A popular verse, used to lead someone to Christ, is Romans 10:9: “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” (NIV).

People have been told if they just believe in the resurrection and say “Jesus is Lord,” then they’re saved. So, what’s the problem? If you thought Jesus was dead, you couldn’t think He was Lord, so let’s start with saying, “Jesus is Lord.” There are no magic words. You can’t say the magic words and then you’re saved. One, we aren’t saved by works. We can’t do a thing and save ourselves. Right there, you can see this verse can’t mean you just have to repeat these words.

To say Jesus is Lord, is to say Jesus is YOUR Lord. What does that mean? Can you imagine a medieval lord? He calls his servant to come, and he comes, “Yes, my lord.” He tells his servant to go, and he goes, “Right away, my lord.” He takes away what he has given to his servant, “Whatever you require, my lord.” And so on. Jesus must be your Lord if you want to be saved. It means you honor and obey Him with devotion.

Now, the devil believes that Jesus was raised from the dead. He knows that’s true. He saw it happen. He knows Jesus is Lord. He must submit to Jesus. Whatever Jesus says, goes. But the devil isn’t saved, so there must be something else here.

The preceding verse says that the word is in your heart and mouth. What is the word? Truth. Who is the word and the truth and the life, the resurrection life? It’s Jesus. When we have the life of Christ in our hearts by faith, we are saved and are being saved. Jesus must be resurrected in our lives. His righteousness needs to be made manifest in our lives. His life needs to be made manifest in our lives. All that means is that Jesus needs to shine through us, by our obeying God’s Word, loving God, and our doing of good works, showing love to others. If these signs of Christ aren’t in us, then we aren’t saved.