Romans 10:9
…Because, 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.

Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Isn’t this relationship with God something to be earned? Don’t I need to spend time demonstrating my religious worth—confirmation, first communion, baptism, listening to sermons, or to speed up the process—volunteering with the youth group? Don’t I have to do something, be something, or achieve some spiritual…something? This sounds too easy. Just say, “Jesus is Lord,” and that’s it? Come on!

Earlier in his letter to the Romans, Paul explained that becoming a Christian is a free gift. It can’t be earned, purchased, or inherited. But don’t mistake “free” for “easy.” Our sins disconnected us from God. So, Jesus did for us what we could never do for ourselves. He purchased our relationship with God through his death on the cross. And God, approving that Christ’s work indeed paid sin’s penalty, “raised him from the dead.”

Furthermore, don’t think “confess[ing] with your mouth” is a flippant act. Inherent in the act of confession is an agreement that the work of Christ paid the penalty for my sin. I admit that I am a sinner and can do nothing to achieve a standing before God. My confession is a declaration from a heartfelt conviction that Jesus is Lord, followed by a commitment to follow hard after him.

Father, thank you for the gift of salvation—free to us, costly for your Son. May we demonstrate today that Jesus is truly our Lord by our thoughts, words, emotions, and actions. May we follow hard after him. In his name. Amen.