That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. —Romans 10:9

When we speak of unconfessed sin, what do we mean? It will be useful to consider David, the Old Testament king, and his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba.

We should note that, had David died during the two years before the prophet Nathan exposed his sin of adultery and murder, David would have been saved so as by fire. You cannot tell me that David was only saved after the prophet Nathan came to him. No, David was a saved man before.

David, you see, thought he had gotten away with it. Two years is rather a long time, but then he was sleeping well at nights. All was going well. But one day, there came a knock on his door, and the prophet Nathan exposed the whole thing. Nothing was ever to be the same again for David.

But God gave David a second chance, that is to say, his life was not finished. Had David been taken away during those two years after he sinned as he did, he would have gone to heaven without a reward. But God says, "David, would you like to start over?" and David, though it was the downward side of his life, began to trust the Lord again and God used him. Mark it: David will not be saved by fire on that Day. He showed himself to be a man of God after his repentance.

Maybe you feel that there is a skeleton in your closet and there is no hope of a reward in your case. You must deal with that; confess it. Do not go around telling people, but get it right. Stop it! There is time left; thank God you were not taken, for had you been, you would have been saved so as by fire. God has given you time. Thank Him for it.

Excerpted from When God Says "Well Done!" (Christian Focus Publications Ltd., 1993).