How To Make Yourself Right With God

[Christ4Ever]

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 NLT

The Roman Christians were surrounded by people who appeased different deities with certain behaviors or offerings. Keeping on the good side of an idol in those days was a matter of externals, regardless of what anyone thought. Sincerity or belief wasn’t essential for pacifying an idol. Paul laid out a very different approach to Jesus, where the change begins in one’s heart, with confessing and believing with sincerity.

Are you trying to win God’s favor or to find a measure of assurance that you are right with Him? While your actions are important and obedience is certainly something Jesus expects, your starting point for any kind of assurance or faithful living is within. What you believe in your heart, what you think in your mind, and what you confess with your mouth will determine your direction in life.

Based on that foundation of confessing a sincere belief, you can ask for God’s help in changing your life from the inside out, rather than making fragile attempts to change yourself from the outside in.

Prayer: Jesus, You are Lord, and I need Your help to live faithfully today.

 

[Brother Paul]

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 NLT

The Roman Christians were surrounded by people who appeased different deities with certain behaviors or offerings. Keeping on the good side of an idol in those days was a matter of externals, regardless of what anyone thought. Sincerity or belief wasn’t essential for pacifying an idol. Paul laid out a very different approach to Jesus, where the change begins in one’s heart, with confessing and believing with sincerity.

Are you trying to win God’s favor or to find a measure of assurance that you are right with Him? While your actions are important and obedience is certainly something Jesus expects, your starting point for any kind of assurance or faithful living is within. What you believe in your heart, what you think in your mind, and what you confess with your mouth will determine your direction in life.

Based on that foundation of confessing a sincere belief, you can ask for God’s help in changing your life from the inside out, rather than making fragile attempts to change yourself from the outside in.

Prayer: Jesus, You are Lord, and I need Your help to live faithfully today.

Amen! Help us this day Lord to believe you, not just in you.

James tells us, "You believe in one God? You do well. The devils also believe and tremble." So I see there is a difference between belief in God and believing God. Confession of belief is important and I commend you for qualifying it with "sincere" because in Acts 8 we hear the Simon Magi "believed and was baptized" but his heart was wrong before God. So allegedly he believed and was baptized but was not actually born from above. There are many today who also fall into this category (Matthew 25:1-13). You shall know them by their fruits.