Good morning, I invite you to open up your Bibles to Hebrews.
Excuse me, we're not in the book of Hebrews.
We're in the book of Romans, chapter 10.
We spent a little time in Hebrews earlier today.
Romans, chapter 10.
Our text for today is Romans, chapter 10, verses 5 through 13.
Before we get into our text, I want to tell you that I am very tired.
Physically tired.
We have had a lot going on here in the life of the church.
Most of you know I'm in the process of building a house.
Yesterday I was here, down in my study, working on this sermon today.
And I'm not sure that he knew it, but some people were here cleaning,
and Coulson came down and knocked on my door to ask me some questions about chairs,
and I had passed out, and not even thought about passing out.
I don't know if he sensed that I felt awkward when he knocked on the door.
And I said, come in.
I was very startled awake.
So I'm finding myself sitting and just fading into unconsciousness all of a sudden.
So physically very tired.
But more than that, I'm just finding myself lately spiritually tired.
I am tired of unimportant theological debates.
There is so much going on out there and sometimes even in here.
I'm tired of people confusing gospel implications with the gospel itself.
I'm tired of strained relationships and family conflict.
I'm tired of misplaced trust in political parties.
I'm tired of denominational fights and denominational infighting.
I'm tired of people who profess Christ ignoring the word of Christ.
Seems often you can't even have a conversation with people who say they're people of the word.
I'm tired of nitpicky preferences and grumbling.
I'm tired of mission drift.
I'm tired of mental illness and faith deconstruction and lack of assurance.
And in all this exhaustion, I am tempted to lose hope.
Feel this tug to just lose hope as we live in the time between what will be fully realized in Christ.
The days feel really long.
So I'm tempted to lose hope or rather, I may say, to forget the hope that is mine.
And the hope that is the hope of the world.
Beloved, we ought never to grow tired of hearing the gospel.
For it is the greatest of news for a dismally rebellious humanity.
It must be believed, cherished, defended, and shared.
You and I need to be reminded of the good news of Jesus Christ.
I need to hear it all the time.
The following is a quotation that I shared with you on the very first week that we picked up our study of the book of Romans.
Martin Luther said this of the letter.
This epistle is really the chief part of the New Testament and is truly the purest gospel.
It is worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word by heart,
but also that he should occupy himself with it every day as the daily bread of the soul.
We can never read it or ponder over it too much.
For the more we deal with it, the more precious it becomes and the better it tastes.
And so we have before us this morning another opportunity to revel in the good news of Jesus Christ.
This text is straightforward and I expect my comments this morning to be brief.
Often I struggle to condense my notes for our planned time together.
Today, that is not the case.
However, short and simple our consideration of this text is today,
let us not miss the profundity of God's mercy expressed to a people in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.
So I'll begin reading in verse 5 of chapter 10.
Before I read, let me remind you, beloved, that this is God's word to us.
It was written for his glory and for our good.
And so we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and to obey its commands.
Paul writes,
But what does it say?
The word is near you in your mouth and in your heart.
That is the word of faith that we proclaim.
Because 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.
For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
For the scripture says,
Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek.
For the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.
For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
The four at the beginning of verse 5 tells us that Paul is further explaining what he has previously stated.
Last week we saw Paul juxtapose righteousness pursued by the law and righteousness that is by faith.
And in verse 4 of chapter 10, Paul says,
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
That is, Christ puts away any idea that we might pursue the law for righteousness.
So in today's text, he's going to help his hearers understand exactly what he means in verse 4.
And he's going to appeal to the writing of Moses to do so.
He goes to the scripture to make his point.
So look at verse 5.
That is, if you desire to live a life that is pleasing to God, to be called righteous, that is to be perfect,
and you pursue this righteousness by the law, then you will have to conduct yourself entirely by the law.
Your very life will depend on it.
Paul here is citing Leviticus 18 and verse 5, where Moses records the words of God.
Hear them.
You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules.
If a person does them, he shall live by them.
I am the Lord.
And so let me just say it more plainly.
If the basis of your perfection is your perfection, then you will have to be perfect.
Before we proceed any further, I think at this point it may serve someone here to consider why anyone would even desire to pursue righteousness.
Gospel responses must start with an understanding of our sinfulness.
That we are in fact wicked and rebellious and deserve God's wrath.
Romans chapter 1.
Paul has laid this case out for us extensively.
Let me just read to you a couple of verses.
First, verse 18.
There he says,
The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men,
who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
So their non-perfection, their wickedness, right?
The wrath of God is what is due that kind of living.
You should want to flee from unrighteousness and toward righteousness to avoid the just wrath of God.
This is a thing to tremble before.
That the creator of all things would say of you,
You deserve wrath.
God's wrath is white hot.
And we have purchased it with our sin.
Someone may say, though,
I am not sure there even is such a God.
Well, Paul goes on in verse 19 of the same chapter.
For what could be known about God is plain to them,
because God has shown it to them.
Paul argues, chapter 1, verse 19,
Oh no, you do know that there is a God,
and that His wrath awaits you.
Verse 20,
For His invisible attributes,
namely, His eternal power and divine nature,
have been clearly perceived,
ever since the creation of the world,
and the things that have been made.
So it can be seen there is a creator, God.
And then Paul finishes verse 20 by saying,
So they are without excuse.
So we will all one day stand before God in judgment.
And the basis of that judgment will be righteousness.
You will either be found perfect on that day
and avoid the wrath of God,
or found imperfect,
and the wrath of God will bear on you forever.
And if you need some further evidence,
Paul goes on into chapter 2
to say that our conscience bears witness
that there is a God
because we have God's law on our hearts.
That you have ever recognized
that anything is right
or that anything is wrong
is because God made you
and He wrote that law on your hearts.
That's verse 15 of chapter 2.
There's evidence even within our own thinking,
our own moral compass,
that this God does in fact exist.
And we know that we have all done things
that are wrong.
Righteousness should be of great concern to everyone.
Trying to understand and sort out
the right and the wrong of the world
should concern us.
And how we are to be found right
matters greatly.
And it matters greatly
that you know that you cannot achieve
righteousness on your own.
It grieves me how many Christian traditions,
at least claim to be Christian,
and mess this up,
want to add to God's grace,
works for justification.
If you look out there,
it's all over the place.
It's rampant.
Rob Ventura,
the author of a great commentary
on the book of Romans,
said this,
This attempting to be made right with God
by our own strivings
is a tyranny of the highest order
and tragic for the one
who does not comply.
It reigns over us
and it is tragic.
Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans
that righteousness is achieved
through faith alone
in the person and work
of Jesus Christ alone.
I've said to you,
this is the theme of the book,
that we're justified
by grace alone,
through faith alone,
in Christ alone.
And Paul is working out
the great implications of that
all the way through the end
of chapter 11.
And then he tells us
how we should live in light
of this wonderful truth.
Proceeding the verses
that I just read to you
in Romans chapter 1,
this is verse 16 and 17,
the thesis statement of the letter.
He says,
Therefore I am not ashamed
of the gospel.
And I just like to insert
the positive of that.
For I am proud of the gospel.
For it is the power of God
for salvation
to everyone who believes,
to the Jew first
and also to the Greek.
For in it the righteousness of God
is revealed from faith
for faith.
As it is written,
the righteous shall live
by faith.
Paul is continually
unpacking
what he has said
in verse 16 and 17
of chapter 1.
We see him here again
doing that very thing.
You have to ask the question,
why?
Why is Paul going
through such labor
to do it?
And it's because
it's so important
for us
to understand.
Justification
by faith,
through faith alone.
This is exactly
what Paul is teaching
here in verses 6-8
as he further employs
the writing of Moses.
Here Paul is citing
Deuteronomy chapter 30
verse 11-14
with the introductory phrase
there at the beginning
of verse 6,
but the righteousness
based on faith
says.
So the righteousness
based on works,
this pursuit
of works
says you must be perfect
and you must be perfect
by your own doing.
But the righteousness
based on faith
says,
and here citing
Deuteronomy 30
verse 11-14,
for this commandment
that I command you today,
that is,
to keep the law,
is not too hard for you,
neither is it far off.
It is not in heaven
that you should say,
who will ascend to heaven
for us
and bring it to us
that we may hear it
and do it.
Neither is it beyond the sea
that you should say,
who will go over the sea
or into the abyss
for us
and bring it to us
that we may hear it
and do it.
But the word is very near you.
It is in your mouth
and in your heart
so that you can do it.
If you are looking at chapter 10
verses 6-8
and listening astutely
as I read from Deuteronomy,
you have surely noticed
that Paul's inspired
parenthetical insertions.
You see them there?
The Deuteronomy text
in a simple reading
seems to be saying
that God's law
can be easily kept
by one's own volition.
But Paul helps us
to see its connection
to Christ,
the unfolding reality
of the gospel.
There he says,
but the righteousness
based on faith says,
do not say in your heart
who will ascend
into heaven
and here's the inspired
insertion,
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
or the gospel
that we proclaim.
Now the law
was always
meant to be kept
by faith.
This has not changed
Old to New Testament.
It could have never
been kept perfectly.
It was meant
to press
those who tried
to keep it
toward faith.
They had to believe
that they were
in pursuing righteousness,
somehow
God
would save them.
They knew they couldn't
keep it perfectly,
but yet promises
somehow
are being kept
as we work
to do this thing.
But now because of
the progressive revelation,
we understand
how it is
that it's kept.
We now
have
Christ
and He
is not far off.
That is the point
that Paul
is driving at here.
This confession
of righteousness
based on faith
is in a
Christ
who is near.
He
is near.
Paul
arcs us
through
all that he
has taught
so far
and he brings
us
to the
simple
profundity
of verses
9 and 10.
There he says,
because
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.
For with the
heart one
believes
and is justified
and with the
mouth
one confesses
and is saved.
Sincerity
of belief
at the very
core
of
your
being.
Believing
something is
true
and then living
in light
of that truth
and confession
with your mouth
the initial
evidence
of your
belief
that Jesus
is God.
He is
who He
said He
is.
He is
who God
the Father
said He
is.
And that His
resurrection
is factual
and it
validates
His
completed
work
is the
work
of faith.
Believing
in your heart,
confessing
with your
mouth
is the
work
of faith
and the
means
and the
only
means
through
which
God
saves
sinners.
And this
is not
meant to
be
formulaic.
Paul is
not laying
out a
rubric
for us
that we
must go
through
in order
to be
saved.
It is
just
rather
an
explanation
of
faith.
Believing
in your
heart,
grasping
hold of
the reality
of who
Jesus
is
and
what
He
has
accomplished
and
evidencing
that that's
true.
confessing
with your
mouth
that He
is
in
fact
who
He
said
He
is.
It's an
explanation
of faith.
And it's
not a
lifelong
labor.
It sets
us on a
course where
we must
now earn
God's
favor.
It's a
liberating
hope.
It sets
us free
from the
law for
righteousness.
We're still
given the
moral law
as a
guide for
us that
we might
grow in
holiness,
but it
is not
for our
standing
before God.
When we
become
Christians,
we're
changed in
kind.
We're
those who
will stand
before Him
in judgment
and He
will say
of us,
well done,
my good
and faithful
servant,
because we're
clothed in
the righteousness
of Christ.
You've
heard me
talk at
length
about
double
imputation
and I
think it's
so important.
That's why
I say it
so often.
That is
to say,
believing in
the gospel
doesn't just
forgive us
our sin,
which is so
incredibly
important.
We need our
record expunged
if we're not
going to bear
God's wrath
forever.
But not
only that,
we need
the perfection
that the law
requires.
And so we're
granted that
also in
Christ,
the double
trade,
right?
Christ taking
away our
sin and
giving to
us his
righteousness.
We need
both things.
And if we
only think
that Christ
died to
expunge
my sin,
we often
think that
he expunged
my sin
past.
And now
it's up to
me to
live
righteously,
prove that
I was worth
it,
right?
Some kind
of debtor's
ethic kicks
into our
minds.
And in
fact,
he's also
granted us
his
righteousness.
We are
declared
perfect
already.
And this
becomes the
impetus for,
the power for,
the foundation
for righteous
living,
right?
I now
pursue
righteousness
by the
power of
the Spirit
of grateful
heart.
I want
to live
a life
that honors
my God
because he
has declared
me
righteous.
Charles Spurgeon
said this
of this text,
how very
simple.
No
climbing,
no diving,
no imagining,
no long
reckoning of
the understanding,
no strangling
of the mental
faculties.
It is just
believe God's
testimony
concerning
his Son
and thou
shalt
be
saved.
You need
not be
brilliant
to come
to Christ.
Christ.
You need
only to
recognize
your
transgression
and your
need of
a Savior
and then
to believe
that Jesus
is that
Savior.
We are
justified
by grace
alone,
through faith
alone,
in the person
and work
of Jesus
Christ
alone.
I will
read to
you a
poem.
I believe
the last
time I
read this
poem,
I didn't
know who
to attribute
it to.
I now
know who
to attribute
it to.
It is
called
The Stairs
and it is
by Theodosia
Pickering
Garrison.
It was
written in
1907.
If this
comes up
familiar to
you,
now we
know who
actually
wrote this
poem.
She wrote
this.
Oh,
long and
dark,
the stairs
I trod,
with stumbling
feet to
find my
God,
gaining a
foothold bit
by bit,
then slipping
back and
losing it.
There came
a certain
time when
I loosened
my hold
and fell
thereby,
down to
the lowest
step my
fall as
if I had
not climbed
at all.
And as
I lay,
despairing
there,
there came
a footfall
on the
stairs,
and lo,
when hope
had ceased
to be,
my God,
this poem
of one
who had
labored
to find
themselves
approved
before God
by their
own effort
and failed
and came
to a point
of absolute
despair.
I have
nothing,
I can do
nothing,
which is a
prerequisite
that we might
be saved,
that we
would be
humble.
I can
add nothing
to the
equation
of my
salvation
and God
becomes a
man,
comes into
a world,
perfectly
keeps the
law on
our behalf,
dies the
death that
we deserved,
doesn't stay
dead but is
resurrected three
days later,
proving that he
is in fact
the Christ.
He is now
ascended,
seated at the
right hand
of God.
He intercedes
for his
people and he
reigns from
that place.
one day
he will be
told to get
up and come
back for his
people.
If we
are alive
in that day,
we will join
him in the
air,
he will judge
all the
peoples and
he will make
all things
new.
And it's
because of
that that we
have hope
in tired
days.
On the
final day
when we
stand before
God in
judgment,
Paul tells
us in
verse 11,
for the
scripture says,
and here he
is quoting
Isaiah 28
and verse 16,
everyone who
believes in
him will
not be put
to shame.
He goes on
to tell us
the extent
of the
offer of
the gospel
which we'll
look at
further next
week.
He has
stated
precisely in
his letter
that all,
whether Jew
or Greek,
are saved
by graceful
and through
faithful,
alone,
and the
completed
person and
work of
Jesus Christ
alone.
He said
this before,
but it
bears repeating,
especially as
he unfolds
God's purpose
for Jews
and Gentiles
in chapters
9 through
11.
Whether
Jew
or Greek,
there is
no distinction,
verse 12
tells us,
for the same
Lord is
Lord of
all,
bestowing
his riches
on all
who call
on him,
that we
would be
saved,
right,
for everyone
who calls
on the
name of
the Lord.
And that
is to
say,
the name
of the
Lord
represents
all that
he is,
cries out
to him,
his person
and his
work
will
be
saved.
God
and
so today,
if you
have yet
to call
on the
name
of the
Lord,
do so.
I feel
like the
application
is much
more complicated
than that.
There is
a way
to be
saved,
and it
is by
grace
through
faith
in
Christ.
Do
not
labor
to
save
yourself,
which
will end
in your
demise,
but throw
yourself
on the
mercy
of
God.
Confess
with your
mouth that
Jesus is
Lord,
and believe
in your
heart that
God raised
him from
the dead.
If you
have called
on the
name of
the Lord,
do not
lose hope.
The
gospel is
the power
of God
for salvation,
and we
should be
proud of
it.
We
should
believe
it,
we
should
cherish
it,
we
should
defend
it,
and we
should
share
it.
For
everyone
who
believes
in
him
will
not
be
put
to
shame.
I'm
so very
glad
that we
have
this
letter
that
Paul
wrote
under
inspiration
to the
Roman
believers
here in
front of
us for
our
benefit
today.