For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of law: “The man who does these things shall live by them.” 
But the righteousness of faith SPEAKS in this way:
“Do NOT SAY in your heart, ‘Who will go up into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘Who will go down into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” 
But what does it SAY?
“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”
—that is, the WORD OF FAITH which we are preaching, that if you CONFESS with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;  for with the heart a person believes, leading to righteousness, and with the mouth he CONFESSES, leading to salvation. 
For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes upon Him will not be put to shame.”
Romans 10:5-11

The WORD OF FAITH does something. What does it do? It CONFESSES or declares something. It’s not called the “thought of faith,” but the “word of faith,” because the point is about saying and speaking it, not merely thinking it.

The immediate context of the passage is righteousness and salvation. Paul says the Jews didn’t have the knowledge of God’s righteousness. It’s true the Old Testament spoke of faith, but the Jews disregarded this and attempted to acquire righteousness by their effort, not by faith.

Faith, in the purest sense, is just a mental assent to God’s word and promise. That is, in the context of the Bible—for example, Abraham’s use of faith—it was a faith that was spoken. It was spoken with confidence as true before it happened. Abram said he was the father of many nations before he had the son of promise.
Another important systematic theology context is that God created us with a body. We have a mouth. Thus, God didn’t only intend for us to agree with the truth mentally but to speak it, sing it, and declare it. This is what James says: faith without works is dead. Speaking faith is the smallest work you need to do; otherwise, faith is dead. It’s like Jesus’ parable about the money bags. The Master said to the last person who hid the money, “At the very least, you could have put my money in a bank and gotten interest.” This is what words are to faith. It’s the bare-bones minimum you should do with it. The least you should do is to open your month and let faith speak.

Faith is a mental agreement with everything God has commanded and spoken, whether it’s about a historical statement or a good promise of healing. Faith is agreeing with God about all of it. However, in the context of a promise, you’re agreeing about something God has already promised, and in the context of the gospel, you’re agreeing it has already happened and been given to you. Thus, in the context of the gospel, you can speak of faith in a shorthand way by focusing on the end results. You can say: Faith isn’t my love for God—it’s God’s love for me; Faith is confidence in God’s promise, not our ability; Faith is receiving God’s free supply by grace, not our performance; and Faith is God giving to us, not us giving to God.

Paul now expands on what faith means concerning righteousness. The first thing that Faith Speaks is to avoid saying the wrong thing. Paul then gives a specific example: Do not say, “I will bring Jesus Christ down,” or “I will bring Him up.” The point is simple. Considering righteousness being freely given in the gospel, you don’t do anything. Jesus, as our Savior, was the Father’s plan, and by His choice, Jesus went down, did all the hard work, and by the power of God, He went up back to heaven. Thus, in the context of righteousness being accomplished by Jesus, the first thing for Faith to Speak is to not say the wrong thing by claiming you did something to make yourself righteous.

Next, Paul explains that Faith does have something positive to say. In the context of the gospel being finished, faith isn’t just a mental assent anymore; it’s a “Word of Faith” that’s to be “confessed.” Why is faith now more than just an agreement in our mind? Because God did something for you, and you’re to receive it; the bare-bones smallest work to authenticate your faith in God’s finished work is to open your mouth and declare it. This is why Paul says you believe in your heart, but you also declare with your mouth, and this combination is what saves you.

This is why the Jews didn’t have a knowledge of righteousness: because they didn’t believe it was freely given and didn’t declare it was freely given. Paul first mentions that faith doesn’t say something, referring to the Jews trying to do something to accomplish it. If it was given by unmerited favor, you can only receive it by unmerited favor.

The biblical principle of first mentions is with Abraham. He believed and confessed he was the father of many nations before it happened, and by this, God freely credited righteousness to his record. Abraham didn’t work or earn this; it was given by unmerited favor. Abraham had to introduce his name (father of many nations) to his neighbors before he saw the promise fulfilled. Abraham was praised for his faith. Abraham is important because he believed and also spoke the Word of Faith, and on this, God declared him righteous. His name was literally a Word of Faith declaration. Abraham is the father of faith, and his name is a Word of Faith. This means, as true children of Abraham who claim to have faith, we also must live a Word of Faith declaration.

The Bible shows the children of faith who followed Abraham also lived a “Word of Faith” that confessed and declared confidence in all the good things God promised. David’s Faith Spoke in front of the giant and crowds: “This day the LORD will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel” (1 Samuel 17:46 NIV). The Hebrews had a Word of Faith to the King of Babylon: “Our God will deliver us.” Joshua’s Faith Spoke: “Sun, be still.” Peter’s Faith Spoke this way: “What I do have I give to you: Walk, in the Name of Jesus.” There are many ways to say a Word of Faith. Like a child, a simple “thank you” or praise is all that’s needed for Faith to speak.

Abraham’s Word of Faith was confidence in God to perform all the good things, such as healing, various miracles, fame, riches, and blessings. Galatians says the gospel was preached to Abraham. What was this gospel? It was to make him famous, rich, overly healthy, and powerful. God didn’t promise these things for Himself but to do them for Abraham. Abraham believed God would make him famous and give him health and wealth. God declared him righteous for believing all the health and wealth He promised him. According to Paul, Scripture terms this health, wealth, and fame as the “gospel.” And according to Paul, this same gospel is given to us through Jesus Christ.

Abraham’s Word of Faith in God to give him health and wealth is what caused God to declare him righteous. Through Abraham, God displayed Himself as the Savior of the whole man, materially and spiritually. God is pleased when we look to Him to be this total Savior to us. This is why you see God granting the requests of those who asked for the same type of blessings and favor; they’re commended by God and praised by Jesus Christ. More is better. More health, wealth, and fame asked for, and then God supplying it, glorifies Him and His gospel. Less means less glory for God and Jesus Christ.

The Word of Faith is a rock-solid confidence in God’s word and promise. Faith sees what God promised as already given and deposited into our accounts, so it Speaks, knowing the reality has already been set in stone. It’s like a parent buying a gift for their child (a gift they know the child has been wanting) and placing it on their bed. The child comes home from school, and the parent says, “I got you something special; it’s on your bed.” The child’s face lights up, and they scream “thank you” because, even though they haven’t seen it, they know it’s already reality. The child screaming “thank you” and hugging their parent is similar to what Paul is saying about faith “Speaking.”

However, some will doubt that Jesus will forgive or heal them. This is like a child saying, “I don’t believe you put a gift on my bed,” even though you did. It’s particularly insulting because you already put the gift on the bed. It’s not like you’re going to do it; you already did it, and they’re calling you a liar. This is how most relate to God. God has already given them health, fame, wealth, forgiveness, and favor in the gospel, and they call Him a liar.

Some try to be humbler. Imagine the child saying, “Okay, I believe when you’re dead, it’ll be in your will, so I’ll have it in the FUTURE.” Or, “I believe you, but I’m not worthy to accept it.” It doesn’t matter the excuse; none are acceptable. All excuses expose the child for not believing their parents and implying their parents are liars.

When we’re saved, we’re declaring God’s love for us because the gospel has already been accomplished and given to His chosen ones.

Faith in your heart is how you know it was for you. Faith is God’s gift that makes you aware that the gospel was for you and already belongs to you. This is why faith is also a “word of faith.” Because the gospel was for you and given to you by the decision of God, you’re not saved by asking to be saved; you’re saved by confessing and declaring with thanksgiving that Jesus has already forgiven, healed, and prospered you. Peter told the crowd at Pentecost to “repent” and be saved; he didn’t tell them to ask to be saved. Because forgiveness and righteousness have already happened, you repent, knowing it’s been accomplished.

To ask God to forgive you and credit Jesus’ righteousness to you is to ask God to re-crucify His Son, because that’s how you’re forgiven and made righteous. Thus, faith is receiving something God has already given, not asking Him to do something, because He already did something. Thus, in the context of a finished gospel, faith is a “word of faith” that confesses Jesus already went down and up, and by this, He has already saved, forgiven, and made righteous. When Peter simply told them to “repent” to be saved, this presupposes the gospel is already finished, so you only need to repent to receive—not ask, beg, work for it, or ask God to do something. In this sense, Faith Speaks of God’s love for you and of Him serving you like a waiter. Faith Speaks and declares how God has already forgiven you and made you righteous in His Son.

Therefore, you do not say that you worked or earned a righteous record, because Jesus went down and up without your involvement. He saved you.

This is important because it also applies to all other things Jesus accomplished when He went down and then went back up. This applies to healing and various miracles.

Isaiah 53 tells us that Jesus was a substitutionary atonement for our healing. The verse uses the Levitical word for substitution, as used on the Day of Atonement for the scapegoat. The verse, therefore, means Jesus carried away our sicknesses and diseases like the scapegoat on the Day of Atonement. We don’t bear sickness because, in the Father’s mind, He considered them taken off us and placed on His Son. The next verse explains healing also in the language of substitution: “By His stripes, we are healed.” In the Father’s mind, He decided the stripes on Jesus were an exchange for our healing. Since healing can only be given in this age and not the next, it means our healing for this age is 100% certain on the demand of faith, just as forgiveness of sins is 100% certain on the demand of faith.

Jesus went down from heaven. You didn’t bring Him down. He went down on His own. He then took stripe after stripe upon Himself in a substitutionary exchange for our healing. After this, He went to heaven by the power of the Father. You didn’t bring Him back up; He did that without you.

Therefore, do NOT SAY that you earn healing by working a job and paying a doctor for it. You don’t work for healing or pay for healing. Rather, believe that Jesus’ finished atonement gave you healing, and CONFESS with your mouth, “Jesus has healed me.” This is how forgiveness and healing are received in this age, and they can only be received in this age.

Without suggesting a type of superstition that some take with speaking unbelief, there’s an important overall principle to be learned. Peter denied Jesus three times, and at the end of John, Jesus asked Peter three times, “Do you love Me?” This gave Peter three chances to confess a word of faith, or to allow faith to “speak”: “Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.” In the Psalms, David admitted that he said a word of unbelief: “I am cut off.” These, and the like, are what Paul was referring to in the first part of defining what a word of faith is. The first part is to not say the incorrect thing. We’re not to be superstitious, as if we need to counter every bad word with a word of faith. However, the basic teaching is obvious. If you’re speaking words of unbelief about how sinful, unhealthy, poor, or pathetic you are, rebuke yourself by not saying those words. Instead, let faith speak. Say how righteous you are, confess how Jesus already carried away all your sicknesses, and declare how Jesus already exchanged your poverty for His riches.

Let faith speak!

There’s a reason the New Testament gives commands to always give thanks to God and always be singing songs and Psalms to God. Thanksgivings, songs, and Psalms are a constant VOICE to faith. They allow faith to speak. They’re a continual Word of Faith confession in God’s salvation, forgiveness, healing, prosperity, peace, and power at work in our lives. Like the example of the little child, thanksgivings are a strong declaration of your faith that God has already given you healing and provision without you working for it.

Thanksgivings, songs, and Psalms, being a Word of Faith, are the life and devotion that make the inner man strong. They’re the living activity of a Christian. Especially when your eyes, feelings, and circumstances contradict the promises of God, you ought to double down on the Word of Faith. As Paul says, “What does it say?” What does faith say, when you are 99 and your wife is past child bearing? Faith says, God will do what He said, we will have a son.” What does faith say, when circumstance seem impossible? Faith says triumph is my definition, and my dreams are a reality. Let faith speak. And if you do, Scripture promises you will have what you say.

What does faith not say? Faith does not say “they are giants, and we are grasshoppers.” Faith does not say, “healing is uncertain.” We know them by their work. If a person keeps saying what faith does not say, it means they do not have faith. This is painfully obvious. They are the faithless. They are servants of the Faithless one. But I believe better things for you.

Faith has a megaphone—it’s the Word of Faith, shouting God’s done-deal promises. Abraham named himself “Big Daddy” before the kid showed up, and God gave him a righteousness high-five. Don’t mumble doubts or grovel for what’s already yours—confess Jesus’ finished work, from healing to riches, and watch faith’s mic drop dominate.