Sermon August 10, 2008

INI

Text: Romans 10:5-13
Theme: Precious Truths About the Salvation of God.
Sentence: In Christ Jesus, who pleaded, “Come unto Me all you who labor and are heavy laden,” fellow redeemed:

Romans 10:5-13
5 For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, "The man who does those things shall live by them."
6 But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, "Do not say in your heart, `Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down from above)
7 or," `Who will descend into the abyss?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
8 But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."
12 ¶ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.
13 For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved."

INTRODUCTION
As of the writing of his Epistle to the Romans, St. Paul had not been to the city of Rome. He had not yet met the Roman Christians face to face and he had not yet had the opportunity to preach to them. He want-ed to do these things; it was his burning desire to see them face to face and share the Word of God with them; so he does the next best thing...he writes a letter to them in which he lays out Law and Gospel in beautiful and precise fashion. By the time he gets to chapter ten St. Paul zero’s in on a matter that is very dear to him...his desire that his own countrymen, the nation of Israel, might believe in the Messiah and be saved. In 10:1 he writes, “Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.” Then he goes on to explain in the text before us this morning that the great Lawgiver of the Old Testament; that religious figure to which all Israel looked up, that Moses himself taught regarding the wonderful salvation which the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, would bring. This morning we examine the words of Romans 10:5-13 and draw from them, for our own edification and strengthening:

Precious Truths About the Salvation of God.
There are two of them in particular which St. Paul mentions in the text. They are:
I. You are saved by grace through faith; not by works.
II. Salvation is meant for all humanity; not just for a part of humanity.

I. You are saved by grace through faith; not by works.
     St. Paul begins by introducing the conundrum of, on the one hand, “the righteousness which is of the Law,” verse 5, and, on the other hand, “the righteousness of faith,” verse 6. Regarding the righteousness of the Law, Leviticus 18:5, written by Moses, is quoted. “The man who does those things shall live by them.” “Those things” which a man is to do are the statutes and judgments of God, not the ordinances of the ceremonial, but the precepts of the moral law, that is, the Ten Commandments. The righteousness of the law lies in “doing” and keeping those statutes, not merely externally, but internally, with all the heart, soul, and strength. The law requires love to God, fear of Him, and faith in Him, and an inward disposition of the mind toward Him, and a conformity of heart and nature to His law, as well as outward obedience to it. All this is to be done perfectly and completely in every detail that the law requires, otherwise no life is to be expected, nor any righteousness to be had by it.   What a crushing, defeating, despairing way of life and road to salvation is the righteousness of the Law, for it requires that kind of good works which are impossible for anyone to perform!
     On the other hand, the Gospel of Jesus Christ offers freedom and release from the crushing burden and the despairing necessity to do good works to earn salvation. Paul again quotes Moses, this time from Deuteronomy 30:12-14, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down from above), 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 which we preach).” In other words, when it comes to the Gospel, there is no need for you to perform the work of ascending up into heaven to locate the Messiah and bring Him to earth so that salvation may be gained. Neither is it necessary for you to descend “into the abyss”; into the realm of the dead for the purpose of locating the dead and buried Christ to raise Him up so that you can be saved.
     In point of fact, Jesus the Messiah has already descended from heaven and was born of the Virgin Mary, lived on this earth, and was crucified, dead and buried. He has already risen from the dead. There is nothing that you or any other human can do in order to earn salvation. There is no need to search far and wide; high and low; to run hither and thither; all in an effort to satisfy the justice of God. There is no need to reach out to great lengths in the hope to earn salvation thereby. “The word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart,” verse 8.
     The righteousness of faith; justification by faith for Christ's sake, is the opposite of good works. It assures the sinner that Christ has already come down from heaven in human nature, that He has fulfilled all the righteousness of the law by His obedience in life, and has borne the pen-alty of sin in His sufferings and death, and is risen again for justification; so that all such questions should not be put, nor such despairing thoughts be encouraged that one can do something to be saved. Since He has al-ready come, has suffered, died, and risen again, and has become the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes, there is not a single shred of works remaining for you to do in order to be saved.
     Confessing Christ lays no requirement on you to stand on the street corner and loudly proclaim your faith to passers-by. It does not mean that you must go door-to-door, ring doorbells and tell people about Jesus, although there is certainly nothing wrong with this practice. You “con-fess” Christ when you come to church and worship Him. You “confess” Christ when you recite the Creed in the Service. You “confess” Christ when you partake of Holy Communion. You “confess” Christ when you join the congregation.
     The “confess and believe” of verse 9 are not separate acts, they are one. Paul does not suggest that we must first “confess” our faith with the result that afterward we “believe” in Jesus. Confession does not kindle faith in the heart. When verse 9 says “confess and believe” it is like me saying to you “Walk and go to the store at the corner of 4th and Main.” You don’t first “walk” and then afterward “go” to the store, but the “walking” and the “going” are simultaneous, they are one and the same act. So it is when St. Paul says in verse 9 “confess with you mouth and believe in your heart.” They are two aspects of the same thing, and therefore cannot be separated.
     Confession and faith do not cause salvation. They do not procure it. They do not create it. They do not gain it for the confessor. We must constantly be reminded of this because it is only natural for the sinful flesh to believe that it must do something to be saved; that the individual must contribute some kind of good works, to a greater or lesser degree, to the finished work of Christ, to gain salvation; to either do something or at least refrain from doing something to secure a place in heaven. It is as natural for a sinful human to believe that good works contribute to sal-vation as it is for sparks to fly upward from a fire; as it is for birds to fly south in the winter; as it is for an apple to fall downward from a tree; as it is for the sun to rise in the east and set in the west. Contrary to human belief, Scripture universally teaches that you are saved by the merit of Christ alone, and not by your own merit.
     The “confession and faith,” of verses 9-10 should not themselves be construed as a good work that you perform. They are not things which you offer to God. Confession and faith are the product of the work of the Holy Spirit, who comes to you through Word and Sacrament, and creates faith in your heart to confess Jesus before the world. That’s why St. Paul says “The word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart,” verse 8. Having been brought to newness of life by the power of the Holy Spirit, working through the Gospel in Word and Sacrament, you boldly “believe in and confess” Christ before the world.

II. Salvation is meant for all humanity; not just for a part of humanity.
     Salvation is the free gift of a gracious God. It becomes yours by faith and you joyously confess His Name before the world. But the salvation of God in Christ Jesus is meant, not for you and me alone, but it is meant for all people. To demonstrate this point, the Apostle quotes from the prophet Isaiah in verse 11, and from the prophet Joel in verse 13.
     First, Isaiah 28:16, “For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’” The word “whoever” is in an emphatic posit-ion. It is the emphasis of the verse. St. Paul stresses the universality of the Gospel. There is not a single human who is exempt or excluded from its gracious promises. It even includes a sinner as vile as you!
     In St. Paul’s day the Jews imagined that there was a distinction, one that was entirely in their favor, one that required that a Gentile become a Jew before he could be saved. The Gospel word of Isaiah 28:16 contra-dicts this notion. Instead of compelling a Greek to become like a legal-istic Jew, the legalistic Jew must drop his legalism and become like a believing Greek. To call upon Him is faith and confession in one and the same act. It is the cry of the tax collector of the parable when he cried out “LORD be merciful to me, a sinner,” while the Pharisee remained content with his presumptuous good works. The main confession which we make of Jesus as LORD is to call upon Him, and any human who recognizes his own wretched sinful condition may “call upon Him” and will be joyously received and forgiven by a merciful God!
     In verse 13 St. Paul quotes from Joel 2:32. “Whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” Once again, the word “whoever” is prominent. Can anything be more sure than this? What a great comfort is this word of the LORD! “Whoever” includes you!...regardless of who you are; where you come from; what you have done; or what is your status in the world. “Whoever calls on the Name of the LORD will be saved”! Can any word bring greater relief or comfort for the troubled conscience than this? No matter what sins you have committed, “Who-ever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” Regardless of whether one is a Jew or Greek; American, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, African, or Eskimo, or anything in between is irrelevant, if you call on the Name of the LORD you will be saved. To call on the Name of the LORD means to confess your sins and trust in His merit to cleanse your sins and grant you eternal life for Christ’s sake.

CONCLUSION
The hymn writer Horatius Bonar said it quite well when he wrote hymn #380, verse one:
Thy works, not mine, O Christ, Speak gladness to this heart;
They tell me all is done, They bid my fear depart.
To whom save Thee, who canst alone For sin atone,
LORD, shall I flee?
In His Name, Amen.

SOLI DEO GLORIA Preached on the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity; August 10, 2008 by:
David P. Baker, Pastor
Ascension Lutheran Church
0S850 Wenmoth Road
Batavia, Illinois
Worship Service - 9:00 am
Sunday School & Bible Class - 10:15 am
1-630-879-9455
elpan@juno.com