August 30 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Romans 10:1-13:

¹Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
²For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
³For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
⁴For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
⁵For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
⁶But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
⁷Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
⁸But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
⁹That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
¹⁰For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
¹¹For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
¹²For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
¹³For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Devotional

"Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." He built alters unto the Lord at the places to which he came. Thus he confessed his faith in the living God. Believing and confession go together. When Peter had preached Christ on that first day of Pentecost, "they that glady received his word were baptized." They received the word into their hearts, that is, they believed, and then they were baptized, and thus they confessed their faith. "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." "Being justified by faith (that is, being declared righteous), we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." "Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God."

Do we have true faith, and do we confess our faith? or are we afraid to confess? Joseph of Arimathtaea was a secret disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews, yet he "went in boldly unto Pilate" to ask for the body of Jesus. Thus he confessed his faith. Faith wants to be expressed. God's Word must be believed, and if we believe it, we must confess it to the salvation of our souls and to the glory of God.

Prayer

We thank Thee, our Father, that Thou hast so plainly told us, that if we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in our heart that God has raised him from the dead, we shall be saved. May we never be ashamed of him, but confess him boldly before men as our Saviour, so that He may also confess us before Thee, our Father, who art in heaven. May we then believe with our heart unto righteous­ness, and confess with our mouth unto salvation. For Jesus' sake. Amen.

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Scripture in Devotional: Rom. 4:3; Acts 2:41; Rom. 10:9, 10; 5:1; 1 John 4:15; John 19:38; Mark 15:3.

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