Romans 10:1-13: A Conversation About Faith

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tsa-raw-chicken-handgun_n_636c2c6de4b06d3e425736c1 - You can’t trust people to do the right thing, but you can trust God.

Lots of things you can’t trust in this life, but God says to you, “You can trust me” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

When having a Gospel conversation, once you have talked about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, you have to invite the person your talking with to trust in what you’ve explained. You have to invite the person to place their faith in Jesus.

What is faith? Is it believing the right things about God? After all, Scripture talks about those who believe in God but are not saved. (James 2:19) (Matt. 7:21-23)

Or, is faith more than believing the right things about God? What does it mean to have a faith that saves, and how do we talk to people who are far from Christ about faith? Two truths about faith, and how we can more effectively talk about faith with people who are far from Christ.

Faith in Christ is the only path to restoration.

Paul – apostle to gentiles, but has a heart for his own people. He knows why their hearts are blinded to the truth of Christ – an absence of faith. They believe God – but they only believe what they want to believe about God and not what God has revealed to them. Chosen to believe that essence of faith is what they do not what has been done for them.

Zealous about their religion. (Paul knew about religious zeal. He was a religious zealot. He had been a religious zealot before he came to Christ.) Israel in the first century much different than the Israel that went into Babylonian exile - were not given to idolatry like their ancestors. Zealous for the One true God.

Notice – zeal not according to knowledge. “You are religious but ignorant of God.” Heartbreaking: they were passionate about a God they did not know.

Could that be said of you?

Zealous about fellowship.

Zealous about community service.

Zealous about Christian traditions.

Zealous about Christian culture - living in the Bible belt.

Zealous about Christian morality.

You attend church to worship God, but do you know the God you proclaim to worship? You serve in different capacities in the church, but do you know the God you are serving? You might be zealous about religion, but do you know God? Do you have faith in the God of the Bible or the God of you think He is?

Paul to his Jewish brothers: Don’t ignore the revelation of God! Just like God has made His will known in the OT Law, He has made His will known in the Gospel. In the Law, God revealed His standard - a standard that we cannot keep. In Christ, God reveals His grace - because He knows we cannot keep His law.

To the Jews: “Why be zealous about something you cannot keep? Be zealous about the One who lived out God’s standard for you, and surrender your life to Him.”

Romans 10:5: The standard - If you want to be righteous - keep the commands. BUT you can’t do it.

Romans 10:5-8 quotes Deuteronomy 30:12-13. Moses to Israelites before they enter the Promised Land: “God has revealed Himself to you. It’s not hard to find what God desires from you.” God did not hide the Law from Israel. He made it very clear what He desired from His people.

Now, Paul applies these verses to Jesus. Just like God didn’t hide the Law from His people, He also hasn’t hidden the way to salvation: faith, specifically faith in Jesus.

Paul to Romans: God is a revealing God! You don’t have to ascend to heaven to find righteousness or swim the seas, it has come to you. Christ has come to us, He has gone to the abyss (He has died), and He has come back to ultimately reveal the will of God to us: that you should be righteous through faith. Jesus is near – trust Him in faith.

The only way we can be restored to God is through faith. To be saved you have to hear the Gospel (14-16) and respond by faith (believing that Jesus is the only way - John 14:6).

You won’t share the Gospel if you don’t know the Gospel. But, when you know the Gospel, it enraptures your heart - you just want people to know your Savior.

BUT, You will share religious opinions that don’t provide real hope to anyone. (You need to go to church, you need to stop cussing, drinking, smoking - We don’t end up sharing Good News - we end up sharing legalism that condemns. Legalism does NOT restore us to God.)

Faith is an inward change that is expressed with an outward confession.

Vs. 9 – believe and confess – it seems so simple – but is it?

Biblical faith requires intellectual affirmation – Affirming what Scripture says about Christ and believing the Gospel. That there is a God who we have rebelled against, but He chose to love us, so He sent His Son to live the life we could not live, die the death we deserve, and defeat the enemy we could not defeat. Belief that He is the Son of God, born of a virgin, fully human, fully divine.

Biblical faith requires trusting. Believe in your heart - Paul reminding us that salvation is inward change. God does a work in you drawing you to Himself. So faith is not only intellectual affirmation (you’ll find many people who intellectually agree), but I choose to base my life on what I intellectually agree with. (I intellectually agree that it’s good for me to eat broccoli, but I’m not going to eat it. I’m not going to enjoy the benefits – I don’t eat things that look like a tree and smell like a foot.) Agreeing and trusting – placing all your hope in what you believe to be true.

Biblical faith requires turning. Mark 1:14-15, Luke 13:5 Acts 2:38, Acts 17:30-31 - Believe and repent. (Heart change) Turn from what? Whatever you based your life on other than the good news of the Gospel. Turning from self and turning to God. Repentance = a change of mind that leads to a change of action. Repenting of sins is repenting of a posture towards God that says, “I don’t need you” and turning to a posture that says, “I’ll never be able to live without you.” Repentance does not mean everything about you changes in a moment, but your life orientation does. Repentance leads to a life of progressive sanctification.

Biblical faith results in confession. Inward/outward - When you believe, you proclaim - to God, to others.

Biblical faith understands that Jesus is Lord. (Confess that Jesus is Lord) Faith is not just believing to get a free pass from hell – it’s realizing that the best way you can live is to allow Christ to be your Master – surrender – whatever He wants for me is best for me. I accept His will for my life.

Anyone who calls on Jesus by faith can be saved. (Romans 10:13) No matter who you are or what you’ve done.

Paul is reminding us that saving faith begins inside of you. God does something in you – He reveals the truth, you trust it, and you turn your heart (repent) from what you’ve been trusting. This inward change leads to an outward confession to God – “Lord, I believe. I trust you. I turn from my sin. I repent. I surrender.” This is saving faith! An inward change brought about by the Spirit of God that results in an outward confession to Christ AND His church.

Have you trusted Jesus? Have you believed that Jesus is the only way to salvation? Have you turned from your sin and surrendered to Him?

How do we talk to people who are far from God about faith?

Be clear about your responsibility. (vs. 14-15) Salvation is God’s work, but God uses you to share the Good News of His salvation. You can’t shy away from your responsibility.

Tell your story - Your testimony is not the Gospel, but it is a powerful witness to the Gospel. You’ve been restored. Very simple way to share your testimony: what was my life like before Christ? What caused me to turn to Christ? (A friend told me about Jesus, and God opened my eyes.) What is your life like now because of Christ? – We all have a story, and people will listen to how God has changed your life. How many times did Paul tell His story? Or, woman at the well – “Come and see, this man knows all I ever did.” Or, man born blind in John 9. “One thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see.” Who have you told your story to lately? Maybe invite a friend to lunch – ask them about their life, and ask if you can share about yours. Write out your story.

Talk about restoration – As you tell your story, stay focused on the point of the story. Ultimately, your story is not about you. It’s about God who desires to restore us to Himself through the death and resurrection of Christ. Talk about how you have been forgiven. Talk about how you have fellowship with God. You are in a relationship with Him.

Talk about turning and trusting. People will not be saved if they do not confess Jesus as Lord. So, ask people to turn to Christ. The goal of sharing the Gospel is not to just give information but to call people trust in Christ and turn from their sins. This is difficult! But, the Gospel demands a response. Help people see that God is worthy of their trust. Help them to see His control over all circumstances. Help people to see their need to give Him control and turn from their own control. I like to say things like, “Right now, you can become a child of God.” Or, “What’s holding you back from giving your life to Christ right now?” Or, “I want this to be your decision, but right now you can make the decision to give your life to Jesus.” Sometimes the response might be, “I’m not ready.” Or, “I’ll think about what you’ve said.” If they need time, fine. But, follow up!

Next steps:

1. Turn from your sin and trust Christ.

2. Tell someone your story to someone in your oikos. Pray this morning for that opportunity – pray for boldness. What if everyone of us told our story to someone over the next couple of weeks?