- Righteousness and Salvation
Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Righteousness and salvation is really the same thing, two sides of the same coin, one positive and one negative. Righteousness is everything good and right. Faith receives the righteousness of God as a gift. This positive side makes us right with God. Salvation is also good and right because we have been saved from everything bad, like sin, death and the devil. Through Christ we are all good and no bad. Without Christ we are all bad and no good. What a remarkable change!
It is the heart and the mouth that receives the gift and makes it true for us personally. The heart believes and the mouth confesses. The inside and the outside of us are united in acknowledging and receiving the gift of righteousness and salvation. Faith and confession are also two sides of the same coin. The faith of the heart leads to an outward confession; the confession of the mouth expresses the inward faith.
Believing and confessing is saying that there is something true that we do not see with the eyes. The eyes say, “There is no evidence.” Faith is the evidence of what the eyes do not see; confession is the expression that says, “It is true; there is evidence. Faith sees it.” It is not right to say that we don’t need evidence, because we do need evidence. The truth is we have the evidence: it is faith in the heart that educes confession with the mouth. Faith is the evidence of the things not seen [Hebrews 11:1]. The evidence is the empty tomb and the resurrected body of Jesus Christ.