Quote:
Originally Posted by Costeon
In Romans 10:9-10, Paul locates our justification and salvation in having faith that God raised Jesus from the dead and in confessing that Jesus is Lord. This saving faith is something in the heart that is confessed with the mouth.
"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. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved."
What is your approach to harmonizing this passage with Acts 2:38? How do they go together?
According to the standard UPCI view, salvation is not experienced till you have been baptized in water and baptized in the Spirit, so if this is how you believe, how would you explain that salvation is not in fact experienced in belief/faith and confessing that faith as Paul states here in Romans 10? |
We cannot confess Jesus is Lord except through the Holy Spirit (
1 Corinthians 12:3).
Jesus asked "And why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" (
Luke 6:46).
In
Acts 1:2, we read that Jesus through the Holy Spirit gave His apostles commandments.
All imperative statements in the Book of Acts made by the apostles are by definition, commands.
So, in order to fulfill
Romans 10:9-10, we see that one cannot confess the
Lord Jesus without the following:
1.) Help from the Holy Spirit
2.) Doing whatever Jesus commands
3.) Understanding He issued commandments to His Apostles through #1 above
4.) That
Acts 2:38 is just such a Holy Spirit given commandment
5.) That we are therefore obligated to obey His apostles in all their imperative statements (like
Acts 2:38) if we want to successfully be able to confess that Jesus is in fact "Lord".
If a person merely states Jesus is Lord but isn't actively obeying Him, they fail at
Luke 6:46. If they fail at
Luke 6:46, then it is not by the Holy Spirit that they are calling Him Lord, that is, they are bearing false witness, failing at
1 Corinthians 12:3 and
Acts 1:2.
Obeying
Acts 2:38 (and everything else, too) is, therefore, a sign of respect and submission to Christ's Lordship. To disobey it is to automatically nullify any so-called Romas 10:9-10 confession to the contrary.