For many of you, this next part of our conference may be new. Bob heard the Lord tell him that the new birth of those he led to Christ needed to reach the fullness possible. So we start with the confession of faith – accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior. We are using Romans 10:9-10 ESV, “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.”
With our mouth, the action on our part of speaking out our belief in Jesus Christ, we are saved. So what does it mean to be “justified”? If we look at 10:10 in the NKJV, it says “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness…” Vines Expository Dictionary explains the meaning of righteousness and justification this way: "the character or quality of being right or just;" it was formerly spelled "rightwiseness,” which clearly expresses the meaning. It is used to denote an attribute of God, for example in Romans 3:5, the context shows that "the righteousness of God" means essentially the same as His faithfulness, or truthfulness, that which is consistent with His own nature and promises. In one action which only the Lord could do, He wipes away all our sins – past, present and future – and makes us fully righteous.
We are called children of God (Romans 8:16). We are to call God the Creator, Abba or Father (Romans 8:15). We can only be His children if we are like Him, fully righteous as He is. So when we speak the words of accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, and believe that Jesus is the God, the Son whom God the Father raised from the dead to sit at His right hand, we are given an amazing gift – a new spirit (2 Corinthians 5:17, Titus 3:5-6, Ezekiel 11:9) righteous as God is righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Along with accepting Jesus and this amazing gift, God puts in on our hearts to repent from our sins and sinful ways. Yes, our sins have been forgiven completely, but it is with humility as we accept this gift we certainly did not deserve, that we come and lay before Him our past as if taking off our old dirty clothes, and gratefully pick up His new clean ones. Just as a parent forgives a child for making a mistake, we are very thankful when that child on their own offers a genuine apology for their action.
Next week, we will talk about the final two steps: baptism and the laying on of hands for the power of Holy Spirit.
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