Romans 10:9

The context

Romans 10 concerns Israel's failure to attain righteousness because it sought it by works rather than faith. Paul cites the nearness of the word from Deuteronomy and applies it to the message the church proclaims. Verses 9 and 10 give the content of that confession in a compact pair of clauses.

What it establishes

The verse names two elements, confession with the mouth that Jesus is Lord and belief that God raised him from the dead, and it promises salvation on that basis. It joins the earliest Christian confession to the resurrection claim.

What it does not establish

It is not a formula that works by recitation. The verbs describe a settled confession and a genuine belief, not a technique, and Paul's argument elsewhere insists that the heart matters. Nor does the verse define the minimum content of "Lord," which the surrounding letter fills in at length.

Short note, first pass, October 2026. Corrections welcome.

Cited in these answers

• The Romans Road to Salvation
• What does it mean to be a Christian? There are over 30,000 different groups, all of which answer this question differently. If agreement cannot be found on THIS issue, can the claims of Christians be taken seriously?

Part of Scripture, Opened — the exegetical layer behind every citation on this site. Scripture quotations are from the ESV.