Turn with me to Romans 10. In this 10th chapter of Romans,
having clearly defined the doctrine of justification by faith, the
apostle now pours out his heart to God with a desire for the
salvation of those for whom he was once a leader. His people. Paul was a Jew. He was raised
believing that the Jews were heirs of the promise of God based
on their blood relationship to Abraham. Our Lord said to the
Jewish leaders in John chapter 8, I speak that which I have
seen with my father, and you do that which you have seen with
your father. And they answered and said unto
him, Abraham is our father. You see, that's their hope. That
was their hope. They gloried in their relationship
with Abraham and Moses and the prophets. And the Jews believed
that righteousness, which was the key to God's favor and blessing,
came by way of their obedience to His law. His law. Holy and just and good. His law that was without flaws. There is no fault in the law
of God. Paul said if there had been a
law given that could have given life, it would have been the
law of God. There are no flaws in it. There
are no mistakes in it. The flaws are in us. In Romans 10, verse 2, he said,
For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according
to knowledge. Talking about his kinsmen, he's
talking about these Jews. 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.
They were ignorant of God's righteousness. And I listen to this religious
world. We were listening to a man on
television this morning. He was talking about repentance,
and he said, you can't repent of sins that you're not aware
of. You can repent of what you are. That's what repentance is. Repent of what you are. The potential
of sin is in every one of us. The reality of sin is in every
one of us. And we're going to sin. We're
going to sin. But these men were ignorant of
God's righteousness. They were ignorant of God's essential
righteousness. God is perfectly righteous. Perfectly righteous. One of the
fellows I worked with, he said, even Christ wasn't perfect. Oh,
I beg your pardon. I beg your pardon. And he said
that because he got angry and whipped those Jews out of the
temple. There's a righteous anger. God's angry with the wicked every
day. That don't mean there's a flaw
in God. It's a righteous anger. God's perfectly righteous. And
they were ignorant of God's righteousness which was demanded under the
law. They thought the law meant to
do outwardly whatever it commanded and do the best you can do. And
God would be appeased by that. God would be, He would approve
of that. They were ignorant of God's righteousness
which was demanded under the law. That is, continual, perfect,
spiritual, unbroken obedience in motive, thought, and deed
from the cradle to the grave. That's what the law demands.
Absolute perfection. And they were ignorant of the
righteousness of God manifested in Christ as a representative,
in His representative obedience when He came into this world
under the law. He was made under the law. to redeem them that were under
the law. And they were ignorant of that. They were ignorant of
His representative obedience and ignorant of His obedience
in His death on the cross. Verse 4 of Romans chapter 10,
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believes. Christ is. Not your good works. Christ. Christ. You only have one hope of righteousness,
and that's Christ. That's it. And we expose, there's
only two kinds of righteousness in this world, two kinds of righteousness
that's spoken of in the Scripture. One is that righteousness of
God, which was manifested in Christ, and the other is self-righteousness. Anything that's not of the one
is of the other. It's self-righteousness. In his sermon to the Greeks on
Mars Hill in Athens, Paul said, God hath appointed a day in which
He will judge this world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained. They all stand before the judgment
seat of Christ and give an account. Now listen to this. Whereof,
that Act 1731, whereof? He hath given assurance unto
all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." Now this
is not talking about assurance of salvation here. That's given
by the Holy Ghost to God's elect. But he's talking here about an
assurance that Christ is that judge and that that judgment
is by that man and that it's in perfect righteousness. He's assured us of this because
Christ died and God raised Him from the dead. And that He alone
manifests the righteousness of God which is able to clothe our
naked souls and present us faultless before the presence of His glory.
Now, I chose this text this morning because like Paul, I was raised
in false religion. I was raised in it. Some of you
were and some of you weren't. Like Paul, I once walked the
walk and talked the talk. I went to church and I sang in
their revival meetings and I testified of my religious experiences and
works. And I worked getting people to
come and we had car washes and bake sales and who knows what
else. And like Israel of old, we had
an ignorant zeal of God. We went to work. We were going
to do this and we were going to do that. And we did. We did. We went here, we went there,
we did this, we did that. We went to work. We were actively
engaged in going about to establish our own righteousness. That's
what we were doing. One of our own making. One of
which we would approve. One of which we would trust in.
One like our Father had and testified of. One we could demonstrate
to our children. And then God the Holy Ghost came
and through the Gospel revealed to us the righteousness of God
in Christ. Showed us that what we gloried
in was filthy rags, all it was. Showed us that we had neither
the nature the will or the ability to produce a righteousness with
which God would be well pleased. We had no will for it. We had
no want for it. And we had no nature for it.
And no man, no woman, no boy or girl will ever seek the righteousness
of Christ. until God the Holy Spirit convinces
them that the one they have is not sufficient to clothe their
naked soul. This comes first. God strips
us and then He clothes us. He kills us and then He raises
us to life everlasting. A man who has never been slain
has never been raised. Man has never been stripped.
He has never been clothed. And no one born of Adam's fallen
race can do or say or think anything acceptable to God. When he opens
his mouth, he spews out that which is an abomination to God. Isaiah said, we are all together
as an unclean thing. And David said, man at his best
state is altogether vanity. Because of the curse of our father
Adam, because of his corrupt nature, because of our choice
and practice of sin, because of our love of darkness and hatred
of light, Therefore, he said in the Scriptures, by the deeds
of the law there shall no flesh be justified in God's sight. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. That is, if you look to the law,
if you hope in the law, all you're ever going to hear from the law
is condemnation. When God the Holy Spirit, if
He ever does give you a knowledge of the law of God, That law will
continually judge you and condemn you, constantly, no matter. You can't pray enough. You can't
serve enough. You can't give enough. You can't
do enough. That law condemns, condemns,
condemns, condemns. And what thing soever the law
saith it saith to you that are under the law, for what reason? That every mouth be stopped. And all the world becomes guilty
before God. Now that's what the law says.
And when a man starts to look back to that law, or when a man
is still looking to that law for righteousness, Paul said,
you that desire to be under the law, do you hear the law? Do
you hear what it says? Because nobody, when God, look
at the picture of Sinai, when the people of Israel looked at
Sinai, where the law was given, and they saw the fire and the
lightning and the smoke and all of this that surrounded that
mountain, nobody wanted to go up the mountain. And if you ever
see the law for what it is, and you see the awful, awful righteousness
and justice of God that He demands in that law, you're not going
to want to go up that mountain either. There's only one man
who went up that mountain, and that was Moses. And he went up
by faith. The law reveals our sins. It
condemns it. It forbids it. But it cannot
offer the transgressor any hope or comfort. Paul said in Romans
7, verse 10. Now, he was with these people
at one time. He was trusting in his own righteousness. He knew exactly where they were
at. And he says in Romans 7 verse 10, the commandment which was
ordained to life I found to be unto death. He discovered this
law of God that he thought would give him life. He discovered
that it was death to him. He said in verse 11, for sin
taking occasion by the commandment deceived me. It deceived me. And by it, slew me. Sin twists
and distorts the truth. It cries, peace, peace, where
there is no peace. It offers warmth and comfort,
but it offers a bed too narrow to lay on and a cover too short
to cover up with. And I don't know about you, but
I've got a soft place in my heart for men and women among whom
I used to walk. I've sat down for hours on end
with them. trying to show them in the scriptures,
trying to show what these things say, trying to show the futility
of trying to make a righteousness that's acceptable to God, to
try to walk on that basis. I know how they think, and I
know how they reason. I know something of their affection
for their family members. and people that they've known
their whole lives. And I know the power behind this
deception. And that's why Paul begins this
chapter with these words, My heart's desire and prayer to
God for Israel is that they might be saved. And it's my desire that poor
deceived men and women to whom the gospel has been hidden, Eyes
and minds have been blinded by the God of this world. Might
see. Might see. And brethren, if God
is not pleased to send them the gospel and reveal it to their
hearts and minds, they will go on just like they are unto destruction. They will continue on like that
multitude before them, satisfied with themselves and their service
and their sacrifices and their religion. There is only one way
out of the mess we are in, and that is the glorious person and
work of Jesus Christ. Now Paul goes on to tell us about
this faith, this faith that perceives this righteousness of God, this
faith that perceives the coming Redeemer, this faith that perceives
what He did when He was in this world, perceives what He did
on that cross, perceives where He is at now in glory. And now
He goes on to tell us about this faith. And He tells us what faith
don't say, and He tells us what faith does say. First of all,
He shows us a contrast between the two. Look down here at verse
6, Romans chapter 10. Everybody says they have faith.
I've never met anybody who said they didn't have faith. Have
you? I've never met anybody. They all say they have faith,
whether they go to church or don't. They all got faith. Well, I believe in God. Listen to this, verse 6. 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 up Christ again from the deep." What in
the world is he talking about? Saving faith does not talk about
a personal worthiness being the cause of Christ's coming. Self-righteousness
confesses two things. One, they confess a worthiness
which somehow ascends up into the mind of God and God seeing
that worthiness and seeing the shame of seeing it all go to
ruin, seeing this just man being damned down here, sends his son
down to make an effort to save his soul. It talks about a personal
worthiness bringing Christ down. Bringing Christ down. And the
other thing that self-righteousness does is it talks about a personal
worthiness adding to that work which Christ has done to help
him out of the grave. Now that's what this chapter
is talking about. And true saving faith don't say either one of
these things. Isn't that what Paul is saying
in this chapter? The righteousness which is of
faith speaketh on this wise. Say not in thine heart who shall
ascend unto heaven. That is to bring Christ down. Saving faith don't talk about
a personal worthiness being the cause of Christ coming into this
world. The angels of God have not carried
people's personal testimony up to God showing him that there's
a people down here worth saving. Number one, because God don't
need second-hand information. And number two, because there's
none righteous. Faith doesn't brag on itself,
hope in itself, or promote itself. The coming of Christ into this
world was an act of free, sovereign grace. Free, sovereign grace. There was nothing here. Just
like the creation of the world. What a picture of salvation that
is if you ever go back in Genesis and study. The earth was without
form and void. There was nothing here. Darkness. There wasn't any light. There
wasn't anything. It was just blackness and darkness. And the word there is chaos.
Chaos. There was nothing there. Whatever moved God, to do what
he did didn't come out of that mass of chaos, it came out of
his own purpose and grace. You see what I'm saying? The
coming of Christ into this world was not warranted by someone
who was in this world because this grace was given before there
was a world. He was the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. It was an act of free, sovereign
grace. God predestinated us under the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to
the good pleasure of His will. And our salvation by the representation
and substitution was not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. Some preachers try to explain
away election, the election of God, by saying God looked down
through the telescope of time and he saw who would or would
not do good works and who would or would not choose him. And
they talk about, that's what they call foreknowledge, foreknowledge. But my friend, God doesn't need
a telescope to look through. God declares the end from the
beginning. And the reason he can declare
the end from the beginning is because he controls everything
in between. There is no other way to do that. And he does it according to his
own will. Saving faith does not testify
of its worthiness to bring Christ down from heaven or its worthiness
When he's talking about descending into the deep and bringing Christ
up from the deep, he's talking about adding something to the
work of Christ to make it effectual. And he said, saving faith don't
talk that way either. But that's exactly what preachers
are preaching. If you don't do this, everything
Christ did was for nothing. Isn't that what they say? That's
what I'm hearing. If you don't come down that aisle,
if you don't make your decision, then Christ shed His blood for
you, all for naught. It made no difference in your
life. So it takes your faith to make His sacrifice effectual. That tommyrot, that's what that
is. You don't hope in its own merit
as a means to help Christ in the accomplishing of our redemption.
That would be the same as saying we ourselves ascended into the
deep and took Christ by the hand and pulled Him up out of the
grave. We helped Him out. Hebrews 1.3, describing the glorious
person of Christ and His message to that generation. It says,
"...and upholding all things by the word of His power." Now
listen to this. When he had by himself, ain't
that what that says? Purged our sins and sat down
at the right hand of the majesty on high. By himself. God purposed the appearance of
Jesus Christ in this world before there was a world for him to
appear in. And appearing here, he wrought out a righteousness.
A perfect, all-sufficient righteousness. And he did it by himself. He
himself is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believes. He's not the robe and wear the
ties. He's not the coat and wear the
buttons. He's all our righteousness. He's the coat. He's the robe. It's his righteousness alone.
He alone kept the law, honored and exalted the law. And Jesus
Christ alone put away our sins. He had no assistance. He didn't pay the down payment.
Oh, I couldn't tell you how many times I've heard that from preachers
growing up, talking about Christ made the down payment. Is that
what it is? Christ came down here, suffered
and died. bore the furious wrath of God,
exhausted the wrath of God, came down here and died and made the
down payment and said, now here's the mortgage, you pay the rest
of it. Huh? You can't find that in the Bible.
But that's what's being preached, that's what's being sold to the
public. Jesus Christ alone put away our
sins. He had no assistance. He didn't
pay the down payment and then leave us with the mortgage. The
hymn writer said Jesus paid it all. He paid it all. By His own blood, He entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. And faith don't talk about Christ's
work being a failure without our help. Everything he did,
he did alone, and he did it completely, perfectly, and affectionately,
and he left nothing to chance. And everything the sinner now
receives is by virtue of those accomplishments. We can't believe apart from the
Holy Spirit. We can't believe apart from being
told the truth. Man's not going to get it. He's
not going to set it home in his closet and the light bulb's going
to come on. It don't happen that way. But by virtue of what he accomplished,
he died for that sinner. He justified that sinner. And
now that sinner is going to be saved. And he sends the Holy
Spirit to that man. He sends the gospel to that man.
And he quickens that man. And he makes that man alive.
He's going to believe. All for whom Christ died are
going to be brought to Him. They're going to be brought to
Him. Now there might be thousands that go out the door. I don't
know how many are going to go out the door, but I tell you
this, everyone that the Father gave Him is going to come to
Him. Isn't that what He told us over in John chapter 6? They're
coming. You know why they're coming?
Because it's God that worketh in them, both the will and the
do of His good pleasure. By grace, listen to this, by
grace are you saved through faith. And that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. But where is workmanship? Are
you listening? Created in Christ Jesus unto
good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in. Faith doesn't reason or talk about some personal worthiness.
descending into heaven and bringing Christ down, or descending into
the grave and helping Christ up out of the grave? Well, what
does this faith say? Look here in Romans 10, verse
9. Here's what it says. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God
raised Him from the dead, Thou shalt be saved. That's what faith
says. To confess the Lord Jesus is
to confess before God and men that Jesus of Nazareth is the
promised Redeemer. He's the promised Savior and
Messiah set forth in the Word of God, exactly as He is set
forth in the Word of God. Not poor little Jesus, boy. That's
not set forth in the Word of God. Not this poor defeated reformer
that can't do anything apart from the will of man. That's
not the Christ set forth in the Word of God. You need to go back
and read that Old Testament and see what they had to say about
this coming Redeemer. Let me give you ten things. This
is right straight out of the Old Testament. Ten things. that
he used to describe the Lord. The Lord. Isn't that what he
said? The Lord Jesus? We're going to
confess with the mouth, the Lord Jesus, all right, here it is.
He is the Lord who provides. That's His name. The Lord who
will see to it. The Lord, our righteousness.
The Lord our peace, the Lord who healeth thee, the Lord our
sanctifier, the Lord our banner, the Lord our shepherd, the Lord
our maker, the Lord our God, and the Lord who is present.
Salvation is of the Lord. It's of the Lord. He's the author
and finisher of our faith. He's the reason why we have life
and light and hope while the rest of the world goes on in
darkness and death and deceit. Faith doesn't confess Jesus as
their personal Savior and go on walking in the vanity of their
minds. Faith confesses Jesus Christ the Lord. It knows what
it's saying. My hope's in Him. Lord of heaven and earth, Lord
of the dead and the living, Lord of salvation, He's Lord. And
if He weren't Lord, He couldn't save you. True saving faith believes that
God has raised Him from the dead and thereby accepts all that
He is, all that He has done, and all that He yet shall do.
And this statement is inclusive of all that Paul has said about
the resurrection of Christ. In Romans 4.25, who was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. That's
inclusive of that. Being reconciled by his death,
we shall be saved by his life, Romans 5.10. Romans 8, listen to this, "...who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather, that is risen again." God has raised Him from the dead. What does that mean to you? If
Christ is your hope, that means He raised you up with Him and
seated you with Him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Peter said, "...believers are
begotten again unto a living hope." Our hope is alive and
seated at the right hand of God. Somebody asked Brother Mahan,
hadn't seen him in years since he was in seminary. Pastor Mahan,
he'd been pastoring for quite a while. A fellow met him down
on the sidewalk and he said, you still saved? He said, I don't
know. He said, is Christ still at the
right hand of God? If He is, I'm still saved. I'm
still saved. Brethren, there is no hope anywhere
else. Hope is in Him. Hope is in Him. Verse 10. Romans chapter 10. For with the
heart, with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation. The man who believes
in his heart will confess with his mouth. No matter what situation,
it doesn't matter. The doctor comes in and shakes
his head, you're still going to confess with your mouth. If you bleed with your heart. But then he goes on and tells
us, we can't do this on our own. But those who do this, God has
moved and caused them to do this. He's given them of His grace. He sent them the gospel. He's
empowered them by the Holy Spirit to understand and call on Him.
And the just shall live by this faith. Oh, may God give us an
understanding of this true saving faith.