OUR HEARTS LAID BARE

“If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.” Romans 10:9-10

    “And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.” Romans 8:27

      Salvation, or the saving of one’s soul is a transitional act that takes place in the life of an individual.  Scripture clearly states that declaring Christ is Lord and believing in your heart that He was resurrected to new life is all you need to do to become “saved”.  It is a simple process, yet man tends to make it very complex.  We don’t have to change anything about us.  We are loved by God just the way we are.  Having said that we must look at another verse in Paul’s letter to the Romans chapter 8.  God knows our hearts.  He also knows the motivation of each person’s heart.  He knows if we are sincere about our conversion or if we simply said the right words for whatever reason.  God knows.

       If we have a heartfelt conversion we will have a sudden shift in desire.  Our desire will be to please the Lord and Him alone.  We’ll no longer have a desire to live a life contrary to God’s word.  We’ll be hungry to learn as much as we can about godly living as it pertains to us today.  We will embrace the Bible as God’s Word and use it as a both a history book and a guidebook. 

       The reason listening to the Holy Spirit who resides within us is so critical to one’s spiritual growth and maturation is because the Spirit knows the heart and the will of Almighty God.  Being a Christian is never just giving mental assent to God’s existence.  It’s much more than that.  It’s allowing our faith to blossom into trust in the One we claim to have faith in.  Living our lives for ourselves is in the end an empty, meaningless life.  Solomon spent his entire adult life seeking truth and in the end came to this one conclusion in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14: “Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty.  God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.”  Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Resource: Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2012.