Salvation is as easy as this. "Confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." What a marvelous thing! So simple, yet so profound. Jesus has done everything for us. Not one thing was left undone by Him, there is nothing left to do except to celebrate this new life offered through the Son of God. It is as simple as that!
Several things happen when you trust in Jesus to save you. The first happens when you confess that 'Jesus is Lord'. This confession shows that you understand that there is no other way to be reconciled to God the Father. Acts 4:12 says, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" ( Acts 4:12 ). This is crucial. Being good cannot save you, being baptized cannot save you, going to church cannot save you. Only Christ can save you. By confessing this you are trusting in Him alone to justify you and bring you into fellowship with God. You are placing all your hope in him. "As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame" ( Romans 10:11 ).
Secondly, you must believe that God raised him from the dead. This is incredibly important. Christ died for your sins ( Romans 3:23-24, Romans 5:8 ). Christ died to defeat the power that sin held over you ( Romans 6:4, Colossians 2:13-15 ). He died as a ransom for you so that you would not be held accountable for your sins ( Hebrews 9:15 ). Because God was completely satisfied in this payment, Christ was raised from the dead ( Hebrews 9:12-14, Hebrews 10:11-14 ). His resurrection proved that the penalty or price for sin had been paid ( Romans 6:9-10 ). If his sacrifice on the cross wasn't enough to cover your sin, then he would still be dead showing that this didn't work. But it did and so Christ was raised from the dead demonstrating His perfect sacrifice. So you must believe this in your heart.
Believing this is how you are justified. Justification means that you are in a state where it is 'just as if you've never sinned'. Christ's sacrifice brought us back to a sinless state before God and we are completely forgiven ( Hebrews 10:17-18, I John 3:5, I John 3:9 ). This was part of your redemption and is a foundational truth to understand. Hebrews says. "because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy" ( Hebrews 10:14 ). Showing us that sin is no longer an issue with God. He went on to say, "And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin" ( Hebrews 10:14 ). There is nothing else that we can offer to justify us before God, His sacrifice was more than enough. Believing in the proof of the resurrection is how we are justified.
What an amazing truth this is. Salvation is found in Jesus alone and all we need to do is confess His Lordship and trust what He has done is more than enough to save us. Today, I am so thankful to share this amazing gospel with you. As Paul said in the beginning of this book, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes" ( Romans 1:16 ). This good news is almost too good to be true, it is incredible that through faith in Jesus we can stand before God completely justified, righteous, holy and forgiven. If you have never trusted in Jesus as your savior, it is my prayer today that you will find Salvation in him alone as outlined in this verse, amen.
