Today we are speaking
about Romans 10:9: “That 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.”
And, Romans 10:13, “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
These are some of the basics of the whole Christian faith (cf. TSA doc. 7).
Therefore as we launch into our time today, along these lines I thought that I
would share a story that I shared here for the first talent show I was blessed
to be a part of here. This story is one I've heard about a kind elderly lady, who in her heart
upon a public confession of faith is experiencing the pure joys of Christian
love.
This lady, Emma, she goes into a local
Christian bookstore and sees a “Honk if you love Jesus” bumper sticker. Feeling
particularly good that day because she has just come from a great choir
practice and prayer meeting, she buys the bumper sticker and she put it on her
car – professing her faith publicly. She recalls, “Boy, I’m glad I did! What an
uplifting experience followed!” and then she launches into this story. She
remembers stopping at a red light at a busy intersection just when she first
had on her new ‘Honk if you love Jesus’ sticker. Lost in thought about the Lord
and how good He had been to her, she didn’t notice the light had changed.
“It is a good thing someone else loves Jesus,”
she said, “because if he hadn’t honked, I’d never have noticed that the light
had changed!” She then noted that indeed, lots of people actually love Jesus
because while she sat unmoving, blocking the lane of traffic, the guy behind
her also honked like crazy before leaning out of his window and screaming, “For
the love of God! Go! Go! Jesus Christ, Go!” She remembers thinking, “What an
exuberant cheerleader he was for the Lord!”
Suddenly, it seemed as though she had started
an epidemic and everyone started honking. Impressed by such a response, she
leaned out of her window and started waving and smiling at all these loving
people – while she was still parked in front of the intersection. “I even
honked my horn a few times to share in the love!” she recited. Then she
realized the mix of celebrants. “There must have been a man from Florida back
there because I heard him yelling something about a “sunny beach… I saw another
guy waving in a funny way with only his middle finger in the air. I asked my
teenage grandson in the back seat what that meant, and he suggested that it was
probably an Hawaiian good luck sign or something…”
The woman admitted that she had never met
anyone from Hawaii before and was unaware of their customs. “I leaned out the
window and gave him the good luck sign right back,” she reminisced.
She also remembers that a few persons were so
caught up in the joy of the moment that they got out of their cars and started
walking towards her. “I’ll bet they wanted to pray or ask what church I
attended but that was when I noticed that the light had changed. So, I waved to
all my loving sisters and brothers in Christ, grinned joyously, and drove on
through the intersection. I noticed that I was the only car that made it
through the intersection before the light changed again and I felt kind of sad
that I had to leave them after all the love we had shared, so I slowed the car
down, leaned out of the window and gave them all the Hawaiian good luck sign
one last time before I sped away.”
Romans 10:9: “That 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.” And, Romans 10:13, “For everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
These verses are two
critical verses to that famous ‘Romans Road to Salvation’ and they have in them
three critical points:
1) Confess Jesus as Lord with your mouth. (v.9) Say it.
2) Believe in your heart in His resurrection.
(v.9) Know it.
3) Call on the Name of the Lord. (v.13) Do it.
1) Say it! Romans 10:9: “…confess with your
mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord…’
This is important.
Whenever I hear this verse I immediately think of Peter, the rock upon which
Christ was to build His church (Matthew 16:13-16; cf. Mark 8:27-29, Luke
9:18-20). We know this story, right? Jesus tells Peter that he is going to use
him to help build his church. This is the point where Jesus gives him the name
‘Peter’ as a nickname – that wasn’t his given name; Simon was his given name –
Peter means ‘Rock’ or even ‘Rocky’. Simon ‘Rocky-Peter’ here is to be one of
Christ’s main ‘go to’ people after His resurrection and we remember the story
about how Jesus told Rocky-Peter that he would deny him 3 times before the cock
crows twice and then shortly after Peter’s saying ‘I don’t know what you’re
talking about’; shortly after Peter’s third denial that he even knows Jesus; the
rooster crows and Peter is devastated (Matthew 26:69-75; cf. Mark 14:66-72,
Luke 22:55-62, John 18:15-27).
Point #1: Say it! (Cf.
also Luke 21:12–15; 1 Corinthians 12:3; Philippians 2:11; 1 Peter 3:13–16, 21)
Simon Peter had his chance to confess Jesus as Lord but he declined it. Now, if
the story had ended there it would be sad indeed but John 21:15ff, records
Simon Peter’s restoration, as Rocky, as Peter.[1] The Resurrected Lord asks him
3 times to feed his sheep and he agrees to it.[2] Near the conclusion of the
book of John, Jesus then blows on Peter -and the other disciples- giving him
the Holy Spirit (John 20:22). Luke picks up the story of Rocky-Peter in the
book of Acts where Rocky-Peter is there at Pentecost, taking the lead as the
Holy Spirit like a starting pistol sends the disciples and more out to proclaim
salvation to the world. Acts 2, after they share the gospel in many different
languages as the Spirit enables them, the Lord adds to their number daily those
being saved (cf. Deuteronomy 30:14; Matthew 10:32, 2 Corinthians 4:13-14;
Philippians 2:11). Point 1, Romans 10:9, for us today, Say it!
Peter and the
disciples said it and many were saved. And just to underscore that Peter did
fully recover from his earlier denial, church tradition states that in the end
Peter even earned his martyr’s crown. He was apparently crucified upside down
as he left his life here for heaven to await the resurrection. Point 1: Say it!
This brings us to Point 2.
2) Know it! Believe in your heart in His
resurrection.
It is great and it is
very important to proclaim the gospel but that is not the end of it. Speaking
is one thing and believing is quite another. If you have any doubt about that,
think about the general reputation (accurate or not) of our elected politicians
– speaking is one thing, believing what you say is quite another. Paul in this
section of scriptures is really addressing the whole problem of Israel (Romans
9-11; cf. also Deuteronomy 30, Leviticus 18). He is addressing the problem of
the Law and their relation to the Law and their relationship to God. He is
quite concerned about people who are quite happy to say what needs to be said –
the Pharisees, as a group, did believe in the resurrection in general and as a
group were quite evangelistic (cf. Acts 23:7-8)! But believing in your heart in
Jesus’ resurrection is quite a different matter though (1 Corinthians 15:17;
cf. 2 Corinthians 4:13-14). And the
Apostle Paul - who was a Pharisee - celebrated the fact that Jesus has been
raised from the dead but sadly many Israelites and even Pharisees did not. It
pained Paul that people who were zealous for God’s Law were indeed missing out
on the benefits of the culmination of the Law, Jesus, the one whom the Law
points towards (cf. Romans 9:1-5; 10:1-4; Matthew 5:17,18; Luke 16:16; Acts
4:12; Galatians 3:19-24). Salvation is about, Point 1, Saying it, confessing
that Jesus is Lord, and it is also about, Point 2, Knowing it, really believing
in your heart in the resurrection and in Jesus’ resurrection, which is the
central part of not only’ Paul’s message but of all of Christianity (Romans
6:9, Romans 9:16; 1 Corinthians 15:17, 20; 2 Corinthians 4:13-14; Ephesians
1:20-23; Philippians 2:9-11; Colossians 3:1-4; Hebrews 2:9; Revelation 1:17-18;
cf. Deuteronomy 30:14, Acts 4:12, cf. also Isaiah 28:16).[3] N.T. Wright tells
us, “Almost all early Christians known to us believed that their ultimate hope
was the resurrection of the body. There
is no spectrum such as in Judaism. Some
in Corinth denied the future resurrection (1 Corinthians 15.12), but Paul put
them straight; they were most likely reverting to pagan views, not opting for
an over-realized Jewish eschatology.”[4] Belief in the resurrection and the
resurrection of Christ is central to Christianity.[5]
To review what we know
so far about Romans 10’s three points of Salvation:
1) Confess Jesus as Lord with your mouth. (v.9) Say it.
2) Believe in your heart in His resurrection. (v.9) Know it.
3) Call on the Name of the Lord. (v.13) Do it.
3) Call on the Name of the Lord.
This is important.
Saying it is good. Knowing it is better. Doing it is imperative (This fact is
also implied in v. 9).[6] The scriptures speak about this quite a bit (cf. for
ex: Leviticus 18:5 and Deuteronomy 30:11-16, which are cited in vv. 5-8; Luke
in Acts 2:16-21 and this passage by Paul are both quoting from Joel 2:32).[7] I
believe that Matthew actually paints this picture quite vividly. In Chapter
25:31ff is recorded the parable of the sheep and the goats. In that parable you
have two groups of nations. Both groups – the sheep and the goats – 1) say and
2) know that Jesus is Lord. But it is only the sheep that do anything about it.
As a result, only the sheep are saved. The goats that didn’t do anything go off
to where there is a weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 7:21 is quite clear
on this matter: it is recorded that the Lord says “Not everyone who calls me
‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven but only he who does the will of
my Father in heaven”: Say it! Know it! Do it!
We must actually call
on the name of the Lord. We have to call on Him. We have to trust him.[8] This
is important. For example, it is one thing for me to confess that I know my
wife; it is another thing to believe in my heart the many wonderful things that
have been done through her: these are wonderful things but my relationship with
Susan only grows when I actually call on her, when I actually spend time with
her. I can say she is my wife all I want; I can believe she is my wife all I
want; but we only actually have a marriage if I bother to see her, to call on
her sometimes. This is important. Christianity isn’t some academic pursuit.
Christianity isn’t some code. Christianity isn’t some rules and regulations.
Christianity isn’t some club. Christianity isn’t some principles to live our
life by. Christianity is a relationship with the risen Christ. Jesus Christ
raised from the grave and he promises that, Romans 10:13 “…everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.” He loves us and he wishes that none
would perish. And Salvation in our text today is as easy as 1, 2, and 3. It is
my prayer today that every one of us here will:
1) Confess Jesus as Lord with your mouth. (v.9) Say it.
2) Believe in your heart in His resurrection. (v.9) Know it.
3) Call on the Name of the Lord. (v.13) Do it.
Psalm 34:8, “Taste and
see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.” Matthew
11:30: “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Romans 10:15 and Isaiah
52:7, "...How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
(cf. Psalm 118:26, Matthew 21:9, Matthew 23:39, Mark 11:9, Luke 13:35, Luke
19:38, John 12:13). Romans 10:9a, say it: confess with your mouth that Jesus is
Lord. Romans 10:9b, know it: believe in your heart in Jesus’ resurrection. And
above all else, Romans 10:13, do it: call upon the name of the Lord and then
even we will be saved. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Let it be.
Presented originally to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 11 September 2011
[1] Cf. Captain
Michael Ramsay, ‘John 21:15-23: We’re Back!’ Presented to Weston Corps of the
Salvation Army, May 2006 and Nipawin Corps of The Salvation Army, 21 February
2009. Available on-line:
http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2009/02/john-2115-23-were-back.html
[2]Cf. George R.
Beasley-Murray, John, (WBC 36: Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1987), 404-405.
[3] Cf. William
Hendricksen, Exposition of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, NTC (Grand Rapids,
Michigan: Baker Academic: 1981), 345
[4] Cf. N.T. Wright,
'Jesus’ Resurrection and Christian Origins' (Originally published in
Gregorianum, 2002, 83/4, 615–635).
Reproduced by permission of the author on-line at
http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Jesus_Resurrection.htm
[5] Cf. Everett F.
Harrison, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-, ROM:Romans/Exposition
of Romans/VI. The Problem of Israel: God's Righteousness Vindicated
(9:1-11:36)/D. Israel's Failure to Attain Righteousness Due to Reliance on
Works Rather Than Faith (9:30-10:21), Book Version: 4.0.2:
[6] Cf. John Murray,
The Epistle to the Romans Vol. II, NICNT, (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Eerdmans,
1968), 56; John Stott, Romans: God’s Good News for the World, (Leicester, UK:
IV Press: 1994), 283; F. F. Bruce, Romans:
An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL :InterVarsity Press, 1985
(Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 6), S. 201 - Doing it, though not
specifically reference (it doesn’t need to be because it is referenced a few
verses later in v.18), is implied as well in verse 9.
[7] F. F. Bruce,
Romans: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL :InterVarsity Press,
1985 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 6), S. 201:
[8] Cf. John Stott,
Romans: God’s Good News for the World, (Leicester, UK: IV Press: 1994), 285
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