Although the Word of God is abundantly clear, there are still those who like to argue against it. They insist that confession is the way to be saved. I wish to ask them, "If so, what will you do with Romans 10:8: 'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart'?" Here it says the word of faith, not the word of confession. The Scriptures say "believe." They do not say "confess." Verse 6 says, "But the righteousness which is out of faith speaks in this way." Verse 6 speaks of the righteousness out of faith, and verse 8, the word of the faith. There is one confession in verse 9 and another in verse 10. Both confessions are with the mouth. However, verse 11 does not say, "Everyone who confesses Him shall not be put to shame." Rather, it says, "Everyone who believes on Him shall not be put to shame." We must recognize the emphasis here. Verses 6, 8, and 11 mention "believe," and verses 9 and 10 mention "confess." Verse 9 first says "confess" and then "believe"; whereas in verse 10 it is first "believe" and then "confess." In this one portion "believe" is used five times and "confess" twice. At the end, the order of "confess" and "believe" is reversed. All this signifies that salvation should be due to faith and not to confession. Confession issues from faith. What one believes in his heart, he utters spontaneously with his mouth. A person will spontaneously say "daddy" when he sees his father. Where there is faith, confession follows immediately.

The end of verse 12 shows us that confession here is the confession of Jesus as Lord. This confession comes from faith. How can we prove this? We may not see this from verses 1 through 11. But verse 12 says, "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all and rich to all who call upon Him." Verse 13 says, "Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Calling upon the Lord's name is equivalent to the confessing of the Lord Jesus in the previous verses. To call on the name of the Lord is to confess Jesus as Lord, to call Him Lord, and to address Him as Lord. By taking care of the context of this passage, we will realize that calling is simply confessing.

Verse 14 says, "How then shall they call upon Him into whom they have not believed?" This is a wonderful word. It shows that calling comes out of believing. Naturally, no one can call without believing. We can see that confessing with the mouth results from faith in the heart. Because a man believes in his heart, he calls with his mouth. He calls because he believes. Do you see this fact? Everything issues from faith; faith is the way of salvation. Although it mentions confession with the mouth, this confession is based upon faith in the heart. It is natural for those who believe to call.

I believe tonight we are all saved ones who have received the Lord Jesus. May I ask how you have received Him? We received Him by faith. Did you also pray? Salvation is due to faith. Prayer is the expression of this faith. Everyone in the world is saved by faith. However, this faith is expressed in prayer. Faith is within and prayer is without. When you believe in your heart that Jesus is the Savior, spontaneously you will pray with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. Whoever believes in his heart will confess with his mouth. But we must always remember that confession is not the way to salvation. Although the word says "Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved," yet calling is not the way to salvation. The reason is that calling comes from faith; it is a spontaneous action, something uttered before God spontaneously.

Let us come back to verse 12: "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all." I love the phrase, "There is no distinction." Romans 3:22 and 23 say, "Even the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ to all those who believe, for there is no distinction. For all have sinned." Here it says, "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all." Each one must call upon the Lord, confess with his mouth, and believe in his heart before he can be saved.

May the Lord be gracious to us and show us that the only way of salvation in the Bible is faith and nothing else. Salvation is not by faith plus law-keeping, good works, repentance, confession, or prayer. This is the scriptural truth. We have to stand upon the Bible. The Bible reveals clearly to us that the way of salvation is faith alone.