Romans 10:9 If
you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in
your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (NIV)
A lot of people have some
misconceived ideas about this verse. It seems to suggest that all we have to do
is to make a verbal affirmation of who Jesus is and that we will be eternally
saved. It would mean that all we would have to do in our lives about our Christian
faith is just to pay lip service to Jesus and then carry on with whatever we
want to in our lives. On the surface, it appears to be just that simple, but
this is why the original context of what is written in scripture is so very
important for a real and complete understanding of what the apostle Paul is
expressing.
First of all, he is
addressing the small congregation of Christians in Rome. When they initially
read his words, they completely understood how radical they were. All over the
Roman empire and especially in the capital city, Caesar was the only one who
was proclaimed as Lord. To show their loyalty to the emperor, all Romans would
pledge their allegiance to him by saying and believing he was their Lord. To
declare that a Galilean Jew was their Lord was tantamount to treachery which
was punishable by death. So, when the first Christians declared that ‘Jesus is
Lord,’ they were not just giving lip-service to God, they were actually putting
their lives on the line.
Secondly, they doubled
down on this by further proclaiming that Jesus was risen from the dead because
this meant that His Roman execution had been ineffective and non-enforceable. They
were declaring that in Christ there was an even greater power than the might of
the Roman Empire. They were stating that Jesus was supreme and His authority
was everlasting. The Romans called Rome ‘the eternal city;’ Christians were now
saying that the realm of eternity was beyond the reach of the whole city and
empire, no matter how great it thought itself to be.
So, when we are asked to
declare that ‘Jesus is Lord,’ in order to be saved, it’s not just mere words
that are spoken, it means that we place a higher allegiance in Him way above
and beyond anything that we encounter of Earth. It also means that we totally
pledge our loyalty and devotion to Him beyond any power, person, or authority
we experience in our lives.
Point to ponder
Do I honestly believe that
Christ has my greatest allegiance in my life? Is there anything competing with
my submission to him?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, we
call You ‘Lord,’ not because it’s just a polite title, but because You are the
Supreme Authority in our lives. Everything else is subordinate to You and let
us know that if we really want to be saved, there can be nothing else equal to
You. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.
John Stuart is the pastor
of Erin Presbyterian Church in
Knoxville, Tennessee. Come and join us for worship on Sunday mornings at 11:00
AM. You will be made very welcome. 😊
Today’s image is a drawing
of Jesus based on a Greek icon. If you would like to view a larger version,
please click this link: Icon.
