Romans 10:5-11

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Romans 10, 5 through 10. I was gonna go further than 5 through 10, but 10 was a good stopping point, and 5 through 15 is a very large chunk.
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Also, I wanted to go a little bit deeper into this section because for some, the wording is quite confusing as to what
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Paul is talking about here, but to keep us on track to what we have discussed, let's go back to 9, verse 30.
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Remember the chapter breaks are there for study benefit only. They are not inspired.
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This is one long run -on sentence. So starting in 9, verse 30.
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What shall we say then that Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it?
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That is a righteousness that is by faith, but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law.
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Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works.
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They have stumbled over the stumbling stone as it is written, Behold I'm laying in Zion stone of stumbling, the rock the fence, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.
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Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved, for I bear witness with them that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, for being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness.
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For Christ is the end of the law, for righteousness to everyone who believes.
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For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them.
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But the righteousness based on faith says, Do not say in your heart who will ascend into heaven, that is to bring
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Christ down, or who will descend into the abyss, that is to bring Christ up from the dead.
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But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth, and in your heart.
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That is the word of faith that we proclaim, because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is
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Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
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For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
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For the scripture says, Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.
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Leading up to this, last week we talked about zeal and misplaced zeal, and how the
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Israelites, Paul has stated that they had great zeal for God, and yet because of their lack of understanding they misplaced it.
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They put it where it ought not have been. They missed the point of the law, that it pointed to Christ the
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Messiah, and Paul has been dealing with both
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Jews and Gentiles throughout Romans, and here he is again speaking not just to the
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Jews, but you notice he references Moses quite a bit in these passages, so we can surmise that he's leaning more that way.
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But back in verse 5, he says, For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them.
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Right? What Paul is referencing here is that to obtain the righteousness that comes by the law, one must live by them day in, day out.
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From birth to death, a person must obey it in every way, both in thought and in deed.
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Only then could someone lay claim to that righteousness. There's a problem with this, a problem that unfortunately many do not recognize.
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Even though it is written, no one is righteous. No, not one.
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There is no natural human being that is capable of keeping the law. The sinful nature of man makes law -keeping impossible.
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Deuteronomy 27 26 says, Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.
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It only takes the one. In other words, if anyone breaks a single law, any of them, they are to suffer the curse of God's wrath.
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That is his standard, perfection. Now how is a man, how is any man or woman who is incapable of not sinning to perfectly keep the law in every way?
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You remember, we go back to Romans 8, 6 and 7. It says, For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the
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Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law.
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Indeed, it can not. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. So anyone who has not been born again cannot please
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God. There's an impossibility, and the impossibility of this is reaffirmed by the two statements that Paul is fixing to make in 6 and 7.
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Now this is where it may get a little confusing with the wording, and we're going to take our time with it. This is the righteousness.
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The righteousness based on faith says, Do not say in your heart who will ascend into heaven, that is to bring
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Christ down, or who will descend into the abyss, that is to bring
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Christ up from the dead. But what does it say? The word is near you in your mouth and in your heart.
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That is the word of faith that we proclaim. So first of all,
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I'd like to point out the idea that a human being could, by their own works, ascend into heaven and lay hold of Christ and bring him down as God did at the first advent is utterly a ridiculous notion, as is the idea that a human being, by their own works, could have the power to go into the place of the dead and resurrect
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Christ as God did at the resurrection. These are ridiculous notions, and they are as ridiculous as believing that you can fulfill the law of your own accord.
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In John 3 13, it says,
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No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. There's only been one human being who has ever gone up and come down, and that is
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Christ. So what exactly is
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Paul talking about here in these verses? Well, let's take a step back and think of where Paul is pulling this from.
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Deuteronomy chapter 30 verses 11 and 13. 11 through 13.
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Moses says, For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off.
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It is not in heaven that you should say, Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it.
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Neither is it beyond the sea that you should say, Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it.
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But the Word is near you, it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.
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First note that Paul is not quoting Moses. There's the difference there.
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He's paraphrasing Moses, what Moses says in these verses, and applying what
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Moses said to Christ, the gospel. Now there are some who would say that Moses is both talking about the law and Christ, and I suppose in a way he is.
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What Moses is saying is that the law which had been given isn't something that that takes impossible tasks to understand.
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Doesn't. We've all read the Ten Commandments. They're quite simple.
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Don't steal, don't covet, don't murder, don't adulter.
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The law is no secret. It is right here before you.
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It does not take years of study or scholarly thought to understand. No one has traveled to the far reaches of the world to attain it, nor ascended into the depths of the sea or gone across the sea to bring it to you.
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For God to have created a standard for the Israelites and then kept it a secret would not have been just.
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It wouldn't have been. To have told them that it existed, that this standard existed, and then not allowed them to have it would not have been just.
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But because God is just and loving, he condescended and made known to those people by Moses the law, making it plain to all how they ought to be, what was required of them.
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Moses is saying the law is right here. I've given it to you. There's no need for you to seek it somewhere else.
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Now similarly, Paul is saying the gospel is no secret.
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It's right here before you. We've given it to you. We've preached it. It does not take years of scholarly study or thought to understand.
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No one has to travel to the far reaches of the world to attain it, nor ascend into heaven to lay hold of it and bring it to you.
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For God has given us a means of salvation to the elect. He did not create a means, come up with the plan, and then tell no one.
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In fact, he actually at the very, very beginning of creation to the first two people, he said, this is what I'm gonna do.
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It's no secret. Rather, he made it plain to all how they might attain righteousness through his
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Son, the only one capable of fulfilling the law.
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The gospel of God is made plain and simple to everyone who hears it, not unlike general revelation.
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Now, is the gospel more than general revelation? Absolutely. General revelation lets you know that God is there.
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It is enough to condemn you. It is not enough to save, but the gospel is.
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When we proclaim the gospel as Christians, we often overlook this fact that when proclaiming the gospel, if you really think about it, you don't have to think about it hard, that though we preach to win the lost, and we do, that is the point.
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We don't know who they are. We don't know who the elect are, and we are told by God to proclaim the gospel to the masses, and the
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Holy Spirit does his work by the hearing of the Word. But for those who are not elect and hear it and reject it, they are left further without excuse.
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They're already left without excuse with general revelation, but the purpose in giving the gospel is primarily for the elect.
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It is also condemning for those who aren't, so don't be afraid to share it.
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Well, I don't know if this person's gonna believe it, if they're gonna want to argue. It doesn't matter. You're told to share it.
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If the Holy Spirit decides to do his work in the person with the hearing of the Word, that is
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God's prerogative. If it is to further convict them, so that when they stand before the judgment seat, and they go, well,
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I didn't know, and God can say, well, no,
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I sent so -and -so to you, because in fact, the gospel of God is so astonishingly simple and clear that humans have done with it over the past 2 ,000 years.
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What humans are very, very, very, very good at. We complicated it.
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Those who lack clarity and understanding by the Holy Spirit just couldn't have it be that simple.
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They had to do something. We got to add to it. There's got to be somehow that we also affect our own salvation.
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This is called works righteousness, or gospel plus. This is something that the church is dealing with now.
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This is something we've been dealing with for the past 2 ,000 years. Let me just say this about that.
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If you think that for some reason you affected your salvation, or that you are affecting it now, repent.
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That is such a grave error and verging on heresy. Do not tread that path.
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You don't do anything to affect it. You can't do anything to lose it, and you can't do anything to keep it.
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So when I keep saying that it's very simple, the gospel is very simple, that we continually complicate it with nonsense.
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So what is it? Primarily, not a gospel presentation, but primarily, what saves?
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If we are to go by the example of Abraham from Genesis that Paul repeatedly comes to,
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Abraham believed God, and it was attributed to him as righteousness. The gospel in its profound, gracious, wonderful message for both kings and paupers, poor and rich, this group and that group, it is the same.
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Believe God's testimony. We go back to Romans 8, 1 through 4, it says,
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There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
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For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do, by sending his own
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Son in the likeness of sinful flesh for sin. He condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but the
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Spirit. Nine, because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is
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Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Now this verse is used consistently by the
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Roman Church to show gospel plus. If you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
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If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart.
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It's actually not just this verse, it's 9 and 10. The first clause, let's take a look.
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First clause here in verse 9, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, James Montgomery Boyce says of this,
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How can those three words be that important? The answer, as we know, is that they are literally crammed with meaning.
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They testify to the person of Christ, the unique work of Christ, and the ongoing all -embracing rule of Christ over his people in the church.
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A lot more than just three words there. Number one, Christ is real.
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He is who God says he is. Number two, what he did was unique and attributable only to him.
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He did what God says he did. That his authority is above all other authority and is all encompassing and effectual.
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As Christians we like to use that bit from Revelations. King of kings and Lord of lords.
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Now one thing that I want you to understand, at the time that Paul is writing this, to confess that Jesus is
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Lord comes with a lot heavier consequences than it does now.
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Our culture has absolutely muddied the meaning of those words.
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Our Christian culture has done it. The popularity of Christianity in America and common practice of the church, of the
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Baptist church, it's called an altar call. I know a lot of people aren't gonna like that, but it's the truth.
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You are not saved by saying Jesus is Lord. You aren't.
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If you were, that would be a work, wouldn't it? All you have to do is say this, just say this thing, and you're good.
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Friends, at the time that Paul is writing this, to say this publicly, to make this public confession, the first confession of the
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Christian faith by the way, to say this publicly at that time and in the first several centuries of the church is a death sentence.
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At the very least, you're going to jail. It is not something that someone confessed lightly, and in other parts of the world today, it is still not something that people confess lightly.
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A quick note on what I said before, and I skipped it, but I really do want to put this in here.
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This is not exactly off -subject, but what we were talking about before, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the power of the gospel, the authority of Christ.
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I saw this this morning as I was going through just some some videos and whatnot.
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There's a painting that I saw. It's called the Two Crowns. You're welcome to look it up, but fair warning, it depicts a crucified
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Christ in silhouette, so if you have that personal conviction, don't view the painting.
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Now, this painting was painted by Sir Frank Dixie. He painted it in 1900, and what it depicts is this.
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The painting shows a king returning from battle on a white horse in gold clad armor, as was tradition, a medieval king.
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The subject's flinging pink rose petals, red rose petals at the ground in front of him as he comes in on his horse, his men behind him.
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They're praising him and giving him all the glory of his victory, and yet when you look at the painting, and you almost miss it, when you look at him, the only thing that his eyes are affixed on is the silhouette of Christ that is painted above him in the painting.
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So while everyone else's minds, all of the subjects, their minds are on their king and his victory, the king's mind is set solely on Christ and his victory over death.
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Now, does the painting have any authority whatsoever? No, it does not, but the reason that I share that is because one thing that art does do is give you a perspective on things that you might not otherwise get.
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Now, back to what we were talking about. If you notice in that verse 9, that that is not the only prerequisite that Paul lays forth.
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It is not enough in and of itself to proclaim that Jesus is
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Lord. There are two necessary conditions of the gospel that must be met. The first, as we discussed, is the confession, but that is only intellectual assent.
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That's it. That's all that is. To say Jesus is Lord, to say Christ is the
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King of Kings is intellectual assent, and the only thing that that does is put you on the same level as demons.
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Demons absolutely recognize his authority, who he is, and what he did. What they can't do is this.
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Believe in their heart that God raised him from the dead. They cannot do that.
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Human beings cannot do that unless affected by the Holy Spirit. A personal recognition and trust that Christ's sacrifice was accepted by the
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Father, and the Father raised him from the dead as an affirmation of that.
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You cannot believe that without the Holy Spirit giving you a heart of flesh.
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You cannot trust God in that. So do you trust in your heart that Christ is who
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God says he is? The resurrection is the affirmation of his work?
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Do you trust that Christ did what he did for the elect? Paul reorders these in verse 10.
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For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
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Remember what I said before about natural man not being able to trust God. The only way of salvation is
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God's intervention into the life of the person and the changing of the heart, being born again by the
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Spirit. God affects your heart, causes you to believe.
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At that moment, at that very moment, you're justified. There's nothing that you do.
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Then this leads to what Paul says next, and with the mouth one confesses.
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So you see, the confession in and of itself as we discussed before is not a work. It is a fruit.
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It is the fruit of the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the believer. You don't have a choice.
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I can't imagine that there were, or I can't imagine that there were quite a few people, as I've seen in today's world, those that make this confession with tears in their eyes, that Christ is exactly who
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God says he is. John 1 verse 9 says,
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The true light which gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
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He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But all who did receive him, who believe in his name, he gave the right to become the children of God.
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See you later. Who were not born, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
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11, For the scripture says, Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame. Paul is calling back here to what he said in 933.
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Remember, he sent a stumbling stone and a rock of offense, and all who believe in him will not be put to shame.
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That is why I don't like the chapter breaks. Many times in our lives we have put our trust in people and in things.
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We've invested time and friendship and even money into things, and been put to shame in them.
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We've been lied to by people we've considered friends, people we consider family, been let down by investments that we make, whether it's a time investment or a money investment.
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We all have experienced having been had, as it were. So we can understand what
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Paul is talking about when he says shame. We've trusted something and had that trust betrayed, but understand that those who put their trust, that put their investments in Christ, they can never be put to shame.
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Ever. He is literally the truth. John, we'll go back to John.
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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He cannot lie.
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There is not a promise that Christ can make, that the Father can make, the
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Holy Spirit can make. There's no promise that God can make that He can break. Now fulfilled in a way we don't want it fulfilled?
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Absolutely. Because this ain't our universe. It's His, but Christ is sovereign over all things and has authority over all things, and there is no better person to put your trust, your faith, your fide in than Him.
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If you remember, if you go back just a little bit to Romans 8, at the very end of Romans 8, do you remember what
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Paul said in in verses 31 to 35? What then shall we say to these things?
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If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare
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His own Son, but gave Him up for us all. How will
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He not also with Him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?
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It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ is the one who died.
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More than that, He was raised. Who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.
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Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
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No. The only two people capable of ripping us from our salvation in Christ is
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God. The only person capable of that is the very one who affected it
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Himself. That's what Paul is talking about at the end of Romans 8.
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The God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. The triune God is the one who affected our salvation.
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He is the only one who could disaffect our salvation, and He's already said that He will not do so.
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There are no works, going back to earlier, there are no works that can affect your salvation, that can bring it to you.
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You can do nothing to bring you into a state of mercy with God. There is nothing anyone else can do to bring you into a state of mercy with God.
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There is nothing that can sustain it, and there is nothing that can take you from it, because it is
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God who is affecting it. Our salvation lies in Jesus Christ, who is
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Lord. So in your various trials, in all of those things, when you have a moment of,
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I've done this, and I'm not worthy, and how am I supposed to this, and why did... that's the point.
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No. You're not worthy. You're not. That feeling that you feel in those moments when you have sinned, that you are the worst human being on the planet, that you are lower than dirt and mud, you are.
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That's the point, and in spite of that, He died for you, but your trust isn't in yourself, is it?
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It's in Him, the one who affected creation with His words.
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Heavenly Father, we thank you for your wonderful word.
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We pray that it would encourage us. We pray that in those times of need, when we are disillusioned with things of the world, that the
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Holy Spirit would convict us, grab hold of us, and turn our heads towards Christ.
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He is the only thing worth looking at. Father, we pray for forgiveness of our sins against you, against each other, both individually and as a congregation, and we pray that when that temptation comes around again, that the
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Holy Spirit would cause us to flee, and flee into the arms of our
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Lord. We give thanks again for the opportunity to come together and commune with each other as saints, to worship you in spirit and in truth, and share meal together.
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Father, we ask as we go out into the world this week, and beyond that, that you would give us ample opportunity to share the wonderful news of the gospel.
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Despite what people may look at us or argue with us,
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Father, please, please, please, we ask that the Holy Spirit convict us to share it, and share it with everyone.
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Father, as we move into a time of fellowship, we ask that you would keep our minds on Christ.
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We give thanks for this time and for that meal. In Jesus' name,