Because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
This section of Paul’s letter to the Romans that I will need to reread. And reread. It’s full of very long, very complicated sentences that I suspect are packed with great wisdom. I’m grateful for the accompanying reflection from Dallas Willard, to help me understand another little bite.
If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. In some Christian traditions, being saved is vernacular that’s frequently used and understood. Or at least used frequently. It is not language that’s as common in my tradition, so I appreciate help unpacking the notion.
Willard suggests that this notion of being saved isn’t necessarily about what happens after we die. And Paul’s declaration isn’t like the secret phrase that’s uttered to get into heaven. Rather, it’s what we believe now, that allows us to act in God’s ways now. We have to first accept God into our lives at all times, and in all places. Once God is firmly settled in our very souls, only then are we equipped to do God’s work.
God’s work is hard, following Jesus is hard. Much is asked of us, and sometimes at great cost. It is only with God and through God that we can make the choice to follow God. Human preservation is a strong motivation to avoid hard or dangerous things; God’s power in us is stronger.
It is this abiding and acting that saves us, that makes our lives worthwhile, that gives us a glimpse of God’s kingdom come.
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