Romans 10:9

What Romans 10:9 means

The verse joins two things: the mouth and the heart. To confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus is to say openly that Jesus is Lord. To believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead is to trust, from the inside, that the resurrection really happened. The promise attached to both is thou shalt be saved.

Verse 10 repeats the idea in reverse order: with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Paul is not describing two separate steps so much as one faith that is held inwardly and spoken outwardly.

The confession that Jesus is Lord was a weighty one. The title Lord was used in the Greek Old Testament for God's own name, and in the Roman world it was claimed by Caesar. The belief named is specific too: the resurrection, which Paul treats elsewhere as the centre of the faith (1 Corinthians 15:14).

The verses that follow widen the promise. Verse 11 says whoever believes on him shall not be ashamed, verse 12 says there is no difference between Jew and Greek, and verse 13 quotes the prophet Joel: whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Christian traditions differ on how this confession relates to baptism and church membership, but all read the verse as an invitation open to everyone.

Background and context

Romans was written by Paul, usually dated about AD 57, to the believers in Rome. Chapters 9-11 deal with Paul's grief that many of his own people, Israel, had not believed in Jesus.

Chapter 10 opens with Paul's prayer for Israel to be saved. He contrasts righteousness that comes by keeping the law with righteousness that comes by faith, and he borrows words from Deuteronomy 30:14 to say the word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. Verse 9 then explains what that word of faith is.

Key verses

Cross references

• Deuteronomy 30:14 Paul builds on Moses' words: the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart.But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
• Joel 2:32 The prophecy Paul quotes in Romans 10:13 about calling on the name of the LORD.And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
• Acts 16:30-31 The Philippian jailer asks what he must do to be saved and is told to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
• Ephesians 2:8-9 By grace are ye saved through faith, not of works.For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
• Philippians 2:10-11 Every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
• Matthew 10:32 Jesus promises to confess before the Father those who confess him before men.Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
• 1 John 4:15 Whosoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him.Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.