Placing Faith

Introduction

This morning our text is Romans 9:30-10:21 so if you have a Bible you can go ahead and turn there. Or if you have the Bible app on your phone you can follow along by going to the events page in your app and you’ll find Covenant Life’s live service right there.

We’re glad your here worshipping with us this morning. If you haven’t been with us we have been studying Paul’s letter to the Roman church.

Paul has been writing about Israel’s rejection of the gospel. The word gospel means good news. And the gospel of Jesus Christ means the good news about Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the messiah that God has been telling Israel He would send, but then when he came—by and large Israel rejected Him while the gentiles—all those who were not Jews—accepted the salvation of Jesus.

And now in our text Paul asks, “What shall we say about this?”

And we’ll see this morning that we must have Faith in the right place, Faith from the right place, and that we must Proclaim this faith in every place.

I. Faith in the Right Place (9:30-33)

Paul has just finished in the majority of chapter 9 teaching that all of Israel is not Israel. He says in Romans 9:6 “But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,”

And his next question then is what shall we say about the fact that the Gentiles are accepting Jesus while the majority of the nation/people of Israel are rejecting him? Read with me.

Romans 9:30-32a “What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works.

There is a fundamental difference between the Gentiles and the Jews and it makes all the difference.

The gentiles had faith in Jesus and they put their hope in Jesus—and this pursuit of Jesus’ righteousness, this believing in faith, that Jesus is the provider of righteousness, this can be attained.

But, Paul says, “Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law.” They were trying hard to succeed in their righteousness, but they failed. Why?

What is the standard of righteousness to which we are held to? What does God say?

1 Peter 1:16 “since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.””

Matthew 5:20 “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Jesus wasn’t saying, these scribes and pharisees almost got it, so just go a little further and you can enter the kingdom of heaven. These were the most righteous and holy people in all of Israel.

After Jesus says this he starts saying, “You’ve heard it said, but I say.”

You’ve heard it said, don’t murder, but I say if you are angry in your heart you are guilty of murder.

You’ve heard it said, don’t commit adultery, but I say if you lust after a woman/man that is not your spouse you have committed adultery.

Jesus raises the bar and then at the end of all these statements he finally tells us what the standard of righteousness is that we must obtain if we are to enter into the kingdom of Heaven. What does he say?

Matthew 5:48 “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

The righteousness that is needed in order to enter into Heaven, in order to have peace with God, is that we would be perfect in our righteousness, just like God is. And when you hear that you should think and say, but this is impossible, to be perfect. I could never be perfect, I’ve already messed that up a million times.

And if you basing your righteousness off of your own works then you are 100% correct and you have no hope of being reconciled to God—you have no hope of entering into the kingdom of heaven—all you can expect is the righteous judgment of God to bear upon you as a just response to your sins.

Our text says this is what Israel’s problem is.

Why did they fail in obtaining righteousness? “Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works.”

You cannot earn your righteousness because you have no hope of being perfect as God our Father is perfect.

The human heart desires that the economy of God’s kingdom would be good works. That our place in heaven would be determined by how good we are: but this is only because the human heart, without the illumination of the Holy Spirit—is ignorant in two major ways.

1. The human heart cheapens God. The human heart looks at eternity with God and says, “I can put a number on that. I can attach a value to God and his kingdom.”

And this is ignorance and pride—God is limitless in his value.

2. The human heart overestimates it’s own value. After we dare to put a price tag on God—we find that it is a price tag we can afford. As if the sum of our works equals the value of God. It’s ludicrous.

The Bible is clear what our “works” are worth. Isaiah 64:6 “... all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment, like filthy rags”

If your hope for having peace with God and entering into the kingdom of heaven has anything to do with your “good works” then you will find yourself in the worst of disappointment. Would you dare to bribe the justice of God with filth, soaked rags?!

Do not make the same mistake Israel makes in our text—you cannnot earn your own righteousness, if you try you too will stumble and fall. Keep reading with me.

Romans 9:32-33 “Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.””

For those who would rely on their own righteousness Jesus is a “stone of stumbling” and a “rock of offense”.

People stumble over Jesus because God’s path to salvation makes no sense to us. We value the valuable, we desire the impressive, but God is different. He is not impressed by our works, our filthy rags, they are not valuable to Him—God is satisfied by the perfection of Jesus. The righteousness of Jesus fulfills His justice. And then God draws all kinds of people to himself through the perfect righteousness of his Son.

But For someone who is impressed by their own righteousness—and thinks that God should be too—this person stumbles when Jesus saves the theif on the cross—when Jesus saves the hated Samaritan. When Jesus saves the leper. They stumble when the righteous pharisees are referred to as vipers, and the rich, young ruler is an example of the lostness of humanity.

And Jesus is a rock of offense to us because he is a proclamation that our “righteousness is not enough”. That our righteousness is inadequate—and this is offensive to us in our pride. “Well, I’ve done pretty good—God should accept me!”

Are you perfect? No!

Friends don’t miss the last part of Romans 9:33 “as it is written, “... whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.””

You are not perfect as the Father is perfect. Your righteousness is not perfect and it will never be—if you’ve sinned once then you have messed up perfection—and perfection is what you must possess in order to be forgiven for your sins.

You aren’t perfect, but Jesus is!

This is why God says whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.

So what’s our application? Trust in Jesus. Keep trusting or trust for the first time.

So as we end chapter 9 and begin chapter 10 we see that we must put our faith in Christ. He is the right place to put our faith. But as we continue Paul wants to make sure that we are having faith that accords with biblical knowledge. We must have...

II. Faith From the Right Place (10:1-13)

Romans 10:1-4 “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

Paul said, “They have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.”

Zeal without knowledge can get you in a lot of trouble. I can have a zeal for doing surgery, but if I don’t have the knowledge to go with it you don’t want me to be your doctor. Amen?

Paul says the Jews are zealous for God, but they are ignorant of the righteousness of God and instead of directing their zeal by the knowledge of God’s scriptures they instead seek to establish their own way.

When it comes to God, our society agrees with the folly of Israel. Just be genuine in what you believe, just be zealous and passionate about your belief and God will honor that. Or if you don’t believe in God—just be a good person and the universe will work it out.

Friends passion and zeal without knowledge is inadequate for anything—Ben, if you hire me and i hit the job site and say, “Look I don’t need knowledge because I am passionate to do electric work, I am zealous for this so keep your knowledge.”

What’s going to happen? If I don’t die first I’m going to get fired.

My zeal to be an electrician is useless without the needed knowledge in order to be one.

In the same way a person who is zealous for God, but not according to knowledge, cannot be at peace with God.

Our faith must be FROM the right place.

As we continue in our text this is the main point that Paul is making in verses 5-13. Read with me.

Romans 10:5-7 “For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”

Let’s just pause here for a moment. What is Paul saying here?

Paul says that righteousness that is based on the law must live according to the law. “The person who does the commandments shall live by them.” If a person could keep the law perfectly they would live by them, but also if they break the law they will die by them and receive the punishment of being a law breaker.

And as Scripture teaches us throughout the entire Bible there is not one person who can live perfectly according to the law. So we need a different righteousness.

It is why, from the very beginning God has said that He will send a savior, a rescuer to redeem fallen humanity.

We need a righteousness not based on our ability to follow the law. We need a righteousness based on faith.

And then Paul highlights this by saying...

Romans 10:6-7 “But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”

In other words, what Paul is saying is that your righteousness was provided to you by God. You could not accomplish what was needed for your own salvation.

Who will say, “I’ll ascend into heaven and retrieve the promised messiah, I’ll go to heaven and bring Jesus down to us.”

And after Jesus died, who will say, “I’ll descend into the abyss and raise him from the dead. I’ll bring him back to life that we may be saved.

No one can say these things. No one can do these things! What is the correct response of faith? God’s word tells us as we continue.

Romans 10:8-13 “But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, 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. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.””

The correct response of faith according to knowledge is to “confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead.”

Salvation in Jesus is a work of God in our hearts whereby we believe and proclaim what is true about ourselves and Jesus.

Do you believe that you are a sinner deserving the wrath of God for the rebellion of your sin? Do you believe that your own rightesousness and works are inadequate to save you?

Do you believe that Jesus lived a perfect life in your place. Do you believe that his righteousness was perfectly obedient to the law?

Do you believe that Jesus died in your place? And in believing all of this will you confess with your mouth that Jesus is your Lord, that he is your king, that you will surrender your life to Him because he purchased it with his blood.

If you believe these things it is because God is doing a work in your heart—if you believe in these things then confess your sins, believe on Christ and you will be saved. The scripture says you will not be put to shame.

Our text says, no matter what, whether you were Jew or Greek, he bestows his riches on all who call on his name.

This means that no matter what kind of life you have had and lived, no matter how far from God you have gotten---if you trust Jesus as your perfect righteousness you will be saved, the shame of your sin, will not touch you, and the riches that are in Christ will be yours.

But don’t miss this—our faith must be in Christ and it must be in the Christ of the Bible!

Be zealous for Christ, be passionate for Him, be passionate about your salvation but make sure that your zeal and passion is according to the knowledge of God that He has given you in the Scriptures.

There are so many people who proclaim a Jesus that you cannot find in the scriptures—and in this way they are false lighthouses—they are sirens calling people to trust in the very rocks that will dash them to pieces. And I don’t believe that this intentional most of the time—they have a zeal for a Jesus of their own making.

Friends, let us be zealous for the One true king as he has revealed himself to us in Scripture. Amen?

We must put our faith in the right place—and our faith must be from the right place according to God’s Word—and as we continue we see that this...

III. Faith Must Be Proclaimed in Every Place (10:14-21)

Romans 10:13 “For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.””

There is not one person that calls on the name of Jesus for salvation who will not be saved. Jesus says it himself in John 6:37 “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”

And so as we’ve seen in Romans 8 and 9 salvation is secure in God’s sovereignty—God will save those He calls but as we continue in Romans 10 we see that it is our responsibility to share the life changing, good news of Jesus Christ. Read with me.

Romans 10:14-15 “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!””

God has ordained that the ordinary means by which people are saved is through the proclamation of the gospel. It is through telling others about their sin and how Jesus is the substitutionary sacrifice for their sins that people are saved. People—in order to be saved—must hear and believe the gospel.

You don’t need a fancy service—a nice building—a big budget. All you need is the faithful gospel proclamation.

Paul asks a great question, how is it that people will call on Jesus when they have not believed? If they are to believe then they must hear the gospel.

And how will people hear the gospel? They will hear the gospel when someone preaches it to them!

And how is it that people will come to preach this gospel—they will preach the gospel when they are sent to do It.

Friends, preaching the gospel to a lost and dying world is the privilege of every single recipient of God’s grace through Jesus. If you have been saved—you are being sent!

Acts 4:11-12 “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.””

How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!

Preach the gospel to the lost because this is the way that God saved you—and this is the way that God will save others.

We have been studying the sovereignty of God in salvation but our text today shows us that God’s sovereignty does not remove our responsibility to proclaim the gospel.

As we close though Paul reminds again that salvation is unfolding as God wills it. And people believe according to his mercy.

Romans 10:16-21 “But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.” But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, “I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry.” Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, “I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.” But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.””

I want to quote Tony Merida here, “With brokenhearted compassion and Christ-exalting passion, let’s prayerfully proclaim the gospel to unbelievers and leave the results to our sovereign God, who brings the dead to life through the word of Christ.”

Conclusion

Our text today has shown us that we must put our faith in the right place. And the right place to put our faith is in Jesus Christ. It is his righteousness, not ours that saves us because He alone is our perfect substitute.

Our text has also shown us that our faith must come FROM the right place. We can be zealous for God and still not be saved because our faith is not according to the knowledge of God. Believe everything that God tells you in His Word—about all things, but especially about Jesus and your need for him.

And third our text has shown us that our faith must be proclaimed in every place. And even though God is sovereign over salvation we have the privilege to be part of his calling His people to Himself by trusting in Jesus. We proclaim the gospel to all people because God is saving people everywhere. Let’s pray.