Answers In Bible

Tag: Romans 10

  • Why Is the Resurrection Important?

    Why Is the Resurrection Important?

    The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the one event the entire Christian faith is built on, not just a comforting ending to the Easter story. Without it, the New Testament writers themselves say there would be nothing left to believe. Here is why the resurrection matters so much, and what it actually changes.

    What Does the Resurrection Mean?

    The resurrection refers to Jesus rising bodily from the dead on the third day after His crucifixion, an event all four Gospels describe and the rest of the New Testament treats as historical fact, not symbol. It is different from Jesus simply surviving death or living on in memory. The claim is specific: He was truly dead, buried, and then truly alive again, appearing to His disciples and, according to Paul, to more than five hundred people at once (1 Corinthians 15:6).

    Why Paul Said Everything Depends on It

    The apostle Paul makes the stakes unusually clear in 1 Corinthians 15. He does not treat the resurrection as one important belief among many. He says that if it did not happen, Christian preaching and faith are both empty: “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14). A few verses later he states the positive case just as directly: “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Corinthians 15:20). In Paul’s argument, the resurrection is not decoration on top of the gospel. It is the proof that the rest of it is true.

    What the Resurrection Changes for Believers Today

    The resurrection is not only a past event to affirm. Romans 6:4 ties it directly to how believers are meant to live now: “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” And Romans 10:9 ties it to how a person is saved in the first place: “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.” Belief in a risen, living Jesus, not merely a good teacher who once lived, is at the center of Christian faith. It is also the basis for the hope that death does not have the final word for believers either.

    Key Bible Verses

    1 Corinthians 15:14
    “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.”

    1 Corinthians 15:20
    “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.”

    Romans 10:9
    “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.”

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Is the resurrection meant to be understood as a literal event?

    Yes. The Gospel writers and Paul present it as a real, physical event with named witnesses, not a metaphor for hope or renewal. Paul specifically argues that if it were not literally true, Christian faith would have no real foundation (1 Corinthians 15:17).

    How is Jesus’s resurrection different from others raised from the dead in the Bible?

    People like Lazarus (John 11) were raised back to ordinary mortal life and eventually died again. The New Testament presents Jesus’s resurrection as different in kind: a permanent, glorified resurrection to a life no longer subject to death, described as the “firstfruits” of what is promised to believers as well.

    Related Bible Topics

    How Can I Be Saved According to the Bible? | Where Did Jesus Go When He Died? What the Bible Says About Hades | What Is the Book of Life in the Bible?

    Ask a Deeper Question

    Have a specific question about the resurrection or a related passage? Ask below and get an instant, scripture-based answer.

  • What Is an Altar Call in the Bible?

    What Is an Altar Call in the Bible?

    A lot of people have watched a pastor invite the congregation to “come forward” at the end of a service, but the words “altar call” never actually appear in the Bible. So where does the practice come from, and what does scripture actually say about it?

    Where the Altar Call Tradition Comes From

    An altar call is a public invitation, usually given at the close of a sermon, for anyone who wants to respond to the gospel message to walk forward, pray aloud, or otherwise make a visible decision in front of the church. The term itself is not biblical language. It grew out of the revival movements of the 1700s and 1800s, when preachers like Charles Finney began inviting people to sit on an “anxious bench” near the front as a public sign of seeking God. The practice spread widely through camp meetings, and later through twentieth-century crusades, and became especially common in Baptist, evangelical, and Pentecostal churches.

    The Biblical Principles Behind It

    Even though the modern altar call as a formal practice isn’t found in scripture, it draws on real biblical ideas. Joshua challenged Israel to make a public, decisive commitment to God rather than a private, quiet one: “choose you this day whom ye will serve… but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15). Paul ties salvation directly to open confession, not just private belief, in Romans 10:9-10. And in the book of Acts, the pattern of an immediate, visible response to gospel preaching shows up more than once — at Pentecost, the crowd asks Peter “what shall we do?” and responds right there (Acts 2:37-38), and the Philippian jailer asks the same question of Paul and Silas and is baptized that same night (Acts 16:30-31).

    These passages show that public, immediate response to God has real biblical precedent. What they don’t do is describe a standardized ritual of walking to the front of a room while music plays — that specific form is a later tradition built on top of these principles, not a direct command.

    Different Views Among Christians Today

    Christians hold genuinely different views on the altar call as a practice. Many evangelical, Baptist, and Pentecostal churches use it regularly, valuing it as a meaningful moment of public accountability and a clear, memorable point believers can look back to. Other traditions, including many Reformed, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Catholic, and Orthodox churches, generally do not practice a walk-forward altar call at all. Some in these traditions are cautious about the practice specifically, concerned that an emotional moment in a service can be mistaken for the deeper, ongoing work of genuine conversion, and they instead emphasize conversion happening through preaching, the sacraments, and the steady work of the Holy Spirit over time.

    Across these different practices, there’s real agreement on what actually matters: salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ, not through the physical act of walking to the front of a church (Ephesians 2:8-9). An altar call, where a church uses one, is meant to be an opportunity to respond to what God is already doing in someone’s heart — not the mechanism that saves them.

    Key Bible Verses

    Romans 10:9-10
    “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. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

    Acts 2:37-38
    “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

    Joshua 24:15
    “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve… but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Do you have to go through an altar call to be saved?

    No. Scripture is clear that salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ, not through any physical action like walking to the front of a church (Ephesians 2:8-9). An altar call is a tradition some churches use to give people a chance to respond publicly — it isn’t itself the thing that saves anyone.

    Why is it called an “altar” call if there’s no literal altar?

    The name borrows its imagery from the altars of the Old Testament, places where Israel brought sacrifices and made dedications to God. Even though a modern church platform isn’t a literal altar, the language pictures a person symbolically laying their life before God, much the way Paul describes offering yourself as “a living sacrifice” in Romans 12:1.

    Related Bible Topics

    How Can I Be Saved According to the Bible? | What Does “Once Saved, Always Saved” Mean in the Bible? | What Does the Bible Say About Sin?

    Ask a Deeper Question

    Have a specific question about salvation, baptism, or a related passage? Ask below and get an instant, scripture-based answer.