A Unbiased Truth

Introduction

Paul begins this chapter sharing his heartfelt concern for his Jewish brethren who are as yet unsaved.

Paul spent much of his time reaching the Gentile world as he was called by God to do, but he also had a longing to reach his fellow Israelites with the gospel.

Paul knew that they had a religious zeal but unfortunately not according to knowledge as they failed to recognize the way of salvation that God had provided. They were intent on attaining righteousness on their own rather than receiving the righteousness that God offered to them in Christ.

The truths that Paul shares in this portion of his epistle to the Romans was directed towards unsaved Jews but ultimately these truths are applies to all men not to the Jewish unbelievers alone.

God only recognizes two classes of people, the saved and the lost!

The first truth that Paul presents is the:

Simplicity of Salvation (Vs. 1-8)

The age old problem that Paul speaks of here concerning the unbelieving Jews is still a significant problem today. Unfortunately we are often guilty of overcomplicating God’s plan of redemption.

Paul’s bear’s record of the spiritual zeal of the people of Israel. It is no different in our generation with 27% of adults in America describing themselves as spiritual but not religious.

The problem is still the same and it is that there are many who profess to be spiritual but who lack basic biblical knowledge and are ignorant of God’s means of salvation.

There are millions in our world today who are doing exactly as the Israelites were doing and going about attempting to establish their own righteousness striving on their own to earn God’s favor.

God’s plan for the salvation of man is so simple and yet so many seem intent on developing some other more complex path of redemption. Many have come to believe that we must keep a set of rules to be saved or that we must complete a set of rituals while still others are convinced that salvation can be earned by doing good deeds.

The fear that Paul had for the Corinthians was a well-founded fear- II Corinthians 11:3- simplicity that is in Christ. Many would argue that salvation cannot possibly be as simple as the scriptures claim.

The fact remains that we cannot earn our salvation and we can never be worthy of salvation we must simply place our faith in the means that God has provided in Jesus Christ.

Romans 10:4- Jesus Christ is the only hope that we have of being right with God. This principle is further explained in Romans 3:23-28-propitiation-appeasing wrath and conciliating the favor of an offended person- we are justified (made right with God) by faith not by what we do.

In verses 6-8- Paul is basically confronting them with the fact that Christ has come and He has paid the price for their sins and has been resurrected and now all that is left for them to do is to believe!

Now we move to Paul’s explanation of what it takes for a person to be saved. We see the:

Responsibility of Man (Vs. 9-11)

Salvation is simple but the unfortunate truth is that not all men will be saved. Each one of us must respond to the message of the gospel.

Salvation is not automatic. There are those today who teach that our salvation has already been predetermined and that we have no part in the matter completely absolving us of any personal responsibility.

The truth is that God is sovereign and yet He gives to man personal responsibility and each of us have the free will to make the choice with regard to salvation.

Notice in these two verses the things that are necessary to secure our salvation.

Two things are given here as requirements confession of Christ with the mouth and belief in the heart that He arose from the dead. The order is given first to correspond with the preceding verse and then in verse 10 it is presented in the natural order of belief in the heart to confession from the mouth.

The belief in the resurrection is central to our salvation as Paul writes “ ...if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.” (I Corinthians 15:14)

It does not take faith to believe that Jesus lived or that he died and was buried but it does require faith if we are to believe that he rose again from the dead.

If we believe that he rose from the dead then we must also confess him with our mouth. Those who sincerely believe in their heart that Christ arose from the dead will have no problem confessing Christ before men.

The confession is not a work that secures our salvation, it is simply the evidence of a heart that has truly believed upon Christ. Mark 16:16- the same is true of our baptism

Matthew 12:34- … out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. If we believe on Christ from the heart the natural result is that we will confess him as Lord with our mouth.

Matthew 10:32-33- confess him before men or deny him before men

Availability of Salvation (Vs. 12-13)

The greatest news of all is that the truths given to us in this passage concerning the simplicity of salvation and our responsibility to respond are true of every man in every generation.

The way of salvation is the same for all people regardless of who you are or what you have done. Romans 2:11- no respect of persons with God

Salvation is made available to every man as is constantly affirmed by the use of the word “WHOSOEVER.” There is not one single person who is beyond the reach of God’s mercy and grace!

Every single individual who will respond in faith to the message of the gospel, believing on Christ as savior will find the same result, they “SHALL BE SAVED”!

This fact is illustrated by a number of scriptures- John 6:37- no one rejected/ II Peter 3:9- not willing that any should perish

There is much talk in our world today about discrimination and racism and these concepts of racial or other bias are directly contrary to the plain teaching of scripture.

Galatians 3:26-28- we are all one in Christ

In fact, in the eyes of God there are only two classes of people: those who have believed on Christ and are saved and those who have to this point rejected Christ and are yet lost.

This ought also to be true of every professing Christian! There ought to be no concern for a persons race, gender, cultural, or religious background. The only characteristic that should inform our behavior towards an individual is whether they are saved or lost.

Our behavior towards the lost should be to do all that we can do to bring them to faith in Christ. Our behavior towards the saved should be to encourage and exhort them to a closer walk with Christ.

God’s love knows no boundaries and the salvation He offers is offered to all, not just a select few. I John 4:7-11- if God loved each of us we ought also to love one another

Conclusion

Salvation is so simple that even a child can understand it. Let us never attempt to make salvation more complicated than it is.

Salvation is available to all men. Jesus Christ died for the sins of all mankind (II Corinthians 5:14) and God freely offers the gift of salvation to all men.

Yet what you must realize today is you must still take personal responsibility. You must decide today to believe, from the heart, and exhibit the evidence of your sincere faith by confessing with your mouth the LORD Jesus Christ.

If instead you choose to reject Christ or to postpone your decision you will walk away still lost, condemned to eternal separation from God in the torments of hell.