Heart and Mouth

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

HEART AND MOUTH

Rom 10:5-13

5 Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: "The man who does these things will live by them."   6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 "or 'Who will descend into the deep?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11 As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."   12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."  

NIV

We have come to one of the best know passages, at least for us. Paul starts off, once again, speaking to the Jews in this gathering of believers in Rome. We cannot be certain, but in the way that Paul puts it regarding living by the law, we would think some if not many of the Jewish believers have dragged, at least, portions of their Old Covenant under the law into their faith in Jesus. Paul just made it clear that the law cannot bring righteousness, but only death. So, if we want to add or use some of the Old Covenant within this New Covenant, then we will be judged according to those laws, rules, or regulations we think are based on God’s word, rather than judged by our faith. Now, to all of us, we need to be careful not to be too bold about any rights we have for going to heaven. Who of us can ask Jesus to leave the right hand of God? Who has ever had any ability to raise Jesus from the depth? This is all God, all Him, and yes, it would be for us. Right now, we are not in the physical presence of Jesus, although we will be someday. It is interesting that this Greek word Paul uses when he says, “the word is near you; it is in your mouth” is not the logos, but rhema which means that which we dialog, discuss, and speak about. That is they knew the doctrine of Moses, they knew the law, and they have hidden those things in their hearts since the law was given. Yet, these things are not what brings righteousness. We can know the word of God, forwards, and backward. We can quote all the best ones if there could be the best one. We can expound on the deepest of topics or points within the scriptures, but if we do not use our mouths to confess that God raised Jesus from the dead, and truly believe that in our hearts, we will not be saved. This is what our hearts and mouth are to be focused on. If we do not put all our trust, every ounce of our trust, with our whole being, then what are we doing in church, in our lives? However, we have to make sure this is not just about our mouth saying the right words that we believe God raised Jesus from the dead, we must first come from our heart, for it is our right believing heart that brings us justification or our approval by God. Then with our confession of faith, we are saved. This encompasses our wholeness of being, all of us, what we believe, and what we say. Yet, all that is acceptable is believing and it does not matter to God if we come full of knowledge and words regarding the scriptures, or how much we have educated ourselves as we were raised in the Christian faith, or whether we have spent years in study after finding Christ in our lives. Whether Jews or gentiles is not the issue. What matters is that we can trust him and call upon him, for he and he alone is who we can put our trust in. He is Lord over all of us, and so as with all the trust we can muster, we call on the name of the Lord, and he blesses all who call on him, richly blesses us and we are saved.