“This is the word of faith that we preach: that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, 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.” Romans 10:8-10
Salvation is not through the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that He died for your sins and rose again in victory, you will be saved. Why? Because God justifies and counts righteous those who trust in Christ Jesus and His atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world, and those who believe in their hearts confess their faith with their lips.
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, thank You for bearing upon the cross the just punishment for my sins and rising again in victory. Grant that I always trust in You with my heart and confess You with my lips. Amen.
“A wise man fears and departs from evil, but the fool throws off restraint and is careless.” Proverbs 14:16
One who is made wise through hearing God’s Word sees that his evil ways lead to death and turns from them. The foolish rage against the truth and are confident in their evil ways, even though they lead to eternal death and damnation.
Grant me the wisdom, O Lord, to hear Your Word and turn from my evil ways to You for mercy in Christ Jesus. In His name, I pray. Amen.
“For, being ignorant of God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to the righteousness of God. Christ is the end of the law unto righteousness for everyone who believes.” Romans 10:3-4
The Apostle Paul desired the salvation of his fellow Israelites, but most sought to be righteous before God based on their own keeping of God’s law, and they rejected the imputed righteousness God desired to give them through faith in Christ Jesus and His holy life and innocent sufferings and death in their stead. Many churchgoers today make the same mistake.
Grant that I not trust in my own righteousness, O God, but in the perfect righteousness of Christ and in the atonement He made for my sins and the sins of the world. Amen.
“As it is written: ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, and whoever believes in Him will not be ashamed.’” Romans 9:33
Summarizing the witness of Isaiah 8:14-15; 28:16; and Psalm 118:22, the Apostle Paul points out that Jesus Christ is a precious stone, the very cornerstone of God’s temple, since He is our high priest and the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world, and there is salvation in no other. Many stumble over Him in unbelief and fall from the faith, but those who trust in Jesus as the Messiah and Savior shall never be put to shame for, in Him and His cross, they have forgiveness for all their sins and life everlasting.
O gracious God, grant that I not stumble over Jesus and His cross but trust in Him as the Son of God and my crucified and risen Savior. Amen.
“A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims folly.” Proverbs 12:23
Those who have wisdom and knowledge don’t show it off but remain humble, looking to God and His Word for correction and guidance. Those who are foolish openly proclaim their foolish thoughts and ideas for all to hear. Another proverb, not found in the Bible, says it like this: “People are like wheat. When the head is full, it bows down and hangs low; when the head is empty, it stands tall and waves around in the wind for all to see.”
O God of wisdom and all knowledge, grant that I humble myself before You and hear Your Word. Keep me from the way of fools. Amen.
