¹⁸ Whoever believes and has decided to trust in Him [as personal Savior and Lord] is not judged [for this one, there is no judgment, no rejection, no condemnation]; but the one who does not believe [and has decided to reject Him as personal Savior and Lord] is judged already [that one has been convicted and sentenced], because ^[a]he has not believed and trusted in the name of the [One and] only begotten Son of God [the One who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, the One who alone can save him].

⁹ because if you acknowledge and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [recognizing His power, authority, and majesty as God], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

¹⁰ It is for this that we labor and strive [often called to account], because we have fixed our [confident] hope on the living God, who is the ^[a]Savior of all people, especially of those who believe [in Him, recognize Him as the Son of God, and accept Him as Savior and Lord].

The Peril of Unbelief

¹² Take care, brothers and sisters, that there not be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving ^[a]heart [which refuses to trust and rely on the Lord, a heart] that turns away from the living God. ¹³ But continually encourage one another every day, as long as it is called “Today” [and there is an opportunity], so that none of you will be hardened [into settled rebellion] by the deceitfulness of sin [its cleverness, delusive glamour, and sophistication]. ¹⁴ For we [believers] have become partakers of Christ [sharing in all that the Messiah has for us], if only we hold firm our newborn confidence [which originally led us to Him] until the end, ¹⁵ while it is said,

¹⁶ For who were they who heard and yet provoked Him [with rebellious acts]? Was it not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? ¹⁷ And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose dead bodies were scattered in the desert? ¹⁸ And to whom did He swear [an oath] that they would not enter His rest, but to those who disobeyed [those who would not listen to His word]? ¹⁹ So we see that they were not able to enter [into His rest—the promised land] because of unbelief and an unwillingness to trust in God.^(B)