Vocal Cords and Salvation

“For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation” (Rom. 10:10, NET).

Yesterday, we discussed one of the fundamental ways we overcome the enemy: by the word of our testimony. Today, let’s zero in on one more aspect of this truth. Do you notice that the Scripture does not just say, “They overcame him by their testimony”? Instead, there’s another, crucial part to this verse (Rev. 12:11). Specifically, it says, “They overcame him… by the WORD of their testimony” (emphasis mine).

If we want to overcome the enemy by our testimony, we are going to need to put some WORD into the equation. Your testimony is the story of how God has come through for you; it’s the narrative of all the ways His salvation has transformed your life. And you know what? Just having your testimony is not, in and of itself, going to overcome the enemy. It’s the WORD of your testimony that will.

Recently, I was listening to a teacher whose speaking style is very kind and fatherly. Given his usual gentle way, what he suddenly asserted took me off guard. “Oh, so you say that you have a quiet personality and don’t like to quote the Scripture out loud? Well, get over it,” he stated matter-of-factly. It was so uncharacteristic of him, it made me chuckle in surprised amusement.

However, it also effectively got the point across. No matter how soft-spoken our personalities are (which is exactly the kind of temperament I have), we cannot get away from the crucial importance of using the WORD of our testimony. In other words, we need to declare out loud how faithful God has been to us… and we need to make this a regular practice as a spiritual discipline.

Take another look at our verse for today. “For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation” (Rom. 10:10, NET). This is not just poetic parallelism. Both the believing and the confessing are crucial here. There is something about engaging our mouths and our vocal cords with God’s WORD that enables us to fully access all the benefits of His salvation. It begins in the heart, and from there comes up out of our mouth. The confessing completes the believing.

We need to remember, this is not just about a ticket to heaven. It wasn’t just the day that we gave our lives to Jesus that we needed His salvation. The Greek for “salvation,” soteria, includes the concept of rescue. We need our Daddy God’s intervention and rescue every day of our lives. As we believe and confess, we access that which Jesus purchased on the cross, again and again and again throughout life… each and every time we need His intervening power.

This same passage explains, “faith comes by hearing” (v. 17, NKJV). As we confess the WORD, this enables us to physically hear it. This, in turn, strengthens and deepens and develops our faith. Thus, confessing strengthens believing, and believing prompts further confessing. The two will go hand in hand for the rest of our lives. They are inseparable if we desire to walk in God’s fulness.

Is there an area where it feels to you like your faith is weak? Ask Holy Spirit for a specific Scripture, or set of Scriptures, addressing that specific area. When He does, write them out on notecards. And then get to confessing them out loud, every day as a goal. The more you do so, the more your heart is going to believe what is coming out of your mouth. The more you are going to find yourself accessing those promises of God in your practical reality. After a time, you will come to realize that these personalized Scriptures have become part of the WORD of your testimony!

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Is there an area of your life where confession of Scripture has brought about a turnaround for you?