Romans 10:5-11
“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.” vs. 9
It is such good news to know that salvation comes through faith and not through works of the law. We’ve all known stories of people who have resisted the gospel through their entire lives, then on their deathbeds have confessed Jesus as Lord and have then found peace. Such stories bring us hope and are a fair reflection of the amazing power of grace. How wonderful it is that a lifetime’s burdens of sin and guilt can be lifted through such a simple confession! We can only wish that such insights could come earlier to sinners and that they wouldn’t have to wait until the end for their long-sought serenity. Still, there are big questions that come to mind about such expressions of faith. What if a person doesn’t make such a confession at the end? What if they don’t have time? Are they then condemned? There are some who would say yes, unless one confesses and believes, there is certain condemnation and no hope! To grace-centered believers however, such a conclusion smacks of a perverse kind of legalism…the very thing Paul was writing against. For them, if grace is true, salvation is totally in the hands of God and not in our own, and because it is, surely there is hope for all.
Thought for the Day: What do I believe about death-bed confessions?
0 Comments