This verse brings the Gospel to its simplest and most searching point. It tells us plainly what God requires and what God provides. Salvation is not found in church membership, religious effort, or moral improvement. It is found in a true confession of Jesus Christ. The word “whosoever” leaves the door wide open — no sinner is excluded. But the confession must be true: that Jesus is the Son of God.
To confess Jesus as the Son of God is to believe that He is more than a teacher or example. It is to believe that He is God manifest in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16), sent from heaven to deal with the sin that separates man from God. It is to believe that His death on the Cross was not a tragedy, but a sacrifice — a substitution for sinners. “The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world” (1 John 4:14). This confession rests entirely on who Christ is and what He has done, not on what we are or what we can do.
The promise is clear and powerful: “God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” The moment a sinner truly believes and confesses Christ, the broken relationship is restored. The God who was once offended by sin now comes to dwell within the believer. This is the miracle of salvation. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17). The sinner is forgiven, accepted, and brought into fellowship with God — not by effort, but by grace.
This is the Gospel in personal terms. Christ died for sinners, rose again in power, and now receives all who come to Him in faith. To confess Him now is to receive life. To refuse Him is to remain separated from God. “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1 John 5:12).