5 12 13 “Faith Speaks”
Romans 10:5-10
In the world today, there is, what seems to be, a lot of competition among religions. Many say that every religion has some validity, suggesting (pluralism), but yet some HAVE TO BE wrong, or even worse, ALL have to be wrong, except for one; otherwise TRUTH does not exist. The Bible teaches that ALL religions are wrong which do not call us OUTof our own inadequacy and total INABIBLITY to save ourselves, and into an exclusive faith and life in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness and righteousness.
Salvation by Works…Won’t Work!
Look at Romans 10:5: “For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness.” Once again, we see New Testament teaching coming out of the Old Testament. Here, Paul probably has Leviticus 18:5 in mind: “So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.” The word “live” is very important in both of these verses. God certainly rewards people with a good life on this earth if they obey His revealed law…and…by doing so, you stay out of court and you stay out of jail. There is no doubt that morality is better than immorality. But living “RIGHTLY” does not make you righteous.
BUT if you take the word “live” to refer to, not only THIS LIFE, but to ETERNAL LIFE, then every single person who ever walked this earth is in big trouble, because NO ONE can do the “right thing” all the time and then do it perfectly, and we are BORN UNRIGHTEOUS.
Romans 3:10-12: "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; 11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD ; 12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS ; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE." (These are Old Testament teachings too.) This paints a pretty dim picture of trying to achieve a righteousness apart from God. SALVATION by works WON’T WORK, since there is NO ONE who is righteous.
Galatians 3: 10: For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse ; for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW…”
Listen to Galatians 5: 3: And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the WHOLE LAW.
(You just heard that right? ALL THINGS. 1. If you are going to be saved by your works, you must DO every thing (ALL THINGS) perfectly! That is what the law of God requires. Not one imperfection at any time, and NO ONE can do that.
Galatians 3:11: “Now that NO ONE is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, "THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH." 12 However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, "HE WHO PRACTICES THEM SHALL LIVE BY THEM."
Putting your trust in a “salvation by works” comes in many different shades: Some plainly say that you are saved by what you DO. That would be legalism and according to the Bible, it is eternally LETHAL. Others may say that you are saved by faith PLUS your own works (or any variation on this way of thinking). If you are thinking this, then you are denying justification which is by FAITH in Christ. Any other way but TRUSTING CHRIST EXCLUSIVELY for your righteousness and forgiveness is not trusting in justification by FAITH in Christ: justification is by Christ ALONE.
2. If you live your life trusting in YOUR works, even in part, in any way, shape or form in order to be made right with God, you will be judged according to your works. If you try to mix your works with a righteousness by faith, you POLLUTE and destroy the righteousness which is by FAITH in Christ’s Work. It is a futile and FATAL MIX. 3. If you are trusting AT ALL in your works, you are not trusting in the WORK of Christ.
Many people say, “Well, I’m not such a bad person.” Right there, you think that you somehow deserve grace because of your character. There is NO ONE who is Good. Not One. Galatians 5:4 describes such a person: “You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law (by works, even a little bit); you have FALLEN FROM GRACE.” “Severed from Christ” is strong language: It means that Christ has no influence for you and God’s grace is no longer effective for you!
Look at What Salvation by faith DOES NOT say
Look at Romans 10:6-8: “But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: "DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, 'WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN ?' (that is, to bring Christ down ), 7 or 'WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)." 8 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.”
These words originated in Deuteronomy 30:10-14. Listen: “Obey the LORD your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and soul. (ONE WAY ONLY: God’s way!) 11 "For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach." It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?' 13 "Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?' 14 "But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.”
First of all, these verses show us what Salvation by faith DOES NOT say. Israel didn’t need to seek any ADDITIONAL REVELATION from God; Salvation by faith DOES NOT SAY we need additional words, more revelation. The doctrine of justification by faith had been clearly taught to Old Testament Israel, to Abraham, David and other heroes of the faith (There’s a whole list of them in Hebrews 11!) Today, True believers in Christ as the justifier of faith to those who believe DO NOT NEED additional words from God either. We have what is needed already, namely, the Gospel message proclaimed by the apostles and the Holy Spirit of God: (Romans 10:9) “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
In our text, Israel did not have wait for more words nor were THEY to add works in order in order to bring the Messiah to them…Saving faith does not need to DO MORE in order to bring the Messiah to them. Don’t go up to Heaven looking for Him! Don’t go across the sea looking for Him. Don’t descend below looking for Him. What Israel WAS commanded to do was to obey the WORD of God which WAS given to them! Israel didn’t do too well with that, and neither do most citizens of this world; That’s why Jesus came: We can’t DO it.
Today, Christians aren’t commanded to DO something extraordinary either: We are commanded to BELIEVE that Jesus did indeed COME from Heaven, God in the flesh. We are commanded to BELIEVE that He died for sin and resurrected from the Dead! THE WORD IS NEAR to us. We are to believe the Gospel! (and SPREAD the GOSPEL.)
We are not to look for additional words, works, “miracle workers,” and 3. Saving faith doesn’t look for more miracles. That is what Israel was looking for: In Deuteronomy 30, Moses was going to be taken away from the people of Israel and they were anxious about who was going to replace him, and Moses basically told them: “You don’t need somebody else because you have God’s Law and the Gospel has already been spelled out for you.” The fact is: Israel was still seeking more MIRACLES from THE LORD JESUS CHRIST… and THEY STILL didn’t believe…and they still don’t. Miracles do not a believer make!
The majority of Israel has never been satisfied with a justification by faith; They have always sought more signs and wonders, in fact, they continued to ask for more miracles from Jesus throughout His ministry. If you think about it, the people of Nineveh received no miracles, yet repented. Today, people repent and sinners are saved because they BELIEVE in Christ’s atonement for sins, not because of miracles or striving to do more. Any additions or subtractions concerning “justification by faith” erase the supreme work of the Lord Jesus Christ as proclaimed in HIS Gospel.
If THEY were not to seek more miracles, we CERTAINLY SHOULDN’T seek them either. We have THE miracle of God IN THE FLESH, the LORD JESUS CHRIST, the miracles of HIS Life and Ministry. We have the miracle of HIS perfect death given FOR SIN’s payment, HIS resurrection to prove it that death’s sentence was paid. We have the miracle of HIS ascension back to His Home to prove that HE IS KING, SOVEREIGN and the PREMINENT ONE, and we have HIS PROMISE…the Miraculous PROMISE of His RETURN to all who do what? TO ALL WHO CALL ON and BELIEVE IN HIS NAME! We have the blessedness, the power and presence of the Holy Spirit of God, who lives within us. We should start living and witnessing to show that we have been RECIPIENTS of the miracle of Saving Faith instead of seeking more signs.
The Word of Faith Speaks
Look at the characteristics of the word of faith “speaking” to us. What is true religion according to the Bible? Listen to Romans10:8-10: But what does it (the word of faith) say? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, in your mouth and in your heart "-that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”
The first word of faith you hear is a confession out of a BELIEVER’S mouth which exalts JESUS as LORD.” There is a mountain of biblical theology that backs this tremendous statement. Pure Christianity IS ALL ABOUT the LORDSHIP of Jesus Christ. When you confess Him as your Lord, you honor HIM as Sovereign, and place yourself as His servant! Anything that detracts from HIM or His LORDSHIP is a FALSE RELIGION. Christianity stands firm and tall on the CORNERSTONE, the LORDSHIP of JESUS CHRIST. He becomes a stumbling stone for many, but none the less, to those who believe that HE IS LORD, He is also Life, and He IS Salvation and He is deliverance, and forgiveness, He is hope, He is eternal life, and He is comfort, supreme Love, and unimaginable GRACE, and HE IS FAITH…..
To those who believe, Jesus is the resurrected and ASCENDED Lord: “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Where is it that you believe and are saved? IN YOUR HEART. HERE…THAT NEAR TO YOU…IN YOUR HEART. It’s here that Jesus IS my resurrected LORD, AND He’s my Ascended LORD. It is NOT MY doing, but it IS the work of God, not by my will, but by the WILL OF God, in and through the WORK of the Lord Jesus Christ, by power of His Word and Spirit.
LISTEN TO THIS from Luke 6:45: "The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.” The words that are coming out of your mouth correspond with the fullness of what’s in your heart. Are you filled with JESUS? Can you proclaim that Jesus is Lord? Can you proclaim with confidence that Jesus is risen from the Dead? Can you profess that THE LORD JESUS is seated on the right hand of the Majesty which is in heaven and He is at the same time the treasure that you have in your heart; Then God has spoken His Word of FAITH into your heart, not because YOU DID enough, but because HE DID by His Divine and Powerful Will.
Faith is the exclusive power of God by the Word of Christ infused by the Spirit, in which He brings dead men to spiritual life. He calls them out of spiritual death into His life. In verses 8-10 these phrases are used to describe what happens to the person that embraces this word of FAITH which is Christ: “if you confess and believe, you will be saved”, “resulting in righteousness”, “resulting in salvation”. The Faith of Christ moves mountains of unbelief. The Faith of Christ, this gift from God, brings people who are dead in sin, to new and eternal life in Christ. Faith is absolutely essential. It is the miracle of all miracles because without that work of God, you are spiritually dead and bound for eternal punishment. But WITH the faith of Christ, you are spiritually regenerated, resulting in His righteousness and eternal salvation.
Romans 10:17 tells us that “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” the indebtedness AND the mission of the Church is to share that tremendous New and Eternal Hope that is within us with those who have no hope. May He graciously equip us to do that this week so that He will receive the glory that is due Him for such an EXCELLENT SALVATION…by Faith. To God Be the Glory.
I. Salvation by “works” WON’T WORK:
1. If you are going to be saved by your works, you must DO everything perfectly.
2. If you live your life trusting in your works, you will be judged by your works.
3. If you are trusting AT ALL in your works, you are not trusting in the WORK of Christ.
II. A Salvation by faith DOES NOT SAY that:
1. We need ADDITIONAL words from God.
2. We have to DO something more to bring the Messiah to them.
3. We need more miracles.
III. The Word of Faith says:
1. Jesus is Lord.
2. Jesus is the resurrected Lord.
3. Faith is the exclusive power of God in Christ by which He brings dead men to spiritual life.
