The Cross and Human Responsibility

Man’s Responsibility

Here is the “well-meant offer of the gospel.” We are to preach the gospel to all persons everywhere; if they believe and confess they will be saved. : there is no footnote or asterisks or hypothetical. This is an unconditional, infallible promise, and it’s an unmistakable command. How do we know the elect? It’s because they believe and confess and are saved—and that requires the preaching of the gospel.

It is not brought near without words. It is multi-faceted, but most essentially it is verbal. The supposed comment of St. Francis of Assisi (preach the gospel at all times, use words if necessary) sounds like we can bring the gospel near by being there, by being kind, being righteous, and being loving. These are signs of the gospel, but the gospel requires articulation.

YOU ARE NOT EXEMPT FROM PREACHING THE GOSPEL

You might be giving evidence and witness of the gospel but if your lips aren’t moving you are not preaching the gospel. It still needs to be articulated and explained to the lost and dying world.

The Bible teaches that the church is called to a balanced ministry of both preaching the gospel in words and showing it with deeds. Yet the church has often found it difficult to find and maintain this balance.

Today some are emphasizing deeds at the expense of words, while others hold fast to “talking” and forsake the doing. This is an imbalance that must be righted.

*Example:

You have the person I call Righteous Jimmy and Jane. This person strives to live a good moral life and let their actions speak for themselves about being a Christian and what that means.

You have the person I call loud mouth Darren and Debbie. This person stands on the street corner shouting the gospel. They also have a tally sheet in their backpack or purse to boast about how many people they shared the gospel with in one day. They choose for their words to speak for themselves about what it looks like to be a Christian.

BIG IDEA: THE CALLED KNOW, PROCLAIM, AND GO WHEN GOD CALLS.

Man’s Responsibility and the Cross

1. WE CALL - People will CALL on Jesus to save them only if they believe He can do so.

2. WE KNOW - belief in Christ cannot exist without knowledge about Him.

3. WE PROCLAIM - People hear about Christ only when someone PROCLAIMS the saving message.

4. WE GO - The message about Christ will not be proclaimed unless someone GO when God sends them.

1. We Call

People will CALL on Jesus to save them only if they believe He can do so.

MISTAKEN ZEAL

The Letter to the Romans Mistaken Zeal (Romans 10:1–13)

If we are ever to bring others to the Christian faith, our attitude must be the same. Great preachers have known this. ‘Don’t scold,’ said one. ‘Always remember to keep your voice down,’ said another. And yet another called preaching ‘pleading’. Jesus wept over Jerusalem.

ILLUSTRATION

John Paton, a missionary to a remote group of natives, was having a difficult time translating certain passages of the Bible into their language.  It seemed that this particular group had no word for "believe."  Then one day, one of the natives flopped into a chair, stretched out and propped his legs up on another chair. He then expressed how good it felt to "lean his whole weight on" those chairs. The missionary quickly wrote the expression down.  

APPLICATION

When we believe in the promise of eternal life, we "lean our whole weight on" Jesus.  To believe in the Gospel message is to transfer the full weight of our confidence and concerns to the finished work of Christ--to rest completely in the substitutionary work of Christ.  

The Letter to the Romans Mistaken Zeal (Romans 10:1–13)

There is a preaching which knocks back the sinner with an outburst of angry words; but always Paul speaks the truth in love.

vrs. 8 But what does it say? the word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.

WHAT DO WE PROCLAIM WHEN WE CALL ON HIM?

1st We must say that Jesus Christ is Lord!

Kurios (Lord) normal title place before Greek gods. It is also the regular translation of the divine name, Yahweh or Jehovah. So, to call Jesus Kurios was to place him on a level with the emperor and with God; it was to give him the supreme place in a persons life and so to pledge him all obedience and reverent worship. To count Jesus as unique.

2nd we must believe that Jesus has risen from the dead.

Christians must believe that not only did Jesus live but that he lives.

3rd we must not only believe in our hearts; we must confess with our lips.

Christianity is belief plus confession; it involves witness before others. Not only God, but also our fellow men and women, must know what side we are on. (there are no closet Christians)

This is also a call for Jews to abandon their legalism and accept the way of Grace.

v. 14 How are they to call (Do some call before belief) on him whom they have not believed?

*Just pray this magical prayer and the God will save you........

“Bones the Radical pray the prayer and seal the deal guy” (anyone here tonight not want to go to hell....)

BELIEF ALWAYS COMES BEFORE CALLING (this does not mean that we do not offer the invitation. You never know what the spirit is doing in someones life.)

2. WE KNOW -

belief in Christ cannot exist without knowledge about Him.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

THE DESTRUCTION OF EXCUSES

v18 We have all seen the results of sin. Gods holy and loving response to wickedness.

Some see the wrath of God as a cause and effect this does not support the deistic world view.

vs. 19-20 “Show that Salvation does not come through General Revelation.” Paul emphasizes the universality of sin and concludes that no one seeks God on His own.” The entire world bears witness about God”

This is where Knowledge is revealed through the grand complexity and design so that no one is without excuse. Sufficient evidence has been given for God’s existence and Character, the fault is with those who reject the evidence.

The consequences of turning our back on the knowledge that we have been given is Moral disintegration of Human Society!

v. 16 “But they have not all obeyed the Gospel.”

*Hearing the gospel is Necessary for Salvation but Hearing is not enough: People must also respond with personal Trust.

Prophecies that not all will believe and be Saved. Isaiah gives the crucifixion of Christ in graphic details and yet there are still those who have been given the knowledge and still do not believe.

We are all held responsible for what we have heard.

Romans 14:12 ESV

So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

3. We Proclaim

People hear about Christ only when someone PROCLAIMS the saving message.

The Letter to the Romans The Destruction of Excuses (Romans 10:14–21)

Basically, the pattern is this: in the previous passage, Paul has been saying that the way to God is not the way of works and of legalism but of faith and trust. The objection is: but what if the Jews never heard of that?

The Letter to the Romans The Destruction of Excuses (Romans 10:14–21)

Basically, the pattern is this: in the previous passage, Paul has been saying that the way to God is not the way of works and of legalism but of faith and trust. The objection is: but what if the Jews never heard of that?

The Letter to the Romans The Destruction of Excuses (Romans 10:14–21)

Let us take the objections and the Scripture texts that answer them one by one.

(1) The first objection is: ‘You cannot call on God unless you believe in him. You cannot believe in him unless you hear about him. You cannot hear about him unless there is someone to proclaim the good news.

The Letter to the Romans The Destruction of Excuses (Romans 10:14–21)

Let us take the objections and the Scripture texts that answer them one by one.

(1) The first objection is: ‘You cannot call on God unless you believe in him.

The Letter to the Romans The Destruction of Excuses (Romans 10:14–21)

(2) The second objection is: ‘But, in point of fact, Israel did not obey the good news, even if your argument is true. What have you to say to that?’ Paul’s answer is: ‘Israel’s disbelief was only to be expected, for, long ago, Isaiah was moved to say in despair: “Lord, who has believed what we have heard?” ’ (cf. Isaiah 53:1).

You cannot believe in Him unless

The Letter to the Romans The Destruction of Excuses (Romans 10:14–21)

(3) The third objection is a restatement of the first: ‘But what if I insist that they never got the chance to hear?’ This time, Paul quotes Psalm 19:4: ‘Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.’ His answer is: ‘You cannot say that Israel never got the chance to hear; for Scripture plainly says that God’s message has gone out to all the world.’

The Letter to the Romans The Destruction of Excuses (Romans 10:14–21)

(4) The fourth objection is: ‘But what if Israel did not understand?’ Apparently, the meaning is: ‘What if the message was so difficult to grasp that, even when Israel did hear it, they were unable to grasp its significance?’ This is the point where the passage becomes really difficult. But Paul’s answer is: ‘Israel may have failed to understand; but the Gentiles did not.

ignorance that comes from a neglect of knowledge

There is a legal principle which says that genuine ignorance may be a defence, but neglect of knowledge never is.

This will never hold up in God’s Court of Appeals! People cannot be blamed for not knowing what they never had a chance to know; but they can be blamed for neglecting to know things that were always open to them.

EXAMPLE: Someone who signs a contract without having read the conditions, that person cannot complain if afterwards it is discovered the conditions are different than what was understood.

ignorance that comes from wilful blindness.

This is Israel’s guilt and shame. v. 21 “But of Israel he says, All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Nine: The Wrong Righteousness (Romans 10)

The “Book of Nature” and the “Book of Revelation” go together and proclaim the glory of God. Israel had the benefit of both books, for she saw God at work in nature and she received God’s written Word. Israel heard, but she would not heed. No wonder Jesus often had to say to the crowds, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear!”

4. We Go

The message about Christ will not be proclaimed unless we GO when God sends us.

God wants to use us to share the Gospel with both Jews and Gentiles. God can use our feet and our arms just as He used Paul’s. Jesus Christ wept over Jerusalem and longed where He willingly died for Jews and Gentiles alike.

2 Peter 3:9 ESV

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

God is patient and long-suffering “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Will God’s patience with Israel wear out? Is there any future for the nation? Yes, there is, as the next chapter will show.

So what do we do with the cross of Christ and our responsibility?

1. We have a Christ Centered story to tell? Go and TELL IT!

2. We have a hope filled message to Proclaim. Go and Proclaim It!

3. We have a revealed truth to defend. Go and DEFEND IT!

In a stirring video, the HUFFINGTON POST GOOD NEWS team has created a moving montage of “What it looks like when people truly hear for the first time.” In the video we jump from clip to clip of elated patients—the very young, older and in between—who have experienced the blessing of cochlear implants and are having their devices turned on for the first time. The looks on their faces, as they actually hear the voices of loved ones (even their own voices), range from everything from surprise, to shock, elation, awe, and more!

In each case, you see how deeply emotional and liberating the experience can be.

APPLICATION

That look of joy and utter amazement, as senses which they thought were dead to them were now coming to life, is a physical glimpse into the expression of the soul the moment it hears—truly hears—for the first time, the words of the Good News of the Gospel message once it is implanted deep within. They give a face to the soul of man whose dead heart, for the first time, hears and experiences the engrafted Word of God and receives new life in Christ.

Who wouldn’t want to see people’s soul’s look like these faces?

Prepare the Table - God’s call is clear and Plain. Believe, Call and be saved. Communion or The Lords Supper is one way we proclaim what we believe about Christ’s death, burriel and resurrection. We also Proclaim our great hope in the future supper we will eat with Jesus Christ in Heaven.

Fence the Table - The benefits of the supper are for Gods people. Those who have repented of their sins, believed upon the cross of Christ, and called on His name for Salvation. We want to guard against anyone taking the supper in an unworthy manner. So if this is not you would would ask that you not take communion.

Invite to the Table - The invitation is open to believe in the saving power of the cross, Repent of your sins, and Call upon the name of Jesus to save you.