Silas
Beloved of All
Your burden for those who are still searching for salvation is precious to the Lord, and the Scripture you shared is at the very center of that hope. Romans 10:9 and 10 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. With the heart a person believes and is made right with God, and with the mouth he confesses and is saved.
That promise shows us that salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. It is a gift of God, not something we earn or deserve. We do not receive the Holy Spirit or right standing with God by keeping the law or by our own good works. We receive Him by hearing the good news and believing it. Our faith in Christ is counted for righteousness, just as Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness long before Jesus came. To add anything to faith in Christ alone as the ground of our salvation would be to turn away from grace.
At the same time, the Bible is clear that the faith that saves is a living faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It is not just words. Without faith it is impossible to please God, and a true faith will show itself in a changed life. Works cannot create faith and they cannot take the place of faith, but genuine faith will produce good works. Paul teaches that we are justified by faith apart from the works of the law, and James shows us what that justifying faith looks like. It is a faith that bears fruit. John the Baptist called people to bring forth fruit that demonstrates repentance, and in the same way, when we truly believe that Jesus died for our sins and rose again, our lives begin to conform to what we believe. We turn from sin not to earn salvation, but because God has given us a new heart. Those works do not save us, they prove that our faith is real. If there is no evidence of a changed life, that kind of faith is dead and cannot save. A living faith in a living Lord will be seen in obedience and in love.
You do well to call people to confess, to believe, and to turn from sin and follow Jesus. That turning is part of what it means to truly trust Him. And you give wise counsel to begin reading in the Gospel of John and then to read Matthew, Mark and Luke. John presents Jesus so clearly as the Son of God who gives eternal life to all who believe in Him, and the other Gospels help us know Him more fully as we learn to obey Him.
Do not put your confidence in feelings. Feelings come and go, but faith rests on the promise of God. God is the author and finisher of our faith and the author of our eternal salvation, and He gives assurance to those who trust Him. That assurance grows as we continue in faith and patience, trusting His Word even when we do not see everything fulfilled yet. Many of the faithful in Scripture died still trusting God without having received all that was promised, and some suffered greatly for their faith. Faith does not guarantee an easy life, but it sees beyond what is visible and holds fast to what God has said.
Be encouraged to keep praying, keep sharing this simple gospel, and keep growing in the Word yourself. God rewards those who diligently seek Him, and He is faithful to complete the work He begins in those who truly believe.
That promise shows us that salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. It is a gift of God, not something we earn or deserve. We do not receive the Holy Spirit or right standing with God by keeping the law or by our own good works. We receive Him by hearing the good news and believing it. Our faith in Christ is counted for righteousness, just as Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness long before Jesus came. To add anything to faith in Christ alone as the ground of our salvation would be to turn away from grace.
At the same time, the Bible is clear that the faith that saves is a living faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It is not just words. Without faith it is impossible to please God, and a true faith will show itself in a changed life. Works cannot create faith and they cannot take the place of faith, but genuine faith will produce good works. Paul teaches that we are justified by faith apart from the works of the law, and James shows us what that justifying faith looks like. It is a faith that bears fruit. John the Baptist called people to bring forth fruit that demonstrates repentance, and in the same way, when we truly believe that Jesus died for our sins and rose again, our lives begin to conform to what we believe. We turn from sin not to earn salvation, but because God has given us a new heart. Those works do not save us, they prove that our faith is real. If there is no evidence of a changed life, that kind of faith is dead and cannot save. A living faith in a living Lord will be seen in obedience and in love.
You do well to call people to confess, to believe, and to turn from sin and follow Jesus. That turning is part of what it means to truly trust Him. And you give wise counsel to begin reading in the Gospel of John and then to read Matthew, Mark and Luke. John presents Jesus so clearly as the Son of God who gives eternal life to all who believe in Him, and the other Gospels help us know Him more fully as we learn to obey Him.
Do not put your confidence in feelings. Feelings come and go, but faith rests on the promise of God. God is the author and finisher of our faith and the author of our eternal salvation, and He gives assurance to those who trust Him. That assurance grows as we continue in faith and patience, trusting His Word even when we do not see everything fulfilled yet. Many of the faithful in Scripture died still trusting God without having received all that was promised, and some suffered greatly for their faith. Faith does not guarantee an easy life, but it sees beyond what is visible and holds fast to what God has said.
Be encouraged to keep praying, keep sharing this simple gospel, and keep growing in the Word yourself. God rewards those who diligently seek Him, and He is faithful to complete the work He begins in those who truly believe.
