The Basics of Faith (Romans 10:5-13)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.600 --> 00:00:04.919 Let's here God's Word now from Romans Chapter Ten. If you're able to remain 2 00:00:04.960 --> 00:00:09.349 standing, please do. If not, that's fine. Be seated, but 3 00:00:09.470 --> 00:00:15.669 will read Romans Chapter Ten, verses five through thirteen. Romans chapter ten, 4 00:00:15.669 --> 00:00:21.899 Verse Five, for Moses Writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, 5 00:00:23.179 --> 00:00:27.899 that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the 6 00:00:27.980 --> 00:00:33.100 righteousness based on faith says, do not say in your heart who will ascend 7 00:00:33.140 --> 00:00:37.490 into heaven, that is, to bring Christ down, or who will descend 8 00:00:37.530 --> 00:00:42.049 into the abyss, that is to bring Christ up from the dead. But 9 00:00:42.170 --> 00:00:47.810 what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and 10 00:00:48.009 --> 00:00:52.520 in your heart. That is the word of faith that we proclaim, because 11 00:00:52.600 --> 00:00:57.320 if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart 12 00:00:57.399 --> 00:01:00.880 that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved, for with 13 00:01:02.039 --> 00:01:06.469 the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and 14 00:01:06.629 --> 00:01:11.069 is saved. For the Scripture says, everyone who believes in him will not 15 00:01:11.230 --> 00:01:15.829 be put to shame, for there is no distinction between you and Greek, 16 00:01:17.269 --> 00:01:21.780 for the same Lord as Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who 17 00:01:21.819 --> 00:01:26.659 call on him, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will 18 00:01:26.659 --> 00:01:32.379 be saved. May God bless his word to us. Please be seated well 19 00:01:32.459 --> 00:01:37.849 here in Romans ten, Paul is addressing a very particular thing. He calls 20 00:01:37.890 --> 00:01:42.930 it a word, as as one way he puts it. He calls it 21 00:01:42.010 --> 00:01:46.329 a word, he says, he describes it in various ways. In Verse 22 00:01:46.370 --> 00:01:51.120 Eight, he calls it the word of faith that we proclaim, and this 23 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:55.760 word is an important word. This is the thing I want to just introduce 24 00:01:55.920 --> 00:02:00.079 our the are thinking and kind of set our minds properly. It's an important 25 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:02.870 thing that he is talking about, and you can get that from those word 26 00:02:02.989 --> 00:02:08.870 proclaim right. You typically don't proclaim something that's unimportant, right. You don't 27 00:02:09.110 --> 00:02:15.590 proclaim the fact that you decided to watch a different television show this evening. 28 00:02:15.629 --> 00:02:21.620 You don't proclaim the fact that you're putting your seat belt on. You proclaim 29 00:02:21.860 --> 00:02:27.979 things that are significant. And so Paul actually uses a Greek word for the 30 00:02:28.139 --> 00:02:32.330 word, word that communicates that, rather than just saying word, he says 31 00:02:32.370 --> 00:02:38.289 Rama. He talks about it's a word that means a significant word, an 32 00:02:38.330 --> 00:02:45.879 important word, a Rama, and this Rama he is proclaiming now, this 33 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:52.680 word that he proclaims he connects with something Moses has said, and we'll think 34 00:02:52.759 --> 00:02:57.120 about that. But I want to just mention very briefly here is that there's 35 00:02:57.159 --> 00:03:01.590 this connection between these two things, what Moses has said and what Paul has 36 00:03:01.710 --> 00:03:07.629 said. But at the end of it all you get this simple point when 37 00:03:07.669 --> 00:03:12.069 you put these two lessons together, the lesson of Moses, the word of 38 00:03:12.150 --> 00:03:15.539 Moses, the lesson of Paul, the word of Paul. When you put 39 00:03:15.580 --> 00:03:20.740 these things together, you get this simple point about the word. The word 40 00:03:20.860 --> 00:03:24.659 that God speaks is a word that promises life, not because of your good 41 00:03:24.780 --> 00:03:30.729 works, but because Jesus works on your behalf. That's his basic message about 42 00:03:30.770 --> 00:03:36.370 this word. It's a word that promises life, not because of your good 43 00:03:36.490 --> 00:03:42.039 works, but it promises life because of Jesus's good works done on your behalf. 44 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:49.599 This message, this thing that I've just said, is Paul's central message. 45 00:03:50.759 --> 00:03:53.919 It's not just Paul's Paul's an apostle of God. This is God's message. 46 00:03:54.680 --> 00:03:59.750 This is our eternal hope. This is the reason why we live the 47 00:03:59.830 --> 00:04:02.310 way we live. It's the reason why we say the things we say, 48 00:04:02.430 --> 00:04:09.030 the reason why we do the things we do so in order that we don't 49 00:04:09.030 --> 00:04:14.139 take this for granted, this message, this promise of life that comes because 50 00:04:14.180 --> 00:04:20.180 of Jesus's obedience. Let's listen carefully to what Paul says in this passage and 51 00:04:20.300 --> 00:04:24.449 not ignore it or take it for granted, but listen carefully to what he 52 00:04:24.610 --> 00:04:29.930 says, to what Moses said before him, and how Paul takes that and 53 00:04:30.170 --> 00:04:33.209 builds on it. And I want to do that in three parts this morning. 54 00:04:33.250 --> 00:04:36.769 I want to talk about what the Word Promises, I'm what the word 55 00:04:36.889 --> 00:04:42.720 requires, and then how we respond. What the word promises, what the 56 00:04:42.759 --> 00:04:48.519 word requires, and then how we respond. So what the word promises? 57 00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:54.870 What is it that the word of God promises? This is so simple. 58 00:04:56.350 --> 00:05:00.870 This is so simple. If you are righteous, God will bless you. 59 00:05:02.589 --> 00:05:08.180 Not Very simple. It's very straightforward. Maybe you don't know what the right 60 00:05:08.259 --> 00:05:11.660 word righteous means or the word bless means. So I think I can make 61 00:05:11.699 --> 00:05:16.939 it even more simple. Good boys get good things, bad boys get bad 62 00:05:17.060 --> 00:05:21.490 things. It's that simple. If you do good things, if you are 63 00:05:21.490 --> 00:05:28.250 a righteous person, God rewards that, he blesses that. If you are 64 00:05:28.290 --> 00:05:32.889 a bad person and evil person, if you do evil things, God does 65 00:05:33.009 --> 00:05:39.879 not bless that, but he curses it. Now under Moses, those blessings 66 00:05:39.959 --> 00:05:45.120 and curses are spelled out very clearly in Deuteronomy. He says to his people 67 00:05:45.160 --> 00:05:49.389 there's these big sections, long chapters, of curses and blessings, and he 68 00:05:49.470 --> 00:05:53.709 talks about various ones. If you're if you're good, if you obey the 69 00:05:53.790 --> 00:06:00.350 law of God, he will give you long life, good land, healthy 70 00:06:00.509 --> 00:06:05.579 flocks, pregnancy, vines that produce yummy wine, all kinds of good things, 71 00:06:05.740 --> 00:06:11.620 wealth, peace. But if you're bad, if you disobey the law, 72 00:06:11.819 --> 00:06:15.819 then all of God's wrath comes upon you. The opposite of those things 73 00:06:15.899 --> 00:06:20.170 happen. Instead of good things, you get bad things, instead of pregnancy, 74 00:06:20.370 --> 00:06:27.410 you get miscarriages and you get infertility and you get bad land and you 75 00:06:27.569 --> 00:06:32.879 get vines that don't work and thieves that steal your wealth and war from your 76 00:06:32.920 --> 00:06:41.480 enemies. This is the basic setup of God's word. If you are righteous, 77 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:44.040 if you do good, you will get good things. If you are 78 00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:49.629 bad, if you do wrong things, you will be cursed. The stakes 79 00:06:49.670 --> 00:06:56.829 under Jesus in many ways get even heightened all the more under Moses. When 80 00:06:56.870 --> 00:07:01.060 Moses speaks, he talks primarily about these blessings of this world and this time 81 00:07:01.220 --> 00:07:08.259 in this place. Jesus, however, talks about eternal things. So when 82 00:07:08.259 --> 00:07:13.220 he talks about life, he takes all that Moses says and says that this 83 00:07:13.259 --> 00:07:17.970 is some seaking of speaking about something even greater. It's speaking of eternal life. 84 00:07:18.769 --> 00:07:23.889 We're not just talking about life here in this world that is nice and 85 00:07:24.089 --> 00:07:30.439 pleasant. We're talking about everlasting life that is perfect in every way if you're 86 00:07:30.439 --> 00:07:34.720 righteous. But alternatively, if you sin, if you disobey, if you 87 00:07:34.839 --> 00:07:40.160 go against what the things that God has commanded, then the words forever and 88 00:07:40.279 --> 00:07:49.910 everlasting get attached to things like fire and death and wrath. Under Moses, 89 00:07:50.069 --> 00:07:58.029 the things that God promises as a result for obedience or disobedience. In a 90 00:07:58.149 --> 00:08:00.939 sense, you can kind of fall in and out of that. You're in 91 00:08:01.060 --> 00:08:03.259 the land, you're out of the land. There's a there's a kind of 92 00:08:03.420 --> 00:08:07.180 impermanence to it, even as the things that are promised are impermanent. But 93 00:08:07.300 --> 00:08:11.889 under Jesus, when Jesus talks to us about how things are in their finality, 94 00:08:13.370 --> 00:08:16.569 what does he say? Well, as these things are eternal, they 95 00:08:16.649 --> 00:08:22.209 are eternal. To put it another way, you can get kicked out of 96 00:08:22.370 --> 00:08:26.009 Israel, but you can't get kicked out of heaven. The life that God 97 00:08:26.170 --> 00:08:31.319 promises to Israel is temporary and provisional, but the life that it's pointing to, 98 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:41.029 this heavenly life, is eternal. There's no I'm losing it. So 99 00:08:43.230 --> 00:08:48.509 that's what the word promises, blessings and curses. But what does it require? 100 00:08:48.789 --> 00:08:52.230 Well, as I've said, it requires righteousness, it requires obedience. 101 00:08:54.230 --> 00:08:56.779 Now, under Moses, that mode, that law was, was somewhat that 102 00:08:56.940 --> 00:09:03.940 righteousness was somewhat possible. In a sense, the righteousness was in somewhat somewhat 103 00:09:03.980 --> 00:09:09.059 within their ability. Let me read to you a little bit from a Deuteronomy 104 00:09:09.179 --> 00:09:13.210 thirty place that Paul is quoting. This is at the end of all of 105 00:09:13.450 --> 00:09:20.690 this law. I'm Moses is given a very robust God has given to Moses 106 00:09:20.769 --> 00:09:24.759 a very robust set of laws. He's given the blessings, he's given the 107 00:09:24.840 --> 00:09:30.840 curses, and then he says in Deuteronomy thirty verse eleven, for this commandment 108 00:09:30.919 --> 00:09:35.519 that I command you today is not too hard for you. Neither is it 109 00:09:35.720 --> 00:09:39.870 far off. It is not in heaven that you should say who will ascend 110 00:09:39.909 --> 00:09:43.070 into heaven and bring it to us that we may hear it and do it? 111 00:09:43.909 --> 00:09:46.029 Neither it is beyond the sea that you should say. Who will go 112 00:09:46.149 --> 00:09:48.830 over the sea for us and bring it to us that we may hear it 113 00:09:48.950 --> 00:09:54.419 and do it? But the word is very near you. It is in 114 00:09:54.500 --> 00:09:56.899 your mouth, it is in your heart, so that you can do it. 115 00:09:58.580 --> 00:10:03.500 You hear the echoes there, ascending, descending near you, heart, 116 00:10:03.700 --> 00:10:09.529 mouth, all of these connections, the way that Paul picks this up well 117 00:10:09.570 --> 00:10:13.250 before we get to that. What is Moses saying? He's saying God has 118 00:10:13.330 --> 00:10:18.809 given you the law. He's told you very clearly, very plainly, Israel, 119 00:10:18.169 --> 00:10:22.799 how you are to obey him. You don't have to, you know, 120 00:10:22.279 --> 00:10:26.919 shake some sticks or look at the leaves or cloud patterns. You don't 121 00:10:26.919 --> 00:10:31.000 have to ascend into heaven and say to God, please tell me your secrets. 122 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:35.279 What do you want me to do? You don't have to go far 123 00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:41.350 away places, across the sea or a cross dangerous places to find this out. 124 00:10:41.350 --> 00:10:45.590 It's very near you, Moses says, he's just told you it and 125 00:10:45.750 --> 00:10:48.549 it's not too difficult for to you to do. You are able to do 126 00:10:48.710 --> 00:10:58.580 it. He says, it is near you. But even that, though, 127 00:10:58.779 --> 00:11:01.460 in a sense it was not difficult for them to do. Their sin 128 00:11:01.980 --> 00:11:07.289 got the better of them, their pride, their rebellion, and they didn't 129 00:11:07.289 --> 00:11:11.289 do it. As we know, Israel was kicked out of the land, 130 00:11:13.049 --> 00:11:20.200 they were excommunicated from communion with God and even from one another. And this 131 00:11:20.440 --> 00:11:28.039 all is meant to impress upon us the good degree of righteousness that God requires. 132 00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:35.509 If God requires a kind, a degree of righteousness that is somewhat doable 133 00:11:35.629 --> 00:11:39.269 in order for them to stay in the land, what kind of degree of 134 00:11:39.429 --> 00:11:45.590 brighteousness do you think he requires for us to be in heaven, for us 135 00:11:45.629 --> 00:11:50.460 to Have Eternal Righteousness and safety? Well, of course we know. It's 136 00:11:50.539 --> 00:11:56.580 perfect righteousness. God wants perfection. And so let me tell you, let 137 00:11:56.620 --> 00:12:00.740 me ask you, or command you, if I may, go ahead and 138 00:12:00.980 --> 00:12:07.090 take account of yourselves, take account of your sins. Look at your hearts 139 00:12:07.289 --> 00:12:13.129 honestly, carefully, way yourself in the balance. Have you sinned? Do 140 00:12:13.649 --> 00:12:20.440 you sin? Think about every area of your life for a moment. Think 141 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:24.759 about your family relationships, your work relationships, think about the relationships you have 142 00:12:24.840 --> 00:12:31.070 with your friends, with your enemies. Think about your personal relationship with the 143 00:12:31.190 --> 00:12:37.990 Lord. Are you doing the things that he commands? When we look at 144 00:12:37.990 --> 00:12:41.070 our hearts and we are very honest, with ourselves, we will see that 145 00:12:41.429 --> 00:12:48.419 none of us meet the standard of righteousness that God requires, that when we 146 00:12:48.940 --> 00:12:54.139 look at this great and perfect and holy formula, good and get good, 147 00:12:54.659 --> 00:13:00.690 bad and get get get bad, this new this formula, though good and 148 00:13:00.889 --> 00:13:09.570 true and righteous and just, is a death sentence. If eternity is being 149 00:13:09.769 --> 00:13:13.039 held out to us and we look at our sin and we weigh ourselves in 150 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:18.840 the balance, what can any of US say? Moses says the righteous person 151 00:13:20.240 --> 00:13:24.399 who lives by the law will live, and we say, well, that's 152 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:30.830 not me. And that's the point. This is why Moses came and said 153 00:13:30.870 --> 00:13:33.190 what he said. This is why a God spoke to him in this way 154 00:13:33.230 --> 00:13:39.389 and speaks to us, to teach us of our sins, to show us 155 00:13:39.549 --> 00:13:45.980 the law and what God requires and how we do not meet it. We 156 00:13:46.259 --> 00:13:52.139 cannot measure, we cannot meet the standard. So here's a question for you. 157 00:13:54.700 --> 00:14:01.450 Why does Paul then talk about this righteousness as something that's possible, the 158 00:14:01.529 --> 00:14:07.490 righteousness that earns true and eternal life, the righteousness that gets the salvation and 159 00:14:07.610 --> 00:14:11.759 eternal salvation of God? Why does he talk about it in the same way 160 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:18.399 as Moses? Why does he use the same language? Righteousness doesn't say who 161 00:14:18.440 --> 00:14:22.799 will ascend into heaven, who will descend into the abyss. In other words, 162 00:14:22.840 --> 00:14:28.669 he's saying that it's attainable, it's possible. How can he say that? 163 00:14:30.309 --> 00:14:35.230 How can the righteousness of God that gets US heaven be close to us 164 00:14:35.350 --> 00:14:41.860 and near to us? The answer is because it's not a righteousness based on 165 00:14:41.980 --> 00:14:48.940 the law, it's a righteousness based on faith. You see, the principle 166 00:14:50.100 --> 00:14:54.250 never changes in scripture. That's why Moses and Paul can walk hand in hand 167 00:14:54.769 --> 00:15:00.929 as Prophets of the Lord and communicate his word. They are not contradictory. 168 00:15:01.570 --> 00:15:05.730 God's word always is and always has been. The righteous are the ones who 169 00:15:05.730 --> 00:15:13.279 obtain life. But what Paul does is he builds on what Moses has said 170 00:15:15.159 --> 00:15:18.159 and he says, Moses taught you that the righteous obtain life, but he 171 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:24.509 also taught you that you're not righteous, and so now Jesus Christ is come 172 00:15:24.629 --> 00:15:33.029 into the world to be righteous for you, to give you the righteousness of 173 00:15:33.190 --> 00:15:37.659 God. You See, God doesn't throw the righteous standard out the window. 174 00:15:37.700 --> 00:15:39.460 He doesn't say, well, never mind, I'm just going to give gifts 175 00:15:39.460 --> 00:15:43.659 to evil people. No, he says, I'm going to give gifts to 176 00:15:43.700 --> 00:15:48.139 righteous people, but I'm going to do that, not by requiring you to 177 00:15:48.340 --> 00:15:52.090 obey, because you can't do that, and that's been proven time and time 178 00:15:52.129 --> 00:15:58.809 again, but I'm going to do that by giving you, by gifting to 179 00:15:58.970 --> 00:16:04.759 you, by gracing you with what you cannot do. And so what we 180 00:16:04.840 --> 00:16:12.240 see is the means of obtaining our righteousness is by faith. It's not by 181 00:16:12.360 --> 00:16:19.830 trusting in our works, but by trusting in Christ's works for us. When 182 00:16:19.870 --> 00:16:25.750 he says that the word is near to us, he's talking about Jesus who 183 00:16:25.750 --> 00:16:32.629 has come down from heaven. He's talking about Jesus who is descended even unto 184 00:16:32.710 --> 00:16:37.500 death, but he's also about talking about Jesus who rose again from the dead, 185 00:16:37.539 --> 00:16:42.419 victorious over sin and over the curse, so that he might be stole 186 00:16:42.620 --> 00:16:49.610 upon us the riches of heavenly life. This is what the word says. 187 00:16:49.809 --> 00:16:55.929 This is what the word is that's near to us, it's not far off. 188 00:16:56.289 --> 00:17:02.159 We don't have to go to find either the law or salvation, because 189 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:07.799 God has brought both into the world, so close to us that it's in 190 00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:15.349 our hearts, it's in our mouths. What do I mean? I mean 191 00:17:15.509 --> 00:17:22.190 that this is a word that you have heard, this is a word that 192 00:17:22.269 --> 00:17:27.309 you are hearing even now. Does the fact that God has given you his 193 00:17:27.589 --> 00:17:33.299 own righteousness when you had failed to earn it, when he gives it to 194 00:17:33.420 --> 00:17:40.180 you so that he might just bless you out of his sheer love and give 195 00:17:40.220 --> 00:17:48.329 you eternal life? Does that not sit in your heart? This is what 196 00:17:48.529 --> 00:17:52.369 the word gives to us. This is what the word requires, this is 197 00:17:52.650 --> 00:17:57.920 what the word says. It says to us that righteousness gives us life, 198 00:17:59.400 --> 00:18:03.720 but righteousness by faith is trusting in Jesus, who gives it to us. 199 00:18:07.319 --> 00:18:14.349 So we've considered and heard what this righteousness of faith says. We've considered what 200 00:18:14.430 --> 00:18:18.630 the word promises and what the word requires and how it's given to us, 201 00:18:18.670 --> 00:18:25.430 Jesus giving to us what we could not obtain on our own. But we 202 00:18:25.589 --> 00:18:29.940 cannot leave it there. We have to think about how we respond. And 203 00:18:30.059 --> 00:18:37.420 why is that? Why can't we be simply content to know the word of 204 00:18:37.740 --> 00:18:42.009 Jesus, to know the faith that Paul is proclaiming, that I'm proclaiming to 205 00:18:42.049 --> 00:18:47.289 you today? Why can't we be content simply to know what has been done? 206 00:18:48.289 --> 00:18:52.849 Well, the reason is that faith that is proclaimed as not just for 207 00:18:53.089 --> 00:18:59.799 our heads, it's for our hearts, it's for our mouths. Indeed, 208 00:18:59.960 --> 00:19:03.400 our minds aren't even mentioned in this passage. The word is said to be 209 00:19:03.640 --> 00:19:11.670 in our hearts, to be in our mouths. Excuse me now. Don't 210 00:19:11.710 --> 00:19:15.029 get me wrong, of course it's in our minds. Of course this is 211 00:19:15.190 --> 00:19:18.910 a knowledge that we have. Paul says it here. It's something that we 212 00:19:19.029 --> 00:19:23.150 understand, but it's when it says it's in our hearts, it means that 213 00:19:23.230 --> 00:19:27.099 it's not just meant for our emotions, it's meant for all of ourselves. 214 00:19:29.019 --> 00:19:32.180 When scripture speaks of the world that uses the word heart, it means that, 215 00:19:32.259 --> 00:19:36.500 in this very inclusive way, it includes our heads. Are Affections, 216 00:19:36.579 --> 00:19:40.970 are wills. You don't really believe something, do you, unless you believe 217 00:19:41.009 --> 00:19:45.369 all of you believes it. You don't really really believe something unless it's filling 218 00:19:45.450 --> 00:19:48.970 you up, if it's in every part of you. And that's exactly my 219 00:19:49.170 --> 00:19:55.880 point. The doctrines of the Gospel are not just ahead knowledge. It's a 220 00:19:56.039 --> 00:20:02.960 heart knowledge, a will, motivator. That's why true saving knowledge of Jesus 221 00:20:03.400 --> 00:20:07.950 never stops at what Jesus says, but what Jesus has, but what Jesus 222 00:20:08.029 --> 00:20:17.309 says has an effect on what we say. God speaks and we respond. 223 00:20:19.750 --> 00:20:26.700 So, practically speaking, what does righteousness by faith sound like? What does 224 00:20:26.740 --> 00:20:33.220 it sound like? How do we express that? Well, there's a couple 225 00:20:33.259 --> 00:20:37.089 things that Paul brings up in this passage. The first thing he mentions is 226 00:20:37.609 --> 00:20:45.089 confession. The second thing he mentions is calling in terms of confession. Righteousness 227 00:20:45.089 --> 00:20:49.279 by faith or the righteousness of faith, sounds like straight up, straight talk 228 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:56.920 about Jesus, as Paul says, plainly, confess with your mouth that Jesus 229 00:20:56.920 --> 00:21:02.200 is Lord. That's pretty plain, isn't it? That's pretty simple. We 230 00:21:02.359 --> 00:21:06.390 confess with our mouth that Jesus is ward. That's what it means to believe 231 00:21:06.430 --> 00:21:10.549 in this righteousness that's based on faith. And, of course, brothers and 232 00:21:10.589 --> 00:21:15.630 sisters, confession that Jesus and Lord doesn't mean just on Sunday. A means 233 00:21:15.710 --> 00:21:21.700 in all of our lives and it's not just moving our lives. Confession, 234 00:21:22.460 --> 00:21:26.660 you know we I'm confessing with my mouth that Jesus is Lord. It means 235 00:21:26.140 --> 00:21:30.660 saying it, meaning it. It means that trusting him for all things, 236 00:21:30.740 --> 00:21:34.410 leaning on him for all things. And that goes right into the second point. 237 00:21:34.930 --> 00:21:38.930 It's not just about confession, but it's about calling the lads. The 238 00:21:38.930 --> 00:21:44.329 last verse of Our text says this morning righteousness that's based on faith, this 239 00:21:44.529 --> 00:21:48.599 word that comes to US produces confession, but also calling. We call on 240 00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:57.359 him for our salvation. Pure Paul quotes Joel and he says, he says 241 00:21:57.440 --> 00:22:03.509 in verse thirteen, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will 242 00:22:03.549 --> 00:22:08.269 be saved. Calling on the name of the Lord means that you recognize that 243 00:22:08.430 --> 00:22:15.220 you need something for yourself. Remember that balance, remember that heart check we 244 00:22:15.299 --> 00:22:21.140 did earlier. Do you have a need? Yes, you should all be 245 00:22:21.220 --> 00:22:25.220 saying, yes, I have a need. I have sins, I have 246 00:22:25.420 --> 00:22:30.970 sins that lead to death. I am a sinner. And so when we 247 00:22:32.009 --> 00:22:33.930 hear the righteousness is based on faith, what do we do? We confess 248 00:22:34.009 --> 00:22:38.690 that Jesus is Lord and we call out on him to save us, and 249 00:22:38.890 --> 00:22:45.960 he promises us that he will. Calling out on Jesus for salvation means no 250 00:22:47.240 --> 00:22:52.640 more pretending, it means no more faking it means no more putting a happy 251 00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:56.160 face and acting or ignoring or repressing the fact that, because of your sin, 252 00:22:57.589 --> 00:23:03.190 your sin others sin, you and I are in a heap of trouble. 253 00:23:04.309 --> 00:23:08.309 Calling out for a salvation means recognizing that you need to be saved, 254 00:23:10.589 --> 00:23:15.420 like a person who's fallen out of a boat and can't swim. The second 255 00:23:15.539 --> 00:23:19.660 part of our calling isn't just recognizing our desperate need, but it's reaching out 256 00:23:19.700 --> 00:23:25.460 to him, it's saying save me and believing that he is ready and able 257 00:23:25.900 --> 00:23:32.569 to do that. He's Lord Right, he's God, he's capable. In 258 00:23:32.690 --> 00:23:37.569 the Greek culture of Paul's Day, calling on someone didn't just mean visiting them. 259 00:23:37.650 --> 00:23:41.519 I'm going to call on you. Calling on someone meant appealing for help, 260 00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:47.519 reaching out, saying save me, and this was often to a god. 261 00:23:48.079 --> 00:23:56.470 But here in the Bible we are talking about not a god but the 262 00:23:56.789 --> 00:24:03.470 God. We have another reminder here about the divine nature of Jesus. He 263 00:24:03.630 --> 00:24:07.069 is not merely a man or a great man, he is God and is 264 00:24:07.150 --> 00:24:11.859 therefore able to save. And in the passage that Paul's quoting from Joel, 265 00:24:12.180 --> 00:24:17.380 it's a passage about judgment, it's a passage about the judgment day and the 266 00:24:17.420 --> 00:24:21.660 end of the world, and he says all who call on Yah way will 267 00:24:21.700 --> 00:24:25.690 be saved. And here we see that Yah way, that Jehovah, is, 268 00:24:25.849 --> 00:24:32.049 of course, the Lord Jesus, so these are the two ways that 269 00:24:32.170 --> 00:24:34.769 Paul talks about, in the ways that we respond to the word that has 270 00:24:34.809 --> 00:24:41.279 been spoken to us. But let me add one more or take it just 271 00:24:41.359 --> 00:24:48.920 a little bit further, rather to its its logical conclusion. Confession and confession 272 00:24:48.920 --> 00:24:53.069 and calling. The Confession and calling that Paul speaks of cannot be thought of 273 00:24:53.190 --> 00:24:57.390 in purely verbal ways, though certainly it should be found on our lips. 274 00:24:57.470 --> 00:25:02.430 It has to be found in our actions. What does that look like? 275 00:25:03.630 --> 00:25:07.019 Well, means that any time you sense your sin and you turn to God, 276 00:25:07.700 --> 00:25:14.019 even in the unspoken prayers of your heart, that's a calling out, 277 00:25:15.220 --> 00:25:21.220 that's a confession. Whenever we feel the weight of our sins, our depravity, 278 00:25:21.299 --> 00:25:26.089 are desperation, all of the things that bring us so low and so 279 00:25:26.289 --> 00:25:29.930 down, and we see that in ourselves and we turn to the Cross and 280 00:25:30.049 --> 00:25:34.250 we see God taking himself to the lowest point so that we can be saved. 281 00:25:36.319 --> 00:25:41.319 We can know that God will save. Maybe it's when you're anger gets 282 00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:45.759 the better of you, or your lust or your discontentment or your jealousy, 283 00:25:48.200 --> 00:25:52.029 or any time you choose to find forgiveness of Jesus instead of paying for your 284 00:25:52.069 --> 00:25:57.789 sins by tormenting yourself or by trying to do more good deeds. Anytime you 285 00:25:57.910 --> 00:26:03.829 stop trying to please God by climbing up into heaven to prove yourself or de 286 00:26:03.190 --> 00:26:07.859 ending down into the depths to atone for your sins. Anytime you stop that 287 00:26:08.859 --> 00:26:14.619 and instead look to the cross of Jesus and stay here is Yahwah, here 288 00:26:14.980 --> 00:26:19.049 is my great covenant Lord Who Promises To save me, then you know that 289 00:26:19.250 --> 00:26:27.329 you are confessing and calling because of a righteousness based on faith. These are 290 00:26:27.369 --> 00:26:33.880 the practical ways the confession and calling plays out in our lives. Each and 291 00:26:33.000 --> 00:26:37.759 every single one of us has our own struggles, our own weaknesses, our 292 00:26:37.799 --> 00:26:44.440 own sins, but each one of us also has a choice. Will we 293 00:26:44.559 --> 00:26:49.549 continue to try and find life by obedience to the law, a doomed project 294 00:26:49.630 --> 00:26:55.589 to be sure, or will we step away from our pride, our Self 295 00:26:55.630 --> 00:27:00.190 Righteousness, and call it for what it is, but also see the grace 296 00:27:00.430 --> 00:27:07.339 of God for what it is given to us in Christ his obedience for us? 297 00:27:12.339 --> 00:27:15.730 As I bring this to a close, I want to remind you of 298 00:27:15.809 --> 00:27:21.049 one last thing that Paul says. This choice that I've just presented to you, 299 00:27:21.210 --> 00:27:26.369 this choice that Paul is telling us about is not a fearful one. 300 00:27:27.650 --> 00:27:36.599 You choose Jesus and you will not be ashamed. This is not always true. 301 00:27:37.400 --> 00:27:40.640 Sometimes we make choices in life that come back and bite us in the 302 00:27:41.119 --> 00:27:47.710 you know, you trust the wrong person, you go to the wrong dealership. 303 00:27:48.029 --> 00:27:52.630 Maybe next thing you know, you find yourself regretting that you ever walked 304 00:27:52.710 --> 00:27:56.950 on to that lot. Why did I do that? Now you're stuck on 305 00:27:56.029 --> 00:28:00.700 the side of the road. Or maybe you've trusted people in financial decisions, 306 00:28:00.740 --> 00:28:03.579 or you've trusted people in relationships and you find yourself, at the end of 307 00:28:03.660 --> 00:28:11.380 the day, ashamed, embarrassed. How stupid could I have been? This 308 00:28:11.900 --> 00:28:17.490 is not the case with Jesus. God is no used car salesman or a 309 00:28:17.609 --> 00:28:22.250 Bernie made off. He is the author of truth itself, and he has 310 00:28:22.329 --> 00:28:27.599 humbled himself to reveal of that truth to you, even to the point of 311 00:28:27.680 --> 00:28:37.200 suffering, even to the point of death. That's how far God went to 312 00:28:37.359 --> 00:28:42.230 reveal his self to you. That's how far God went to tell you the 313 00:28:42.309 --> 00:28:49.630 truth, to speak to you about the righteousness that comes by faith. It's 314 00:28:49.670 --> 00:28:53.950 a death which, by the way, didn't last. He rose again from 315 00:28:53.950 --> 00:28:57.700 the dead, not because you brought him up, but because is God did 316 00:28:59.420 --> 00:29:03.900 for you and, as Paul says, he was raised from the dead, 317 00:29:03.940 --> 00:29:07.500 undeniable proof for all to see that God did what he said he would do. 318 00:29:08.059 --> 00:29:14.130 The promise was fulfilled. So here in this letter and in the preaching 319 00:29:14.170 --> 00:29:18.609 of the word today, God has brought this word to each and every one 320 00:29:18.650 --> 00:29:23.680 of you and in that word God has proclaimed what he always says, his 321 00:29:23.839 --> 00:29:32.400 righteousness, the righteousness that is based on faith. That's the lesson here this 322 00:29:32.559 --> 00:29:37.359 morning. You can't be a good person. God still requires it, but 323 00:29:38.630 --> 00:29:42.829 he meets the requirement for you. That's what the word says and I pray, 324 00:29:45.069 --> 00:29:48.589 I pray, that this is a word that won't fall flat on your 325 00:29:48.630 --> 00:29:52.660 ears. I want you to be saved. I want you to know the 326 00:29:52.740 --> 00:29:56.940 righteousness that's based on faith. You know the righteousness that's based on the law. 327 00:29:57.259 --> 00:30:02.140 It's built into you. God built it into you. Know you know 328 00:30:02.539 --> 00:30:07.410 what he requires. I don't have to tell you that. What you didn't 329 00:30:07.450 --> 00:30:11.730 know, though, until God revealed it, is that he loved you so 330 00:30:11.849 --> 00:30:15.450 much that he sent his only begotten Son that whoever would believe in him would 331 00:30:15.450 --> 00:30:22.279 be saved. But now you know, so believe in him and be saved. 332 00:30:22.319 --> 00:30:23.279 Let's pray