We ended our last study that
we had here in the book of Romans with Romans 10 verse 4. You can
go ahead and turn, if you would, to verse 5 of Romans 10. But we ended our last study with
verse 4. Verse 4, which reads, for Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Here
in verse 4 we see for Christ, Christ is the very righteousness
of God for his people and he is the Lord our righteousness
and he is the end of the finishing of the fulfillment of the law
for righteousness. The title of my message this
morning is the Word of Faith. I'm going to begin by going back
We'll begin by reading verse 5 to 11 here, and hopefully we'll
be able to get through these few verses here this morning.
So as we read along here in verse 5, for Moses described it, the
righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doeth
those things, doeth those things within the law, shall live by
them. But the righteousness which is
of faith speaketh on this wise. It speaks this way. Say not in
thine heart who shall ascend into heaven, that is, to bring
Christ down from heaven, or who shall descend into the deep,
that is, to bring Christ up again from the dead. But what saith
it? What does it say here? The word
is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart, that is, the
word of faith which we preach, that if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, and shall believe in thy heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. For the scripture saith, whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Now, the first verse
here, in verse five, where it says Moses described the righteousness
which is of the law, that the man which doeth those things
shall live by them. In this verse, as well as others,
an account is given of one of two righteousness. The one in
verse five here is called the righteousness which is of the
law. And the other in our next verse, verse six, called the
righteousness which is of faith. Paul refers to Moses' writings
here in verse five because Moses being of such high regard here
among the Jews, the description he gives of the righteousness
of the law, that is, righteousness which the law requires and is
done in obedience to its command. Paul here speaks of the righteousness
which is of the law, which Moses described. This is not a direct
quote from Moses' writings, but it's a summation, it's a summary
of all of Moses' writings of the law. The summation being
that the man which doeth those things, doeth those things within
the law, shall live by them. This is a strict message of the
law to every sinner who seeks salvation, seeks to be saved,
and who seeks to be justified before God by their deeds of
law or their attempts to keep the law. Let's look at what God
said through Moses in Leviticus 18.5. As God told Moses what to tell
these children of Israel, he says, ye shall therefore keep
my statutes and my judgments, which is if a man do, he shall
live in them. It appears that what's meant
here by those things here that we see here in verse five, that
a man is to do or meant the statutes and the judgments of God, not
the ordinances or not the ceremonial law, but the precepts and the
principles of that moral law, and that the righteousness of
the law lies in the doing and the keeping those statutes, not
merely externally, not merely outwardly, as men may see it,
and sometimes we can look pretty good outwardly, but it says it's
also internally. With all your heart, with all
your soul and all your strength, That's what the law requires.
The law requires a perfect love to God, the fear of Him, and
that fear is that reverential respect and conformity of heart
and nature to His law, as well as outward obedience. All of
this is to be done perfectly and to be done completely. in
all strict adherence that the law requires. Otherwise, no life
is to be expected, nor any righteousness to be had by any of your works. It must be done perfectly. And I know men by nature don't
like to hear that. And they say, well, no man can
keep the law perfectly. I'm not perfect. No man's perfect.
But I'm telling you, that's what God requires. And that's the
reason we need to search out Search out these things because
God requires perfection. And the only way you're going
to get it is God charges it to your account. Charges Christ's
righteousness, what he did, that perfect standard to your account.
Let's look at what Christ says himself about the strictness
of the law. In Matthew 5, 21 and 22, Christ
said, you've heard that it was said of them of old time, thou
shalt not kill. That's what the law said, thou
shalt not kill. And whosoever shall kill shall
be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you that whosoever
is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of
the judgment. And we don't need to take that without a cause.
We'll go all kind of ways with that. By nature, there's always
a reason why we do something or why we feel a certain way. But I'm telling you, if you're
angry in your heart with someone, you're guilty of breaking that
law. Thou shalt not kill. Now, Matthew
5, 27, Christ says, you've heard it said of old time, thou shalt
not commit adultery. But I say to you, that whosoever
looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with
her already in your heart. See, sin is just not outward
acts that men may see. It's inward thoughts, inward
thoughts of the heart, what proceeds from the heart. And all of these
things that are committed outwardly first take place in the heart.
And Christ is simply saying, sin goes deeper, much deeper
than just outward acts. It goes to the inward parts of
man. Also look at Galatians 3, beginning
at verse 10. For as many as are of the works
of the law done the curse. For it's written, curses that
ever one that continue not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. But that no man, no man
is justified by the law in the sight of God, it's evident. For the just, those that are
just before God, live by faith. And the law is not of faith,
but the man that doeth them shall live in them. Paul uses the same
quote here to the church as he wrote at Galatia, as he did here
at the church at Rome in Romans 10, 5. Also look at Galatians
5.3, Paul says, for I testify again to every man that is circumcised,
that he's a debtor to do the whole law. Now, God, he put forth
that law of circumcision to the nation Israel, that everyone
that stayed within that nation had to be circumcised. Well,
there's nothing wrong with the act of circumcision within itself.
But when you think that these acts, whether, and you can put
anything in the place of circumcision, whether it's your faith, your
coming to church, or your giving of your money, or just, you name
it, anything in the place of circumcision right here, he says,
I testify again to every man that circumcised that he's a
debtor to do the whole law. If you think that something that
you do in some way recommends you to God, or some way makes
you more holy, or any of these things, he says, well, you better
go ahead and do the whole law. You better keep it perfectly.
Okay? To offend in one part, you're
guilty of all. The law made no provision for
an error. It could only command do and live. It required perfect
obedience if men were to be justified by their works. And we know that
no man is able to be justified by works of law. Scripture is
clear on that. We must understand that the law
was never given to the nation Israel as a way of salvation
by their works, by the works of men. It was given to expose
their sin and drive them to Christ for all. of salvation and righteousness. That's what the law was given
for. Look at Romans 5.20. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. Also look again at Galatians
3.24. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster
to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith.
Now, that law was given to the nation Israel as a schoolmaster,
as a tutor. And it was given to reveal to
them, to show them in picture and type what that law required,
perfection and all these pictures and types as far as that reveal
Christ and Christ alone. All of these things should and
was given as a schoolmaster. that they may look at that law
and see that there's no hope of salvation by anything that
I do or anything I'm able to do. But those self-righteous
unbelieving Jews perverted the law, as do all men by nature,
not only those Israelites, and they sought to use it as a self-righteous
system of works, aiming to attain or either to maintain salvation
by their deeds of law, by their works. They used the law unlawfully,
and according to Romans 10, 3, this is what it says of them.
It says, for they being ignorant of God's righteousness, being
totally ignorant of that only righteousness that God will accept.
And what did they do? It says, and going about to establish
their own righteousness. Christ's righteousness is the
only righteousness that God will accept, the only righteousness. Then in contrast to what Paul
said here in verse 5, where he talks about Moses describing
the righteousness which is of the law, he now in verse 6 makes
this statement, but the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on
this wise. It speaks this way. Now look
at Romans 10 and 6 and 7. It says, But the righteousness which is
of faith speaketh on this wise, say not in thine heart who shall
ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down from above,
or who shall descend into the deep, that is to bring Christ
up again from the dead. Paul had spoken of the righteousness
of faith in Romans 4.13 in dealing with Abraham. which he says,
for the promise that he should be heir of the world, speaking
of Abraham, was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law,
through Abraham keeping the law, through Abraham, through his
deeds of law, but through the righteousness of faith. It is
clear that the righteousness of faith is the same as defined
in Romans 10, verses three and four, which says, for they being
ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believe it. The righteousness
of God, seen here in Romans 10.3, is found only in the obedience
unto death of the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore, it says
in verse four, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. Look at what is said of Christ
and his finished work as the high priest of God's elect in
Hebrews 10, beginning at verse 11. Now, y'all all familiar with
that old covenant and having to do with all the ceremonial
laws and having to do with the tabernacle, the sanctuary, the
high priest, and all these elements within that old covenant. Well,
speaking of this high priest here, is talking about that high
priest, and that high priest, what he did, you had the sinners
that were required, they had to bring a perfect lamb, a perfect
sacrifice, without spot or blemish. That means it had to be perfect.
You remember I said that's what God requires, no spot or blemish. They had to bring it to that
high priest in that earthly sanctuary service, and that high priest
As he brought that sacrifice to him, that sinner had to lay
his hand on the head of that sacrifice, which is a picture
of imputation. And that high priest would take
the life of that sacrifice, take that blood, and as he went into
the holy place and sprinkled it and all these different things
that happened in that sanctuary service, And only one day a year
went on into the most holy, beyond the veil with that blood. Well,
this is what we're talking about here. And it says every high
priest stand daily, ministering and offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices, which can never take away sins. Those, those sacrifices
could never take away sin. But this man, this speaking of
Christ, our great high priest, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins forever set down on the right hand of God. From henceforth
expect until his enemies be made his footstool, for by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified, those that
are set apart by God the Father. Did Christ just make an attempt
to finish the work of redemption and the saving of his people
from their sins, or did he finish the work? God's Word makes it
clear. It says Christ finished the work
and he sat down on the right hand of God. Now getting back
to Romans 10, the first part of verse 6, when this righteousness
which is of faith speaks to us, what does it say? It tells us
that no sinner can attain or no sinner can achieve righteousness
before God by his attempts to ascend into heaven or by his
attempt to descend into the deep. The only righteousness that a
sinner can achieve is a self-righteousness, which will always fall short
of the righteousness that God requires. This righteousness
is not something far off from us so that we must work to attain
it. Ascending and descending are
acts that men do to make themselves righteous. Paul is saying that
sinners cannot work to obtain what Christ has already finished.
And if you do think that there is something that God requires
you to do in order to be saved, then that is to bring Christ
down from above and that is to bring up Christ again from the
dead in some way to do away with his total work that he did when
he came to this earth. Christ's one sacrifice for sins
for his people was and is enough to save us and make us completely
righteous before God. Neither our attempts to rise
higher than we are nor our attempts to go deeper than we are will
ever make us righteous before God. We might consider the false
message of our day which says that our faith or our repentance
make Christ's work effectual or successful. No, our faith
or that ascending will not bring Christ down from above, and our
repentance, or this ascending, will not bring Christ up again
from the dead. It is Christ alone who makes
us righteous before God, and he does it by imputing and charging
Christ's righteousness to our account. Our brother Bill made
it clear this morning. He's speaking of King David of
old, but speaking of how righteousness was imputed to him. and that
sin was not imputed, and that's what we're talking about. Now,
we see here in verse 6 and 7 of Romans 10 that the righteousness
which is of faith tells us what not to say in your heart. Then
in our next verse, 8, asks the question, but what saith it? What does it say then? In other
words, the righteousness which is of faith doesn't speak of
any words or efforts on the sinner's part to be justified before God,
then how does it speak? And what does it say? What does
this righteousness of faith say? Well, in Romans 10, eight, it
says this, the word is nigh thee even in thy mouth and in thine
heart. That is the word of faith, which
we preach. The righteousness which is of
faith speaketh in the word of faith, which is the title of
our message. What is meant by this phrase, the word of faith,
is that the righteousness which is of faith speaks this way. It speaks by the word of faith,
which we preach. This shows what is meant here
by word, which is the gospel itself. So called because it
contains doctrines, which are the testimony and the Word of
God, and is to be believed upon, and particularly the doctrine
of justification by the righteousness of Christ alone, which is received
by God given faith. God has to regenerate and convert
His elect in order to give them, and He gives them this faith
as they look to the Word of God, the Gospel of God. Now, it's
received by God given faith, and because the Word of faith
sets forth Christ for life and salvation. That's what the word
of faith sets forth. The word of faith here is the
preaching of the gospel. The preaching of the gospel of
God's grace in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. We know this because
it says at the end of verse 8, which we preach, the gospel of
Christ sets forth our sinfulness and our depravity and it points
us to Christ alone for all of life, righteousness, and glory. Always remember that the gospel
is the power of God unto salvation because therein, therein within
this gospel message is the righteousness of God revealed according to
Romans 1 beginning at verse 16, where Paul says, for I'm not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it's the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to
the Greek. No distinction here, no matter what nationality you
are, The gospel of Christ is the power of God and the salvation.
For therein, therein this gospel message is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the
just shall live by faith. This is the righteousness of
Christ worked out by his obedience unto death on the cross. Thus
the righteousness which is of faith is the same as the preaching
of the cross and the same as the preaching of Christ and him
crucified. Look at 1 Corinthians 1, 18. For the preaching of the
cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which
are saved it is the power of God. Also look at 1 Corinthians
2, 2. For I determined, Paul says,
not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
All of these scriptures are saying the same thing. The word of faith,
the preaching of the cross, Jesus Christ and him crucified, the
preaching of the gospel, all of these direct centers to Christ
as the object of that faith and the only righteousness that God
will accept. Now, back to the first part of
Romans 8, where it says, but what saith it, what does it say?
This is referring back to verse 6 of Romans 10, which speaks
of the righteousness which is of faith. Then it says, the word
is not thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart. The message
of this gospel here is not far off from us. It's not a high
and it's not an unattainable message and it's not too deep
for us. It is not a high and unattainable message. It's not
too deep. It's not that the message of salvation that's conditioned
and based entirely on Christ alone is so difficult to understand. Even a young child can understand
that. It's salvation based entirely on Christ alone. The problem
is not the difficulty of a person understanding this message here
that we preach. It's not that. The problem is that men by nature,
as we're born into this world, We just don't want a salvation
unless we have some part in it. We must have a part in it. We
will not turn loose of these things that we can do, these
things wherein we can control our destiny in some way. Verse
8 talked about the word of faith, the gospel, which we preach.
Then it says in verse 9, after one hears this word of faith,
it says that If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus
Christ and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved. The word of faith simply
commands sinners to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and confess
him before God and before men. The resurrection of Christ is
the culmination or the completion of his work of redemption. of
God's elect, and it includes his whole work of redemption
as it takes into view his obedient life and his death for the salvation
of his people. If Christ had not died to put
away sin, put away the sins of his people, his elect, if he
had not established that righteousness that God requires, perfect satisfaction
to God's law and justice, To believe in thine heart describes
a genuine faith, a genuine faith in and a confession of Christ,
as opposed to a mere profession. The heart here describes the
mind, the affections, and the will of man, the innermost part
of who we are. This heart confession of Christ
is the fruit of the Holy Spirit conviction in a new birth. It
is the first evidence of true salvation. I know that men, when
they talk about the heart, they really try to make it mystical. But it's not mystical. The heart
is the mind, your affections and your will. Now, our next
verse here in verse 10 simply explains what is meant by confessing
with the mouth and believing from the heart. It says in verse
10, for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with
the mouth confession is made. under salvation. To believe under
righteousness with a heart means that sinners convicted by the
Holy Spirit believe in, they look to, and they rest in Christ
for all righteousness. They know that their righteousness,
anything that they do, or anything that we are unable to do, are
nothing more than filthy rags. That will not get the job done.
We must have a righteousness accepted by God, and that righteousness
is Christ and His work, His perfect work. The only righteousness
that will be accepted by God is in the obedience unto death
of Christ alone. Now, what we believe with the
heart, we confess with our mouths. We joyfully confess with our
mouth that we have not worked unto righteousness. that we confess
that nothing that we do or are unable to do in any way is part
of the righteousness that we have before God. We have believed
under righteousness and we are assured that Christ's righteousness
merits all of our salvation. When we confess with our mouth
a salvation based on Christ's righteousness alone, we renounce
and exclude every other way of salvation. and every other ground
of salvation. This is true Holy Spirit repentance. We repent from all those dead
works, all those works that we did in our former religion thinking
that they in some way recommended us unto God. We repent of those
things as we flee to Christ for all of righteousness. Now, our
last verse here, verse 11, reads for the scripture saith whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed verse 11 here is taken
from isaiah 28 16 where it says therefore thus saith the lord
god behold i lay in zion for a foundation of stone a stone
a tried stone a precious cornerstone a sure foundation He that believeth
shall not make haste. This is where the prophet Isaiah
was given the message of the coming Messiah and how the Messiah
would accomplish his perfect work to redeem his people from
their sin. All of salvation is in Christ
and secured by his obedience unto death. All righteousness
is in him alone and all who believe in him shall not be disappointed
shall not be confounded or ashamed at judgment. There is an assured
hope of eternal glory for any and all sinners who trust Christ,
who rest in Christ for all of salvation. Now, this verse 11
here is referring back to verse 10 and is simply telling us what
it is to believe under righteousness. Verse 11 tells you to believe
on Him. Who is the Him? Well, it's Christ. That's that precious stone. That's
your foundation. And whosoever believeth on Him
shall not be ashamed or disappointed or confounded at the judgment. Well, in closing, the word of
faith, the title of my message here this morning, which is the
preaching of the gospel of God's grace in Christ, the very righteousness
of God worked out by Christ at the cross, the gospel that identifies
God as a just God and a savior. God will be just and damning
all who avoid of this righteousness that we're talking about and
who are instead going about to establish their own righteousness.
But on the other hand, God will be just in the justification
of all who come to Christ by faith, looking to Him alone for
all of their righteousness and repenting of every thinking that
they could have been saved by any of their works of law. Anything
that we do as far as keeping the law, thinking that we can
be saved by it or either thinking that it is recommending us unto
God. That this here is the word of
faith, which we preach. Amen.