In Romans chapter 10 Paul continues to talk about his wish that the Jews would come to faith in Jesus for salvation. He even restates the problem of their condition. It isn’t that they don’t know God, but that they want to achieve salvation through the law, which is impossible.
“Because they disregarded the righteousness from God and attempted to establish their righteousness, they have not submitted themselves to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
Romans 10:3-4 HCSB ( https://www.bible.com/72/rom.10.3-4.hcsb )
He says that the problem is that the Jews have cast aside the righteousness of God through Jesus in an attempt to make their own path. This is heartbreaking to Paul because the Jews are the people that God has chosen to speak to the world through, but they have failed to see the path of righteousness through faith. The rest of the world is blessed that the Jews rejected Jesus. If the Jews followed Jesus from the beginning He would not have been crucified and salvation would not have been possible for the rest of us. All of this is because of the providence of God.
A lot of Gentiles have the same issue that the Jews are having. They don’t think that salvation can be theirs through Jesus and instead want to have work-based salvation. Even still some reject God’s grace and believe just being a good person is enough. In this chapter and from the beginning of chapter 1, Paul says that being good enough is impossible because we are all under sin.
“On the contrary, what does it say? The message is near you, in your mouth, and your heart. This is the message of faith that we proclaim: If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.”
Romans 10:8-10 HCSB ( https://www.bible.com/72/rom.10.8-10.hcsb )
Through these verses, Paul makes it very clear what is required for righteousness and salvation. It isn’t the keeping of the law or doing good deeds. Paul says that “If you believe with the Heart,” it will result in you becoming righteous. Furthermore, He says “confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.”
There is no salvation if one rejects the Jesus of the Bible. John and the other apostles are eyewitnesses to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. If one rejects their testimony then one rejects the God of the Bible.
How do you become a child of God?
Step 1: Believe in your heart that Jesus was raised from the dead.
Step 2: Confess with the mouth that Jesus is Lord.
There are many things that you can believe in your heart and confess with your mouth. There are also many different “Jesus” that you can believe in and confess about. You can believe in the Jesus of Islam, or the Jesus of Jehovah's Witnesses; but that will not lead to salvation. We must know the Jesus of the Bible. We have to know the gospel of Jesus, and we have to know ourselves. What we need to know about Jesus is that Jesus is God, always has been and always will be God. (John 1). We also have to know Jesus as the Man that walked upon this earth. That He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, was crucified for our sins, rose again on the third day, and is now sitting at the right hand of the Father. One day He will return to all who believe to dwell with Him for all of eternity.
If you think that Jesus is just a fictional character then you are not a child of God. One must believe the Jesus that the apostles testified about. As John says in 1 John 1:1-4
“What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have observed and have touched with our hands, concerning the Word of life — that life was revealed, and we have seen it and we testify and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us — what we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may have fellowship along with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.” 1 John 1:1-4 HCSB ( https://www.bible.com/72/1jn.1.1-4.hcsb )
There is no salvation if one rejects the Jesus of the Bible. John and the other apostles are eyewitnesses to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. If one rejects their testimony then one rejects the God of the Bible.
Not only is it important that we know the Jesus of the Bible for salvation, but we also have to know ourselves. This doesn’t mean that we have to go on some long journey of trying to find ourselves. What it means is that we have to know the wickedness of our hearts. That our hearts and ways are evil. Paul has been telling us since chapter one that we are all sinners and under the bondage of sin without faith in Jesus. This is important because if you don’t realize your wickedness you will not be broken over your sin and without being broken over your sin; true repentance can not happen. It is not natural for mankind to believe that we are sinful. We are under the delusion that we are good, not sinful and evil. That is why Paul says that we must go out and spread the message of the gospel.
“But how can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who announce the gospel of good things!”
Romans 10:14-15 HCSB ( https://www.bible.com/72/rom.10.14-15.hcsb )
How can anybody come to believe in the Jesus of the Bible for salvation if nobody is going out and proclaiming the gospel to them, how can they go if nobody is sending them? The first step in the process of evangelism is sending. It is the job of the church to train up the people of the church to go out and carry the gospel message to the world. Unfortunately, many churches are failing to train their members for the work of the ministry. By failig to do so they are not fulfillig the purpose of the church, which is to equip the saints for ministry (Eph. 4:12-16).
The type of ministry that the saints are to be prepared for according to Paul is to preach the gospel. No, you don’t have to become a preacher in the sense of the word today. In Paul’s time, the term preach is meaning to proclaim. It is the responsibility, the privilege, of all believers to share the gospel of Jesus with others. This should be the heart of every believer. We should all desire to carry the gospel to the lost people wherever we go. Some will do it as ministers, and others will do it as lay ministers as they live their lives; but may we all endeavor to proclaim the gospel with our every breath.
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