The Courage to Confess

Because if you confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord” and in your heart you have faith that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9, CEB)

Have you ever had arguments with yourself? I know I have. Sometimes something I’ve held as truth for a long time gets challenged — by a conversation, by new information, or by something that happens in my own life. The wrestling begins in the mind, then settles into the soul, and eventually I find myself taking the brave step of speaking the change aloud. There’s a kind of confession in that moment — a letting go of what once felt certain and an embracing of what is now true.

Paul makes salvation sound so simple: confess and believe. That’s all there is to it. How hard can that be? As we all know, the simplest things are often the most difficult. We struggle with belief because doubt feels safer. We struggle with acceptance because control feels familiar. Belief asks us to trust. Acceptance asks us to surrender. Confession asks us to speak aloud what our hearts have finally dared to embrace.

Before we can confess that Jesus is Lord, we must first make him our Lord. And before we can make him our Lord, we must accept that it is true. We must believe everything about Jesus — that he is God’s Son, the heir of David, the Messiah. That he was born of Mary, lived sinlessly, taught, healed, performed miracles, and died for us. Once we believe, then we can accept that Jesus reigns in our hearts. We are His servants, and He is our Lord.

And Paul doesn’t stop there. We must also believe in our hearts that not only did Jesus live and die, but that God raised him from the dead. People may be revived for a moment, but they die again in the end. Jesus still lives. At this very moment, Jesus is alive. He died for our transgressions, but in conquering death, he gave us salvation. In this selfless act, he offers us eternal life.

Confessing “Jesus is Lord” is not a slogan. It is the outward expression of an inward transformation — the moment when our wrestling gives way to trust, when our hearts align with God’s truth, and when our voices finally speak what grace has been forming within us.

God, we give you thanks for your sinless Son, who died for us. You know how we wrestle with belief and how slowly our hearts sometimes move toward trust. Yet today we choose to confess that Jesus is Lord. He is the Lord of our lives. We believe you raised Him from the dead, and he lives still. We give thanks for your salvation. Lord Jesus, be with us today and help us as we strive to be your faithful servants. Amen.

Grace & Peace,

Pastor Tim