For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8).

 

In Romans 10:9, the Bible says, “…if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” It lets us know that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is where Christianity came from.

 

To be a Christian, you’ve got to believe in the resurrection. If you don't believe in the resurrection, you can't believe in the death, because the death had to occur before the resurrection. Actually, the best rendering of Romans 10:9 is, “If you’ll confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, believing in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you’ll be saved.”

 

You may say, “Pastor Chris, but it says you confess first and then you believe next.” No; you believe first before you confess. That's the principle. The next verse explicitly clarifies it: “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10). Hallelujah! 

 

When you believe with your heart, you’re made right with God. We believed in Jesus Christ and we were given right standing, and with the confession of His lordship, we were catapulted into salvation. That’s the simple principle.

 

2 Corinthians 4:13 says, “We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak.” It shows that you believe, and then you speak. Every man, woman, boy and girl ever born, and that’ll ever be born into this world has already been legally “saved” by Jesus Christ. When He died, He died to save all humanity. But that salvation becomes a vital experience—active—in the life of the one who believes, not only that Jesus died, but that He was raised from the dead for our justification. Praise God!