Rom 10-Confession and Belief

| Confession and Belief! Romans 10:5-13

October 14, 2007  New Living Translation 5For Moses wrote that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands. 6But the way of getting right with God through faith says, “You don’t need to go to heaven” (to find Christ and bring him down to help you). 7And it says, “You don’t need to go to the place of the dead” (to bring Christ back to life again). 8Salvation that comes from trusting Christ—which is the message we preach—is already within easy reach. In fact, the Scriptures say, “The message is close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.”9For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. 11As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who believes in him will not be disappointed.” 12Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They all have the same Lord, who generously gives his riches to all who ask for them. 13For “Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” PRAY Scripture Memory:How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? (Rom. 10:14 (NIV)) Intro:Who’s you favorite Jesus? – The baby Jesus, meek and mild, Jesus the miracle worker, not restrained by mere natural laws,Jesus the philosopher, spouting deep words of wisdom,The compassionate Jesus, forgiving those caught in sin,Jesus the Lamb, silent, hanging on the cross for you,Jesus the One Who is coming back to set us up with Him in glory… vv. 9-10 – 9For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. 2 truths: Jesus is Lord & God raised Him from the dead. 1. Confessing Jesus2. Believing the gospelWhy this order? Wouldn’t you think that belief would precede confession?Perhaps because that is what we see. First we see a person make profession of faith, and then, over time, we see evidence of that faith.More likely it is because of the quote Paul takes from Deut. 30 which refers to the fact that the word is “in your mouth and in your heart,” Deut. 30:11-14 (NIV) - 11Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.  12It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”  13Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”  14No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. It is interesting to note that in Deuteronomy it goes on to say it is… in your heart so you may obey it. (Deut. 30:14 NIV)Paul’s intent, here, is not to provide an ordered listing of steps to salvation. Nor is he contrasting internal and external faith.Rather, a Christian is one who believes both of these things and professes them freely and openly.We MUST exercise faith to be saved.When Paul says we must believe with our hearts and confess with our mouths, he is saying that must do BOTH and that it is the presence of both together—faith leading to confession and confession proving the reality of faith—that leads to righteousness and salvation. (James Boice) 1. Confessing JesusWhat does it mean to confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord?☞ Confessing with our mouths (vv. 8-9)(NIV) “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9That 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.Ø  How does our “faith” speak?The Scriptures often speak of visible faith, or faith which is seen by others. Actions speak louder than wordsWe have all seen people who we would say are “men or women of faith.” What does that look like?Most of us exercise faith with our medical professionals. When they tell us to do something, we accept as fact that doing what they tell us to will help us improve….We pay them to cut us… Notes of Hospital charts written by Doctors...."The patient has been depressed ever since she began seeing me in 1993.""The patient is tearful and crying constantly. She also appears to be depressed.""Discharge status: Alive but without permission.""Patient's past medical history has been remarkably insignificant with only a 40 pound weight gain in the past three days.""She is numb from her toes down.""The skin was moist and dry.""Occasional, constant, infrequent headaches.""Patient was alert and unresponsive." Ø  What does our “faith” say?It is a Word of faith (v. 8 NIV) A word speaks and, this case, that word which we are looking at is one of faith.Faith “conquers the world, the flesh and the devil—triumphs over death, and opens the gates of paradise.”“Its greatness is not inherent, but derived….” – It flows out of our relationship with God. It is not something we can just decide to do….The defining characteristic of faith is its object, not its amount…. – (“faith the size of a mustard seed”)Faith is bound up in love and obedience – It involves the head and the heart, our thoughts and our will – It means acting on what we understand, not merely saying the right things.Saving faith is FAR more than mere intellectual assent.“If the heart were full of Christ, would the mouth be full of the world?”When others look at us, when they hear our faith speak, so-to-speak, what do they hear? ☞ Confessing with our lives |   | True faith is visible, over the long haul. – In other words, if our faith is, indeed, real, it WILL impact the way we live, they way we act, the priorities we set, the way we speak and respond to life and to others.True faith acts on what is believed. If we truly believe something we will be willing to act on it. If we are unwilling to act on something, it often means that we really do not believe it.i.e. with our medical professionals… ☞ Confession and salvationConfession of Christ is as necessary as faith in Him, but necessary for a different purpose. Faith is necessary to obtain the gift of righteousness. Confession is necessary to prove that this gift is received. If a man does not confess Christ at the hazard of life, character, property, liberty and everything dear to him, he has not the faith of Christ.” (Robert Haldane)Being “saved…” (vv. 9-10)9If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. (NLT)The terminology bothers many today… - It is biblical, like “being born again…”I find it interesting how many people who would never want to be identified as “saved” get offended when anyone insinuates that they are not…Saved from what?Ø  From the penalty of sin – death and judgment, from guilt and wrath, from hopelessness and fearØ  From the power of sin, from helplessness, from slavery to Satan and to sin 2. Believing the gospelWhat does it mean to believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead?☞ Believing in our heartsOur hearts, as opposed to merely in our heads…Our hearts represent the core of who we are… - “believing in our throats?Like the greatest commandment: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul and with all your strength.What do we mean when we say that something is a heart-issue? – it speaks to our attitude, to our thoughts, to our emotions, to our priorities, etc…Therefore, to believe in our hearts means to have a deep conviction that truly impacts our attitudes and our priorities.Luke 9:24 (NIV) – I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.” ☞ Believing that God raised Christ from the deadWhy the resurrection?The resurrection is the stamp of proof on all of Christ’s claims. It proves Ø  that there is a God; Ø  that Jesus was indeed, who He claimed to be; Ø  that His sacrifice on the cross on our behalf was completely acceptable and accomplished everything it was intended to accomplish; Ø  that there is, indeed, a day of judgment coming; Ø  that all who are united to Christ by faith will, one day, receive resurrection bodies; Ø  that sin and death have been conquered; Ø  that we do not serve a dead, but rather a living Savior….NOTE: Without the resurrection, the cross is meaningless. ☞ Belief and JustificationIn simplest terms, what does Romans 10:9-10 require? It requires a belief in two things: First, that “Jesus is Lord.” Second that “God raised Him from the dead.” Ø  First, that “Jesus is Lord.” C. E. B. Cranfield  The confession that Jesus is Lord meant the acknowledgment that Jesus shares the name and the nature, the holiness, the authority, power, majesty and eternity of the one and only true God … There is expressed in addition the sense of His ownership of those who acknowledge Him and of their consciousness of being His property.… (The Message) This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God—“Jesus is my Master”—embracing, body and soul, God’s work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That’s it. You’re not “doing” anything; you’re simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you.Ø  Secondly, Romans 10:9-10 requires that you believe that “God raised Christ from the dead.” Our text (v. 10) says that this results in being justified  (NIV) or being made right with God (NLT)In other words, anyone who does not believe these two things, from the heart, is still an enemy of God…(The Message) That’s salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: “God has set everything right between him and me!” Summary / Review:There are two indispensable things here, apart from which there is no salvation… hence eternal judgment – Hell.We must believe with our hearts and confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and that He died for us and rose again from the dead. We must do BOTH and that it is the presence of both together—faith leading to confession and confession proving the reality of faith—that leads to righteousness and salvation. (James Boice)In other words, true faith shows itself both in words and in life. In fact, so does pretend faith…. The question we need to ask ourselves this morning is “what DOES our faith say?” to those who know us?On the other hand, faith is not merely something we can drum up by deciding to do so. It is an outgrowth of our relationship with God. What matters is not how MUCH faith we have, but rather that we exercise whatever faith we have to pursue a right relationship with God.Our lives reveal the object of our faith, our words, our attitudes, our actions… (The Message) This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God—“Jesus is my Master”—embracing, body and soul, God’s work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That’s it. You’re not “doing” anything; you’re simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you.That’s salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: “God has set everything right between him and me!” A Truth to Remember: God accepts all who truly believe the gospel, that Jesus, the Lord of Lords, died for our sins, and conquered death by rising again. A Challenge to Consider:What evidence is there in your life that points to the genuine, heart-felt reality of your faith? One thing I heard this morning was… |