New Life In Christ 2: Salvation ABC's, Romans 10:5-17, by Rev. Derek S. Langille

 ⁵ For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands. ⁶ But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven’ (to bring Christ down to earth). ⁷ And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” ⁸ In fact, it says,

   “The message is very close at hand;
      it is on your lips and in your heart.”

   And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ For 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. ¹¹ As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” ¹² Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. ¹³ For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

 ¹⁴ But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? ¹⁵ And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”

 ¹⁶ But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, “Lord, who has believed our message?” ¹⁷ So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.

Ø Would you believe that we tend to complicate things?

Ø Our personal, professional, and intellectual pride thrives on complications and making sense of puzzles.

Ø Solving complicated problems and difficult issues boosts our egos.

Ø We like it when someone else has a problem or complicated issue and brings it to us to help them look for a solution.  We find it very gratifying.

Ø But you know, sometimes our enjoyment of dealing with complicated things gets in the way.

Ø The world is complicated enough to live in, as it is, without us making things more complicated just so that we can gratify our egos.

Ø Sometimes we create complications and puzzles where there are none.

Ø I believe that becoming a Christian is as simple as ABC.  I don't mean that it's easy, but that it is simple.

Ø The world is a hard place because of sin. It is difficult enough for seekers or new believers to understand Christian doctrines like the incarnation, the resurrection, justification, and sanctification without us making them more complicated than what they really are.

Ø This morning we are going to talk about the doctrine of salvation which is really as simple as ABC.

Ø In our text for today Paul says, ⁵ For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands.  - Romans 10:5 (NLT)

Ø Did you hear that? To be right with God the law requires you have to obey all of its commands, all of them!

Ø Elsewhere Paul makes it clear that those who fail to keep the law are cursed.

Ø As Galatians 3:10-12 says, But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.” So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, “It is through obeying the law that a person has life.” - Gal. 3:10-12 (NLT)

Ø People are trying to make it into heaven on their own merit, i.e., by keeping the law, by being good, and that is exactly what people cannot do.

Ø People think they're good enough or that they are genuinely good people. But can we really do enough good or be good enough?  According to the Bible, no.

Ø James tells us, For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.

- James 2:10 (NLT)

Ø We simply are not capable of keeping the law and so we are unable to be good according to God's standard.

Ø We need something beyond the law, something that measures us differently so we can be saved.

Ø Paul says that something is faith.

Ø Let's look at what our text says in vv. Six and seven:

Ø ⁶ But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven’ (to bring Christ down to earth). ⁷ And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead’ (to bring Christ back to life again).”- Romans 10:6-7 (NLT)

Ø What Paul was saying is that righteousness requires submission to God.  No submission equals no righteousness.

Ø We have no goodness of our own that can make us right with God. We have to submit to God so we can receive his goodness for ourselves.

Ø Our self-righteousness claims that we can go looking for God and get to him all by ourselves, all on our own .  But righteousness by faith requires submission because God in Christ has already come down and it's up to us to accept him.

Ø No one has to go into the grave to find Christ because he has already come back.  No, we don't need to hunt for God and we cannot run away from him either.  As the Psalmist wrote, "Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there." - Psalm 139: 7-8 (NIV)

Ø In the past, God made it clear to his people through his word that they needed to depend not on their own ability to keep the law or be good, but to depend on God in faith.

Ø As Paul says in verse eight, ⁸ In fact, it says, “The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.” And that message is the very message about faith that we preach. - Romans 10:8 (NLT)

Ø Just as God made it clear in the past, he is making it clear to us that we must admit our need and depend on his goodness in faith for our salvation.

Ø Remember what I said about things being more complicated than they need to be and that salvation is really as simple as ABC, well, here's your "A."

Ø "A" is admit your need.  Admit your need. Admitting one's need is the first step in coming to God in faith.

Ø Let's continue on with "B."

Ø Believe Jesus rose from the dead.

Ø Paul tells us in vv. 9 & 10, ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ For 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.

Ø Salvation hinges on the conviction in our hearts that Jesus died on a Roman cross and rose from the dead on the third day.

Ø Without the literal, physical resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave the Christian faith as presented in the Bible is meaningless.

Ø Just as Paul wrote to the Corinthians, And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. - 1 Cor. 15:17 (NLT)

Ø Why is believing in the resurrection of Jesus from the grave so important?  If we do not believe in Jesus' resurrection, then he is not our God, and he is not our Lord, then he cannot be the divine word, our creator and our sins are not forgiven.

Ø But Jesus' resurrection is God's proof that Jesus is his Son.

Ø Is it easy to accept the resurrection of Jesus?  No, but there is plenty of evidence for it, so it is simple.

Ø All one needs to do is read the resurrection records in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, as well as, explore the book of Acts to see that the eyewitnesses were fully convinced that Jesus is alive.

Ø "B" is believe Jesus rose from the dead.

Ø A, admit; B, believe, and C, confess.

Ø Confess Jesus is Lord. Confess Jesus is Lord.

Ø Paul says in verse 9 & 10, ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ For 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.

Ø To confess is to give spoken testimony, out loud, "with your mouth" as Paul says.

Ø Confessing Christ as Lord is directly related to the testimony and preaching of the gospel, which Paul supports in vs. 14 to 17, where he writes,

Ø  ¹⁴ But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? ¹⁵ And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”

¹⁶ But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, “Lord, who has believed our message?” ¹⁷ So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ. -Romans 10:14-17 (NLT)

Ø Confessing Christ is acknowledging, witnessing, testifying, even preaching before others that Jesus of Nazareth died and was raised from the dead for you.

Ø Now I know that the very moment I said that some people are going to respond, "I can't do that. I can't be a preacher or an evangelist."

Ø But this doesn't have to be scary or complicated either. You don't need a soap box on a street corner for a pulpit and you don't need to preach at people.

Ø It is no more scary than sitting at the kitchen table over coffee and a muffin, talking about life.

Ø It is no more complicated than lending a helping hand to a neighbour in need, showing them Christ's love.

Ø It can be as simple as offering to pray for a crisis in your neighbour's life, while expecting God to show his glory and be about His work.

Ø It's as scary as inviting your friend, relative or neighbour to join you for Sunday Service. The worst that could happen on our end is the answer, no.

Ø Not only does admitting your need, believing Christ is risen and confessing him as Lord lead to your salvation, but these ABC's of faith lead to personal testimony, sharing the good news of Jesus with others, which is absolutely essential to the life of the believer and the church.

Ø "C" is Confess Jesus is Lord.

Ø Now that we've gone over these ABC's of the Christian faith, I believe that it is important to answer another question: why are these ABC's so important?

Ø I believe Paul answers this question in vs. 11-13.

Ø ¹¹ As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” ¹² Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. ¹³ For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” - Romans 10:11-13 (NLT)

Ø Because everyone sins, the cure faith in Jesus Christ applies to everyone.

Ø There are no more dividing walls between Jew and Gentile.

Ø The Bible tells us that in heaven before the throne of God every tribe and language and people and nation will be represented.

Ø Because salvation is for everyone, when we become aware of our need, we must face what we are going to do with Jesus Christ.

Ø Our response once we become aware of our need is as simple as ABC.

Ø God made salvation simple; admit your need, believe Jesus rose, confess Christ openly.