2015 Chafer Theological Seminary Bible Conference

Part 2

In this session entitled "The Middle East Meltdown" we are going to focus our attention on the famous prophecy found in Ezekiel 38‒39. However, it's a meltdown only from the human point of view, not the divine perspective. A subtitle for this presentation could be "The Coming Islamic Invasion of Israel." There’s a very interesting Chinese saying that says, "May You Live in Interesting Times." I think the time period that we’re living in now would qualify as interesting. Given the choice, there isn’t a time period in history that I would rather be living in than now. Why? The Lord seems to be setting the stage for His return as never before. One of these major stage-setting trends that we are currently seeing is the rise of a coalition of nations that harbors a hostile intent toward Israel. No matter which presidential administration comes into office in this nation and no matter how the calendar turns, this is an issue that doesn’t seem to go away.

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What happens if a person only trusts Jesus Christ for salvation from sin and never tells anyone? Are they only half saved or not saved at all? Will they still go to heaven when they die? Does the reception of salvation really involve two parts or maybe even three: faith in Christ, public confession of that faith, and submission to Christ’s Lordship? Many have learned a method of gospel presentation called “The Roman Road” which included Rom 10:9-10 as the key verse for how to be saved. Based on that verse many have been taught that a person must not only believe in Jesus, but also must publically confess their faith or they are not saved. And some also add that this confession specifically emphasizes submission to the authority or Lordship of Jesus.

Aside from the question of the necessity of public confession, a second popular teaching seeks support from this verse in making a distinction between a “head” belief and a “heart” belief. According to this view, a person must not only understand and affirm the gospel intellectually, a head belief, but in addition must have a heart belief, usually understood to be a commitment to Christ or something equivalent.