Lenten Reader | Day 8

Believe and Come

“The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

- Romans 10:8b-13
How many well-meaning people, like me, believe that the Bible is so complex that they could never understand it? As someone who spends much of my time thinking and reading in technical terms, the symbolism and language used in the Bible often takes extra effort for me to interpret into something meaningful and easily understood. Today’s reading serves as a great reminder for us of the true simplicity of the Gospel.
 
Anyone Can Believe
“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. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

This passage doesn’t say who can be saved, it says what must be done. Confess with your mouth. Believe in your heart.
 
Anyone Can Come
“There is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'”

Simply put, anyone can come to Jesus. Your nationality, family of origin, level of education, wealth, profession, past choices – none of these things prevent or disqualify you from coming to (or coming back to) Jesus.

The message here isn’t that following God is easy and never difficult. It’s that anyone can come and anyone can believe. God’s blessing is available to everyone. Blaise Pascal’s famously said, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” In this season of Lent, come, believe, and receive the peace of filling that vacuum.

- Nathan Huff
Prayer
Father, help me in this Lenten season to remember the simplicity of the Gospel. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and I believe in my heart that you raised him from the dead.

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