Biblical Creeds: Salvation

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Scripture: Romans 10.9 (ESV)

if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Devotion:

            These words Paul addressed to the church in Rome are a precious confession of the simplicity of our salvation in Jesus Christ. Sometimes, we allow the Christian faith to become complicated. We are, despite our protestations to the contrary, much like the Pharisees of Jesus Day. We like to multiply the things necessary for salvation without Biblical warrant. It is good for us to remember the story of the crucifixion of Jesus. A thief hanging on the cross next to Jesus asks Jesus to remember him when Jesus comes into His kingdom. Jesus responds that the thief will be with Him in paradise that very day.

            However, in some churches today, membership standards are so low that even this essential confession is not required. While we cannot demand more for membership, we should never demand less. In our eagerness to be more devoted followers of Jesus, we often think it wise to add additional steps to membership in our churches. We want to ensure that our churches are free from sin and error when Paul teaches in this epistle that there is none without sin.

            This brief creed reveals the truth about our God. He meant it when he tells us in the gospel of John, “For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son into the world that the world might be saved through Him.” Our mission as Christians is to share this good news with everyone we can. We love others because God, in Christ, loved us first. We have done nothing to deserve this love. It is all we can do to try to return that love by spreading it to our friends and neighbors.

            It is necessary to point out that although the bar for salvation is low. We are expected to live lives that reflect Jesus's holiness and purity. We are to manifest what theologians call progressive sanctification. A holiness that grows into the fruit of the Spirit listed in Paul’s letter to the Galatians. While not necessary for salvation, this holiness is expected as we grow in Christ. Just as there would be a problem if an infant never grew in any way, so there is a problem if the Christian never grows into maturity in Christ.

            Let us pray that God will help us welcome those who confess Christ as siblings in the faith.

Prayer:

            Lord, help us to keep the bar to entry into the kingdom right where you have set it because of your great love for humankind. Let us rejoice when anyone confesses faith that Jesus is the Lord of their lives and that He was raised from the dead so they may have new life in Him. Lord, keep us in your care to grow in faith. May we not remain tender infants in the faith but grow into mature believers. Amen.

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