Romans 10:9, “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.”
No, a sinner does NOT have to confess Christ with their mouth to be saved.
If Romans 10:9 is taken by itself, then one might conclude that salvation
requires a person to confess Christ with their mouth to be saved. I have
heard false prophets teach this. Many Gospel tracts require a person to
audibly confess Christ with their mouth to be saved. This is simply not
Biblical. What if a person were mute?
The proper way to interpret the Bible is to compare any particular Scripture to ALL the Scriptures. If all the Scriptures in the Bible agree with a particular doctrine, then you know you've found the truth. If we look at John 12:41-43, we quickly learn that confession with the mouth is NOT necessary for salvation...
“These things said Esaias, when he saw His glory, and spake of Him. Nevertheless among the chief rulers also MANY BELIEVED ON HIM; but because of the Pharisees they DID NOT CONFESS HIM, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.”
The Bible plainly states that many of the Pharisees believed on Jesus, but they did NOT confess Him for fear of persecution. Clearly, a person can be saved without confessing Christ with the mouth, just so long as they BELIEVE in their heart on Jesus as the Christ, the precious Son of God.
Again in Matthew 7:21-23 we read...
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
These false prophets confessed with their mouth; but they did not have Christ's righteousness, which is solely by faith in Christ. These false prophets relied upon their self-righteousness, religion devotion and surrender to Christ as Lord. They all went to Hell. There are millions of religious people running around these days, teaching people to make Jesus Lord to be saved; but they are unsaved, self-righteous and hellbound. You don't make Jesus Lord, He is Lord.
The way of salvation is NOT to surrender to Jesus as Lord. Judas was a follower of Jesus, one of His very own apostles; yet, Judas went to Hell in his unbelief. Thousands of people followed Jesus for a handout; but that didn't make them born-again Christians. The Bible is very clear that many people have religion; but they do NOT have eternal life, which is solely obtained by Christ's righteousness (Romans 10:3-4).
A person is saved when they acknowledge their guilt of sin, coming to God on the basis of being a hell-deserving sinner; believing on Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, to forgive their sins.
Salvation is of the heart. A person can confess “Jesus is Lord” as many times as they want and still go to Hell in their sins. Salvation is about getting your sins forgiven; not about making a commitment to live for God. The plan of salvation has been subtly corrupted in most religious circles these days. The very notion that a person must surrender or make a commitment as part of salvation is damnable heresy. Salvation is receiving; not giving. Eternal life is a free gift from God.
Jesus taught in Matthew 7:21 that confessing “Jesus is Lord” is NOT the way of salvation; but rather, doing the will of the Father is the way of salvation. John 6:40 tells us what the will of the Father is ...
“And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and BELIEVETH ON HIM, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Repeatedly, the Scriptures teach that we are saved simply by believing on Jesus...
John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever BELIEVETH IN HIM should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Jesus paid a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay. We are saved by placing our trust in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Whom God the Father sent into the world to pay our sin debt. If a person comes to God the Father through His Son for forgiveness of sins, they will be saved. John 14:6 ...
John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, BUT BY ME.”
John 12:41-43 is clear evidence that a person who does not confess Christ with their mouth can still be saved. As mentioned, many of the Pharisees believed, but did NOT confess Christ for fear of rejection. The Bible says they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God (John 12:43). It was wrong that those Pharisees didn't want to confess Christ, but it did not prevent them from being saved.
The important thing is that a person believe on Jesus as the Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 10:43).
