Righteousness is Based on Faith

Transcript

GRM 721
2/18/2001
"Righteousness is Based on Faith"
Romans 10:1-17
Gil Rugh

I want to direct your attention this evening to the Book of Romans, the 10th chapter. I was drawn to this chapter in connection with our study in Acts chapter 2 and the sermon of Peter. In fact, I worked this week on trying to work this passage into our study that we were doing this morning. I had prepared it as the introduction to the sermon. But I realized there wouldn't be any sermon out of Acts if I did that, so in my frustration set it aside and decided to put it as my conclusion and work it in that way. I couldn't. But it's so similar to what we're doing in Acts chapter 2, particularly the portion we were considering in verses 37 and following. I think it helps to balance that passage and clarify it, because it covers the same basic material. Uses some different terminology and I think that helps to clarify some of the things that are being covered there.

We have an expanded portion of some of the issues that were covered in Peter's sermon in Acts chapter 2. In Romans chapter 9 Paul has covered the matter of the sovereignty of God in the issues of salvation, particularly as it relates to His people, Israel. Peter just mentioned the divine sovereignty of God, both in the death of Christ and in the calling to Himself of individuals for salvation. Paul has elaborated that whole issue of the sovereignty of God in chapter 9, but that does not in any way take away from human responsibility. So, after giving perhaps if not the strongest development of God's sovereignty, certainly one of the strongest passages is Romans chapter 9. He comes into chapter 10 and says, "Brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them (Israel) is for their salvation." You see, Paul was not torn. If God was totally sovereign and He is working His perfect purposes to draw Israel to Himself, to save those that He will, then it's in God's hands. I just leave it there and go about my business. No, my desire, my prayer is for their salvation. He had that burden in desiring that God would work in His sovereignty to bring Israel to salvation.

That's just a reminder to us. We're not to mire down. We want to understand as fully as possible all that the Scripture unfolds about God and His work. We ought not to get distracted. I don’t have everything sorted out in the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man; but that does not hinder me in any way from carrying out the responsibilities that God has given me. He said in verse 2 that Israel has "a zeal for God, but it’s in ignorance not knowledge." They are ignorant of God's righteousness, and they are working as hard as they can to establish their own righteousness. Note here, "they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God." That becomes the issue, and it is going to become the issue down through this passage. We have to call upon the name of the Lord to be saved. To call upon the name of the Lord involves a recognition of who He is, and it involves a submission before Him. Part of the problem is that in our pride and self-confidence and self-righteousness we are unwilling to submit ourselves to God's righteousness. Paul says that was the problem with Israel.

He goes on to talk about the Law. There is not righteousness through the law, and Christ has come to provide the righteousness that the law could not provide. He says in verse 5, "For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness." That's taken from Leviticus 18:5. The point of the law is that you have to obey it completely. There's no partial keeping the law and partial righteousness by faith, because the law was all encompassing. You have to live by law righteousness if that's your standard, and no one can. The law was not a way of faith, governing the life of those who had faith, but it could not provide true righteousness.

Now he picks up with verse 6 where I want to begin to focus our attention. "But the righteousness based on faith speaks thus..." Note the emphasis here. The righteousness which is based on faith, and that's the contrast. Righteousness which man tries to acquire by his own works. For the Jews they were trying to keep the law, but the law was never intended to be a way of providing righteousness for fallen humanity. The righteousness based on faith speaks in this way: "'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).' But what does it say? 'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart'--that is, the word of faith which we are preaching..." You note here the emphasis will be on faith. That's not different than the emphasis on repentance as we talked about in our study of Acts. Those who have genuine faith repent of their sin and their rebellion. They changed their mind. The result is they change their actions because in that change they submit to God's righteousness, trusting in Him.

The verses quoted in verses 6-8 are from Deuteronomy 30:12-14. But let me read you verse 11 of Deut. 30: "For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach." Moses speaking as God's spokesman. The commandment that I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. The point is as Paul applies this section from Moses to Christ, we are given the revelation from God that is necessary to be believed and thus have righteousness. We are not to reject the revelation. This is what the Jews were doing--they were going around looking for righteousness. But it's right here, in the Word, in the instruction from God. He says in verse 6, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?' (that is, to bring Christ down)..." The first issue involves a denial of the incarnation. There's no need to go to heaven. if God would only come from heaven.' 'Oh, if I could only confront God. ‘Oh, God has already come from heaven. Christ has already come to earth. In John chapter 1 we're told "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us...and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Now, we haven't seen Him personally as the apostles did, but we have the record of that. Christ has come. That issue is settled and taken care of. The first issue is to accept the truth of the incarnation. The Son of God came to earth. God stepped from glory and became a man, walked this earth.

Verse 7, "or 'Who will descend into the abyss?' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)." The second issue would involve a denial of the resurrection. 'Oh, if only we could bring Christ back from the dead that would make all the difference.' But He's alive! You see the point? The truth that you must believe is already here. In the context as Moses gave it in Deuteronomy 30:11, "For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach," and he applies this to Christ. You don't have to go on a search as though, 'If only I could find what I need for salvation;' no, it's right here. The word that I'm speaking to you. The word regarding the incarnation of the Son of God. The word regarding the resurrection of the Son of God, which encompasses, of course, His death, His substitutionary atonement. On these truths you encompass what Christ did with His birth, the incarnation, the enfleshment of Christ becoming man, and His resurrection from the dead, culminating the completed work of redemption with His death on the cross.

Verse 8 says, "But what does it say? 'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart'--that is, the word of faith which we are preaching." What we have is all we need. We give people the message of Christ. That is what must be believed, and it's just that simple. The simplicity of it goes right on by as it did the Jews! Back in verse 2 Paul says, "I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God." What a tragedy, because right here, right before them, the hearing in their ears the truth is being presented that they must believe to have righteousness.

Verses 9-13 set forth the content of the gospel message. We find it is very similar to what Peter said when he said "Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" in Acts 2:38. You note that it becomes with the conjunction 'that' or 'because'. That is the word of faith which we are preaching. What is that word of faith? Here it is: "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved..." Two things are presented as necessary here. You remember Peter seemed to be presenting two things: repent and be baptized. Here Paul says: "Confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead..." Now is he adding works to salvation? It's not by grace alone by faith alone in Christ alone anymore? But now it's by grace alone through faith in Christ plus confession with your mouth? No, obviously that can't be so because the Holy Spirit inspired the whole Scripture. He does not conflict with Himself. These aren't two separate elements. They are two sides to the same coin. One flows out of the other. Confession with the mouth comes from where? From where does the mouth speak? "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart..." Many people could go around and confess that Jesus is Lord and that wouldn't save them. Verse 9 is a quote from Deuteronomy 30:14 where it said in verse 8, "the word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart." Same thing we say "If you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart..." The word is in your mouth, verse 8, and in from your heart, Deuteronomy 30:14. The confession is in the mouth; the faith is in the heart. You wouldn't say you have faith in my mouth. No, I have faith in my heart, and my heart doesn't speak except through my mouth. The content of the confession is "Jesus as Lord." "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord," or "Jesus is Lord." You're aware this is a title for God in the Old Testament. It's used as a title for God over 6,000 times in the Greek translation of the Old Testament. It's a word here of 'Kurios' that you've heard before. It is a testimony that Jesus is God, for sure! But why is this name 'Lord' used for God? Well, it indicates what? That He is the sovereign over all as God. He rules overall. He is the Master. When I acknowledge Him as God, I recognize that He indeed is deity. He is the One before whom I bow!

It seems to me this is a simple theological point, and you can read in theological writings today where people say the word 'Lord' simply means 'Jesus is God.' It says nothing about us bowing before Him. Now what kind of God would you have if you do not have to bow before Him? If you're not required to submit to Him? I mean, it becomes meaningless. Kittle's Theological Dictionary says regarding Lord: "In all religions the concept of God must contain the element of legitimate power, i.e., the power to which man must concede authority and before whose sovereignty he knows he must bow." So, you acknowledge that Jesus is Lord. He is the sovereign One. He is God, but He has always been God; but now He is the victorious One in our redemption, and He's the One before whom we bow.

Jesus said in Luke 6:46, "Why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things that I command you?" It makes no sense that you would call Me Lord but not obey Me. You see that element is always there.

Look back in Romans 6 to what happens in our salvation. Romans 6:17, "Thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin..." Verse 18, "...having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness." You see, at one time our Lord and Master was sin, but now as a result of God's gracious salvation our Lord and Master is righteousness which is another way of speaking of the rule of God in the life. We saw in the first part of Romans 10 that they did not submit to the righteousness of God. To submit to the righteousness, to be a slave of righteousness is to be a slave of God.

Down in verse 22 of Romans 6, "But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God..." We've talked about this on numerous occasions. When you're set free from sin, you're not now free to do as you please. You have been set free from the slavery of sin so that you could be enslaved to God and to righteousness. Romans 8:7, "...the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God." That's why Romans 3 quoting from the Old Testament said there is none that does good. Nobody is pleasing God who has not been born again by His grace, because they live in the flesh. Then we saw in chapter 10, verse 3, that they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

So, when they acknowledge Jesus as Lord, they are recognizing that He is the sovereign One, the One before whom they must bow and submit themselves in faith. This is a matter of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. In I Corinthians 12:3 Paul told the Corinthians that no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Spirit. People can mouth those words, but no one can say with understanding and clarity that Jesus is Lord unless the Holy Spirit has enlightened their heart and their mind, and thus brought them to salvation. We say, "if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved." Same thing as "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." As Peter quoted from Joel and as Paul is going to quote from Joel down in verse 13. When you call upon the name of the Lord, the sovereign God, the Redeemer you receive salvation. "If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord," and no one can do that except by the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 12:13). We've talked about the Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to enlighten our mind and bring conviction of sin and bring us to faith in Christ. Recognition that He is Lord, and we bow before Him in faith.

In Romans 10:9, "...and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead..." The heart refers to your inner person, what you are, your inner being. This is not a superficial thing. Not just intellectual acknowledgement. Unsaved religious people would say Jesus Christ is Lord, but they have not really come to understand that and submit to Him for salvation. The Jews could have acknowledged that the lordship of God, but they didn't obey Him and even the people Jesus confronted in Luke 6:46, "Why do you call Me Lord and don't do what I tell you?" There is that superficial mouthing of something. The confession of the mouth doesn't guarantee the transformation of heart. Confession of the mouth is meaningful when it's tied to faith, belief in the heart. Doesn't say everyone who confesses with their mouth will be saved. It says those who confess with their mouth and believe in the heart shall be saved. I think this parallels what Peter is requiring in Acts 2:38. “Repent, and be baptized." The baptism is a public confession, a special form of confession or testimony. Here Paul focuses just on the general, testifying with your mouth what God has done. Peter there draws it more pointedly to one specific act of publicly identifying with Him--baptism. They tie together in that way.

"You shall be saved." You must believe in the resurrection. Again, the resurrection as a key thing. That's what the heart of Peter's sermon was; here's where Paul is focusing. Because the resurrection naturally encompasses His death. Why did He have to be raised from the dead? Because He was crucified for our sin, and the resurrection is the guarantee of the victory in that.

Romans chapter 4 where the promise made to Abraham that his faith was reckoned to him as righteousness was for our benefit as well as his. Verse 24, "But for our sake also, to whom it will be reckoned, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who was delivered up because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification." The resurrection is the seal and stamp that righteousness had been provided. When they declare you must believe in the resurrection; naturally if you believe that Christ was raised from the dead, you must believe that He died for your sins. Otherwise, what was the purpose of His death and subsequent resurrection? I've never talked with anyone who believed in the resurrection who did not believe that His death was for the purpose of paying the penalty for sin. It just didn't come out of nowhere.

In Romans 10:10, "for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness..." With the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness. "With the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." I was watching a tv preacher yesterday and he was giving some good material. He took a coin out of his pocket. He said when we're talking about repentance and faith, we're talking about two sides of the same coin. I give you the quarter, you get the whole quarter. You get heads and tails. That's true! He was using repentance and faith, but that would be true here. Confession and belief in the heart--they go together. Again, the New Testament does not contemplate secret believers who have believed in the heart but never speak and share that. Or never identified with Him in baptism. Those aren't the things that save you, but that commitment to Christ becomes a public, known thing. I belong to Him! It's like a marriage of the Church to Christ--we are the bride of Christ as the Church. There are rare times when people get married and keep it a secret, but we look at it a little bit strangely. You get married, and it's usually some kind of public service. It may not be in a big church, but it is usually some kind of ceremony with witnesses. Why? Well, if I'm embarrassed and ashamed to be seen with this person, I probably don't want to marry them. You don't get married to someone and say Heaven forbid that anyone ever knows or that anyone ever sees us together. No! You're proud! This is my wife! This is my husband! Especially in the early days we seem to have more of that zeal. What is it? Well, we become joined to Christ--I hope nobody finds out? Hope nobody knows? This is the most exciting thing that's ever happened in our lives. The Scripture takes it that it will be publicly known. I will confess it and acknowledge it before men. That's why when Jesus said "He who confesses Me before men, I will confess him before the Father. He who denies Me before men..." Because I've connected the condition of your heart.

I keep one of the books on martyrs, the Anabaptist Martyrs, on my desk down in my library. Periodically I read that just to remind myself that here are people who will suffer the most excruciating death, but they will not forego their identification with Christ. That's just a test of the genuineness of it.

So, it is with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. You're saved by faith; the Scripture is clear. He talked about the word of faith at the end of verse 8, which we are preaching. But if you don't have that it won't result in the confession. Like if you didn't have it, wouldn't result in the baptism. There are certain necessary results of genuine saving faith.

Turn back to Matthew chapter 7. Here Jesus is talking in verse 13, "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it. Beware of the false prophets," for you can tell them by their fruit. Then all the examples here. Then you come down to verse 21, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven..." So here are people who are confessing something with their mouth. But not everybody who says it with their mouth is going to be part of the kingdom. "but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven." You see the response of obedience flows out of...you know, eating, breathing, and all the things that are part of being human don't make you be born. But when you are born into the human race there are certain things you do that are the necessary natural consequences of having been born into the human race. But we don't turn that around and say, well, you make a baby! How do you make a baby? Well, you know, you make something that breathes. You make something that cries. You make something that...you fill in the blanks. Wait a minute, No! That's not how you make a baby. That's the result of having been born, but that's not the cause of being born. But somehow people are constantly getting confused on the new birth, being born again. There are certain results that come, and one of those key results is what? "Doing the will of God." Because His seed abides in us, I John 3 says. We have become partakers of the divine nature. Certain things follow on or are a result. Salvation is by faith, but there are results and one of those is what? We step forward to be identified with Christ in obedience to Him. We delight for everybody to know; I have become a follower of Christ.

He'll say in verse 22, "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name did we not cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me you who practice lawlessness.'" You see the issue here is they weren't obedient. Again, you can turn on the television and watch people supposedly doing all kinds of miraculous things, and yet the doctrine that characterizes them and related things shows they are not submissive to Him, not obedient to Him. So "everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them," does them! That word 'acts' is the word 'do'. Everyone who hears and acts upon them, who does them. Are you saved by works? No! You're saved by faith. Are you born into the human race by breathing? No! Are you born into the human race by crying? No! I mean, we can do some artificial things, but there is something beyond what we can do in the creating of a life. That's all it is spiritually. We make it more complicated than the Scripture does. There's a simplicity about it. It's not complicated, but it's not easy because we battle against that submission to Him as Lord, that bowing before Him. 'God, I am a wretched sinner; I am without hope,' recognizing that He is Lord.

The righteousness, the salvation that we have are the same thing. Back in Romans 10:10, “For with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." Righteousness, salvation--they're interchangeable, because what do we need for salvation? We need the righteousness of God. What do you get when you get the righteousness of God? You get salvation. They're interchangeable terms or expressions.

Back to Romans 9. This is by faith. Verse 30, "What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness," and now note this, "even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because...they stumbled over the stumbling stone." They didn't pursue it by faith. How you get this is by faith. That's clear. You believe with your heart, and you confess it with your mouth. You repent and you're baptized in obedience, declaring yourself to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Does that mean everybody who's baptized was really saved? No, we get to Acts 8, and we see Simon got baptized when we wasn't saved, and the apostles baptized him. A person can confess with their mouth and get up and get baptized and never have believed in their heart. Some of you could testify to that. Some of you have had multiple baptisms because you didn't get saved until later. The baptism didn't save you any more than saying with your mouth that He is Lord saves you. Being saved is with your heart and then the confession with your mouth which comes from your believing heart means something. When you have repented and believed in him, then your baptism means something. It is a declaration to the world that I am a follower of Christ. I belong to Him; I follow and obey Him. You must put those things in their proper context. You see how Romans 10 parallels basically what Peter was developing? You realize the message does not change. Some of the words are different, but they express the same ideas.

Look down in verse 11, "For the Scripture says, 'Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.'" That's a quote from Isaiah 28:16. That supports the fact that salvation is by faith, and there's no disappointment or failure in Him, and this is for Jew and Gentile alike. This is where Peter is going in Acts chapter 2--it's for you and your children and for those who are afar off, referring to Gentiles. "There is no distinction." The way of salvation is the same. The message is the same. "For the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call upon Him; for 'Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.'" That's God's plan.

He's got four questions here. Just let me note them for you and then we'll be done. What he's doing in verses 14-21 is show that the Jews had every opportunity. You know we would be in a similar place as them in our country and as religious people today we have abundant exposure to the message of the word of God. We hear it even though many do not believe it. He asks four questions:

1) "How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed?" Verse 14.

2) "How shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard?" You see, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" but that call comes from the heart of faith, and it's because I have repented and I'm turning from my sin and my trust in myself; there is that faith in my heart that I call 'Oh Lord, save me!' That is the expression of my faith as I'm crying out to Him for His mercy. How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? Very simply, can you believe in Christ if you've never heard of Christ? Obviously not. That's why the message must be preached, because you can't believe in someone about whom you have not heard.

3) "And how shall they hear without a preacher?" Literally, a present participle, "How shall they hear without one preaching?" Carouso, a herald; one who has a message entrusted to him and he's giving it forth. How shall they hear without someone to bring the message to them, to tell them what has been entrusted to them by God. The truth that has been given. Paul said in writing to the Corinthians, "We have this treasure in earthen vessels." Think about it. We have entrusted to our care the truth from God that can bring salvation from an eternal hell to a person. What excuse will we have before God for not telling them? 'I put that treasure in earthen vessels. My Son died to make that a reality, and I entrusted you with that message to pass on and you didn't do it? That people would spend an eternity in hell, and you were more concerned about whether you would be embarrassed?' What an awful thought.

4) "And how shall they hear without a preacher and how will they preach unless they are sent?" A herald has no message of his own. The Church is losing sight of this with our emphasis on entertaining speakers, those who can tell stories or those who can motivate us or those who can make us a little bit comfortable. But you understand, "How can they preach unless they are sent?" That ties to what a preacher is. It's a herald, someone who has been entrusted with the message. Like a king who gives the message to his herald to send him to another city to tell them what he said. But unless they're sent from God and have the message from Him, they have nothing to say.

"For the Scripture says, 'Whosoever believes in Him will not be disappointed. ‘...’Whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved,” verse 13. How does this process get carried out? By those who have been given a message from the living God, taking it and proclaiming it to people so they can hear and believe and call upon the name of the Lord. This means at the end of verse 15 "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good things!" Isaiah 52:7. In those days they walked to wherever they were going, so they had beautiful feet. Why? Because it's those feet that carried them. Aren't you glad the person came and shared the gospel with you, did it? The beautiful feet of those who bring glad tidings.

Yet the reality of it is that not everybody has believed the report. In fact, most have not. Isaiah said "Lord, who has believed our report?" "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." It comes down to that narrow point. That simple truth. Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. You must hear the Word of God to believe. That's it. What you hear must be the word of Christ. Doesn't say faith comes from hearing and hearing from what the preacher said that morning. May or may not depending on whether he gave the word of Christ. There cannot be any alteration or any change. For what happens is people cannot be saved. So just stop and think. If you're the devil and you want to oppose the work of God in the salvation of souls, what will you do? We don't have to be as brilliant as the devil to figure this out! Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ--I have to be sure they don't hear the word of Christ! Pack them into a church, have them have a good time, have them feel good about being there, have them talk about the Bible, talk about Christ. Listened to a man who said he went and preached to the Muslims, and you know what? A man asked him 'What did you tell them?' Oh, I talked about Jesus! The Muslims let you do that? He responded, You know, if I had talked about the cross, the Muslims would have been offended, but they don't mind you talking about Jesus as a prophet or a great miracle worker, but they would have been offended if I had talked about the cross. But he said, I never talk about the cross because that does offend people. People cannot be saved under that kind of preaching, under that kind of message. That's why we have to be careful. You have in your possession from God, if you've been born again, the message that people must hear to be saved. Our responsibility is to get it out. Let's pray together.

Thank you, Lord, for your goodness. Thank you for the treasure that has been placed in these earthen vessels. Lord, what an awesome thought it is that we have been entrusted with the message of life. That every man and woman and child we come in contact with day by day must hear this message from you to be saved, and there is no hope for their salvation apart from their hearing and believing this message. Lord, thank you for entrusting this glorious truth with us as your servants. May we be faithful in the giving forth of the message you've given to us, for we pray in Christ's name. Amen.