Work of Faith

A Study on Salvation

Work of Faith

Romans 10:6-13

Theme: God teaches us the work of faith in salvation.

Welcome to Mountain View Baptist Church! Thank you for making church a priority in your life and you are here today. It is our prayer we can connect with you and minister to you more effectively. Please fill out your connection card in the seat pocket in front of you.

There is a welcome center down stairs to your left as you leave the auditorium this morning. Please stop by so we can get better acquainted with you.

Right after the morning service, we will have a special prayer around the bus. Please join us for a brief time of prayer.

Our theme this year is Back to Basics. It seems life can be so complicated and busy that we forget the basics. If you have ever been to a symphony concert, you will notice the musicians will come out to warm up. They are practicing their scales or their musical runs as they go back to the basics. It is like in elementary school, you learn the times table, before you go onto Algebra, Calculus, and trigonometry. The foundation to these subjects is the basics.

The Christian life has some basics that are necessary in our lives. We must remember and apply these basic truths to our lives. You cannot grow and understand more until you learn the basics.

The foundational truth to the Christian life is what the Bible calls salvation. Salvation is a very deep truth which cannot be unpacked in one message, but this morning I want to make clear the work of faith in salvation.

More and more people have less and less understanding of salvation today. The place where faith is found is God’s Word Rom. 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” Due to a lack of God’s Word being in schools, organizations, courtrooms, and homes today, faith is not as plentiful as it should be or once was.

This means that man’s understanding of salvation is not based on Bible teaching but on man’s personal view of salvation. Man has concocted his personal views of the Bible through his experience or mental exercise. There are many misconceptions about salvation.

Let me tell what you salvation is not . . . .

Baptism

Church attendance,

Good works,

Religious sincerity

Giving to others

Treating neighbors properly

Being Kind

Studying religion

Keeping the law

Confirmation

Church membership

All of these things is what man does. The emphasis is on how we can be a better person. If we go to church, we can be a better person or we keep the law we will be a Christian.

There is a passage in Ephesians which explains this common problem and belief

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” (Ephesians 2:8)

The passage states it is not of yourselves-which means it is not of human effort. This is the confusion that so many people have is that they must do something to be a Christian. The Bible shows us salvation is totally of God. God is so merciful that He would extend His grace to provide salvation for us. God reached down and communicated with us of our need of a Savior going all the way back to the Garden of Eden.

When Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, man tried to hide from God. Man tried to cover himself; yet, God in His mercy came down to man and provided man an innocent sacrifice for his sin so that he can be forgiven.

Mankind has it all backwards, we don’t go get Jesus from heaven or in the deep earth, He has come to us. He is near to us. The gospel of Christ-the Word of faith-is available and accessible. The sinner need not perform difficult works in order to be a Christian. He must rely on Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone.

In these verses God shows us the operation of faith in these verses.

1. Man’s sinful condition

Mankind is born with a sin nature. This sin nature will manifest itself in many ways.

Without understanding

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:12–14)

When a believer receives Christ, the Holy Spirit takes up residency in his heart and teaches him spiritual truth. This is the reason we read our Bibles so the Holy Spirit teaches us spiritual truth. But the natural man (v.14) cannot understand spiritual truth because he doesn’t have the Holy Spirit to teach him.

When I was in Bible college, we had a young man in the room next door to us. He was struggling in school, struggling with the rules, and struggling with life in general. He made a decision in a preaching meeting to start reading his Bible. He came to me a few days later and said, I cannot understand what I read in the Bible. He said, “it is like a puzzle with all the pieces laid out before me, but I cannot put them together.” As I talked with him, he began to realize he wasn’t a Christian. He didn’t have the Holy Spirit and eventually he did accept Christ as his personal Savior and he sure read his Bible then.

Without Godly direction

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known:” (Romans 3:10–17)

When a man is without Christ, just like Adam he walks in darkness. He has no spiritual light, he is dead in his sin.

The reason a man needs salvation is because he is in a condition without any understanding of spiritual life and has no desire for God. This sin nature has darkened his mind and heart to the truth. This is the reason we as a church require everyone who joins our church to give a testimony of salvation. God wants His church to be filled with the Holy Spirit and that begins with salvation.

Let me be quick to say, just because we are sinners, that does not mean everyone is as sinful as they can be. It means we all are born with a sin nature and there is the penalty for sin. Jesus was the only One who could pay for the penalty of our sin by dying on the cross.

Walking in darkness

“To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.” (Acts 26:18)

2. Man’s penitent call v. 10

“Salvation is not a plan, it’s a Man.” (Adrian Rogers)

Confess with thy mouth means we speak the same thing as God says. This word confess is the word homo-same logeo-speak. In this context this means that we say the same thing about Jesus Christ as other believers in Him did in church history. We acknowledge Him by faith as our only Hope.

We do not acknowledge Him and a church or Him and a philosophy or Him and good works but Him alone. Our mouth confesses means we recognize Jesus as the Savior.

He is not a Savior or a way to heaven or a way up the mountain with others. He is the Lord Jesus Christ-the Messiah, God’s answer to man’s sin. This confession means we put faith in Him alone. Our faith is not centered in any place or on any person. Our confession means we have absolute total reliance on Him.

Our mouth confesses only Jesus. Our cry to Jesus in simple faith means we recognize there is nothing in us that can give us salvation. We are simply sinners from head to toe. When we call upon Jesus we are to turn from our sin, from our human effort, and place our faith in Jesus as our Savior.

In verse 13 whosoever means salvation is for everyone both Jew and Gentile. When a person call upon Christ as Savior, this means that his mouth and harmony with his confession of Jesus as the Lord.

Modern society today rejects this truth. Tragically they either don’t believe the Bible or Jesus as the Savior or they choose their own works of righteousness and reject the truth of the Bible. Much of mankind today believe in humanism, that man is God and man is the ultimate fulfillment of life itself. Because of that, man must feel good about himself and about his own destiny. Man creates his own world and as long as he is sincere, he will be fine. The thought of heaven and hell is not real but only man’s imagination.

The thought of admitting you are a sinner and turning from your sin unto Christ is a total foreign concept.

The only hope any of us have is to fall upon the mercy of God in simple faith.

3. Man’s simple belief

Notice the belief is in the heart mentioned in v. 9, 10, and 11. This belief means there is no other belief. Faith and belief go together because it is just having faith that gives man a home in heaven but he must have faith in Christ. This means you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. Jesus was no mere man but He was the Savior whom God raised from the dead. Belief means we totally rely on what God says about His Son.

When Paul and Silas were in prison and God sent an earthquake and the prison guard was ready to confess Christ. He asked them what must I do to be saved? He said, “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”

Belief seals the deal. We must believe what the Bible says and believe Jesus Christ is only way of salvation. Jesus says I am the way, the truth, and the life. If you don’t believe on Him, what will you believe in? Who will you put your faith in?

If you put your faith in religion, you will find religion will fail because man is unable to make his way to heaven. If you put your faith in a movement or a philosophy or a human being, they will fail also. Politics won’t do it, entertainment won’t do it, pleasure won’t do it, hobbies won’t do it, Science won’t do it, education won’t do it. We must believe on Jesus Christ and Him alone.

This means two things to us: 1) We must personally call upon Jesus as our Savior. God has no grandchildren. A man is not going to heaven because grandma or grandpa are Christians or because a brother or a spouse is a Christian. We must personally call upon Jesus as our Savior. 2) Others must also call upon Him personally. This why we have soul winning, this is why we give out the gospel, this is why we have a bus ministry, this is why we send missionaries. Because others need the gospel also. They cannot go to heaven because of their goodness or kindness or sincerity or religion.

Will you turn to Him today? Will you share this great news with someone this week?