How Shall People Come to Faith in Christ? — John Piper

Romans 10 and the Chain of Salvation

The text for pastor John's message today is fall is found in Romans chapter 10 verses 13 through 21. You're welcome to use a Bible in the pew again. Romans chapter 10 verses 13 through 21. For whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

How then shall they call upon him in whom they have not believed and how shall they believe in him in whom they have not heard. And how shall they hear without a preacher and How shall they preach unless they are sent?

Just as it is written. How beautiful are the feet of those who are being quiet who bring glad tidings of good things. However, they did not all heed the glad tidings. For Isaiah says Lord who has believed our report.

So faith comes from hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ. But I say surely They have never heard have they? Indeed they have. Their voice has gone out into all the earth and their words to the ends of the world.

But surely Israel did not know did they? At the first Moses says I will make you jealous by that which is not a nation. By a nation without understanding will I anger you. And Isaiah is very bold and says I was found by those who sought me not I.

Became manifest to those who did not ask for me. But as for Israel, he says All day long. I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.

Prayer for Hearing and Saving Faith

Let's pray together Lord, let it not be. That you would stretch out your hands without effect to Bethlehem. Or anyone in this room this morning. Surely your hands are stretched forth with the words everyone who calls I will save you.

Everyone who believes will not be put to shame. Your hands are stretched forth and I asked Lord That they would not be stretched forth in vain. But that every person would believe and every person would call and Every person would be saved.

Father help me now to be faithful to the scriptures. Help me to say what is here. Let me just say it in the right tone of voice and with the right humility and boldness and with the right conviction and emotion and Work in every heart and mind in this room to hear and understand and to hear and embrace and treasure Everything that is true.

Especially Christ the way the truth and the life. In his name I pray Amen. This text is hugely relevant to your understanding of how you got saved and it's hugely relevant to How your children may get saved or your parents may get saved or your brothers or your sisters or your aunts or your uncles?

Or your roommates or your colleagues or your neighbors? Or the nations that you care about like the Manica in Guinea or those warring tribes in Congo and you long and you ache for the gospel to penetrate and bring peace and not bloodshed.

This Text is Massively relevant. It's it's a text like no other text in the Bible. There's not another text that lays out the steps from God to Salvation the way this one does in verses 14 and 15 and 16 and 17.

Which is what we're going to focus on today. Just those verses. In fact, just two of the steps in the five Link chain are we going to focus on today and try to finish it next Sunday? Remember the problem that Paul is dealing with now so that we get oriented.

Israel's Unbelief and God's Saving Purpose

The issue is in chapters 9 and 10. Why is it that Israel the chosen people are not participating in the great salvation? The true Israel and the answer is election and the answer is Unbelief in this text from verses 14 to 21.

The answer is because they don't believe you see it in verse 16 Who is believed our report and you see it in verse 21, I hold out my arms all day long to an unbelieving Hardened people. So the reason Israel is not participating as a whole in the New or true Israel is because they're pushing the Messiah away and they're not putting their faith in him.

The main point of the verses therefore is simply the Unbelief of Israel as an answer to the question. Why are they not in the fold? But inside that bigger main point Paul is addressing I think an objection in verses 14 15 and the objection probably went something like this.

Well, you say the problem is that Israel's not believing. But maybe God hasn't put in place the prerequisites that will enable them to be held accountable for believing and That's why these five stages or steps are important, I think the point of verses 14 to 17 is All the stages are accounted for and all of them are in place for Israel.

And therefore that objection does not hold. I think that's what's going on behind these Five steps, let's read them verse 14. He's just said everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved and now he says but how are they to call on him in Whom they've not believed he's working backwards here.

Just just to point out what the steps are that need to be in place. How are they to call on him who whom they've not believed and how are they to believe in him. Step two whom they've not? Never heard.

And how are they to hear unless someone is preaching. And how are they to preach? Unless they're sent and Then he quotes Isaiah 52 7 as it is written how beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news.

Verse 16. But In spite of the fact that People with beautiful feet have been sent and all the police pieces are in place for Israel. They have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says and it's very significant that he chooses a phrase from Isaiah 53 verse 1 the most clearly Jesus exalting Messianic chapter in the Old Testament.

He's bears our sins by his wounds. We are healed and the doctrine of justification is more explicitly in Isaiah 53 than any other chapter in the Old Testament. There's no eggs. No accident that Paul reaches for that chapter to say Lord Who has believed what he's heard from us in other words?

Isaiah is throwing up his hands and saying my ministry is is not bearing any fruit. And God had appointed him to bear no fruit. Remember the calling in chapter 1. No chapter 6. Here I am. I'll go. What do you want me to say say make the heart of this people fat?

In other words God was using Isaiah as a judgment on Israel. Poor Isaiah, you know. Some pastors have to have to go that route. There are churches that will not change and I grieve the pastors I deal with over the telephone and and I just ache for pastors who I Think owing to no fault of their own.

Hit a wall in ministry that just won't budge and I think they need to hear kind of echoing in the background. Go make the heart of this people fat. Because I don't intend to rescue that church. We want a church passes a certain line or an individual passes a certain line.

God may just walk away from them and I thank God that You are such an amazingly Humble and yielded people to the Word of God. I just sense that every time I get close to what the Word is really saying you get close to saying amen.

The Beauty of Those Who Bring the Gospel

Which makes a really happy life together for 17 so faith comes from hearing and Hearing through the Word of Christ. The reason Paul I think quotes in verse 15 this Isaiah 52 7 phrase how beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news?

Our is twofold twofold reason here's the first one. I think he wants to say to us People who bring good news gospel news news of the cross news of the resurrection news of the kingdom saying your God reigns our precious people.

And one of the ways you express your sense of preciousness towards someone is Saying that they're beautiful when they're not. I've never seen a beautiful foot in my life. No matter how hard women try to paint them.

Feet aren't beautiful. So what does it mean when? It says. How beautiful are the feet of good news bringers it means? It means Good news bringers are so precious. You want to bow down and kiss their feet.

People who bring good news to you that might save you from hell. That might rescue you from your sin that might mend your marriage that might heal your body. It might give you everlasting joy. You're tempted to bow down and kiss their feet.

There was a Vietnam Vietnam veteran and a guy whispered his name to me as I was coming in. Reeves Reeves. The guy who got his face blown away. And he goes around and he speaks and has a ministry to young people.

And I remember reading that when he came back from Vietnam his wife hadn't seen him. He's a handsome guy had gone out and now he's he's just a it's just Face is blown away. He's lying in the hospital and he's wondering will she want to be married to me anymore?

Then she walks in and looks down and says you're beautiful. Now, what did that mean? That mean you are so precious to me. I See beauty when I look at you. This text. Oh, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news?

Tells us something about beauty. I Had to resist and I do resist now going into a sermon on beauty and Women and beauty handsomeness and men because there are a lot of women probably some in this church who spend a lot of time on their hair and a lot of time on their eyes and a lot of time on their lips and a lot of time on their clothes and their feet and Don't spend any time on becoming beautiful.

Which is very sad. This is a text about what makes a person beautiful and what makes a person beautiful. What makes feet beautiful is leathery scarred dirty gnarled. Trekking into places where the gospel wouldn't otherwise get.

Whether it's across the street the fence or the world. That's beauty. Beauty is measured by the extension of mercy in a life. Paul Brand was a missionary to India medical missionary. They wrote an article in Christianity a few years ago that I cut out put in my files.

I hardly have to read it up. I almost memorized the article at least the main points of it. It was so moving to me. He went back from India. His mother was a missionary and he went back got his medical training.

I think in in Britain and then he went to India again and his mother was about 70 or so and he hadn't seen her for a long time. And he he was just stunned at how she'd aged and he said mother you you've aged so much I've never seen just deep wrinkles.

She took all the mirrors out of her little house and for the next 20 years. She ministered until she died in her early 90s and never had a mirror in her house in those 20 years and when she died hundreds of villages from all over the mountains of that part of India came and buried with great celebration a beautiful woman and There are many of you like that who understand that too.

Sending, Preaching, Hearing, Believing, and Calling

The second reason I think he uses Isaiah 52 7 is simply To say that all the pieces are in place. In other words, there has to be calling and there has to be believing and there has to be hearing and there's to be preaching and there has to be sending and Then he says as it is written.

These feet are beautiful. I've sent them and so the the pieces are in place and Israel is Responsible so let's just focus on these five steps just two of them today and then God willing We'll pick them up and finish them next Sunday sending preaching.

Hearing I left out. No, I'm taking the reverse order sending preaching hearing believing calling. That's the reverse order from the way Paul has them. Verse 17 mentions three of these and one of them is unpacked in a very crucial way for us to understand.

Verse 17 says so faith comes from hearing and Hearing through the Word of Christ. So they have three of the five pieces of the chain faith hearing preaching. Only preaching now is unpacked and called the Word of Christ.

So now let me restate what the five links in the chain are one Sending to preach the gospel of Christ to preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Three hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ for believing in this Christ and five Calling on the Lord Jesus Christ.

I think that's what Paul does in verse 17. He puts Word of Christ that is word about Christ. I think that's what it means. This is the gospel of Romans. He came lived a perfect life died in our place rose again Justifies us sanctifies us by faith alone in him.

He reigns he's coming. This is the word about Jesus Christ preach that that's what you are sent to say believe call upon. Now let's take them one at a time, you know, we're gonna do the first two calling and Believing and try to unfold these for our good.

Calling Upon the Lord for Persevering Salvation

Everyone who calls verse 13 everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How shall they call on the one in whom they have not believed. Now my question here as I ponder the reason Paul put calling in here after believing my question is Why did you do that?

Hasn't the burden of this book been Justified by faith alone. Why do you why do you put? Believe then call then saved. Why did you do that. You want to compromise faith alone as the instrument of justification.

What what are you? What are you saying to us by? Putting hearing believing calling Salvation. My answer to that is this. Paul includes calling after believing. Because the salvation that he has in mind In response to the calling is far bigger than justification alone.

He has in mind Salvation from the guilt of sin. Yes, but from the power of sin. He has in mind salvation from entanglements of temptation and sinning. He has in mind Rescue from hell rescue from the wrath of God at the last day the whole big picture of help me.

Rescue me save me. My life is jeopardized. Yes, I'm justified by faith. But oh how many things have to be fought in my life to persevere to the end save me. And he has ordained that while we are Justified in a twinkling of an eye as it were with the first mustard seed of faith.

We go on appropriating the power of God for salvation moment by moment in perseverance through Calling on the Lord, let me give you some examples of this. It's full in the Psalms. Psalm 1 psalm 18 3 I call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised and I am saved from my enemies.

Psalm 50 15 call upon me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you and you will glorify me. Psalm 91 15 when he calls on me, I will answer him and I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and honor him.

Psalm 145 18 the Lord is near to all who call upon him to all who call upon him in truth. And then picture Jesus now walking into Jericho blind Bartimaeus. Sitting on the side of the road. Here's that it's Jesus and he calls Jesus son of David have mercy on me.

That's the call he's calling. There's a call will be saved. Jesus son of David have mercy on me. Jesus stops Summons him over. What do you want me to do for you Jesus says. Then Bartimaeus says rabbi.

Let me recover my sight and Jesus says go your way. Your faith Has made you well your faith has saved you. Bartimaeus called mercy mercy. I want to see Jesus responds to the call heals and says his faith saved him.

Which means I think that Jesus sees this this call he can hear in this call an Overflow an outgrowth and an evidence of this faith, which is the essential thing. And it's essential for us as well, but God ordains That all through life blessings come to those who call.

Perseverance comes to those who call you confess your sins. He is faithful and just to forgive you your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Don't play fast and loose with the Living Christ in an ongoing way by saying Oh, I prayed once upon a time when I was six and I believe in eternal security.

So doesn't matter what I do now how I relate to God now or anything else. Don't play games with God. If you were real then You will be real today and If the heart went out to him in faith in the mouth will go out to him and call now.

The salvation that he has in mind here is the salvation of Romans 828. Everything's gonna work together for good for those who love God. Do you believe that? But God has ordained that everything worked together for good as we call upon him.

Oh help me. Oh show me the way to respond to this situation. Oh, give me grace Lord Jesus to be what I ought to be. You know when I was Working on this yesterday, I was amazed. I hadn't noticed this before that Paul virtually defines Christians as those who call upon the Lord in first Corinthians 1 verse 2 listen To the Church of God that is in Corinth to those sanctified in Christ Jesus.

Called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it means to be a Christian all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So I'm asking you now. Do you live your Christian life this way not did you start your Christian life this way? You probably did. You use some words or another to say save me help me come to me. Forgive me you you call either silently or with your lips, but I'm asking you.

Is that the way you live? Here's a few of my examples. Lord Jesus, I'm failing. Help me. Lord Jesus, I'm weak. Strengthen me. Lord Jesus, I'm lost and confused. Guide me. Lord Jesus, I'm caught in a web of temptation and sin.

Deliver me. Do you live do hour by hour? You maintain a kind of call. Respond call respond. I mean surely enough circumstances change. Every hour of your life that you need to say again. Help me a New person to talk to a new program to work on a new lesson to prepare a new diaper to change.

Help me. I'm running out of juice. Jesus come. I mean, I just think that is normal. Inhaling and exhaling of the Christian life. Those who call upon the name of the Lord those who have a lifestyle of leaning and trusting and yearning and waiting and depending are saved.

Believing in Jesus as Lord

Point number two. And lastly. Believing. How shall they call verse 14? How said they call upon him whom they have not? Believed. Now to that question, I'm tempted to answer in my quick uppity way. Piece of cake.

Millions of people call on God without believing. In fact the most commonplace you hear the word God is either when you hammer your finger or get in a car wreck. The first one goes with damn it and the next one goes with oh, no.

Why do you need to believe on God to call upon God? There's people who don't love God don't believe God. They treat God like a paramedic you smash into a car. Oh No. You're really happy. I'm one when I got a finger left.

No one come on ambulance. They get their paramedic. Oh my glad to see you. I'm bleeding you get you all patched up. Thank you. Thank you disappears. And you don't give a rip about knowing this guy the rest of your life.

He disappears into the night and you're just happy for one thing. He did his job on you and you can go your way. And that's the way God is. Sure, we call upon God all the time. Just show up like a paramedic.

Fix me now in this situation. Thank you. Check in later. Five years ten years maybe on my deathbed if there's time. Nobody is saved with that kind of call. So, what does Paul mean when he says how shall they call upon him whom they have not Believed as though you can't call upon God if you haven't believed.

This is not hard. Paul relieves us of the ambiguity very quickly. He's already done it in verse 9. Where he says if you confess with your mouth your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead.

You will be saved and now he says those who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved, but you can't call upon the name of the Lord. He says if you don't believe That he is Your Lord. That's the difference.

Calling upon the name of the Lord doesn't mean whoever you are and Whatever our relationship is fix me now. That's not calling on the name of the Lord. Calling upon the name of the Lord is having seen something about him and having the heart go out and say My Lord like Thomas my Lord and my God.

Help me My Lord and my God help me. Not. I just need help and I don't care where I get it if you can do it do it. That's no guarantee of salvation. So let me say four things about this faith that you have to have in the Lord Jesus.

To take us to the Lord's table number one saving faith. Believes on Jesus as Lord and calls on him as Lord from the beginning of the Christian life. Not later from the beginning now, I'm stressing this because there's dozens of you who've been taught To describe your experience with God Erroneously.

By good people and I just want to not fix your experience. I'm not calling your experience into question. I'm calling into question the way many of you have been taught to articulate Your experience. It goes like this.

I Trusted Christ when I was six sixteen twenty six forty six, wherever I trusted Christ as my Savior and It was good, but not much changed and I kind of coasted along and a year or two or ten. Later, I was sitting in a meeting and a person was preaching about the Lordship of Jesus and I was convicted That I should humble myself and submit myself to Jesus as my Lord and when I submitted to Jesus as Lord so many things in My life changed and I've been moving forward with God ever since and so I received him as Savior and then Stumbled along and then I submitted to him received him as Lord and now things have been better.

That is not a biblical way of talking about what happened in your life. The Bible does not know any Christians who did not Confess Jesus as Lord. So let's just kind of set that aside. Okay, you've been taught that you can read that in Christian books.

It's a set aside and let me just try another description of your experience. Remember, I'm not questioning what happened in your life and and God is so merciful He'll he'll work around our lousy language like crazy.

Thank goodness because I'm sure mine is imperfect in areas. So let me just try this one on you. What really happened you're 6 16 26 46 and you were sitting in the preaching of the gospel. It may have been a good or a half-baked presentation of the gospel and God worked in your life.

He opened you to see Jesus Christ as your Lord and your Savior and your treasure and it may have just been a little teeny-weeny mustard seed of Understanding that he's Lord of all and that he's beautiful and valuable and that he is a Savior that rescues me from all sin and guilt.

And hell, but you saw enough that something just went open inside of you. You embraced him. He saved you he assured you you were his child. Yeah, I'm not a lot changed not as much as you liked. Two years three years five years at a camp meeting at a church service.

Listening to the radio reading your Bible. The Holy Spirit just is does a number on you. Shatters your lackadaisical ho-hum. Way of relating to him blows you open his might in his authority and his beauty and his grace just thundered down with clouds upon you both fearfully and wonderfully and it's as though as though You never knew him as Lord.

And now You have been bumped up a level in your love for him and your commitment to follow him and it's better. And you're getting more victory over sin. But you don't need to describe that as a second thing called Coming under the lordship of Jesus.

Whereas before you were only under his savior hood. You don't need to talk that way. That's not a biblical way to talk. If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead.

You will be saved and if you don't you won't. Nobody is saved who does not submit to Jesus as Lord. Nobody is perfect. In fact, if you're honest, you know, your life hasn't proceeded in two stages. It's proceeded in 500 stages and Everyone is different.

Every sermon is a little different. Every Bible reading is a little different every day God does a number on you. Sometimes it's little sometimes it's big. Sometimes you're at a meeting. Sometimes you're taking a walk in the woods every day.

He's doing something for you. What are you gonna do invent whole new words? We got Savior here lordship here. Now you gotta have 1 ,800 new words for all these new Glorious things God does in your life to make you see him better.

Love him more submit to him more fully. You're not there. Now. You weren't there five after five minutes after you were saved. So this this simplistic One-time Savior second-time Lord. I think it's harmful because it tends to make people think that after that second thing.

It doesn't need to happen again, and I guarantee it needs to happen again and again and again and again. My second observation about faith is that it believes facts. The first one was that it's a belief in Jesus as Lord and From the beginning and now the second observation about this faith that calls upon the name of the Lord is that it believes facts.

Again, 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. That's a fact. That's a historical fact. Christianity is not a loosey-goosey spiritual amorphous Emotionally driven thing with no facts to stand on no rock underneath the feet.

There are facts now don't hear me wrong faith. Saving faith is more Than affirming facts, but not less. It's more but not less and therefore it is a glorious thing that God in his Word has provided Facts and you know them and you stand on them and then more happens and that's the third thing.

Faith's Personal Confidence in the Gospel Facts

The third thing about faith is. It is personal Confidence. Saving faith is personal Confidence that these facts out there in history save me. Faith is a Seeing in the facts of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus something God did for me.

I embrace it. I experience confidence that hell is gone and wrath is gone and mercy has come and the spirit has come and I'm Bailing for an eternal joy. That's confidence in the personal effect of the facts on Me or on you.

That's the third thing about faith. And the reason it's so crucial to see is because the devil's believe in tremble. Remember James 219. Even the devil's believe and shudder. We need to really say this to ourselves.

Really say this to ourselves. The devil and all the demons. Know that the Son of God existed from all eternity. They know that he was incarnate in the God-man Jesus Christ. They know that he lived a flawless life as the Lamb of God the Holy One of God.

They called him when he cast them out the Holy One of God. They know that he died on the cross to bear the sins of his people and that therefore those who are in Christ Cannot be defeated and therefore they have been defeated in their case and they know that he rose that he reigns.

He's coming back and will one day throw all of them into the lake of fire. They know every one of those facts and they don't save them. The facts don't save them their belief don't save them. There's not one.

Mark this there's not one true thing. You know about God the Father the Son the Spirit and the way he saves that the devil does not know way better than you. Not one. He is Totally orthodox. In his academic awareness.

Not in his emotion or volition. So it's important to say faith is not just point to belief in facts, but point three. Confidence that through those facts God is reaching out to me has saved me and Guarantees me the fulfillment of all of his promises even eternal life.

Faith's Affection, Treasure, and Satisfaction in Christ

And the last point. And this one is not mentioned as often as I think it should because it tends to worry us a little bit. There is in saving faith. And I'm gonna choose a lot of different words to say it so you can choose the one you like because I'm afraid that if I just choose one it will carry connotations that for you will be wrong and I would have misled you so Let's try several there is in faith an emotional component or another way to say it would be an Affectional a component of the affections another way to say it would be an element of spiritual Taste.

Taste and see that the Lord is good. The Bible says what does that mean? It's not physical taste. It's spiritual taste taste and see that the Lord is good. There's there is as it were a taste bud or there are taste buds on the tongue of the soul and when the gospel comes and the Holy Spirit has has cut away the calluses of our carnality and we lick The sweetness of the honey of the gospel.

It says that's good. That's good. Taste and see that the Lord is good or another set of words would be there is in faith a cherishing or a Treasuring. I like that word a lot. I talk about receive Jesus as Lord receive him as Savior receive him as treasure.

If you rule any of those out of your life, you're gonna not be saved. You try to say I have Jesus my Lord and I have Jesus my my Savior, but I think he's worthless. He's not my treasure. Now, where would you go in the Bible to confirm what I just said that that in saving faith?

There's this component. Please don't hear me saying more than that. It's not the whole thing it's an essential element and I would go to Philippians 3 where Paul says I I Count everything as rubbish compared to the surpassing value of Knowing Christ Jesus my Lord when the gospel landed on Paul and the heavens were opened and he knew this Christ as his own Lord and Savior that he'd been persecuting he said from now on.

Everything is garbage compared to this relationship. This is precious, this is treasure. This is cherishing that puts everything else in the dust. Beth Moore at one day where I was last Monday used a phrase that was the most important phrase of the day for me and it fits right here.

I'm changing it just slightly but I give her the credit for the content. She used the phrase Judas joys. And she said they come to you and they kiss you and then they kill you. Judas pleasures she called him.

I Call him now Judas joys all of us Yearn and long for something. We want a treasure. We want to be happy. We want satisfaction. There's another word you could add to the list satisfaction. Faith includes being satisfied with all that God is for you in Jesus and we want it so bad sometimes that when a lizard sits on our shoulder and kisses our cheek we say.

And what we need at that moment is to be awakened by the Holy Spirit to say get off my shoulder push the pornography off the internet and push the magazines out of our lives and push the lying on the income taxes away.

And push the pride down and stamp on it and confess that you're a broken person full of need for forgiveness. Get these lizards off that are giving you these Judas kisses that if you fall for they're gonna get your juggler.

Sooner or later and that's what sin is. So that built into Saving faith is the rescue from every Judas joy. If we'll call upon the Lord Every day and This is the transition now to the Lord's table taste Bread taste the cup and see that the Lord is Good.