← ArchiveWhen in RomansWhen in Romans – Salvation 101: The Path to Righteousness (Romans 10:1-13)DateSeptember 8, 2024SpeakerDr Josh BurnhamTextRomans 10:1–13Passages in this sermonRomans 101:52Romans 92:00John 1610:14Matthew 1112:54TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00I don't know how to do it, but I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to do it, but I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to do it, but I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to do it, but I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to do it. Welcome to the church that gathers at Bethel.0:28I was waiting for the lights to come on, but they're already on. So normally that's my key, that the microphone. Um, so if you ever see me pause at this one, my name is Josh, the pastor of Bethel.0:56And I get, I get the joy of bringing the word of the Lord. Remember we gather because God calls us to know him through the blood of Jesus Christ. And I know today we have a lot of new people watching online. We have people here from Texas visiting. And I think we have people here from Florida visiting. We have our young men and Kim sitting on the front row today, which I love. Um, so we just want to say, welcome.1:26We're going to do that with a big hallelujah on three. So if you are not new, if you identify as not being new, if you're familiar, then I want you to give the hallelujah. Okay. One, two, three. Hallelujah. Which is Hebrew. Well done. Means let us praise Yah. Let us praise the Lord because he is worthy to be praised. Um, today we're jumping back into the book of Romans. So, uh, click in your tablet or turn in your physical Bible to Romans chapter 10 in the New Testament.1:52After the Gospels, Romans 9 through 11 is a subunit unto itself. And it's really a unit in this epistle of dense theological impact. There are, there are concepts in Romans 9, 10, 11 that deal with election, God calling with damnation. Is the judgment of God true?2:21Is God just by damning some to hell? Those that do not know him by faith. We talk about remnant theology and in all of this, this, this dense theological PhD seminar, halfway through in chapter 10, Paul sees that our eyes are glazing over and we're walking through this dense forest. And if you ever walked through a forest and you see a, an opening is almost as if Romans 10 is that opening where you can take a break and you can see the light again.2:48Because in Romans 10 are some of the most cherished verses in your faith. Romans 10, 9, 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. Later on, it says, whoever calls for all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Romans 10 says, how beautiful are the feet of those who carry good news.3:17Romans 10 is a verse that reminds us that how will they know unless there is a preacher? How can we hear without the word of God? Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the word of Christ. All of those verses that are beloved of faith are in this dense theological treatise. And so today in the seminar of faith, I'm going to ask us to go back to the basics and the elementary principles of our faith.3:40And I ask you to do that because that's what the Bible does. Don't forget where you started. Today's message is called Salvation 101. For those of you who are going to college one day or have been in college, you know the 101 class is like your elementary course.4:06I took chemistry 101 as a fifth year senior. I'm like, this is great. This is awesome. I don't know why I ended up in that class. To this day, I'm not asking questions. I just know I needed it to graduate and I did. So if you're like me and you say, well, I need to go back to the basics. This is the joy for today.4:35Salvation 101, the path to righteousness. Let's read Romans 10, verse 1 through 13. Brothers and sisters, my heart's desire and prayer to God concerning them, that's Israel, is for their salvation. I can testify about them that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. Since they are ignorant of the righteousness of God and attempted to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted to God's righteousness.5:01For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Since Moses writes about the righteousness that is from the law, the one who does these things will live by them. But the righteousness that comes from faith speaks like this.5:27Do not say in your heart who will go up and bring Jesus Christ down or who will go down to the abyss. That is bring Christ up from the dead. On the contrary, what does faith say? The message is near you and in your mouth and in your heart. This is the message of faith that we proclaim. 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.5:51One believes with the heart resulting in salvation and one confesses with the mouth resulting in salvation. You believe with your heart in righteousness. For the scripture says everyone who believes on Jesus will not be put to shame. Since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call upon him.6:17And if we missed it, he says again, for everyone, for all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Today, let's go back to the basics of our faith. May we treasure Jesus Christ above all. Let's pray. Father, we thank you that our faith is deep. It is rich.6:46It is ancient. It is eternal. But it is also simple that we can understand. Lord, today may we keep the main things, the main things, and the plain things, the plain things. Father, help us walk on Calvary, not on Sinai. Help our faith be based on the atoning redemption found in Jesus Christ, not the law and the strength of our own hands in dependency.7:09Lord, help us all today go back to the start, where we will find once again that you are faithful. You are true. Lord, forgive us of our sin.7:38Lord, forgive us of our sin. Lead us into paths of righteousness, we ask in Jesus' holy name. Amen. And amen. Back to the basics. Salvation 101. Salvation 101. The first thing we need to see is the disease of sin. The disease of sin. Now, a disease is a condition that impairs normal function of a person. So disease impairs normal function of a person.8:06And with any disease comes a myriad, a multiplicity of unique symptoms. And the disease of sin is no different. And we see different symptoms of the disease called sin in Romans 10. Here's the first symptom, verse 2. He says, "I can testify about them that they have zeal for God." They have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, since they are ignorant of the righteousness of God.8:34Now, we hear this and you might think, well, zeal, loving God, doing things for God is a good thing. But what Paul says is our natural inclination to the disease of sin is to overcompensate for our unrighteousness. Now, I can explain this practically in a very easy way.9:02Often, sometimes the most religious people that I know are the biggest gossips and the biggest hypocrites. Sometimes the smallest people I know drive the biggest trucks. Sometimes the tiniest dogs I know have the largest bark. Why? Because we all compensate and overcompensate for something. And the Jewish people, the Israelites were no different.9:29They felt like, well, if we can work harder because God has given us the law to obey. If we can, with every breath we have in zealousness, approach God through his law, then he will ignore or excuse our sin. And Paul says that is ignorance. Because you might look at zealousness and you say, well, that's a good thing.9:55But at the end of the day, self-righteous zeal only says, look at me. It does not say, look at God. It says, God, look at what I have done for you. And Jesus reminds us that this time is coming. In John 16 verse 2, Jesus says, a time is coming when people will try to kill my disciples, thinking that they are offering service to God.10:14So there will be a day that Jesus predicted and has already been fulfilled that people will, on behalf of God, kill the people of God. Because zealousness without the gospel is ignorance at best.10:38It's a symptom of the disease. But we have another symptom here. Look at verse 3. They are ignorant of the righteousness of God and have attempted to establish their own righteousness. They have not submitted to God's righteousness. A great symptom of all of our sin is self-righteousness.11:05If zeal says, God, I'm going to work harder for you. And God, if I do it for you, it has to be a good thing, right? And God says, you're not doing that for me. Well, now it's, well, let me just work hard. Let me earn my salvation. And we live in a world today where people think that they can earn their way into heaven. It doesn't come across that way. And it's not said in that language. But a lot of people will say, well, I'm a good person.11:34Meaning, well, I have done enough for God to declare me good. And Paul says that is a symptom of the disease of sin. He says this is futility. And for those of you who say, well, it's not futile. Paul says, okay, let me explain it this way. He says, do you think that you can ascend into heaven and bring Jesus Christ down?11:56And some people say, well, maybe not. And then Paul says in verse six, he said, well, do you think that you can go down into hell and to bring Christ up from the dead? And we would say, well, that's foolishness. Who would say that? And Paul says, the word of God says, when we live self-righteous lives, that's what we are trying to do.12:25And may we not be self-righteous individuals. A self-righteous person stands at the open gates of heaven and hears, enter freely. And self-righteousness says, no, God, I'm going to make my own entrance. This is the disease of self-righteousness. And Matthew 11 says that you will never enter the kingdom of heaven by force.12:54Self-righteousness only leads to hell. There's another symptom here though. Paul says, not only is the zeal of God ignorant because of our sin. Not only are we self-righteous to the core and we overcompensate for our sin. But he says in verse three, that in our attempt to be holy, we have not submitted to God's righteousness.13:16Another way of saying is we are rebellious. So self-righteousness says, God, I can do it on my own. Rebellious says, God, I don't need you. And we live in a world where people say, God, either I can do it on my own or I do not need your help.13:38I'm better off without you. This is the great symptom of sin. I love how Spurgeon paints the picture of this verse. He says, here is a criminal who will not submit to being pardoned. He said, this is a sick man who will not submit to being made well. Here is a man with a broken leg who will not submit to have it healed.14:07Here is a poor beggar in the street who will not submit to being made into a gentleman. Good gentleman. Church, do not let the disease of sin kill you. There is a cure. And his name is Jesus Christ. So let's look at the cure of God for the disease of our sin. Verse 3 again.14:36Contrary to the disease of sin, self-righteousness, there is a beautiful righteousness. There's a better righteousness. There's an actual righteousness. Verse 3. Since they are ignorant, which I'm sure they love to hear that, that is us. They are ignorant of the righteousness of God. And he says again in verse 3. They have not submitted to God's righteousness.15:03Verse 6. But the righteousness that comes from faith. The cure for our sin and the cure for the symptom of self-righteousness is the righteousness of God. That is the cure that we need. So what is this cure? How can we receive this, right? Well, first, if the cure for sin is God's righteousness, then it's not your righteousness.15:26Are you tracking with me? I know this is elementary. This is 101. Actually, I think I said this is 201 now. Salvation 201. So if righteousness is not yours and it is God's, then how do you receive something that's not yours? You receive it because it's a gift.15:51The righteousness that comes by faith is a gift from God. It is heaven's open door. It is God standing at the gates through the blood of Jesus Christ and saying, enter freely. And how foolish would it be for any of us to say, God, I will receive your gift, but I'm the one who made the gift. No, Paul says that we should treasure deeply the grace and the mercy that we receive because it is not self-righteousness that saves you and I.16:18It is the righteousness of God. It is a free gift to all who believe. So for any of us to think that we will make it into heaven on our own is foolish and ignorant. And any of us that actually make it into heaven by God's righteousness, for us to think it is not a beautiful gift is to spit on the treasure that is Jesus Christ.16:41Church, it's a gift. Church, it's a gift. Receive it freely by faith. And the righteousness of God means that your sins are no longer counted against you. The righteousness of God means the cure of heaven means that your sins are no longer counted against you.17:11That's what it means. Right justness. Right means to have a right standing before the Lord. How can you declare your right in God's eyes? You can't. But oh, what a joy to know that because Jesus died in our place that God declares us right because Jesus lived the life that you and I could not live, the perfect life.17:34And he died the death that we deserve. And by faith, when we receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, God looks at us and says, you are now righteous forever more. This is our salvation. Church, your sins are no longer counted against you.18:01I love what Colossians says that Jesus takes our sins. He nails them to the cross and then wipes them clean. As if to say when the accuser comes next to us and says, Josh, don't you remember your sins? God says, what sins? The ones that my son nailed to the cross? Those sins?18:29Those sins? The sins that were wiped clean by the blood of my son? The sins that were atoned for when he was buried but three days later rose again? Let's talk about that, Satan. This is the salvation that we must treasure. This is what God has done for us. This is the righteousness of God that you and I receive. Which means that the righteousness of God in your life meets God's demands.18:55That when we no longer live by Sinai but we live on Calvary, we know that the righteousness of God meets God's demands because the righteousness of God is of? I thought that was going to land differently. Okay, let me start again. This is God's righteousness, yes? Yes.19:24Yes. So then the righteousness of God meets God's demands because the righteousness is of? God. And we should rest in that. Because if you are wondering, does my life measure up? The answer is no. How foolish and ignorant for us to think that our life measures up. But the righteousness of God measures up to God's demands. That is the beauty of being declared saved.19:50So we can know that our righteousness meets his demands. I love what Thomas Hooker said. He said that we are in the sight of God the Father as the very Son of God himself. We look like Jesus to God because we meet God's demands. But there's more. Look at verse 4.20:19He says, "For in Christ is the end of the law." That means that Jesus is the point and the fulfillment. That doesn't mean that you no longer have to obey God. It means that you want to obey because Jesus has fulfilled what you cannot do. Because we now live on Calvary. God's salvation in Christ is the end of the law. And then in verse 6 he says, "But the righteousness that comes from faith speaks like this.20:47Do not say in your heart who will go to heaven or who will go down." Righteousness of God comes from faith. This means that your righteousness is based on faith. It is received by faith. And it is experienced in faith. As the scriptures say, the righteous of God will live by faith.21:17This is the righteous life. Oswald Chambers says, "Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the one who is leading." Man, that's so good. Faith never knows where is being led, but it loves and knows the one who is leading. This is what the word is beckoning us to know today.21:46Do not let the cure of heaven pass you by. Do not let the cure of heaven pass over the disease of our souls. So I have a 301 class now. Now we're juniors in salvation. And that begins in verse 9, the confessional soul. Because if we have received by faith salvation, God doesn't end there in our lives.22:12God does something in us and through us and for us. So we are confessional people with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. You will be saved. Not might be saved. And in my scripture, there's not a question mark at the end of that sentence. It's a period.22:41It's a statement. It's indicative. You will be saved if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. Which means if you believe that, and if you confess that, you are saved by faith in Jesus Christ. So if you ask, am I saved? Ask yourself, do you believe in your heart that God raised his son, Jesus, from the dead? You say, yes. Have you confessed with your mouth? Yes. You are saved. You say, well, that's presumptuous of you, don't you think?23:10No. I believe that what God says is true and right. I am foolish enough to take God at his word. Because I would rather be a fool for the Lord than ignorant in self-righteousness, as Romans 10 says. Okay, so that's a side conversation. Let's keep going. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness. One confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.23:39For the scripture says, everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame. Since there is no distinction between Jew, Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses everyone who calls upon him. For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Salvation begins with confession. That's a public demonstration of your faith.24:08And this would have been an insult to the Roman people who were told by Caesar that only Caesar is Lord. So to confess Jesus Christ as Lord openly would have been a death sentence to those living in Rome. And lest you forget, this book is written to the church living in Rome. And so when they hear confess Jesus as Lord, that hits different.24:34Because they would say, Paul, you're asking us to give our life if we say this. And Paul would say, that's exactly what I'm asking to do. Because Jesus gave his life for you. And even if they kill you, you will live again and live eternally. We are, by God's grace, confessional people. I think of it like this.25:03If you are saved, you should be a mouthy soul. You're like a teenage young woman living at the home, mouthing off to her parents. Now I know that would never happen and you would never do that. But hypothetically, if that person existed, we are mouthy souls for Jesus Christ. You're like the teenage boy discussing Fortnite. It's going on and on and on. We should be mouthy confessional souls for Jesus Christ.25:33People say, stop. I'm tired of hearing about Jesus. And we say, well, that's all I can talk about. Because you don't understand what he has done. Let's walk back through Romans 10. I had the disease of sin and then I found the cure of heaven. And because I have confessed him as Lord, I am a confessional person. Charles Spurgeon, yet again, says the Lord will not give you the warmth of faith.26:00Which cheers the heart until you have confessed him openly as Lord. Confession is a public demonstration of your faith. And scholars, many believe that Paul is meaning baptism. He is saying that this is not simply a raise your hand, bow your head prayer.26:25But this is an open confession of baptism to the world. Jesus is mine and I am his. So I ask you, Christian, if you have given your life to Jesus Christ by faith, how mouthy is your soul? How mouthy is your soul? May we be confessional people. But not only of the mouth, but verse 9.26:52The confessional soul is a soul that has the heart bent towards Jesus. Verse 9. If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart. See, the outward expression of your mouth grows from an inward disposition inside your heart. Most likely your heart will not speak what your mouth will not speak what your heart does not feel. Jesus tells us the same.27:21That from the overflow of your mouth, your heart speaks. Which means you tell me what you say and I will tell you what you believe. Again, John Wesley says it is the inward confidence that brings the soul into a real vital connection with Christ. You see, the heart and mouth are not separate entities. It is the same confession and the same soul that has been joined by faith in Jesus Christ.27:49So if we were to give you a stress test today on your heart. A spiritual nuclear stress test. What would your heart say about Jesus today? Would it be strong and fervent? Or would it be faint and weak? May we have hearts.28:19Verse 9. That know and believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. If you confess with your mouth, if you believe with your heart, then you will be saved. That's the third part of this Spirituality 301. Right? The confessional soul is a saved soul. It's a saved soul. He says, "Pastor, how do you know that?" Look at verse 9. That's what God tells us.28:48If you confess with your mouth, if you believe with your heart, then you will be saved. This is not future tense. This is an active present tense, which means you are not saved in the future when you die. You are saved in the present when you die to yourself. Salvation is not this eschatological desire that you have to wait for.29:15Paul says, "No, you are saved today if Jesus is your savior." This is the hope that we have. It is not a one day. It is a two day. Praise God that by faith in Jesus Christ, you can know that you are saved. You are saved by the blood of the lamb and your name is written in the lamb's book of life.29:40So if anyone asks you, "Are you saved?" If Satan comes and whispers, "How do you know that you are saved?" You put your finger in the Bible, one hand, and you put your finger to heaven with the other hand. And you say, "I believe with my heart. I have confessed with my mouth." And God says that I am saved right now. Because he has redeemed me by his grace.30:07But there's more. Verse 11, "The saved soul is not only a mouthy soul and a soul that has heart. It's not only a saved soul, but it's an unashamed soul." Verse 11, he says this. For the scripture says, "Everyone who believes on Jesus will not be put to shame." Shame is a euphemism for the end time judgment.30:35Really, Paul is saying that if you've given your life to Jesus Christ, you don't have to worry about judgment day. Because you've been judged righteous. Because God laid upon Jesus the penalty of your sin. And because of that, you don't have to live in shame and you don't have to worry about shame. Shame runs away and hides. Think about Genesis. When Adam and Eve have sinned, God calls out to them and says, "Where are you and what do they do?"31:03They hide as if God can't play hide and seek. And God's like, "I don't know. Where are you?" But they're living in shame. And it's the same shame that we often live in.31:30And God has broken us from this shame. Shame seeks shelter away from God rather than in God. A person who experiences shame has an abiding sense of failure and self-disgust. It's a reminder that a child in trouble needs forgiveness for his guilt. But for his shame, he needs cleansing or she needs cleansing for the self-doubt that they have.31:55I think that's why Jude in verse 24 says that Jesus makes you stand in the presence of his glory without blemish and with great joy. And then the way my mind has always worked, and I know my mind doesn't work a lot, but when it does work, this is how it works. You know, I can see us trying to crawl to the throne of God and Jesus looking at us and saying, "Boy, stand up.32:22Girl, stand up. Girl, stand up. You are mine. I died for you. I shed my blood for you. Don't you dare stoop down in the presence of my Father. You are his. He is yours. Stand up." And we say, "Well, God, I can't stand. That's why Jesus is holding us." Because we are no longer allowed to live in shame.32:50Guilt says, "Father, forgive me." Shame says, "I am no longer worthy." And if Christ has died for your sins, you will always be worthy. Which is why he makes us stand in the presence of his glory without spot and without blemish. And there is not enough time in the world for me to declare again and again what our salvation means.33:14We could spend years in this portion of Scripture and unfold over and over again what Jesus has done for us. How he has redeemed us and saved us, but there's really only two options. There are those that read the disease of sin and say, "I know the answer. I can fix it."33:39Paul says this. You'll never be able to fix your life from Mount Sinai. If you are here trying to earn God's love, you can't do it. If you're here and say, "Well, Pastor, you don't know who I am."34:06Really. You're going to go up to heaven and bring Jesus down. You're going to go into hell and bring him up. So I would never do that. That was happening in Paul's day. And he would just declare to anyone who has not received Jesus Christ by faith, "Don't do it on your own because you can't do it on your own." Run to Jesus Christ and say, "God, I'm the sinner. I'm the self-righteous. I'm the ignorant. I need Christ."34:34There's a cure for your sin and his name is Jesus. And do not let the cure of heaven pass you by today. There's a second group in those who have received the righteousness of God. And if that is you, I don't know how we read scriptures like this and our heart not beat stronger. I don't know how we read scriptures like this and our soul not become more mouthy.35:04We need to clap back and talk back at Satan today. Because Jesus kept receipts at Calvary. And when he returns, the rebellion that Satan instituted will be atoned. His time is limited. I don't know about you, but I want the world to know that Jesus is mine. And I am his. But I don't have the cure because I'm not the cure, but I know the cure in his name is Jesus.35:33If you have given your life to Christ today, I pray that you're more mouthy than ever before. That your heart is stronger than ever before, that you're more confident in your salvation than you've ever been. And that you are more thankful for your salvation than you've ever been. And today, if you have never trusted in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I'm going to invite you to come to faith.35:55So, Pastor, how do I do that? You can pray a prayer like this. My prayer doesn't save you. Your prayer doesn't save you, but your faith in Jesus Christ to believe with your heart and confess with your mouth that he is your Lord. You can know of your salvation and be assured. You can pray a prayer like this.36:25Father, I know that I'm a sinner today. I'm tired of being sick and tired. Father, forgive me. Today I turn. It's called repentance. I turn from my sin. And I run to you. I run to Calvary. Cleanse me. Cleanse me. Make me whole. I believe with my heart that you died and rose again.36:51And I will confess with my mouth today that I will follow you no matter the cost. And when you come to faith, you will hear Jesus say, son, stand up. Daughter, stand up. Because you are mine. And I am yours, Father.← Previous in When in RomansWhen in Romans: Unfailing Word: Trusting God’s Faithfulness (Romans 9:1-6)Next in When in Romans →When in Romans – Gracious Gifts and Irrevocable Grace (Romans 11:1 and 11:11)More sermons on Romans →
