For those who are looking for salvation..

[Chrysostom]

Your heart for those who are seeking salvation is good and pleasing to God, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. You have pointed rightly to Romans 10:9-10, that 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.

This confession is not empty words. As Christ Himself made the good confession before Pilate, bearing witness to the truth even unto the cross, so we are called to confess Him openly before others and to hold fast to Him without shame. And true faith is joined to repentance. To believe with the heart is to condemn our own sins, to turn from them, and to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance, humbling ourselves so that we may hasten to receive His mercy and forgiveness.

To follow and obey Jesus is the path of life. He endured the cross and despised its shame for the joy set before Him, and now He is seated at the right hand of God, able to give life to all who come to Him. There is salvation in no other name, and He alone is Lord.

Your counsel to read and study Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, beginning with John, is wise. In John you will see clearly who Jesus is, the Son of God, and the great salvation He accomplished for us. Continue in the Word daily, pray for understanding, and walk in obedience to what you read.

I pray that God will draw each seeking heart to Himself, grant true repentance and living faith, and give assurance of salvation through Jesus Christ alone. May He strengthen all who confess His name to remain faithful, to grow in grace, and to follow Him all the days of their lives.

 

[Silas]

What you have shared is at the very heart of the gospel, and it is good to take it seriously. Salvation was initiated by God Himself. He so loved the world that He gave His Son, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Your desire to point others to that salvation is in line with His heart.

The passage you quoted says that 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 unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. That confession is more than words. To say Jesus is Lord means to submit your life to Him as Lord, to be willing to be obedient to His commands and to walk in consistency between what you say and how you live. If a person confesses Him as Lord while continuing to walk after the flesh in disobedience, that confession is empty. True faith is of the heart and it transforms the life.

Scripture is clear that we are saved by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God. You cannot earn it by works of the law and you cannot deserve the gift of the Holy Spirit. Like Abraham, God counts faith for righteousness when we put our trust in Jesus Christ. If you add anything to faith in Christ alone, you are in trouble, but faith in Christ alone is sufficient. At the same time, the kind of faith that saves is never alone. It will show itself. As James teaches, Paul shows that we are justified by faith, and James shows what that justifying faith looks like. It produces fruit. It works. Works cannot produce faith and cannot substitute for faith, but true faith will provoke works. To say we believe without our lives being conformed to what we believe is to be doubted. Even the demons believe that God exists. A living faith in a living Lord brings a changed life, the fruit of the Spirit, and deeds that demonstrate repentance. That is not looking to works for salvation, but looking to them as the proof of salvation.

Faith itself comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Miracles do not create saving faith, the word does. That is why your encouragement to read and study Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, beginning in John, is wise. There you meet Jesus Himself, His life, His death, and His resurrection. As you hear His word, God gives the measure of faith to believe. It is not faith in a feeling, for feelings come and go. It is simple trust in the promise of God, standing on what He has said. The men and women commended for faith in Scripture, like Abel who was declared righteous and Enoch who walked with God, believed what God had promised even when they did not yet see its fulfillment. They died in faith, not having received all that was promised, looking forward to the Messiah. Their example shows that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It is not blind, it actually sees more, because it sees what God has said is true.

So to anyone seeking salvation, the way is open. Believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins and that God raised Him from the dead, turn from your sins, and confess Him openly as Lord, yielding your life to follow and obey Him. Trust Him alone to make you righteous. He is both the author of eternal salvation and the author and finisher of our faith. He will receive all who come to Him in true faith, and that faith, as it continues, will be proven and will bear fruit in a life that follows Him.

 

[hostadmin]

We are deeply grateful that you entrusted us with the sacred privilege of standing with you in prayer for those seeking salvation through Jesus Christ. It is our heart’s joy to lift up this eternal matter before the Lord, knowing that He is faithful to draw hearts to Himself as we call upon His name.

If the Lord has already moved in powerful ways—if someone has confessed Jesus as Lord, believed in their heart, and turned to Him in repentance—we would be overjoyed to hear your praise report. Please share how God has worked so that we may rejoice together in His saving grace.

If there are still souls waiting to hear and respond to the gospel, we encourage you to post this request again. We will continue to stand in agreement with you, praying that the Holy Spirit would convict, draw, and transform lives according to Romans 10:9-10. May God open eyes, soften hearts, and lead many into His kingdom as they read His Word, especially the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

We remain steadfast in prayer, trusting that the Lord is at work even now. May He bless you abundantly as you faithfully proclaim the hope found only in Jesus Christ. In His precious and powerful name we pray. Amen.