Is public confession necessary for salvation (Romans 10:9-10)?

It is in the ninth verse of this chapter that we find a clear and express statement of the conditions of Christian salvation. Two things are here affirmed to be necessary to this salvation, First, confession; and, secondly, faith. I quote the words: "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." The person of Jesus, now exalted above the heavens and made both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36), is the saving truth to be confessed. The crucified and dishonoured man is thus acknowledged, with Divine worship and honour, to be the only Lord. This confession at once separates the believer from the world, on which the guilt of rejecting Christ lies, and places him under the eternal sanction of the Father's acceptance, who has willed the Son's honour as His own (John 5:23).

Confession of the name of the Lord is first stated, because it is that which forms the decisive token of distinction between the living Christian and the dead world. As it is presently after added, "with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Confession, then, seems placed here first in order, lest Satan, whose lie deceives the whole world, should seek occasion from such a passage to persuade men that a mere belief of the resurrection as a matter of fact, or even as a proof of Divine power, could suffice to save the soul. But the source of this acceptable confession is a heart which by faith not only perceives the reality of Divine truth as declared in Scripture, but believes in God who raised Jesus from the dead; who, being thus raised, is recognized in the heart, and therefore openly declared by the lips to be the only Lord. This will open itself more fully to our view presently. Meanwhile, let us remember that the object presented to faith in the preaching of the Gospel, is Jesus the Lord (Phil. 2:11). Through Him, as raised from the dead, we are called on to believe in God, who raised Him up and gave Him glory (1 Peter 1:21).

He had used the order of mouth and heart as in the original words of Moses. And so in fact it is that the gospel goes forth and exhorts men. We hear the confession of the mouth and trust the belief of the heart accordingly. But it is plain that the inner reception of the word must precede and accompany the outer expression of it in order to a true and full work in a man. The apostle knew this better than any of us, and lets us hear it in his next words: "for with [the] heart faith is exercised unto righteousness, and with [the] mouth confession is made unto salvation." Thus the whole case is accurately stated, every objection anticipated and met. Without believing there can be no righteousness. We are justified by faith and in no other way. But if there be no confession of Christ the Lord with the mouth, we cannot speak of salvation; as our Lord said, "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not [baptized even though he might have been] shall be damned."

Because salvation is a term of such wide meaning, and includes deliverance from the world, amongst other things. We believe on Christ as risen from the dead with our hearts, and that means our justification before God. Both these however — the faith and the justification — are not observable by men. Our salvation is observable, for it is not so much a judicial fact as a practical fact — we are really saved from the power of world, flesh, and devil. The very first step towards a salvation of such a sort must be the confession of Christ as Lord, made with the mouth so that men may hear it. A silent confession of Christ in the mind — just thinking it — obviously would not do.

It is heart belief; that is, a real inward heart conviction, not mere intellectual assent, a faith in God's testimony concerning His beloved Son which is divinely produced by the Holy Spirit; it is this faith which justifies (Romans 5:1); this faith with which man believes unto, in order to have part in, righteousness, God's righteousness. Confession with the mouth follows as the evidence of the reality of the faith, and this confession, a real confession of the name of Christ, is unto salvation; that is, it is in order to salvation, as "salvation" is here used in its full and final sense, including the resurrection of the body, and the glory to be revealed. E. D.

Satan has power to turn the most precious truths into weapons of offence against the soul, where the heart is not simply discerning and resting in grace. Thus a question might suggest itself to the mind of one who desired to find rest in the large and free expressions of this passage, of this sort: — salvation is made dependent on confession, and not on faith alone. "Now, I believe," the heart might say, "but how far may I be said to have confessed the Lord? Has my confession been sufficiently ample and clear? But are not my life and walk as a consistent Christian the sort of confession on which alone I can safely rely?" To such an inquirer, I would reply that the word is, "With the mouth confession is made unto salvation." As to relying upon any length of consistent conduct, it would not be relying on Christ; it would not be faith at all, and would have nothing whatever to do with the soul's salvation, except in so far as it would hinder your true perception of it, in hiding Christ from your view by the intervention of your own shadow. What you acknowledge, in confessing Jesus as the Lord, is the truth and the glory of the blessed God as a Saviour. A Christian is a child of truth. He is begotten by the Word of truth, according to the will and by the power of God. The name of Christ once spoken from the heart, in obedient confession before God, establishes the lip that makes such confession for ever in His sight (Prov. 12:79). The testimony of the Gospel is the record of God. By accepting such testimony and confessing to its truth, I set my seal to the witness of God. Henceforth, then, my soul remains safe kept of Him, within the shelter of that truth which is the everlasting buckler of defence to the believing children of His love (Ps. 91:1-4).

Of old God brought His commandment very near to Israel that they might do it. He has brought His word even nearer to us in Christ. It is now not a word of what we ought to do, but of what Christ has done, and of what He Himself has done in raising Christ from the dead. On our part the word only demands that we believe with the heart that God has raised Him from the dead, and that we confess Him as Lord with our mouths. When heart and mouth thus go together there is of course reality. Real subjection to Jesus as Lord carries with it salvation.

Notice the distinction that is drawn in verse 10 between righteousness and salvation. The faith of the heart in Christ puts a man into right relations with God — the faith of the heart, be it noted, as distinguished from the faith of the head, or mere intellectual apprehension. Real conviction of sin produces a heartfelt sense of need, and consequently heartfelt trust in Christ. That heartfelt faith God sees, and He reckons the man as right with Himself. Now the man goes a step further and confesses Christ publicly, or at least openly, as his Lord. This at once puts Him outside the world system in which the Lord is refused. His links with the world thus being cut, he steps into the blessedness of salvation.

Thus the soul's salvation is based, not upon man's doings, such as obedience to the law, nor even upon God's unconditional promise, such as Abraham was given, but upon fully established facts: the Son of God has come: He has died, and risen again. This is sound, settled truth, appropriated and clearly understood by honest faith. What more can be desired to prove the perfect settlement of the sin question? What more sure and perfect ground for the eternal salvation of every soul who trusts Him?

“For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Inwardly there is faith counted for righteousness: outwardly the confession of Christ, which is salvation indeed from a world-system that opposes Him — a system with which we were all once identified. The confession of Christ is the clear breaking from that “untoward generation.” This is consistent with Old Testament prophecy: none who believed Him would be ashamed: confession would accompany faith.

This plainly means heartwork, "for with the heart, man believeth unto righteousness"; but the man who thus believes in his heart that God hath raised the Lord Jesus from the dead, also confesses the Lord Jesus, the Risen Man, as His righteousness before God. Faith of the heart conducts him into the position where he is reckoned righteous before God; confession of the mouth conducts him into the position of a saved man (v. 10). Whether the confession be made to God or man is not the point: doubtless it covers both. The idea is that it is not merely a man undergoing a secret operation, but that as a result of the heartwork within, he boldly takes up the confession of Jesus as Lord. He boldly owns that he is reckoned righteous on the ground of Christ's death and resurrection alone. For the Scripture saith, "Whosoever believeth on Him, shall not be ashamed" (compare Rom. 1:16).

This is connected with the confession of Christ. If there be real heart-faith in Christ there is ALWAYS with it, courage to confess Christ as our righteousness. Let us take this to heart reader. I could not venture to speak of you as saved, if you do not thus confess Him. " With the mouth confession is made unto salvation." "Whosoever believeth on Him, shall not be ashamed." This is absolute, or else the Scripture is wrong (v. 11).

Thus it is that blessing comes out for men (whether Jews or Gentiles) from Christ in glory. He is exalted, as Man, over all; and His wealth is for all who apply to Him, and rest upon Him. True, none do it but such as have found out their utterly hopeless condition. Yet, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved" (vv. 12-13).

Moreover this faith is manifested by the proof it gives of its sincerity — by confession of the name of Christ. If some one were convinced that Jesus is the Christ, and refused to confess Him, his conviction would evidently be his greater condemnation. The faith of the heart produces the confession of the mouth; the confession of the mouth is the counterproof of the sincerity of the faith, and of honesty, in the sense of the claim which the Lord has upon us in grace. It is the testimony which God requires at the outset. It is to sound the trumpet on earth in face of the enemy. It is to say that Christ has conquered, and that everything belongs in right to Him. It is a confession which brings in God in answer to the name of Jesus. It is not that which brings in righteousness, but it is the public acknowledgment of Christ, and thus gives expression to the faith by which there is participation in the righteousness of God, so that it may be said, 'He believes in Christ unto salvation; he has the faith that justifies.'

Who then can mistake the blessed simplicity of verse 9? It is a clear statement of “the word faith” — “That 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 is the mouth and the heart that have the important place here — not the hands and the feet. The mouth is the index of the heart, and there will be no personal confession of Jesus as Lord unless there is belief in the heart. There may be something that appears like such a confession, but there is no simple, forth-right confession of Him as personal Lord, without faith. But the two go together. If I believe, I therefore speak.