DO NOT STOP AT RIGHTEOUSNESS GO ON TO SALVATION

by furaha nchimbi | 11 July 2022 08:46 pm07

 

Blessed be the great name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Welcome as we meditate on the Holy Scriptures.

The Word of our Lord which is the food of our souls declares:

Romans 10:10 (NKJV)
“For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

There is a divine reason why Scripture clearly distinguishes between righteousness and salvation. Many people today stop at receiving righteousness but never proceed to salvation. Many have believed in the Lord Jesus in their hearts and have received righteousness, as taught in Romans 5:1 and Galatians 2:16, yet they do not walk in salvation in their daily lives. Why? Because salvation comes through confessing Jesus and His words with the mouth.

When the Lord Jesus was on earth, there were Pharisees and many leaders who believed in Him inwardly, yet they refused to confess Him openly. As a result, their faith was rendered fruitless.

John 12:42 (NKJV)
“Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue.”

Do you see this? They silenced their mouths out of fear fear of being rejected by their religion, their denominations, their leaders, or of being mocked as ignorant or backward.

Dear brother or sister, believing in the Lord Jesus and His words in your heart alone is not sufficient to bring salvation. You must confess Him with your mouth consistently and openly in your daily life. A secret, hidden, and silent faith is not biblical salvation. The Lord Jesus Himself warned that anyone who is ashamed of Him and His words will be rejected before the Father and the holy angels.

Luke 9:26 (NKJV)
“For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.”

Read this carefully as well:

Matthew 10:32 (NKJV)
“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.”

This is a sobering truth: you may genuinely believe in the Lord Jesus in your heart, yet because you refuse to confess Him openly in your life, He may deny you on that Day. Salvation is completed and manifested through confessing the Lord Jesus.

Consider the man who was born blind, whom Jesus healed. His parents believed in their hearts that Jesus was the Christ, but out of fear of being expelled from the synagogue, they refused to confess Him publicly. Their son, however the one who had been blind both believed and confessed Jesus boldly.

John 9:18–23 (NKJV)
“But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight.
And they asked them, saying, ‘Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?’
His parents answered them and said, ‘We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind;
but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself.’
His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.
Therefore his parents said, ‘He is of age; ask him.’”

Notice this clearly: the parents had faith in their hearts, yet their faith did not benefit them. Jesus did not reveal Himself further to them. But later, we see that Jesus sought out the man who had been blind and revealed Himself to him because he confessed Him openly.

John 9:35–38 (NKJV)
“Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, ‘Do you believe in the Son of God?’
He answered and said, ‘Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?’
And Jesus said to him, ‘You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.’
Then he said, ‘Lord, I believe!’ And he worshiped Him.”

Even today, the Lord Jesus does not reveal Himself to many believers for one main reason: they do not confess Him. We truly love and believe in Jesus, yet we hesitate to confess Him before our bosses, our classmates, our coworkers, or even our relatives while assuming that we are saved. In reality, such salvation is incomplete.

Likewise, if you are ashamed of any of His words recorded in Scripture, you do not yet walk in true salvation regardless of how much Bible knowledge you possess or how well you can quote Scripture.

Always remember this truth: our salvation is fulfilled by confessing the Lord Jesus and His words. Never forget it.

Romans 10:8–10 (NKJV)
“But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Maranatha!

Source URL: https://wingulamashahidi.org/en/2022/07/11/do-not-stop-at-righteousness-go-on-to-salvation/

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