KwabaseRoma 10:9-10 Paul wrote, If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. What does it mean with the heart man believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation? Are you saved by just saying a few words or is there more to it? How do you live, when you say that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead?
A lack of knowledge of God and His righteousness
Hearken unto Me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is My law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings (uIsaya 51:7)
KwabaseRoma 10:1-10, Paul wrote that it was his heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel, that they might be saved. Although Israel had a zeal for God, they did not have the full and accurate knowledge of God.
For they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and went about to establish their own righteousness, having not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes (Owu. INdumiso 118:22, UMateyu 5:17-18, kwabaseGalati 3:24-29, 1 UPetros 2:7-8).
The law was a schoolmaster unto Christ, Who is the end of the law
For Moses described the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which does those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaks on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (yiyo i, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (yiyo i, to bring up Christ again from the dead (Deuteronomy 30:6-16).
But the righteousness which is of faith says, The Word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: yiyo i, the Word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (AmaRoma 10:1-10).
The righteousness of the law
Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. And by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses (IZenzo 13:37-39)
But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: kodwa, The man that doeth them shall live in them (kwabaseGalati 3:11-12)
And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers: If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it (Deuteronomy 30:9-14).
God made His will, His nature, and His righteousness known through the law. It was the people’s job to listen to the words and commandments of God and meditate on them and keep them in their heart, so that they would live after the commandments of God in His will.
Through obedience to the law, the people of Israel showed God that they believed in Him and His word and loved God with all their hearts.
By keeping the law they distinguished themselves from the Gentiles and walked in righteousness and were witnesses of God and exalted the Lord God, the Almighty, with their lives and established His righteousness on earth.
Although the law was holy, righteous, and good, the law was not able to fix the spiritual brokenness; i (ngokomoya) separation between God and man and their fallen state.
To restore (heal) the spiritual brokenness and the fallen state of man, UYESU khristu, uNyana kaThixo kunye neLizwi eliPhilayo, had to come to earth in the likeness of man, ukuze kuYe, through His sacrifice and by His blood, the new man be created (Funda kwakhona: Indalo yonke idalwe kuYesu Kristu).
Just like God showed His love for His people Israel, by giving them His law, which came from God (from heaven) and revealed His will and righteousness and prevented His people from evil and destruction and kept them safe and caused them to live, God showed His love for mankind (the world) by sending His Word, His Son Jesus Christ from heaven to earth, to save mankind from evil and destruction and give eternal life.
God didn’t send His Word only for the house of Israel, but for all the people, who belong to the world (Funda kwakhona: Kwakutheni ukuze uThixo anikele ngoNyana wakhe okuphela kwamzeleyo?)
The righteousness of God
What the law of Moses couldn’t do, UYESU khristu, the Living Word, could do. And so the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and His blood made atonement and justified man, who believes in Jesus Christ and is born again in Him, and reconciled man back to God once and for all.
Through the sacrifice of Jesus, the sacrifice of animals (which was a temporary atonement for the sins and unrighteousness of fallen man, who belonged to the house of Israel) is made obsolete and no longer applies in the New Covenant, since the old man, for whom the sacrifices were meant to, died in Christ (Funda kwakhona: What is the difference between the sacrifices of animals and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ?)
The new man is justified by the blood of Jesus and has been made righteous and complete (perfect) kuKristu. From this new righteous complete state, instead of the old fallen state, the new man shall live holy after the Spirit in obedience to God’s Word and walk in righteousness.
If you believe this and you believe that God has sent His Son Jesus Christ, who is the Living Word and represents the will of the Father, and came in the flesh to the earth and became fully human and has become your substitute, when He was crucified for your sins and carried your sins in His flesh on the cross and because of the punishment for your sins entered hell, and as a Victor rose from the dead and ascended to heaven and is seated on the right hand of God and has received the Kingship of the Kingdom of Heaven and reigns, you shall obey Him and be baptized in water and with the Holy Spirit, so that the old man dies and the new man can arise, who exists of blood, water, and Spirit (Owu. UMateyu 3:16, Phawula 16:15-18, IZenzo 8:37-38, AmaRoma 6:3, 1 KwabaseKorinte 12:13, kwabaseGalati 3:27, 1 UYohane 5:7-8).
God has given His Word and through regeneration in Christ, you have become the new man and you have been given a new heart.
Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Christ lives in you and reigns in your heart and the will of God and His commandments are written upon your heart, you don’t have to look and search for that anymore (Owu. Deuteronomy 30:9-14, UHezekile 11:19-20; 36:26-27, 1 KwabaseKorinte 2:9-13, KwabaseKolose 1:27, Hebhere 10:16-18 (Funda kwakhona: Kwakutheni ukuze uThixo abhale umthetho wakhe kumacwecwe amatye?))
Out of the heart are the issues of life
For there is no good tree that bringeth forth corrupt fruit; nor again a corrupt tree that bringeth forth good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth that which is evil: for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh (ULuka 6:43-45)
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life (IMizekeliso 4:23).
ILizwi lithi, that the words and works of man derive from the heart (what man believes). Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, uhenyuzo, thefts, covetousness, ubungendawo, deceit, lasciviousness, evil eye, pride, foolishness, false witness, blasphemies (Owu. UMateyu 15:17-20, Phawula 7:21-22).
Ithetha ukuba, that the words someone speaks and the works someone does, prove whether the person believes in Jesus Christ and is born again in Him and has become a son of God (oku kusebenza kuzo zombini iinkunzi nemazi) and His will is written upon the heart or not (Funda kwakhona: How do you know if Christ lives in you?).
Because you will recognize the tree by its fruits. If someone says to believe and confesses that he is born again and therefore has been made righteous in Christ, he can’t say that he is still a sinner. If he says, that he is still a sinner, he contradicts the Word and doesn’t believe, that he has been made righteous by the blood of Jesus and that he has become a new creation.
What does the mouth of a person speak and confess and what does a person do when the person is not in church and/or surrounded by Christians? (Owu. ULuka 6:43-45 (Funda kwakhona: Ngaba usengumoni?)
Servants of righteousness
Yintoni ke? sone na, ngokuba singekho phantsi komthetho, kodwa phantsi kobabalo? Makube lee oko. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness (AmaRoma 6:15-18)
The new man is circumcised in Christ and is no longer the old man, unyana kaMtyholi, who lives in obedience to sin. But the new man has been made free from sin and unrighteousness in Christ, through the death of the flesh, in which sin and death reign, and through the resurrection of the spirit from the dead, in which the righteousness of God reigns, the new man shall be a servant of righteousness and through his walk show the righteousness of God (Funda kwakhona: What is the armor of light? kwaye What does the circumcision in Christ mean?).
The old heart of stone has been replaced by a new heart of flesh. Because of the change of heart, the new man shall speak and act differently and therefore live differently. Not as a sinner (son of the devil) but as a just (unyana kaThixo).
Because of the change of heart, the new man shall confess Jesus Christ as Lord and acknowledge Him as Savior and Lord of his life, in everything.
The just shall live by faith
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: njengoko kubhaliweyo, The just shall live by faith (AmaRoma 1:16:17)
The new man shall not stay silent and keep his mouth about the gospel of Jesus Christ and let the people have their way as they walk in darkness on the broad way to destruction and eternal death.
But the man, who has been made righteous by faith and regeneration in Jesus Christ, shall speak by faith from his redemptive and complete righteous position in Christ, in His authority and the power of the Holy Spirit, and preach the truth of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ and the way of salvation for fallen mankind, so that many souls be saved by faith in Jesus Christ and by faith in Jesus be delivered from the power of darkness and sin and death (Funda kwakhona: If Christians stay silent, who shall set the captives free?).
Awake to righteousness
Awake to soberness righteously, and sin not; for some have no knowledge of God: I speak this to move you to shame (1 KwabaseKorinte 15:34)
A confession with the mouth doesn’t say much and has no value, if the words and works of the person don’t confirm the confession.
Someone is not saved, by just saying that he or she believes in Jesus (and be baptized) and continues to live the life he or she lived before the repentance, as the old man after the flesh in darkness.
Look at Simon the sorcerer, who (supposedly) believed the word of God and came to faith, and was baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, but his heart was not right in the sight of God.
His words and his deed were meaningless. Simon was evil and after his so-called repentance, he was still evil.
Simon the sorcerer only believed and was baptized because of the signs and miracles he saw Philip do and desire.
His evil heart was revealed when Simon saw that the believers received the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands of the apostles and desired this power also and tried to purchase the gift of God.
But Peter rebuked Simon and commanded him to repent of his wickedness and pray to God if perhaps the thought of his heart may be forgiven (IZenzo 8:9-24 (Funda kwakhona: Ukulandela uYesu ngenxa yemiqondiso nemimangaliso)).
The just shall do righteous works
Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by its fruit. Ye offspring of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. The good man out of his good treasure bringeth forth good things: and the evil man out of his evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned (UMateyu 12:33-37).
A righteous heart brings forth righteous works after the will of God and an unrighteous unrepented heart (evil heart) shall bring forth sin and iniquity.
God is no Respecter of persons, not even when you belong to the house of Israel or when you are a member of a church and call yourself a Christian, but God judges your words and works according to the Word.
When you believe in Jesus and confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, you shall acknowledge Him as Lord (Head, King) of your life and you shall put your trust in Him.
You shall believe Him and spend time with Him and renew your mind with the Word of God and you shall keep the Word in your heart and speak the Word of God to the people around you.
By faith in the words of Jesus and doing His words and commandments, and therefore do what He says and bear witness of Him, you shall show that you believe Him and that you love Him.
Because by the words and works of a person, you can see if the person truly believes in his heart that Jesus Christ is Lord and that God has raised Him from the dead, and that the person loves Jesus.
There are many, who confess Jesus as Lord and say they love Him, while their heart is far from Him and doesn’t belong to Him.
Although they say they belong to Him, they don’t belong to Him. Ngoko ke, they don’t spend time with Him and don’t know Him, don’t submit to Him, and don’t do what He says, but they belong to the world and spend their time to the things of this world and go their own way (Owu. UMateyu 15:8-9, ULuka 6:46-49).
They confess Jesus as Lord, while they live like the world and keep doing the works of the flesh, whereby they deny the power of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and His redemptive work. Because by their walk after the flesh and the perseverance in sin, they actually say, that the redemptive work of Jesus and His blood and regeneration in Him are not powerful enough to redeem man from the power of darkness and make man righteous and rule over sin and put off the works of the flesh. Do you think, that God is pleased with the confession of these people? (Funda kwakhona: Buthetha ukuthini ubomi bovuko kuKristu?)
Faith is trusting in God
But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, Who was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord (1 KwabaseKorinte 1:30-31)
If you believe, you shall trust the Word, since you believe that every word of God is the truth.
You shall not put your trust in the carnal wisdom and knowledge of this world, which are foolishness to God, and believe the words of the world above the words of God, and follow and speak the words of the world and rely upon its carnal techniques and methods and apply them into your life or use them for someone else’s life, but you shall trust the words, ulwazi, and wisdom of God, which are illogical and foolish for the world and therefore the world doesn’t believe them. Because how can the light be created from a word? How can man be formed of the dust of the ground (and from the rib of a man)? Ayinakwenzeka loo nto, according to the world.
The science of this world needs a physical explanation and evidence for the creation, since the natural man has a carnal mind and the mental ability (human intellect) is not able to comprehend, explain, and therefore believe the things of God.
Since God is Spirit and His words are Spirit and the heaven and earth and all there is within have been called into being from the invisible realm (spiritual world) by God through the Word and the Spirit, the world can’t acknowledge God as the Creator of heaven and earth and all there is within
But by faith and regeneration in Christ, you have become the new man and you have the mind of Christ and the Spirit of God abiding in you, whereby you can see the Kingdom of God (Owu. UYohane 3:3, 1 KwabaseKorinte 1:18-31; 2:6-16 ((Funda kwakhona: Has God created the heaven and earth in six days? kwaye Do the Bible and science go together?).
With the heart man believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation
Nalu unyamezelo lwabangcwele: naba abayigcinayo imithetho kaThixo, kunye nokholo lukaYesu (ISityhilelo 14:12)
If you believe and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall believe His words and keep them in your heart and confess Jesus Chris and speak His words and live according to His words, because the Word is the highest Authority in your life.
Awusenguye umoni, but you have become the righteousness of God in Christ. Therefore you shall submit to Christ and obey His words and do what He has commanded you to do and live in obedience to Him, whereby the righteousness of God becomes visible through your life (Funda kwakhona: Do Christians believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ?).
And so you believe with your heart unto righteousness and confess with your mouth unto salvation. Because faith without works is death.
‘Yibani yityuwa yehlabathi’
