The Nature of Saving Faith - Romans 10:10-13

Introduction

Last week we considered the means of salvation, namely that one confess with their mouth and believe in their heart that Jesus is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead. We observed that this was not new information but was embedded in the teaching of the Old Testament and indeed in the teaching of Moses, and therefore this teaching indicted Israel in an even more profound way. Their rejection was not just of Christ but also of Moses. For an Israelite to be consistent in their understanding and application of Moses, they would need to confess and believe Christ as put forth in the Old Testament. They did not, to their damnation and peril.

Paul continues this train of thought today as he considers Christ as the universal propitiation for sin, as a savior to not just the Israelites but to the whole world.

I want to press in a little bit deeper into some of the same truths we looked at last week. My prayer is that through these moments we have together, that we would see a precious and captivating picture of the glory of salvation.

Paul gives us two parallel statements here in vss 10-13. The first considers the how of salvation, with an Old Testament proof. The second considers the who of salvation, also with an Old Testament proof.

Because of Paul’s intertwined parallelism here, I want to outline our study this morning a little bit differently, looking at these verses at a cross-section rather than chronologically.

With that in mind, our outline this morning will move forward as follows:

The realities of saving faith

The recipients of saving faith

The riches of saving faith

Let’s dig in.

The realities of saving faith

Last week we spent some time looking at some of the realities of belief. In the spirit of transparency I must admit that I felt I shortchanged some of those realities and didn’t accord to them their full import and power both for Paul’s argument here in Romans and also for our lives.

With that being said, I want to revisit some of the truths that we considered last week surrounding this notion of saving faith.

We can observe three realities in these four verses regarding saving faith. What is faith, for Paul?

They are:

Believing

Confessing

Calling

Let’s look closer.

Believing

We spent some time last week explaining the idea of believing. We affirmed with Wilhelmus Schrotinghuis that belief is composed of knowledge, assent, and trust. This is where I felt I left some things out last week that are worth mentioning today.

First, to believe is to know. Paul will address this at length in verse 14. We find ourselves in a culture awash with a feelings-oriented approach to truth and knowledge. There are no objective and concrete standards by which to measure truth and knowledge in our culture. Rather, you feel, therefore it is. Feelings rule the modern American day.

This type of thinking has infiltrated Christian thought today. Saving faith for many today has little to do with objectively revealed truth in God’s Word and instead has everything to do with what one feels.

However,

Reformed Systematic Theology, Volume 3: Spirit and Salvation Saving Faith as Experiential Knowledge of God

Christian faith cannot subsist on personal feelings about spiritual matters, no matter how sincere. Such a faith would amount to “empty superstitions,” Robert Reymond said, and would “fatally wound Christianity in the heart.” Anyone who rests his faith on spiritual experience without standing on the clear teachings of the written Word remains in utter darkness (Isa. 8:20). We must not follow our own hearts (Num. 15:39). Though it may be popular to be “spiritual but not religious” and to follow one’s inner light as if it were the leading of the Spirit, the results are disastrous, for everyone will naturally do what is right in his own eyes (Judg. 21:25). G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) said, “Of all conceivable forms of enlightenment the worst is what these people call the Inner Light. Of all horrible religions the most horrible is the worship of the god within.… That Jones shall worship the god within him turns out ultimately to mean that Jones shall worship Jones.”86

True saving faith, therefore, cannot stand on personal experience but must have an objective basis in the revealed truth of God. To quote John Calvin, this knowledge is not merely of the brain, but of the heart, and not merely of the understanding, but of the affections.

This experiential heart-knowledge that so seizes the affections of the believer is what Paul spoke of in 2 Corinthians 4:6

2 Corinthians 4:6 LSB

For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

The light of the gospel of Christ shines in our hearts, thereby imparting knowledge to us in a way that is beyond just what we can know with our minds but is actually sensed in our hearts.

This inward illumination was defined by Jonathan Edwards as a true sense of the divine and superlative excellency of the things of religion, a real sense of the excellency of God, and Jesus Christ, and the work of redemption, and the ways and works of God revealed in the gospel. This illumination will, according to Edwards, turn the heart to God as the fountain of good, and to choose him for the only portion. This light, and this light only, will bring the soul to Christ.

Geerhardus Vos, in his Reformed Dogmatics, says this: In saving faith there is something different and more than the old knowledge of historical faith. A new knowledge arises, completely different and to be compared with nothing else, which only a true believer, regenerated by God’s spirit, knows.

Therefore we can affirm that true saving faith consists in not only a factual knowledge of the historical realities contained in the Bible, but a spiritual, inward illumination of the heart by which we know experientially the love and grace of God as it has been given to us.

Do we all know what that feels like? When we know the saving grace and love of God as it has been poured out on us? That is saving faith.

Second, to believe is to assent.

Secondly, to believe is to assent. This is what we might call a hearty submission to the word of God in the gospel, beyond just the affirmation of the idea in the mind.

This is what Paul has in mind when he speaks of “the obedience of faith” in Romans 1 and Romans 16, and in other places that the gospel is actually something to be obeyed.

Further, this assent is the result of a glorious sight of the goodness of God in the gospel. The Puritan minister Thomas Manton says that assent is not only to the truth of the gospel but also to the goodness of the gospel, because the gospel, when rightly understood becomes so compellingly sweet that we cannot but turn our wills toward it.

Frances Turretin further described this assent as follows: True saving faith is rooted intimately in the heart, consisting in a deep, most internal, vital, friendly, and efficacious impression by which the word becomes implanted and tempered with faith.

Faith is therefore a willing submission to the will of God. It is not perfect external submission, but a willing inward submission to God and to His Word. It is the desire that Paul speaks of in Romans 7 when he says that he desires to do good in his inward being. This is assent. This is submission. This is the second key aspect of belief.

Thirdly, to believe is to trust.

Joel Beeke breaks down this aspect of belief in three interwoven parts.

To trust Christ is to:

Receive Christ - This is in view in John 1:12 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,” We receive Christ not merely as a friend but as the glorious Lord of grace and truth. The receiving of Christ is pictured for us throughout Scripture in vibrant illustrations, often from the mouth of Christ himself. Such illustrations include eating bread from John 6, drinking water from John 4 and John 7, and putting on clothing in Romans 13. John Brown of Haddington said that trusting in Christ by receiving Him is to take hold of Him as God’s greatest gift.

Rest in Christ - One rests in Christ much as the stones used to build a building rest upon the cornerstone and foundation - an analogy we have seen in multiple perspectives in recent weeks. To trust in Christ is to lean on Him as the only one who can provide eternal and lasting support to the believer, in both times of plenty and in times of need.

Renounce all that is not Christ - specifically, true saving trust in Christ renounces all other persons, things, and institutions that we might otherwise place our trust in. It is receiving Christ with an empty hand, leaving our own wisdom and knowledge behind, leaving our own righteousness and strength and will and pleasure at the cross, and instead taking those things as they are in Christ, and not in ourselves.

This is a detailed consideration of what Paul means when he asserts that the first reality of saving faith in Christ is that we believe. To believe is to know, to assent, and to trust all that Christ is for us as declared to us in His Word.

But Paul gives us a second reality of belief here in these 4 verses. That is the reality of confession.

Confession

If the believing reality of true and saving belief is primarily inward, being exercised in the heart, then the confessing reality is primarily outward, being exercised in the mouth.

Walter Bauer defines this confession as a public declaration and profession of allegiance, usually associated with praise.

To confess Jesus as Lord then is to publicly declare your allegiance to him as such, and to do so in such a way that exalts and magnifies Him.

The logical implication of belief for Paul is confession, and the implication is so tight that the two are interwoven and must be taken together. If one believes in the heart, one must also confess with the mouth. There is an inseparable quality to these realities of belief. Both inward and outward must be present in order for the faith to be regarded as authentic.

Let me put it this way: if you’re a Christian but no one knows it, you’re not a Christian. Part and parcel of saving faith is the public declaration of Christ. We can make this public declaration without reservation because, as we will see, one of the riches of saving faith is that we need not be ashamed or disappointed in Christ.

This confession must also be on-going. It is not a one-time event but a lifelong commitment to confessing Christ as Lord. We see this take shape in the sacraments. Every time we participate in a baptism either as the one baptized, the one baptizing, or as a witness, we confess, declare, and proclaim Christ publicly. Likewise, every time we partake of the Lord’s Supper, Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11 that we proclaim or declare or confess Christ until He comes.

This second reality of belief is that what is within - belief - must also be expressed without in the act of confession, both in the informal, by simply sharing Christ publicly when you have opportunity, as well as in the formal, by being baptized and partaking of the Lord’s Supper.

Calling

The final reality of saving faith or belief is calling, namely, calling upon the Lord. We see in verse 13 a quote from Joel 2 that says “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”

The concept of calling upon the name of the Lord is stretched across Scripture in both the Old and New Testaments.

This theme is predominant in the Psalms.

Psalm 50:15 LSB

Call upon Me in the day of distress; I shall rescue you, and you will glorify Me.”

We see here that the Psalmist speaks on God’s behalf: if you call on Him, you will be rescued, and God will be glorified in it.

We begin to see patterns being developed. One calls upon the name of the Lord in times of distress and sorrow, God will hear and rescue, and the ultimate result is God’s glory.

Asaph in Psalm 77 brings similar themes to the table.

Psalm 91:14–16 LSB

“Because he has loved Me, therefore I will protect him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in his distress; I will rescue him and honor him. “With a long life I will satisfy him And I will show him My salvation.”

Here we see an important development to the theme: one only calls upon the name of the Lord out of a love and affection for Him. Notice the parallel: loving and calling result in salvation, a salvation constituted of protection, establishment, presence, rescue, honor, and satisfaction.

Therefore, an important part of true saving faith as demonstrating in calling upon the Lord is a true love, a captivating affection for God.’

Psalm 107 builds upon these themes as well.

We have no greater Biblical example of this calling upon the Lord than Jesus Himself in the garden, as He prayed to His father to remove the cup of wrath from Him, and again as He cried out repeatedly to His father while on the cross.

We can summarize the Biblical data on calling upon the Lord in this way: to call upon the Lord is to pray to Him for salvation and deliverance out of an understanding of your plight, and out of a fervent love for Him.

The guarantee demonstrated by both Joel and Paul is that this calling will result in salvation. It will result in deliverance.

Calling upon the Lord ties together the two previous realities of saving faith. The inward knowledge, assent, and trust, coupled with the outward confession, come together in this act of affectionate and fervent calling upon the Lord.

What you begin to see here is that the realities of saving faith are not a one-time event but are woven into the very fabric of the life of the believer. Saving faith is a lifestyle, not an event.

We ought to consider the following questions in light of these realities:

Do you possess this saving faith this morning? Do you know Christ? Do you assent to his Word? Do you trust his life, death, and resurrection? Do you confess Him as Lord, both publicly and privately, formally and informally? Are you calling upon the name of the Lord, in fervent love and humble dependence? Whether you’ve never believed or have been believing for decades, this is the content of saving faith.

We have seen the realities of saving faith.

Now let’s turn our attention to the recipients of saving faith.

The recipients of saving faith

Paul now asserts the recipients of saving faith out of verse 12.

In other words, who can believe, confess, and call upon the name of the Lord?

Paul mentions three categories: Jews, Greeks, and all people. The irony of dividing these recipients into categories is that dong so is in direct defiance of Paul’s point: there are no categories. There are no distinctions.

This is one of the most precious truths of the gospel, one of the most beautiful facets of the grace of God: that salvation is freely available to all. There is no minimum height to ride, no minimum age to drive. Whatever your background, whatever your heritage, whatever your skin color, whatever your economic status, all distinctions are washed away before the saving grace of God.

This has been a critical theme for Paul’s argument throughout the book of Romans. This is at least the fourth time that the idea has been at the forefront of Paul’s mind, and we’ll see it pop up again in chapter 11.

Paul’s great concern as he asserts this theme is to ensure that his readers understand the universal nature of the gospel. The temptation is two-fold: on the one hand, it’s easy for the Israelites to believe that no Gentile is “worthy” of salvation because of their paganism or idolatry or fill in the blank. This was the grave error of Jonah, when he refused at first, and then later only begrudgingly brought the gospel of repentance to Nineveh. On the other hand, in light of the more recent developments at the time of Paul’s writing, it would be easy to believe that no Israelite is “worthy” of salvation because they rejected all the covenant blessings that were bestowed upon them and they instigated and authorized the crucifixion of Christ Himself. This is the grave error of replacement theology.

Paul advocates a glorious and beautiful middle way: the free offer of the gospel to all men.

The beauty and glory of the Christian gospel is that it is distinctively distinction-less.

The free and universal availability of the gospel stands in opposition to false teachings and pagan religions which would seek to limit someone’s eligibility to receive the gift of the gospel based on class, race, wealth, or any other factor. Likewise, the universal availability of the gospel stands in opposition to other false teachings and pagan religions which would seek to limit someone’s eligibility to receive the gift of the gospel based on deeds, works, or key performance metrics.

This reality is not exclusive to the New Testament, but in fact runs implicitly and explicitly throughout the teaching of the Old Testament.

Take, for example, the fact that Abraham was a Babylonian by birth. The argument could rightly be made that all the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were all Babylonians because the notion of an Israelite nation does not exist until the move to Egypt in Genesis 48-50.

We can observe the textually unique and irregular blessing given by Jacob to Joseph’s sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. There, Jacob is careful to point out to Joseph that by blessing his sons, he sets them on equal footing with Reuben and Simeon as his sons and heirs to the nation and to the headship of their own tribes. This may seem insignificant, but the meaning unfolds when you realize that Ephraim and Manasseh are half-Israelite, half-Egyptian, because their mother is Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the Egyptian priest.

We could look to the prominence of Rahab as representative of God’s remnant to be saved from His wrath - a Canaanite.

We might think of Ruth, the Moabitess who serves as the Old Testament’s signature picture of Christ’s redemption of His church and His relationship to her.

We could look to the teaching of Isaiah 19:23-25

Isaiah 19:23–25 LSB

In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom Yahweh of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”

Here Isaiah describes the plan of redemption which includes Israel and the two most powerful (and also, ironically, most oppressive to Israel) nations on earth.

Again, Zechariah 2:10-11 carry the theme.

Zechariah 2:10–11 LSB

“Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion; for behold, I am coming and I will dwell in your midst,” declares Yahweh. “And many nations will join themselves to Yahweh in that day and will become My people. Then I will dwell in your midst, and you will know that Yahweh of hosts has sent Me to you.

Simeon understood this truth when he blessed the Christ-child in Luke 2:25-32

Luke 2:25–32 LSB

And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the comfort of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, then he took Him into his arms and blessed God, and said, “Now Master, You are releasing Your slave in peace, According to Your word. For my eyes have seen Your salvation, Which You prepared in the presence of all peoples, A LIGHT FOR REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, And for the glory of Your people Israel.”

In a subtle and ironic nod to this reality, John 19:16-20 recounts the sign placed by Pilate at the head of Christ’s cross.

John 19:16–20 LSB

So he then delivered Him over to them to be crucified. They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between. And Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and in Greek.

Why the three languages? I believe this detail is included as a subtle reminder that what Jesus was accomplishing on that cross was effective for anyone who could read that sign, which at that time would have been nearly everyone in the civilized world.

This finds it’s pinnacle in the commission given by Jesus to the apostles in Acts 1:6-8:

Acts 1:6–8 LSB

So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” But He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to THE END OF THE EARTH.”

And in case you weren’t sure whether or not all this would mean anything eschatologically, look at the scene in Revelation 7:9-12:

Revelation 7:9–12 LSB

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” And all the angels were standing around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen, the blessing and the glory and the wisdom and the thanksgiving and the honor and the power and the strength, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”

From the very beginning, true saving faith is for all people. There is no distinction between them.

Paul also gives an important detail regarding why there is no distinction: the same Lord is Lord of all.

Charles Hodge provides this comment:

A Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans Commentary

Their relation to God is the same. They are equally his creatures, and his mercy towards them is the same.

A Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans Commentary

All are equally under his dominion, and may, therefore, equally hope in his mercy.

Therefore, because Christ is Lord over all, He may also be a savior to all. This is why Peter can declare with confidence:

Acts 4:12 LSB

“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

True saving faith may be received by any and all human beings, regardless of any distinctions. True saving faith is distinctionless.

We have observed the realities of saving faith and the receipients of saving faith. Let us turn our attention now to the riches of saving faith.

The riches of saving faith

We draw this point out of verse 12, which says that the Lord Christ abounds in riches for all who call on him. In other words, Christ pours out, by our faith, abundant riches upon us.

Let me be clear at the outset: Paul does not intend for us to take these riches as physical, material riches. These are spiritual riches. Many prosperity teachers like Kenneth Copeland, Oral Roberts, Creflo Dollar, and Paula White peddle this verse as proof that the chief result of faith is our spiritual wealth and prosperity.

But this could not be further from Paul’s intention here.

We can use the analogy of Scripture to help us understand what riches Paul has in mind here.

Ephesians 1 has a great deal to say about these riches:

Ephesians 1:7–10 LSB

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our transgressions, according to the riches of His grace which He caused to abound to us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Him for an administration of the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth in Him.

For Paul in Ephesians, the faith-wrought riches of Christ are composed of: two primary parts:

Redemption

Forgiveness

The abundant outpouring of these riches is a gift of God’s grace, and is given in equal proportion with wisdom and insight.

So we begin to see that these abundant riches, poured out according to God’s grace, are not earthly and material, but heavenly and spiritual.

Ephesians 3:16 provides additional insights:

Ephesians 3:16 LSB

that He would give you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,

God’s riches are not only for justification, but for sanctification, and they are not primarily for outward strength, but for inward strength.

The abundant riches of saving faith then are primarily spiritual, heavenly, and inward riches poured out not on our bodies but on our souls.

Here in Romans 10, Paul directly quantifies the riches of saving faith, in three ways:

Righteousness

Salvation

Unashamedness

Righteousness

This is the notion of justification. One of the riches of saving faith is that we are justified or made right before God.

Indeed, this is Paul’s great theme throughout the entire book of Romans, and it is precisely here that Paul brings a significant amount of resolution to his thesis statement in Romans 1:17

Romans 1:17 LSB

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS WILL LIVE BY FAITH.”

Christ and His benefits are the water, faith is the cup, and when we drink deeply and truly, we are made just, right, and holy before God. Christ clothes us in His blood-cleansed robes and presents us to His Father in all His righteousness, purity, and holiness.

But not only does faith make us positionally right before God, it also makes us progressively right before God. As we continually know more of the truth, submit more heartily to it, and trust Christ more, as we continually confess Christ as Lord and call upon His name in love and in worship, we grow in sanctification by the power of the Spirit.

And beyond the positional and progressive righteousness, faith will us to perfect righteousness, when God finally calls us home, and asks us why we should be admitted to glory, and we say “Christ loved me, and gave Himself up for me, so I believed in Him, loved Him, and followed him all the days of my life. He is my only hope, my only joy, my only salvation.” By faith in Christ alone do we enter into the perfect righteousness of our master.

And just as faith leads to righteousness, it also leads to salvation.

Salvation

To be saved, speaking properly, is to be delivered. Therefore, faith delivers us from something.

Theologians have qualified our deliverance as from the penalty of sin, the power of sin, and the presence of sin. These three deliverances correlate directly with the three righteousnesses.

We are delivered by faith from the penalty of sin - God’s just wrath against evil, in the same moment that we are made positionally righteous before Him.

We are delivered by faith from the power of sin - it’s wretched hold on our old man, over the course of a life in which we are made progressively righteous.

Finally we are delivered by faith from the presence of sin - it’s derogatory effects on our lives and our world, when on that final day our bodies, our souls, and our world are made perfectly righteous.

And just as belief leads to righteousness and confession leads to salvation, and these two realities are bound up together in the concept of calling upon the Lord, so also righteousness and salvation are bound up together in the notion of unashamedness.

Unashamedness

To use Jesus’ own wording here, to be unashamed is to not be disappointed.

In other words, faith in Christ won’t let you down. What He has promised - righteousness and salvation and life - He will deliver.

Though this life might tear you and tire you, Christ will not disappoint. Though this life might wear you and worry you, Christ will not leave you ashamed. True saving faith will prompt you, like Paul, to be unashamed of Christ and His gospel and the power it contains for salvation. True saving faith will prompt you to boast all the more in Christ. True saving faith will lead you to exalt Him as your only hope in life and in death.

His life will not disappoint. His death will not disappoint. His resurrection will not disappoint. In Him, you died, in Him, you live, and in Him, you will rise again, because all the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ Jesus.

These are the riches of saving faith. These are the benefits of Christ. In Him there is an abundance of heavenly treasure, enough for a lifetime, and enough for eternity.

Do you know Him? Will you assent to Him? Will you trust Him? Will you confess Him? Will you call upon Him? Will you believe?

His nail-pierced hands are stretched out, reaching for you. Clasp His hand in yours, by faith, and you will be saved.