**Daily Devotional** **July 22** *9 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. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. - Romans 10:9-10 (KJV)* These verses are the ones used most often to have people say, so that they can be born again and saved. This shows what we must do to reach salvation, and receive the righteousness of Jesus by faith (Philippians 3:9). Paul had been contrasting the self-righteousness, by keeping the law, to the God given righteousness we obtain by faith in Jesus. The Greek word translated confess in this scripture means more than just saying the words, as it means to assent or acknowledge that Jesus is your Lord. Just saying the words is not enough, as Jesus said (Luke 6:46), so you must do what Jesus has commanded us to do (Hebrews 5:9). You must have a heartfelt belief in who Jesus is, and that He was not only the Son of God, but that He rose from the dead, and is alive in heaven. It is in the heart that you must believe in Jesus to obtain His righteousness, and it is with the mouth that you must confess Jesus as your Lord, to obtain salvation. Many people have said the words without believing it in their hearts, and although they believe they are saved, they don’t have a relationship with Jesus, and He doesn’t know them (Matthew 7:23). If you have true faith in Jesus it will show by your actions, as faith without works (of faith) is dead (James 2:17). As the bible teaches many times, you will know the tree by it’s fruit, and if you don’t show any fruit of your salvation, then it was not a true, born again, experience. If you are born again you will want to live for Jesus, and try to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:16). Praise God for our salvation. Devotional by Pastor Joe W. Green, www.infinite-faith.com