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There will always be those among us who seek to pervert God's plan of salvation, for whatever reason. It could be they hate the truth, or just want to argue with those who teach it, or maybe they just don't understand how to determine from the scriptures what is the truth.
If you read the context, you cannot honestly conclude that what is said in verse 9 is all that is involved in being saved.
Romans 10:8 "But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;"
Paul's words found in verse 9 were written to people who had heard the gospel preached, which would have included the need for obedience.
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."
The text confirms that those who believe in their heart and are willing to make the great confession that they "shalt be saved." It does not say they are saved at this point. Unfortunately, some versions errantly so translate the passage.
10 "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
The word "unto" has various meanings, but in this context, it must mean "toward" (Strongs Greek) or "in the direction of." Consider the example of conversion in Acts 8:35-37:
Act 8:35 "Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. 36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."
The Ethiopian had heard the gospel and saw water where he might be baptized. Before the baptism he said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." This man had determined that he would be saved, he knew what to do, as he apparently had been told, and when he saw water he saw opportunity to complete the conversion process, which he did as we see from the next two verses.
From the following passage it becomes apparent that "faith only" (salvation at the point of faith) is not in harmony with the scriptures. It says, 13 "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Here we find the word "call." This word is a verb that requires doing something. Some would say it means offer a prayer to be saved, but when we continue to read the context, we see more clearly how one calls upon the name of the Lord.
14 "How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?"
This passage indicates that people hear when the preacher tells them about Jesus and what they must do, as was asked by Jews on the day of Pentecost when they heard the same gospel preached (Acts 2).
16 "But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?"
In this passage, Paul introduces something that many professed disciples either refuse to grasp or are unable to do so - obedience to the gospel.
17 "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
One who has faith has heard the word of God preached to them. One is saved by faith, which is the knowledge he has learned and believed. This would include believing in the need for obedience, which Paul notes is an area where some had failed. That obedience is required is evident from several passages, but the following should suffice:
Matthew 7:21 "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." (read through verse 27) Thus, a mere confession, or a prayer is not all that is required to be saved. To "enter into the kingdom of heaven" one must also do as told in answer to "men and brethren, what shall we do" (Acts 2:37, 38). "Repent and be baptized…for the remission of sins..." The idea that belief alone, or confession alone or with faith alone, is all that one needs to do to be saved is clearly based on the use of bad hermeneutics and is not sound teaching.
Hebrews 10:9 "And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;"
The notion that salvation is at the point of faith is so clearly taught to the Romans, and elsewhere, one needs help to miss it. In chapter 6:3,4; 17, 18 Paul describes the new birth as taking place in baptism and he refers to it as the point where they were "then made free from sin" and "became the servants of righteousness." He reminds them they "obeyed from the heart." (See also Col. 2:11-13) There is no way to harmonize this with the "faith only" or salvation at the point of faith notion.
If you want Jesus to be your savior, you must obey him.
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