Romans 10:9-10
That 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.
This verse is frequently quoted by false evangelical movements. In their minds, it speaks of final salvation as a one-time event achieved by merely believing in Jesus, while excluding, denying, or ignoring the fundamental truth that abandoning sin must come first before receiving the forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus. They also reject at the same time, the salvific necessity of living a pure and righteous life in the process of victorious sanctification in sinlessness, in order to achieve final salvation in holiness without sin according to Romains 6 :22.
This passage highlights that the confession of Jesus as Lord and faith in His resurrection are not formal declaration or emotional act.
They rest on one essential condition: authentic and true repentance.
Man must first of all, first recognize his state of sin, abandon his transgressions once and for all, and turn to God in a sincere process of humility and self-denial. This repentance with these criteria is the starting point that triggers purification and prepares the heart to receive Jesus as Lord.
Confessing Jesus as Lord means much more than a verbal declaration: it involves surrendering to Him total control of one’s life. Jesus then becomes the absolute guide, directing man on a journey toward total holiness without sin.
Before confessing Jesus as Lord, one must renounce sin and submit to His Lordship.
A life without sin and dedicated to producing ripe fruit fof holiness in victorious sancitifcation without sin.
The repentance of abandoning sins preecedes faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins as Paul teaches in Acts 13:38-39, Actes 17:30, Actes 20:21, Acts 26:20, Romains 2:4 etc…
James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Proverbs 28:13 He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
Titus 2:11-12 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,
Romans 10:9–10 is therefore not a shortcut to salvation, nor a mechanical formula guaranteeing eternal life. It is a solemn declaration that demands the complete transformation of the heart before the mouth can truthfully confess Jesus as Lord. The confession that saves is the confession of a purified conscience, a heart that has renounced sin forever, a will fully surrendered to Christ, and a life committed to entire holiness. Any doctrine that proclaims salvation without repentance, without abandoning sin, or without victorious sanctification is a distortion of Scripture and a denial of the Gospel. True belief produces obedience; true confession produces holiness; and true salvation produces a life entirely separated from sin, walking daily in righteousness until the final day of judgment.