Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 10:9 because if you acknowledge and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [recognizing His power, authority, and majesty as God], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. |
Bible Question: at what point is someone saved/forgiven of their sins? at baptism? (acts 2:38, 1 Peter 3:21, Romans 6:1-5), at the laying on of hands? (Acts 8:16-17), just by believing in Jesus?, by repentance?, when is it? |
Bible Answer: According to the Bible, repentance and baptism mark the beginning of the salvation process, the time of a Christian's commitment to continue to serve God. The completion of our salvation, as long as we remain in this physical life, is yet in the future. As Jesus said, "He who endures to the end shall be saved" (Matthew 24:13). Paul wrote, ". . . Having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life" (Romans 5:9-10). Notice that Paul wrote in the future tense: We will be saved. Our salvation is not complete. We must endure faithfully to the end of our lives. If a Christian at some time during his life, after committing to serve God, turns away and renounces Jesus and God's way in word or action, he will lose his salvation, unless he repents of his error. Jesus described such a situation. ". . . If that evil servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites" (Matthew 24:48-51). "Carousing with drunkards" can describe the literal behavior of an errant Christian, or it can be a metaphor for evil habits in general. Drunkenness is sometimes used in the Bible to symbolize those who are immersed in the sinful attitudes and practices of the world. Paul made it plain that a Christian can fall away and even lose salvation. He wrote that in his own life he found it necessary to practice firm self-discipline, guarding against the encroachment of sin, "lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified" (1 Corinthians 9:27). Once we commit our lives to obeying God, the process of being saved has begun in us, although it is still possible for us to fall away (Luke 8:13). Paul said we will be saved if we continue to the end while holding fast the truth preached to us (1 Corinthians 15:2). Our salvation is assured if we do. Salvation, assuring eternal life, will then go to those in the faith who have endured and overcome. Those who are engaged in this spiritual battle need not harbor fears that they will fail to receive eternal life. As we ask God for help, He will keep us from stumbling (Jude 24). "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). Indeed, we can be "confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6). Hope this helps. |