'But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we preach), (9) for, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (10) For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. (11) For the scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” (12) For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, enriching all who call upon him. (13) For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (14) But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? (15) And how can people preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring [the] good news!” (16) But not everyone has heeded the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what was heard from us?” (17) Thus faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.
St. Paul tells us to accept, in faith, that Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead and we should identify ourselves with the risen Christ. If we believe with our hearts and profess with our mouths the basic tenets of the Christian faith and mean it we will be saved (v. 13; Joel 3:5; Acts 2:21). We must accept the divinity of Christ internally and confess it externally. In the early Christian Church, confessing that Jesus is Lord could lead to death. It meant that you were willing to make great sacrifices for your beliefs. But the great sacrifice comes with the promise of a great reward.
In his letter to the Philippians, St Paul wrote that because Jesus willingly suffered and died on the cross for our sins, "God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:9-11)."
The Good News was proclaimed in the Old Testament by the prophets from Moses onward, and has been spread all over the world from the time of Christ as commanded by the risen Christ, "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19)." Also, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned (Mark 16:15-16)." We have been sent!
Through faith, everyone has the opportunity to receive God's grace and to be saved (v. 11, 13; Is. 28:16; Acts 2:21). Faith comes from hearing the Word of Christ preached to us by those charged with the mission to preach the Word of God. But some reject the Word. Belief in Jesus will lead to eternal life with God, earned through the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Almighty God, through faith, nurtured by your word, we hold a firm belief in the resurrection of your Son. Grant us the grace to boldly confess our belief and to demonstrate it through our actions. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen
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References:
Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, & Roland E. Murphy, (Eds.). (1990, 1968). The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentis Hall, Inc.
Jose M. Casciaro, Santiago Ausin, Gonzalo Aranda, Claudio Basevi, Vincente Balaguer, Francisco Varo, James Gavigan, Brian McCarthy & Thomas McGovern (Eds.). (2017). The Navarre Bible - The Pentateuch. Dublin 8, Ireland: Four Courts Press.
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