Romans 10:8-13 “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”(NIV)

I do now use religious bumper stickers.  I am not ashamed of God; I am ashamed of my driving. Imagine someone seeing the way I drive, and then reading a bumper sticker that says, “God is my copilot.” That would not be a ringing endorsement of the gospel. 

In these verses, Paul makes a connection between what we believe in our hearts and what we proclaim with our mouths.  If we proclaim, “Jesus is lord”, but do not believe that in our hearts, it is in vain.  Claiming something aloud is not evidential proof that we truly believe it.  Similarly, believing in our hearts that Jesus is lord will place upon us a necessity to witness to that belief.  Paul says that it is our faith that makes us right with God.  If we are justified/made righteous by faith, why does he also say that professing our faith aloud saves us?  Is it possible to be righteous and yet remain silent? 

It is impossible to be righteous with God while willfully remaining unrighteous with others.  Jesus made our reconciliation with God possible.  To know this and to refuse to share it with others is unrighteous and wicked.  It is impossible for God to save us if we willfully and deliberately allow others to die lost in sin.  Paul is writing to Jewish Christians, some who, because of their prejudices, did not want to see gentiles saved.  He wanted them to know that it was only possible for God to save them, if they were willing to proclaim Jesus lord.  The same is true for us today.  God will not save us if we are ashamed of Jesus.  When we proclaim his name, he will not put us to shame; He will save us.   Bumper stickers are optional, but declaring Jesus is lord is not.