Franklin Graham’s Letter to Trump Was Right — But Did It Miss Out On A Golden Opportunity?

The Gospel isn’t a box to check in mental ascent, but a life to surrender in every fiber of our being.

On Palm Sunday, President Trump shared a private letter from Reverend Franklin Graham on Truth Social — timing that placed the Gospel of Jesus Christ in front of millions entering Holy Week. We have deep respect for Reverend Graham, and the letter’s core truth is unassailable: good works, prominence, and success are powerless to earn Heaven, and salvation comes only by turning from sin and trusting in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Graham rightly closed by citing Romans 10:9 and calling Trump to confess and believe. Amen to all of that.

Graham is a personal friend to President Trump, so he knows he’ll have the opportunity to have follow-up discussions to complete the message. But, seeing that the President posted it for all the world to see, I’m sure he wishes he would have written more. It is this sort of incomplete messaging in the modern Church that keeps failing the people in the pews — and why Trump, and millions of self-described believers, may be standing on far shakier ground than they realize. 

“Confess” and “believe” have been catastrophically dumbed down.

When most churchgoers hear Romans 10:9, they walk away thinking salvation requires saying Jesus is Lord and mentally agreeing He rose from the dead — full stop. Yet, the actual Greek word behind “confess” (homologeō) carries the weight of public declaration rooted in genuine submission, precisely the kind Jesus described when He said:

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23

Daily cross-bearing surrender is the condition Jesus puts on discipleship — and it cannot be reduced to a one-time prayer. As for “believe” — Paul answers what that word truly means in the very same chapter of Romans, where he calls the goal of the Gospel “the obedience of faith”. John the Baptist drew the line with unmistakable clarity:

“Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” (John 3:36)

Jesus Himself hammers this home in His own words:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father” Matthew 7:21

Jesus presses it further by asking:

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” Luke 6:46

The Heart Is Where It All Begins

And none of that obedience is even possible without the foundation Paul himself points to — believing in your heart. Jesus made clear that wholehearted love for God is the first and greatest commandment (Matthew 22:37), because no one can truly obey a Lord they do not love with everything they have. Commanded obedience without a transformed heart is just religion. What Jesus demands is far deeper.

He settled the matter once and for all when He said:

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” John 14:15

And He doubled-down when He said in the same context:

“Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.” John 14:24

Trump must confess and believe — and so must every one of us who claims Jesus’ name. But we must each have a personal reckoning with what those words actually command. Real faith transforms. Real belief obeys. And real love for Jesus does what He tells us to do.

Reverend Graham’s letter was a good word, but the full Word of God demands more of all of us—far more than mental agreement. Let’s pray that everyone who reads Graham’s letter is provoked to read the full Word for themselves and ultimately decide to surrender all to Lord Jesus, come what may.