| Romans 9-11 continued...
Adam and Eve had this type of feeling of
nakedness, so they looked around and you know they must have
been in a panic--they couldn't be thinking straight--because
the leaf they picked, the leaves they picked to sew together
were figleaves! Those are the prickliest, scratchiest leaves
on earth. And then God provided something better for them.
It says in Genesis 3:21 "the Lord God made garments of skin
for Adam and his wife and clothed them." Isaiah 61:10 says,
"I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, for he has clothed me
with the garments of salvation." God is in the business of
covering up our shame and our nakedness. God is showing us
how foolish it is for us to try to cover ourselves--how absolutely
absurd it is for us to do something to try to get ourselves
out of this mess. There is NOTHING we can do, he's
got to do it for us. He provided the skins for them. He probably
had to sacrifice a little animal, probably a little lamb,
in order to give them covering. And so he gave us his Son,
Jesus Christ, so that we might have covering.
Romans 10 is a beautiful picture of the simplicity of salvation.
Do you think it's hard to be saved? If you do you've been
exposed to religion--you haven't been exposed to a relationship
with Jesus Christ. If you think it's hard, listen up, because
I've some good news for you. Someone has said, and it is well
said, "There are only two kinds of religions, one may be spelled
"do", the religion of DO, "DO this, DO that, DON'T DO that,
you'd better DO this." And the other religion can be spelledD-O-N-E.
Christianity is a religion that is based on something that
is DONE, it's not a religion based on what we have to DO.
The emphasis of Christianity is not what you have to do. The
sad thing is that there's people all over the country, and
that's what they're getting preached to them. "DO" for God.
That's not the emphasis of the Word of God, the emphasis
of the Bible is what God's done for you, because God's smart,
and that's an understatement. He knows that once we get a
grip on what he's done for us--we'll do like crazy for him.
It's true.
People don't understand that. They look out and they think,
"These people need to be told what to DO!--You need to get
out there and you need to hammer 'em, man. Tell 'em what to
DO!" No, you need to tell them what God has DONE. Otherwise
you might as well be a part of every cult or false religion
that guilt trips people into everything. Christianity is not
an eternal guilt trip, it's a grace trip. It is a grace experience.
The gospel is not about something I do, it is about something
Jesus has done.
Sincere people are sincerely wrong, verse 3 says, 'when they
go about to establish their own righteousness, and not subjecting
themselves to the righteousness of God--because Christ is
the end of law keeping for righteousness.'
You can not be saved by doing good things. By going to church,
by being baptized, by being sprinkled, by being confirmed,
by taking Holy Communion, by going to the temple, or by anything
else you might think of--you cannot be saved by those things.
Look at Galatians 2 and listen to what the same guy, the apostle
Paul, has to say on the same subject--the simplicity of salvation.
Galatians 2:16, "Knowing that a man is not justified by the
works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. Even we have
believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by faith
in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works
of the law no flesh shall be justified. Now look at 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 continue in all things which are written in the book of
the law, to do them.'" Do you want to come under the law--the
old covenant law of God? Then you had better DO
everything the law demands.
It's funny how people will take parts of the law [old covenant
law of God], put people under them, and ignore whole other
parts. One of the big things we had to do was keeping the
Sabbath [this minister grew up in the 7th Day Adventist Church],
Saturday. Now that's in the law [of Moses]. If you keep the
law you'd better keep the Sabbath--but you know, we didn't
keep the Sabbath the way you're supposed to keep it. The Bible
says that if you light a fire on the Sabbath you should be
stoned to death. I know many Sabbaths we lit fires in the
fireplace. And you can't cook, no preparation of meals on
the Sabbath. "Well, that's legalism" you might say. No brother,
that's Bible. That's the way the Sabbath was meant to be kept.
The Bible says if you're going to be under law, you'd better
do it all--because if you don't you're under a curse.
There are two ways to be saved in the Bible: 1) One is to
get this righteousness you need. You need rightness with God
to inherit Eternal life in the kingdom of God. But we are
born wrong. We need to somehow be made right. And you've
got to find this rightness you need. And one way is the Law.
But the problem is that if you put yourself under law you
have to do it all because the only way you can
be saved is by perfectly doing the law, all of it. So if you've
already messed up, you can't be saved by lawkeeping, because
you have to have a perfect sinless record. [There's only one
man other than Jesus Christ who came close to having a sinless
record. It was Job, and by all appearances he was sinless,
until God pointed out that he was self-righteous! Oops.]
2) The only other way to be saved is by faith--you get the
rightness by faith. That's too easy! Yes! That's the whole
thing. This is so easy that people stumble over it. People
think it's hard to be a Christian. That it's hard to be saved.
Let's look at Romans 10:5, "Moses describes in this way
the righteousness that is by the law: 'The man who does these
things will live by them.'" In other words if you can
keep the law you could live and have eternal life. But if
you can't keep the law you can't be saved, if you're going
to try to be saved by lawkeeping. Salvation is so simple and
so close. And you know, we need to communicate that when we
talk to people about Jesus. You have to let 'em know that
this is simple. Salvation is so near to us all. It's not like
you have to climb a ladder to get near heaven. Trying to be
saved by good living is impossible. The only way to be saved
is by what Jesus has done for you, and you can get into that
so simply. It's so close. Verse 6-10, "But the righteousness
that is by 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 deep? (that is to bring Christ up from
the dead). But what does it say? 'The word is near you; it
is in your mouth and in your heart,' that is, the word of
faith we are proclaiming: 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. For it is with your
heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your
mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says,
'Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.' For
there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord
is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for,
'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved
[Joel 2:32]." Verse 6 says you don't have to ascend up
to heaven to get Jesus to bring him down--as if somehow you
have to climb to heaven to get Jesus--to gain access to him.
And then again you don't have to debase yourself thinking
'I'll lay on a bed of nails. I'll walk on hot coals of fire.
I'll do penance, I'll light candles, I'll give money, I'll
buy a window for the Church.' No, you don't have to descend
into this kind of abyss either. ('That is, to bring Christ
up from the dead.') No, salvation is not a long journey you
have to get on and maybe find him. But what does it say? Verse
8, 'The word is near you.' The word of salvation is so close
to you he says, 'How close? 'It's in your' what? 'Mouth'--and
where? 'and in your heart.' That is the word of faith that
we are preaching. What does verse 9 say? "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.
For with the heart man believes resulting in righteousness
and with the mouth he confesses resulting in salvation." Salvation
is so near it is in your mouth and in your heart--and if you'll
just confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart
that God raised him from the dead--you will be saved.
That is so incredible!
Ultimately, the Bible says, the whole world, everyone who
has ever lived, will be forced, at the Judgment Throne of
God, to confess that 'Jesus is Lord.' Philippeans 2 says 'that
at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, and every tongue
shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father.' The day is coming when you will have to confess--"Jesus
is Lord." [and this fellowship teaches, "you may not want
to say it at this point, but you'll be forced to say it, and
then you will be sent to hell." A few other fundamentalist
Christian fellowships believe that last scenario isn't so,
but at this time of the Great White Throne Judgment the rest
of unsaved mankind's opportunity for salvation will come to
them. This study will not be delving into the secondary beliefs
of any Christian group, fellowship or denomination beyond
briefly mentioning what they believe in. The focus is on the
primary knowledge of the gospel of Christ. Salvation in Jesus
Christ and how we attain it in the here and now for us is
primary knowledge of salvation. What happens to the
"unsaved dead" is secondary knowledge of salvation. One group,
the majority of Christians, believe the "going straight to
hell" scenario, the other group believe in the "they're given
their first opportunity for salvation in Christ" scenario.
But as long as believers believe the primary knowledge and
Jesus lives in them by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (John
14), which Jesus does for us, we will be saved.]
Salvation by confessing belief in Jesus Christ as Lord (Messiah)
is not just a matter of saying the words. It's not some magic
formula that you say. It's not mouthing the words. Again,
that would be a work you do. It's not going through a ceremony.
It's not knowing in your head that saves you, it's believing
in your heart--because when you believe in your heart something,
it extends all the way through your life, doesn't it? How
many of us know that we should be eating differently than
we are? Be honest. But knowing those things doesn't change
us, because it's not here in your heart, it's merely headknowledge.
But when you get the bad news from the doctor that unless
you change your diet you're going to croak--all of a sudden,
it's 'buy the juicer! Get those carrots, man! We're going
to take the vitamins! No fat in this diet, man! I'm going
to live on rice crackers now!' But you know, until something
happens to you which forces what's in your head down to your
heart and you act on it, it doesn't matter what's up here
in your head. Many people in this world know Christianity
in their heads, but don't know it in their hearts. Jesus talked
of this type of Christian in Matthew 7:21-22 which states,
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the
kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father
who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord,
Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive
out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them
plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"
If your don't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ
it's all useless head knowledge. Let's look at John 5:11,
"And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal
life in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who doesn't
have the Son does not have life. These things I have written
to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you
may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue
to believe in the name of the Son of God." O.K., this is like
simplicity, isn't it? How do you know that you're saved? Very
simple--do you have Jesus? "He who has the Son has life."
Now this is a real encouragement to those who are always wondering
"I'm I saved?" Salvation, again, is not what you do, salvation
is based on what He (Jesus) has done for you. Do you have
Him? Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?
If you don't, you don't have life. If you do have Jesus, you
do have life. 'Are you willing to stake your whole hope for
eternal life on what I've done for you?" Jesus asks. If you
are, then that's real saving belief.
Verse 11, "Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to
shame [Isa. 28:16]." The original Greek in this verse
is very strong, using a double negative. More accurately rendered,
it states, "Whoever believes in Him will never, no never
be disappointed." You're never going to be embarrassed.
Everybody else will disappoint you, but Jesus won't.
Verses 12-13, "For there is no difference between Jew and
Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all
who call on him, for, 'Everyone who calls on the name of the
Lord will be saved [Joel 2:32]." Now the question you
have to ask is "Have I called on the name of the Lord?" Have
you ever called upon the name of the Lord? "We know, I thought
what my parents did for me would save me (infant baptism).
No, the Bible says 'If you want to be saved you have to call
upon the name of the Lord.' One of the last things Jesus says
to us is in the book of Revelation. Revelation 3:20. "Behold
I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and
opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and
he with me." Get the picture. He's on the outside of your
life, knocking on the door of your life. And he says, "If
anyone will hear my voice." So he's also calling your name.
"Joe, Sue, Mary, Pete, Mike, Bill, Beth, Mark, Julie, Tom,
Teresa or whatever your name is--it's me, Jesus. Open up,
I've got something for you. I've got life, I've got peace,
I've got forgiveness of your sins here for you. Open up."
Jesus is basically saying 'If anyone hears My voice and opens
the door I'll come in and I'll be their friend forever.' This
is incredible! But you've got to ask him into your life. You've
got to open the door. He's not going to bash down the door
into your life to give you salvation. It's your choice. Have
you called upon the name of the Lord? Have you ever asked
Jesus to come into your life and save you from your sins?
If you haven't, you're not saved.
It says, "calls on the name of the Lord." If you've done something
else besides calling, I don't know, you're on thin ice. When
he says 'calling on God,' he means asking God to come in because
God is a gentleman, the Lord Jesus is a gentleman, he won't
break down the door. He respects your will. You can invite
him into your life.
And you know, when you come to Jesus Christ, things change.
What a wonderful transformation takes place. Whoever will
call on the name of the Lord will be saved. You can thank
God for one word, "Whoever." Your sins will all be forgiven.
That is why he died on the cross. God put all your ugliness,
all your sins and all the wrong things you've done on Jesus.
He was punished and died the way you should be punished and
die, but God didn't want to punish you. Jesus wanted to take
your place. He's bought the whole world and everyone in it
with his blood (John 3:16). That's what the cross is all about,
and he was buried and he rose again and your sins were forgiven.
And he purchased eternal life for you and he's waiting for
you to receive it.
How do you call on the name of the Lord? We should pray something
like this aloud to Jesus. "Lord Jesus I know I need you. I've
been wrong Lord. Please forgive me of my sins. Please come
into my life, and give me a new beginning. I believe that
you died for me, and that you rose again from the dead. I'm
calling on you right now Jesus. Please save me. And I believe
that you accept me, just like I am. Come into my life now
and change me I pray. In Jesus name, Amen."
Now Paul put a plug in for those that bring the gospel, for
people cannot call on the name of the Lord if no one brings
them the gospel--the good news of salvation through Jesus
Christ. Romans 10:14-15. "How, then, can they call on the
one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in
the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear
without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach
unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are
the feet of those who bring good news! [Isa. 52:7]'"
Paul goes on to raise another question, which gets us into
the subject matter of Romans 11. Romans 10:16-21. "But
not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah
says, 'Lord, who has believed our message? [Isa. 53:1]' Consequently,
faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard
through the word of Christ. But I ask: Did they not hear?
Of course they did: 'Their voice has gone out into all the
earth, their words to the ends of the world. [Psalm 19:4]'
Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says,
'I will make you envious by those who are not a nation; I
will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.
[Deut. 32:21]' And Isaiah boldly says, 'I was found by those
who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not
ask for me. [Isa.65:1]' But concerning Israel he says, 'All
day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate
people. [Isa. 65:2]'
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