“The Message of Faith” Pt.2

Introduction:

Romans 9-11 are all about God’s PAST (9), PRESENT (10), and FUTURE (11) RELATIONSHIP WITH ISRAEL!

As stated a few weeks ago, the REASON we need to understand God’s choice and relationship with Israel is because you and I are SAVED by the SAME GRACE, by the SAME MERCY, by the SAME PROMISES, and through the SAME FAITH AS ABRAHAM—and not because we deserved it, or earned it, but because we BELIEVED God’s PROMISE!

The TITLE of our message, “The Message of Faith!” comes from the end of (v.8)!

Romans 10:1–13 CSB

1 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God concerning them is for their salvation. 2 I can testify about them that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 Since they are ignorant of the righteousness of God and attempted to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes, 5 since Moses writes about the righteousness that is from the law: The one who does these things will live by them. 6 But the righteousness that comes from faith speaks like this: Do not say in your heart, “Who will go up to heaven?” that is, to bring Christ down 7 or, “Who will go down into the abyss?” that is, to bring Christ up from the dead. 8 On the contrary, what does it say? The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. This is the message of faith that we proclaim: 9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame, 12 since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call on him. 13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

PRAYER…

REVIEW: Last week we began with…

I. The PRESENT CONDITION of ISRAEL! - (10:1)

Paul’s HEART and PRAYER “…for their salvation” REVEALS their current condition: They were LOST!

II. ISRAEL’S THREE-FOLD PROBLEM! - (10:2-3)

A. What they WERE: IGNORANT! - (vv.2-3a)

They had ZEAL, (v.2b) - “…but not according to knowledge!”

(v.3a) - “Since they are ignorant of the righteousness of God…”

From ἀγνοοῦντες - ‘not to know, be ignorant, not to understand, ignored, disregarded.’

B. What they DID! - (v.3b)

(v.3b) - “…attempted to establish their own righteousness,”

C. What they DIDN’T DO: SUBMIT! - (v.3c)

(v.3c) - “…they have not submitted to God’s righteousness.”

They could NOT earn God’s righteousness!

Matthew 5:48 CSB

48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

The Jews were UNABLE to CHANGE their PAST; to FIX their PRESENT; or to DETERMINE their FUTURE!

III. The PURPOSE of CHRIST’S COMING! - (10:4-5)

Paul uses TWO GROUNDS, marked by the words “For” and “since” (both translate γὰρ) in (vv.4-5) - statements of evidence why (v.3) is TRUE!

A. Ground #1 - The SUFFICIENCY of Christ! - (v.4)

(v.4a) - “For Christ is the end of the law…”

(v.4b) - “…for righteousness”

(v.4c) - “…to everyone who believes.”

B. Ground #2 - The INABILITY of Humanity! - (v.5)

(v.5) - “since Moses writes about the righteousness that is from the law: The one who does these things will live by them” [Leviticus 18:5]

The MEANS to “…the righteousness that is from the law” is both SIMPLE and IMPOSSIBLE!

AND it is one word: OBEDIENCE!

The PROBLEM: NO ONE DOES!

James 2:10 CSB

10 For whoever keeps the entire law, and yet stumbles at one point, is guilty of breaking it all.

Romans 3:20 CSB

20 For no one will be justified in his sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes through the law.

LESSON:

IV. The PRINCIPLE of FAITH! - (10:6-13)

A. Salvation is ACCOMPLISHED through Jesus Christ! - (vv.6-8a)

IN CONTRAST to the attempt of the Jews to “…establish their own righteousness,”

(v.6) - “But the righteousness that comes from faith speaks like this…”

AND Paul proceeds to asks two REFLEXIVE questions in (vv.6b-7):

“…Do not say in your heart, “Who will go up to heaven?” that is, to bring Christ down (7) or, “Who will go down into the abyss?” that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.”

BOTH questions (as well as the quotation in v.8) come from Deuteronomy 30:

Deuteronomy 30:11–13 CSB

11 “This command that I give you today is certainly not too difficult or beyond your reach. 12 It is not in heaven so that you have to ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’ 13 And it is not across the sea so that you have to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’

The ANSWER to BOTH QUESTIONS is NO ONE!

The “righteousness that comes from faith” says, “You don’t have to do a thing other than BELIEVE!”

John Stott writes, “To ask such questions would be as absurd as they are unnecessary. There is no need whatever for us to scale the heights or plumb the depths in search of Christ, for he has already come, died and risen, and so is accessible to us.”

John 3:13 CSB

13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.

John 6:33 CSB

33 For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

John 6:50–51 CSB

50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

John 6:58 CSB

58 This is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the manna your ancestors ate—and they died. The one who eats this bread will live forever.”

(v.8a) - “On the contrary, what does it say? The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart…”

AGAIN, the message of faith, contrary to you having to “go up to heaven” to “bring Christ down,” or going “…down into the abyss […] to bring Christ up from the dead,” the message is NEAR YOU!

Q: “How close?” A: “…in your mouth and in your heart”, which is from…

Deuteronomy 30:14 CSB

14 But the message is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may follow it.

THE POINT: It doesn’t get any CLOSER!

Luke 6:45 CSB

45 A good person produces good out of the good stored up in his heart. An evil person produces evil out of the evil stored up in his heart, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.

What a person SAYS (from his or her mouth) REVEALS what is in the heart!

WHICH IS WHY…

B. Salvation is APPROPRIATED through BELIEF and CONFESSION! - (vv.8b-10)

Paul begins with…

1. A DEFINITIVE statement: (v.8b) - “…This is the message of faith”!

τὸ ῥῆμα τῆς πίστεως - ‘the spoken word of faith’

2. A DECLARATIVE statement: (v.8c) - “…that we proclaim:”

ὃ κηρύσσομεν - ‘which we proclaim’ - It’s the MESSAGE of Paul and the early Church!

3. A very SPECIFIC statement! - (v.9a) - (LSB) - “that if you confess…”

Every word-for-word translation (LEB, LSB, NET, NKJV, NASB, ESV) includes the conjunction, ὅτι - ‘that, because’, which I believe is important!

“…confess” - from ὁμολογήσῃς - homologesis - ‘to agree, confess, profess, admit, acknowledge’

There is a very SPECIFIC confession that God requires - (v.9b)

HOW do we confess? - “…with your mouth”

WHAT do we confess? - “…Jesus Christ is Lord”

WHY? - The SIMPLEST answer is, “Because God said so!”

But a BETTER answer is that, according to JESUS, there is a CORRELATION between what WE SAY HERE and what JESUS SAYS IN HEAVEN!

Matthew 10:32–33 CSB

32 “Therefore, everyone who will acknowledge me before others, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever denies me before others, I will also deny him before my Father in heaven.

4. A statement based on CONVICTION! - (v.9c) - “…and believe”

From πιστεύσῃς - ‘believe, be convinced of, trust, rely on, have confidence in.’

5. A CONSEQUENTIAL statement - (v.9d) - “…you will be saved.”

Romans 4:5 CSB

5 But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited for righteousness.

John 3:36 CSB

36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him.

6. An ABSOLUTE statement - (v.10) - (LSB) - “for…”

I call this statement, “ABSOLUTE” because (v.10) is GROUND—the reason why the preceding statement is TRUE!

(v.10a) - “One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness…”

Lit., ‘it is believed unto righteousness’

We are right back to the FAITH of ABRAHAM!

Romans 4:3 CSB

3 For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness.

Romans 4:22–24 CSB

22 Therefore, it was credited to him for righteousness. 23 Now it was credited to him was not written for Abraham alone, 24 but also for us. It will be credited to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

(v.10b) - “…one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.”

Lit., ‘it is confessed unto salvation’

Confession is the TEST of FAITH and LEADS to SALVATION!

1 John 4:2–3 CSB

2 This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming; even now it is already in the world.

1 John 4:15 CSB

15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God—God remains in him and he in God.

A person who CAN NOT or WILL NOT confess, “Jesus is Lord!” cannot claim to be saved!

C. Salvation is AVAILABLE to ALL! - (vv.11-13)

(vv.11, 12, 13) all begin with γὰρ - translated, “For…” (vv.11, 13), and “since…” (v.12) and indicates a series of GROUNDS—evidences that the previous statement in (v.10) is TRUE!

Paul quotes a Scripture, an application, and another Scripture:

(v.11) - “For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame,”

Isaiah 28:16 CSB

16 Therefore the Lord God said: “Look, I have laid a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will be unshakable.

(v.12) - APPLICATION - “since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call on him.”

(v.13) - “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Joel 2:28–32 CSB

28 After this I will pour out my Spirit on all humanity; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will have dreams, and your young men will see visions. 29 I will even pour out my Spirit on the male and female slaves in those days. 30 I will display wonders in the heavens and on the earth: blood, fire, and columns of smoke. 31 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. 32 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, for there will be an escape for those on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, as the Lord promised, among the survivors the Lord calls.

CONCLUSION:

(v.8b) - “…This is the message of faith that we proclaim.”

AND THIS IS OUR MESSAGE AS WELL:

Romans 10:9–13 CSB

9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame, 12 since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call on him. 13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.