. When the sinner acknowledges that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins, then you know that only Jesus could have made this possible.
Christ's resurrection is the supreme validation of who He is. The blood of Jesus paid the price for all sins, past, present, and future. Therefore it is up to the individual to accept what has already been done. Confessing, believing, and appropriating what has already been made possible, then salvation is yours. "For Whoever will call on the name of the LORD will be saved" (Romans 10:13). What about you today? Have you confessed with your mouth and believe in your heart? Do you believe in Jesus? Do you accept the total Word of God by faith? If you have not, I beg you to please close the gap between your mouth and your heart. Don't let thirteen inches send you to hell. An inch is just like a mile. Almost saved and should have been saved, still makes you a sinner. The choice is yours to make and only you can make that choice.