That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
That if thou shalt confess, х hoti (G3754) ean (G1437) homologeesees (G3670)] - or 'For (or 'Because) if thou shalt confess.' The words will bear either sense. If the latter rendering is adopted (as most versions and the majority of critics do), we have in this verse the apostle's own remarks, confirming the foregoing statements as to the simplicity of the Gospel method of salvation. But (with Calvin, Beza, Fritzsche, Ferme, Locke, Conybeare, and Jowett) we prefer the sense given by our own version. In this case the apostle is here expressing in full what he holds to be the true Christian reading of the words of Moses in the passage quoted; in other words, the sense which those words of Moses yield to the intelligent Christian reader of them, with the blaze of Gospel light illuminating those ancient oracles of God-namely, "That if thou shalt confess"
With thy mouth the Lord Jesus, х Kurion (G2962) Ieesoun (G2424)] - meaning either, 'If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as [the] Lord' (so DeWette and Green translate the words); in which case, compare 1 Corinthians 12:3; Romans 14:9; Philippians 2:11; or the meaning may be more general-`If thou shalt confess the Lord Jesus with thy mouth;' the emphasis in this case being on the open confession of Christ (Matthew 10:32; 1 John 4:15), and "the Lord Jesus" being but a wonted form of that name which is above every name. We used to take the words in the former sense; but this latter (that of our own version) is probably the correct sense. At the same time, the confession of "the Lord Jesus" can only be genuine in the cordial recognition of Him as "the Lord," as well as "Jesus."
And shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him ('that God raised Him') from the dead (see the note at Romans 4:25 ), thou shall be saved. The confession of the mouth, of course, comes, in point of time, after the belief of the heart; but it is put first here to correspond with the foregoing quotation from Deuteronomy 30:14 - "in thy mouth and in thy heart" (Romans 10:8). In 2 Peter 1:10 also, the "calling" of believers is put before their "election," as that which is first 'made sure,' although in point of time it comes after it. In the next verse, however, the two things are placed in their natural order.