The last few weeks, we have been studying Romans. We have talked about living in Christ, about living a servant life of love in action cultivated and nourished through prayer and obedience doing God’s will. We talked about entry into God’s family as co-heirs with Christ Himself!
Last week, we talked about the Holy Spirit interceding for us even in our prayers; that the Holy Spirit knows our real needs; that God hears and answers that prayer. We talked about the need for making our prayers conditional, because we cannot see the future and we cannot know what God has in store for us. We talked about Providence
We show that love by yielding to His purpose. We do love. We must get into the will of God. We don’t have the tools to work the puzzles of our lives without help from God through the Holy Spirit.
Last, we talked about leaning into the lion-strength of our heavenly Father. that nothing can separate us from God’s love, that it transcends all problems and all perils.
Today, we turn to a little piece of Romans 10 buried in the middle of a three chapter section on the fate of the Jewish nation. Summarizing that section, the Jews tried to get to heaven on the Law. While many Jews rejected Jesus as Messiah, not all of them did. The first Christians were Jews. As time went by, Paul reached out to the Gentiles, who became the “engrafted branch” on the tree containing God’s chosen people. The stumbling of the Jews, according to Paul, opened the door for inclusion of the Gentiles. Regardless of the rejection of Jesus’ messiahship by many Jews, Paul points out that a remnant will survive and will indeed enter the kingdom of heaven. He reminds us that the choice, the election, is based upon God’s will, not ours; that ultimately salvation always will depend upon who believes in Jesus.
In the sandwich of this segment describing the fate of the Jewish nation come these ten verses. They were a favorite of the evangelist Billy Graham. They use terms like confession and belief and vessels such as mouth and heart. They talk about spreading the word. Let’s read it in reverse, starting with verse 13.
Remember Andrew, the brother of Peter? He was called the Bringer. He brought the future disciple Nathaniel to meet Jesus. He brought the boy who had the five loaves and two fish which fed the five thousand. Andrew makes bringing a calling. Paul makes the same claim for those who witness: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” He outlines the conditions to calling upon Christ and being saved. The context is the opportunity for the Jews to hear the good news, but it rings true for us as well. First, there must be a preacher sent from God (“how can they preach unless they are sent?” 15). Second, the message must be proclaimed (“how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” 14c). Third, the message must be heard (“how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?” 14b). Fourth, the message must be believed (“How can they call on the one they have not believed in?” 14a). These are the elements to bringing the good news: a sending, a proclamation, the hearing of the word and belief of the word.
Look at verses 10-13. Dr. Graham used them to illustrate that one has to make a public confession. Paul says “confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead.” This is the Gospel in a nutshell. Beneath that confession lies a body of theology as deep as the ocean itself, but still, the Gospel is no more complicated than those two simple statements. Confess out loud that Jesus is Lord, and believe that God raised Him bodily from the dead. That’s it. Do that and you will be saved. Christ brings the righteousness. Paul says that Christ is the end of the law, Jesus has enough righteousness for everyone who believes.
Verses 5-9 are a little complicated. They do explain the “end of the law” comment that Paul made. We no longer need technical legalism to build upon, rung by rung, trying to reach heaven. Nor do we have to go to hell to find Jesus. He is here. He is as close as our hearts reaching out to him and our mouths confessing our belief. He has come to us. Think about it. Why else would he have come to earth? Why else would he have lived a human life? Why else would there be a death? And why would there be a need for a resurrection? Because God comes to us! He meets us where we are! And he takes us in his arms and says believe in me and you too will be righteous! That is what Paul wants for the Jews, but it is also what he preaches to his adopted people, the Gentiles.
Let me illustrate the point with a personal story. My father was a fine man; a Christian who taught Sunday school many years. But he had a drinking problem most of his life. There came a time when that changed. His life was different. He never completely quit drinking, but it never was a problem again. To this day, I am still so proud of him for a simple act of contrition…of admission. “I am an alcoholic,” he said. He never made that admission to me, but he made it in public to an AA group who understood its meaning. Of all the things I have come to admire about my father, that confession ranks very high on my list.
Confessing like my Dad did is very similar to what our Lord requires. He wants acknowledgement from us. Doing that opens the door to real freedom and sheer humanity. Confess that Jesus is your Lord. Believe that God raised him from the dead. These statements give us the basis of the first Christian creed, says William Barclay. This is not only knowing Christ the martyr, but also Christ the victor. says Barclay. Trust that he ascended into heaven and sits on God’s right hand. When you say this, you are saying Jesus not only lived—he lives!
Trust the words of the apostle Paul, who appeals here for us to abandon any marriage to legalism and accept God’s grace. He quotes the prophet Joel: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Whatever differences there may be in people groups, the need for our Savior and the access to salvation sees no color, no geography, no gender, no fences or walls. It does not matter whether we are Jew or Greek, Presbyterian or Baptist, Republican or Democrat, African, Asian or American…”the same lord is Lord of all” (v.13). Call on His name. Believe that He rose from the dead. And be saved!
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