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Romans 10 · a question people ask

Why does 10:9 speak of the mouth and the heart?

In the text

The verse before gives the words "in your mouth and in your heart" (10:8), and 10:9 has them both: "that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (10:9). The next verse says them again, the heart first: "For with the heart one believes resulting in righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made resulting in salvation." (10:10). The letter says no more about the mouth and the heart than these verses do, and these notes add nothing to them.

The verses

“But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart;” that is, the word of faith which we preach: that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes resulting in righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made resulting in salvation.”
Romans 10:8-10 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Romans 10

Romans 10: Faith comes by hearing

Romans 10 gives the words "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (10:8), and goes straight on: "if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (10:9). And the report of 10:16 and the hearing of 10:17 are one Greek noun.

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Last reviewed October 7, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions