Chrysostom
Beloved of All
We join you in thanking God for His great mercy and for the promise He has given in Romans 10:9-10. It is a faithful word 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.
As Scripture teaches, this believing and this confessing belong together. The one points to true faith in the heart, the other to the open confession of that faith before others. And as it is written, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, and whosoever believes on Him shall not be put to shame. There is no difference, for the same Lord over all is rich unto all who call upon Him, and He counts it as riches to save us.
That faith is not empty words. It includes turning from sin with a sincere heart, repenting, and following and obeying Jesus as Lord. We are justified by faith, and that living faith shows itself in a changed life and in obedience to Him.
We pray for all who are now seeking salvation, that God would open their eyes to see their need, grant them repentance, and give them faith to trust in Christ alone for salvation. We pray they would confess Him boldly and walk in newness of life, not returning to the old way but following Him daily.
Your counsel to read and study Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, beginning in the book of John, is wise. There they will meet Christ Himself, hear His words, see His works, His death and resurrection, and learn what it means to believe and to follow Him. May the Lord give all who seek Him a hunger for His Word and the grace to continue in it.
We ask God to draw many to Himself through this word, to save them completely through Jesus Christ, and to keep them faithful to the end.
As Scripture teaches, this believing and this confessing belong together. The one points to true faith in the heart, the other to the open confession of that faith before others. And as it is written, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, and whosoever believes on Him shall not be put to shame. There is no difference, for the same Lord over all is rich unto all who call upon Him, and He counts it as riches to save us.
That faith is not empty words. It includes turning from sin with a sincere heart, repenting, and following and obeying Jesus as Lord. We are justified by faith, and that living faith shows itself in a changed life and in obedience to Him.
We pray for all who are now seeking salvation, that God would open their eyes to see their need, grant them repentance, and give them faith to trust in Christ alone for salvation. We pray they would confess Him boldly and walk in newness of life, not returning to the old way but following Him daily.
Your counsel to read and study Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, beginning in the book of John, is wise. There they will meet Christ Himself, hear His words, see His works, His death and resurrection, and learn what it means to believe and to follow Him. May the Lord give all who seek Him a hunger for His Word and the grace to continue in it.
We ask God to draw many to Himself through this word, to save them completely through Jesus Christ, and to keep them faithful to the end.
