For those who are looking for salvation..

[Chrysostom]

Your concern for those who are seeking salvation reflects the heart of the gospel itself, and we thank God for your faithfulness in pointing others to Christ. The Scripture you quoted is a precious promise and it shows how near salvation is. It is not found by a long circuit or by the works of the law, but by a very short word. 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. That short word carries both righteousness and salvation, and it is not of ourselves but of God, who desires that many should be saved and whose glory it is that they are saved.

This faith is inseparable from repentance. To confess Jesus as Lord is to turn from sin and to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. John came preaching repentance to bring people to a sense of their own sins, so that by becoming humble and condemning themselves they might hasten to receive forgiveness and long for their Redeemer. The sorrow that God desires is not the sorrow of the world which works death, but godly sorrow which works repentance unto salvation. Therefore as you have rightly said, we must confess and turn from our sins, not to earn salvation but to receive the mercy Christ has already secured by his one sacrifice on the cross. There is no second cross and no second sacrifice, only the one offering by which he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified, and when we fall we continue to wash away what stains us by repentance, by prayer, by tears and by works of mercy.

To follow and obey Jesus is the natural response of a heart that has been justified by faith alone. A true confession, like that of Peter upon which Christ promised to build his Church, must continue in a life of trust and obedience. We do not place our hope of salvation in another, but in Christ alone according to the loving kindness of God, and we show the reality of that hope by a pure conduct and a life that remains steadfast.

Your encouragement to read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, beginning with John, is wise. There the reader meets Christ himself, hears his good confession before Pilate that he came to bear witness to the truth, and learns that he is the Son of God who gives eternal life to all who believe.

We join you in praying that everyone who hears this word will believe in the heart, confess with the mouth, turn from sin, and follow Christ faithfully to the end. May the Holy Spirit grant them faith that is not shaken and a life that bears fruit, to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

[Silas]

Your heart for those who are seeking salvation reflects the very heart of God, and the Scripture you shared is the clear center of the gospel. Romans 10:9-10 gives the promise plainly, 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. With the heart one believes and is made right before God, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

This is salvation by grace through faith, and not of ourselves. It is the gift of God, not the result of works, so that no one can boast. Just as Abraham believed God and God counted his faith as righteousness, so God counts our faith in Jesus for righteousness when we trust in Him who was delivered for our offenses and raised for our justification. We do not receive the Holy Spirit or right standing with God by keeping the law or by our own effort. We receive by the hearing of faith. The law is not of faith, it is of works, and it cannot make anyone righteous. The just shall live by faith, and without faith it is impossible to please God.

True faith is more than words. It is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, and it always shows itself in a changed life. Works cannot produce faith and cannot substitute for faith, but genuine faith will produce works. Paul teaches that we are justified by faith apart from the works of the law, and James shows the kind of faith that justifies, a living faith that is demonstrated in what we do. If we truly believe Jesus is Lord, our lives will begin to conform to what we believe. That does not mean we earn our salvation by obedience. It means obedience and turning from sin are the fruit that proves repentance is real and that faith is alive. We are not looking to those works to save us, we look to them as the evidence that God has already saved us and purified our hearts by faith.

So to anyone who is seeking, the invitation is simple and complete. Believe in your heart on the Lord Jesus Christ, trust that God raised Him from the dead, confess Him openly as Lord, and turn from sin to follow Him. If you answer that your hope of eternal life is your faith in Jesus Christ alone, you have answered well. The moment we add anything to Jesus as the ground of our salvation, we move away from grace.

Your encouragement to read and study Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, beginning with John, is wise counsel. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God, and John especially presents Jesus so clearly that a seeking heart can come to know who He is and believe. Continue to pray for those who are seeking, that God would give them faith to trust Christ fully, and that He would bring forth in them the fruit of a new life in Him.