Confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus
That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.—ROMANS 10:9,10
It is not enough to simply acknowledge that Jesus is God. The demons acknowledge that and tremble (James 2:19), but that doesn’t save them. To confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus means that you hold the deep personal conviction that Jesus is your master, without reservation. It’s not about letting Jesus in your life to make you more successful or your marriage better. It’s about you coming before Jesus and beating your breast and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” It’s about you saying, “Jesus, I acknowledge You as my master and Lord, and I submit to whatever You desire.” The second aspect is to believe in your heart that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead and all that the Resurrection implies. You affirm both the deity and the sovereignty of Christ, His sinless life, substitutionary death, and literal bodily resurrection. You believe in your heart that God the Father put the stamp of divine approval on the perfect work of Jesus Christ. And you confess openly with your mouth unto salvation. And Jesus says, “Whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father” (Matt. 10:32).