The Transformative Power, Profundity and Promise of the Simple Gospel, part 4

September 26th, 2022

The Transformative Power, Profundity and Promise of the Simple Gospel, part 4

“…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.”
ROMANS 10:9

So far in this text, we have discovered the Simplicity of the Gospel, the Power of the Gospel, the Profundity of the Gospel and now we will look at the Promise of the Gospel. Through this text, we can understand that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is so powerful that it transforms an old creation into a new creation. The process of regeneration is so profound that the spiritually dead is made alive in Christ. When this occurs, all of the old desires of the flesh pass away, and now the new believer desires to live for Christ. This change in heart is transformative to the entire life of the believer.

This verse in Romans 10:9 ends with a promise. It reads, “You will be saved.” Verse 9 is a complex sentence in its literary form, because it includes a dependent clause followed by an independent statement. But the very nature of this sentence causes each of these clauses to depend on one another. Neither of the clauses makes sense in context with the message if they do not have one another to lean on.

Here is what I mean: The very nature of the dependent clause, which says, “… if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that god raised Him from the dead…” is not a complete thought. This is what makes it dependent. In the English language, we call this a conditional statement. This dependent, conditional clause needs an independent statement, which will conclude its purpose. It is an if/then sentence.

In the same manner, if you just state the independent clause with no context, which says, “You will be saved,” then you cannot arrive to a correct conclusion of the author’s intent. For this reason, each of these clauses must work together to explain the simplicity of the Gospel in a complex sentence. In other words, we cannot understand the Promise of the Gospel unless we first have a full grasp on the Transformative Power, Profundity and Simplicity.

“(Then)”
This is an understood word in the sentence. This complex sentence is an if/then statement, which needs both clauses to understand its intention. “If” this, “then” this. The word “then” is understood to be in front of the word “you” in this independent statement. The importance of this word is that it begins a guarantee. The Bible can be trusted, and God has proven Himself to be faithful to all of His promises. And if God promises that this if/then statement is going to come to pass, then it will surely do so. We can trust the promises of God.

“You”
The “you” in this sentence is referring to the “you” in the dependent clause. The “you” is the same “you” that “confesses with your mouth” and “believes in your heart.” The “you” in the independent statement necessitates the accomplishment of what is required for the “you” in the dependent clause. In order for the “you” to receive the promise found in the independent statement, the “you" in the subordinate statement must “confess” and “believe” accordingly.

“Will be”
The Greek verb for “to save” is written in the future passive indicative form. This means that the action is set to occur in the future. From a Biblical understanding of the verbal phrases “will be” or “shall be,” we can have full assurance that these things are going to happen. We have full assurance of this, because our God is faithful, trustworthy and true in all of His ways. The form in which this verb is written gives the believer a guarantee that whatever God says will come true. It is a promise that God shall be faithful to accomplish.

“Saved”

This word is the key to the entire sentence. This brings much clarity to both the conditional and the dependent clause. It brings along the “why” and establishes the importance of following through. If you look in the Greek writing, the only word that you will see is the future passive indicative form of the verbal “to save” (sōzō). Everything else that we see in the English language (“(then) you will be”) is understood based upon the verbal form of this Greek word. This should give us a clear understanding that the most significant word to be understood is this word “saved.”

In order to understand salvation, we must first ask ourselves the question, “saved from what?” And the answer to this question is that we are saved from the eternal wrath of a Holy God. As a matter of fact, we are saved by God’s Grace from God’s wrath because of God’s love and for God’s Glory. All the aspects of our salvation in Christ point to the Savior. The new birth begins with an understanding that we are spiritually dead in our trespasses and sins, and we are in need of a Savior (Ephesians 2:1-3). The message of salvation that the Apostle Paul is explaining in this verse is a desperate cry for the lost to be found! It is an urgent plea for the blind to see. The reality is that those who do not repent of their sins, confess Jesus as Lord and put their faith in Christ alone will experience eternal separation from the Grace of God. This is what we are being saved from.

But the message of the Gospel of salvation is not just a scare tactic to not go to hell. Not only are we saved from something, but we are also saved to someone. The follower of Jesus Christ is saved to God. This message in Romans 10:9 says that, “… if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that god raised Him from the dead…” then you will be made a son of God, an heir with Christ (Romans 8). Our salvation is more than just an escape from eternal damnation. The salvation of the Lord is an opportunity to have a relationship with the One True Holy God! We are saved to Yahweh!

The most significant element to understand is that the form of this verb is in the future passive indicative. This means that an action is done to the subject of the sentence. We use this form of verb to say what happens to the subject. On the other hand, the active verb form means that someone or something has carried out an action. We use this form of verb to say what the subject does. Notice that in Romans 10:9, the subject of the sentence is “you.” And it reads like this, “…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, (then) you will be saved.” Because the verb “saved” is written as a future passive indicative, we know that the action is done to the subject of the sentence, as opposed to the subjection accomplishing the action. Meaning, salvation is being done to “you” as opposed to “you” being the one who is saving. This is extremely important to understand, because even though this entire sentence is conditional by nature (if/then), the subject of the sentence (“you”) is still in complete dependence of the action happening to him. In other words, we cannot save ourselves! “You” is powerless to accomplish the work of salvation without the work of the Savior.

Although the linguistic form of sentence is complex, because it includes a dependent clause, the reality that we should understand is that the true dependence of “you” is in Christ alone. No matter how many words we say or things we do, we cannot save ourselves. The Gospel of Jesus Christ requires the power of the Holy Spirit to intervene in our lives. We need the Savior to save us. And the Promise of the Gospel is that “…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, (then) you will be saved.”

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a radical, life-altering, transformative message of hope. And this message of hope is promised to those who will “confess” and “believe.” The Promise of the Gospel can be trusted because our Lord is faithful and true. The follower of Jesus Christ will be saved by God’s Grace from God’s wrath because of God’s love and for God’s Glory.

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