The following is the script used as part of the “Muscular Christianity Podcast,” which you can access by clicking here.

I) Intro

Hey guys, Bruce Gust with Muscular Christianity.

This is part two of a three-part series pertaining to Salvation.

Part One, we looked at what does it mean to be born again. This is part two where we’re talking about how do you actually become born again?

How do you get saved?

And as far as I’m concerned, this is gold right here. This is Holy Spirit, Word of God, bottom line kind of stuff. It’s the type of thing that you really want to be paying attention to because there are a number of people out there that believe that simply by verbally acknowledging that Christ died and came back to life they therefore qualify as a Christian.

You want to be careful with that kind of approach because Romans 10:9-10 makes it clear that there’s more to “believing” than simply saying the right words.

This is where we kick off Part Two.

Are you ready?

Here we go.

II) More Than Words

Romans 10:9-10:

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. (Rom 10:9-10)

You believe.

That’s it.

You can’t earn God’s favor and you don’t merit his grace with anything you do or abstain from. The Bible makes it clear that all you have to do is simply embrace the reality of Christ as being absolutely true.

And there you go.

Bear in mind though, that you can believe something to be true, yet it not be adopted as a matter of practice.

It’s like looking at a chair, believing that it can support you, but until you’re actually sitting in it, your belief is an intellectual exercise as opposed to a practical commitment.

Think of it this way, you can believe that the speed limit is 55 and still be going 80. You can believe that diet and exercise is important and yet never work out. You can believe that it’s time to get up and still stay in bed.

Believing that Jesus Christ died and came back to life as a historical fact doesn’t qualify you as being any different than the demons.

James 2:19:

You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. (Jas 2:19)

You can see something similar in Matthew 7 when Jesus says:

²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matt 7:21-23)

However you want to envision that part of you that drives the way you think, act and feel – whether you want to think of it as your personality or your soul – the important thing that needs to be established is that it’s more than just a mindset or a mood.

It’s what makes you the person that you are.

The Bible calls that your heart. When you believe something in your heart, you’re not just conceding its accuracy from an academic standpoint. When you believe something in the context of your intellect, it will change your mind. But when you believe something in your heart, it will change your life.

Dr. John MacArthur elaborates on this in his commentary on Romans 1:16. He says:

Saving faith consists of three elements: (1) mental: the mind understands the gospel and the truth about Christ (10:14-17); (2) emotional: one embraces the truthfulness of those facts with sorrow over sin and joy over God’s mercy and grace (6:17; 15:13); and (3) volitional: the sinner submits his will to Christ and trusts in Him alone as the only of salvation (see note on 10:9). Genuine faith will always produce authentic obedience (see note on 4:3; cf. John 8:31; 14:21-24). (“MacArthur Bible Commentary”, John MacArthur, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, TN, 2005, p11505 [commentary on Romans 1:16])

If you break that down, you’re looking at body, mind and soul like what it says in Luke 10:27. Again, like I said before, it’s the difference between a historical fact as opposed to a personal reality.

That’s the kind of belief being referenced in the book of Romans and that’s the kind of belief that gets you saved.

We’re getting ready to do “Part Three: How Do You Know That You’re Saved?” But listen, guys, again, this stuff is huge. And I want to make a point of mentioning that all of this that we’re talking about is something you want to validate for yourselves by reading and researching the Scriptures all this is based on.

Go out to muscularChristianityonline.com and click on the link that says “Podcast Notes.”

I’m Bruce Gust with Muscular Christianity. Let’s go make a difference.