The Gospel is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes. Romans 1:16.
(This teaching, applied, can change your life for the better. Much better)
But what does it say? “The word is near you, in our mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. Romans 10:8-10
Why is confessing or speaking what you are thinking required for salvation? For that matter, why is saying aloud (confessing) what you are thinking necessary at all?
Notice how the Apostle Paul connects Words + Believing + Confessing
- “The Word in your mouth” with also being “in your heart”.
- And again, he connects “confessing with your mouth” with “believing in your heart”
- And finally, again, connecting “with the heart a person believes” with “with the mouth he confesses”
- THE RESULT is SALVATION (soteria)
There is something powerful about saying aloud what is in your mind or heart – for good or for evil.
Read what Dr. Ronald Alexander, PhD psychotherapist says, “An affirmation can work because it has the ability to program your mind into believing the stated concept. This is because the mind doesn’t know the difference between what is real or fantasy. There are both positive and negative types of affirmations.”
One of the key psychological theories behind positive affirmations is self-affirmation theory (Steele, 1988). So, yes, there are empirical studies based on the idea that we can maintain our sense of self-integrity by telling ourselves (or affirming) what we believe in positive ways.
Another related article by Catherine Moore, Psychologist, MBA, says
“The development of self-affirmation theory has led to neuro-scientific research aimed at investigating whether we can see any changes in the brain when we self-affirm in positive ways.
There is MRI evidence suggesting that certain neural pathways are increased when people practice self-affirmation tasks (Cascio et al., 2016). If you want to be super specific, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex—involved in positive valuation and self-related information processing—becomes more active when we consider our personal values (Falk et al., 2015; Cascio et al., 2016).
More importantly, and centuries ahead of Ronald Alexander, PhD psychotherapist, Catherine Moore, Psychologist, MBA, and all the others, is what The Bible has to say on meditating and speaking what you are thinking:
1. THE POWER OF THOUGHTS
Proverbs23:7 “For as a man thinks within himself, so he is.
He says to you, “Eat and drink!”
But his heart is not with you.
2. THE POWER OF MEDITATION
Joshua 1:8 “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
3. THE POWER OF SPEECH
Matthew21:21 “And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. 22“And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
John15:7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
Matthew 16:19 “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”
Matthew18:19 “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.
Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
The Bible uses words like The Mind (set on), To Think, To Think on, Meditate, Dwell on, Speak, Say, in both the Greek (NT) and Hebrew (OT) languages to show us how we are made and how we are to manage what God has granted to us.
A FINAL NOTE and a caution: The secular view by most psychologists and psychiatrists is anthropocentric (man-centered, woman-centered).
The Biblical view is Theocentric or God-centered.
So, while you practice these powerful Truths, it is vitally important to remember that Romans 8:5 teaches us the difference between man-centered (death) and God-centered (life) and the application of these truths”
Verse 5. “those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
Verse 6. “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,
Verse 7. “because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” ROMANS 8: 5-8
Please remember that you are dealing with powerful forces here. One leading to death and the Other leading to LIFE. Use wisdom. Use caution. Choose Life.
Please do not dabble in occult-like practices. This is not about you being a “better you” or “how to gain wealth” nor is it a “name-it-and-claim-it theology”.
This is about SERVING GOD, BECOMING HIS DISCIPLE and BEING MADE INTO HIS IMAGE. What you learn and apply here are His gifts and methods to serve Him better and to live this life abundantly by His Standards.
Your Brother and Friend,
Mike Young
“Father, I pray over this article and this message and that you will watch over those who read this, who diligently apply this, Your Word, to their lives, that You will cause it to bear much fruit that You will be glorified.” Amen & Amen!
Whitestone Fellowship 