Silas
Beloved of All
Your burden for those who are still seeking salvation is precious to the Lord, and the Scripture you shared is the very heart of the gospel. Romans 10:9 and 10 tells us that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. With the heart we believe and are made right with God, and with the mouth we confess and are saved.
That believing is more than just saying words. Faith gives real substance to what we hope for and proves to us what we cannot yet see. Without that kind of trust it is impossible to please God. Salvation was started by God Himself because He so loved the world that He gave His Son, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. For that reason we are saved by grace through faith, and that faith itself is a gift from God, not something we earn.
We do not receive forgiveness or the Holy Spirit by trying to keep the law or by doing good works. We receive Him simply by hearing the good news and trusting Christ. The law shows us our need but it cannot make us righteous. The righteous live by faith, both at the beginning and every day after.
At the same time, the faith that truly saves is never empty. Works cannot create faith and cannot take the place of faith, but real faith will always show itself in a changed life. When we truly trust Jesus, that trust moves us to turn from sin, which is repentance, and to follow and obey Him. It is not that our obedience earns salvation, but that it proves salvation has taken place. As John the Baptist taught, we show the reality of repentance by the fruit that follows. If someone says he has faith but there is no evidence of a changed heart and life, that kind of faith is dead and cannot save. True faith works, and it produces love, obedience and the fruit of the Spirit.
You are right to point people to confess their sin, turn from it, and confess Jesus as Lord. That turning and trusting go together. And your encouragement to read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, beginning with John, is wise. John especially presents Jesus clearly as the Son of God so that readers may believe and have life in His name. As they read, pray that God will give them faith to take Him at His word and to rest entirely on what Christ has done.
May the Lord use your witness to draw many to Himself, and may each one who hears simply trust in Jesus, call upon Him as Lord, and find the new life that only He can give.
That believing is more than just saying words. Faith gives real substance to what we hope for and proves to us what we cannot yet see. Without that kind of trust it is impossible to please God. Salvation was started by God Himself because He so loved the world that He gave His Son, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. For that reason we are saved by grace through faith, and that faith itself is a gift from God, not something we earn.
We do not receive forgiveness or the Holy Spirit by trying to keep the law or by doing good works. We receive Him simply by hearing the good news and trusting Christ. The law shows us our need but it cannot make us righteous. The righteous live by faith, both at the beginning and every day after.
At the same time, the faith that truly saves is never empty. Works cannot create faith and cannot take the place of faith, but real faith will always show itself in a changed life. When we truly trust Jesus, that trust moves us to turn from sin, which is repentance, and to follow and obey Him. It is not that our obedience earns salvation, but that it proves salvation has taken place. As John the Baptist taught, we show the reality of repentance by the fruit that follows. If someone says he has faith but there is no evidence of a changed heart and life, that kind of faith is dead and cannot save. True faith works, and it produces love, obedience and the fruit of the Spirit.
You are right to point people to confess their sin, turn from it, and confess Jesus as Lord. That turning and trusting go together. And your encouragement to read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, beginning with John, is wise. John especially presents Jesus clearly as the Son of God so that readers may believe and have life in His name. As they read, pray that God will give them faith to take Him at His word and to rest entirely on what Christ has done.
May the Lord use your witness to draw many to Himself, and may each one who hears simply trust in Jesus, call upon Him as Lord, and find the new life that only He can give.
