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"

Jesus is not just a Saviour, not just a friend in time of need.  He is so much more and confessing that he is Lord (master) is necessary for salvation.  Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, He is the creator of the universe and is above all.  That means that we are His subjects, we are His slaves and He is our master.  We must confess and strive to live in light of this.  We do not "make" Him Lord, He IS Lord.  We must confess and be subject to His Lordship.

Romans 10:3 "For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God."

One Roman Catholic teaching is that the righteousness of God is infused into us or channelled into us by the sacraments thus making us righteous and actually meriting for us God's favor and eternal life.  It's a process that is synergistic, man working with God so that man merits heaven.

But this process is condemned here in Romans 10:3 where those who seek to establish their own righteousness they do not subject or submit themselves to God.  Salvation is not a "we do what we can and God picks up the slack", it is fully of God, a monergistic act rather then a synergistic act.  Otherwise grace is no more grace.

Paul anticipates a number of objections when he starts discussing election.  These objections are still raised to this day.

Romans 9:14 "What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there?"

Romans 9:19 "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?"

They might be worded slightly differently but these objections are still raised today.  However once Paul's argument is understood we realize that salvation is a wonderful work of God as He is always the first one to act.  He alone can change our obstinate hearts and if He did not, we would all be condemned to hell for our wicked nature.

Romans 9 to 12 is our reading this month and Romans 9 to the end of 11 is filled with teaching on the sovereignty of God in salvation.  I understand how hard these passages can be as I once denied these truths but now embrace them as they are so clear in scripture and I can rejoice in them because without the intervention of God on my behalf, I would be lost forever.

The next few posts will be on the topics presented in Romans 9 to 11...