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Precision is important. Shortly after NASA launched the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990, they knew they had a problem. The images of the stars were blurry. The 94.5-inch mirror was optically flawed, a spherical aberration. It would not bring starlight to a crisp focus. The shape of the mirror was too shallow by two microns, which is about 1/25,000th of an inch or a fraction of the width of a human hair. We are talking about high-level precision.
The gospel is far more important than a deep space telescope. We need precision. We need to get the gospel right. We have a book that gives us the precise message of the gospel, but Paul warned us that some would tamper with it. In Galatians 1:8 he uttered “anathema,” a curse on anyone who brings a different gospel than the one he preached.
Galatians 1:6-8, I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!
The gospel is always under attack. Satan is always scheming ways to undermine the gospel. The gospel is undermined when people deny the deity of Christ, deny the substitutionary sacrifice, deny the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, deny justification by faith alone, deny the exclusivity of Christ as the only Savior, or turn the grace of the gospel into permissive grace. Some distort the gospel by claiming you can be saved with no change in your life, no sanctification. They call it a carnal Christian – saved but just not following Christ. That’s impossible. Some of you remember when the guys with the Babylon Bee talked Elon Musk into agreeing with Christianity and declared “He’s one of us!” The gospel has been turned into social justice, a system of morality, or even the gospel of climate change. (Google it. You’ll find it). Some teach salvation by ordinances – baptism, communion, church membership. Back in 2020 the woke gospel became popular. One well-known author decided he didn’t really have the gospel until he added racial reconciliation. The point is, we need to be precise and have clarity when teaching the gospel, and we have this book, God’s Word, as our measuring rod. It is crucial to get the gospel message right. It’s the only message on earth that brings us to God.
Last week we saw that God is the divine Potter and has the prerogative to do with sinners whatever He pleases. He is sovereign, and while He could bring His wrath immediately on vessels deserving wrath, He is patient and has chosen vessels of mercy. And these vessels of mercy are both Jews and Gentiles. The Gentiles, who weren’t pursuing righteousness, came to Christ, while Israel stumbled over Christ. Here they were, the quintessential law keepers, the pinnacle of self-righteousness, but God’s way of salvation was through Christ and the cross and they crucified their own Savior! This was all predicted in their own Scriptures! What an amazing thing.
But this doesn’t mean Paul writes Israel off. In chapter nine he emphasizes God’s sovereignty, and it was kind of tough sailing. Now he is emphasizing the human responsibility side – why they missed Christ and what the true gospel really is. We want to get the gospel right, and we want to learn from the apostle Paul.
THE GOSPEL SHOULD BE YOUR BIGGEST CONCERN FOR YOURSELF AND OTHERS.
Romans 10:1, Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.
Paul began chapter nine in a similar way. He may be thinking of Jews in his own family who are lost and under God’s condemnation without Christ. The word “desire” has the idea of pleasure or good will. Paul doesn’t despise them; he loves them and prays for them, as should we! Notice, he’s praying for their salvation. That’s a great word. Paul used it back in Romans 1:16, the gospel is the power of God to salvation to all who believe, Jew or Greek. Paul is not talking about salvation from social or racial or environmental or gender injustice or even economic injustice. He means one thing: salvation from sin.
Do you have any of this concern of Paul’s for lost people in your life? When it’s all said and done, everybody’s going to be either in heaven or hell forever. We have great reason to be concerned and pray for lost people in our lives. How many parents are most concerned about their children’s worldly success in academics or sports or getting a great job. Those are all good, but Paul says, “My heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is for their salvation.” That’s #1!
MANY PEOPLE HAVE A WRONG UNDERSTANDING OF THE GOSPEL.
Romans 10:2-4, For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. 3 For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
If anyone understood the Jews’ wrong thinking about God and how to get to God, it was Paul. He knew they had a misguided zeal for God. He was one of them. In Philippians 3:6 he says about himself, “as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.” He knew all about it. One of the saddest things in all the world is to watch people who are intensely sincere, but sincerely wrong. The suicide bomber in the Kabul airport who zealously and sincerely blew himself up, killing 13 of our military, plus many more. They blow themselves up for a god who doesn’t exist. An ignorant, blind, misguided zeal. Zeal is like a high-speed train. Zeal is good, but make sure your zeal is running on the tracks of the true Gospel.
All around the world and right here in America and every community, maybe in your family, there are people thinking their good deeds, their religious habits and disciplines, their confessions, will outweigh their bad deeds and somehow God will accept them. That’s so sad to realize. Martin Luther, who put himself through excruciating behaviors trying to earn God’s favor, even to the point of almost killing himself, said, “If ever a monk got to heaven on his monkery, it was I.” Notice several wrong ideas people then and now live with.
#1 – They have no understanding of God’s true righteousness – vs. 2. God’s righteousness is perfect, flawless righteousness. They think God grades on a curve. Or that God takes sincerity as sufficient. They don’t realize that to come to God you would have to have a perfect, 100% righteousness, and offending in just one point, makes you guilty of all. Remember that rich young ruler who came running up to Jesus, sincerely asking, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said, “Keep the commandments.” What did the young ruler say? “All these things have I done! What do I lack?” Jesus knew the young ruler loved his money more than God and so replied, “Sell all you have and give to the poor.” The young ruler walked away sad because he was very rich. Like the Jews and most people, he was ignorant of God’s perfect righteousness, which is exactly what the gospel provides in Jesus Christ!
#2 – They live their lives stacking up or weighing their own self-righteous good deeds – vs.3a. “Seeking to establish their own righteousness.” This is a house built on sand. This is the most typical wrong thinking of most people. All religions are built on this notion of salvation by some kind of good deeds.
The Jews were the archetypal legalists. They had a zeal for Sabbath laws. Every movement on the Sabbath was either prescribed or proscribed by their fine mesh of law. They had rules about what they could and could not take out of the house in case of fire. They couldn’t cut their nails or hair on the Sabbath. They couldn’t carry ink enough to write two letters or wax enough to fill up a small hole – these would all mean carrying a forbidden burden on the Sabbath. They were going about seeking to establish their own righteousness. There are religious zealots today, every day, trying to establish or build up their own righteousness, but it’s a house of cards.
#3 – They refuse to submit to God’s perfect righteousness – vs.3b. What’s the problem? What’s most people’s problem? They don’t really know God. They don’t understand God’s holiness and perfect righteousness. They don’t realize their own righteousness isn’t good enough. So in their self-righteousness, their proud self-righteousness, and their religious self-confidence they stubbornly refuse to confess their sin and their need of God’s righteousness which the gospel provides! Only the Spirit of God can flush a religious man out of his often very proud self-righteousness and bring him to see how far short he comes of God’s righteousness. Just blowing it in one point makes you guilty of the whole law. Jerry Bridges says it would be like one misspelled word in a term paper would give you an F. Remember this verse?
Isaiah 64:6, For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
#4 – They fail to realize that the law finds its goal and fulfillment in Jesus Christ – vs. 4. Most sadly, these Jews had no clue about Christ, why He came, what He came to do. Jews saw the Law as an end in itself, not pointing to the coming Messiah. This is true today. Beware of just believing in principles and guidelines from the Bible and missing the Person of the Bible, Jesus Christ. Christian in Pilgrim’s Progress meets Mr. Worldly-Wise who counsels Christian to go to the village of Morality and seek out Mr. Legality, but as he came near thunder and lightning flashed from the mountain of the law and his burden got heavier and heavier. The law was designed to direct Israel until Christ came and to strip her of all her self-righteousness and point her to her need of a perfect righteousness—the righteousness of Christ. Here’s the beauty of the gospel – Christ ends your efforts to save yourself! He came and kept that law perfectly! He is the righteousness of God. But Israel missed the very Person their Law was pointing to.
And notice in verse 4, “to everyone who believes.” The law pointed to Christ, Christ fulfilled the law, and Christ provides the perfect righteousness of God in justification by faith alone. People, we’ve got to understand the gospel and preach it to ourselves. It’s all about Christ. Remind yourself of who He is, how He was born, His public ministry. What a wonderful person, hushing storms, multiplying fish and bread, healing all kinds of diseases, doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. He lived the perfect life we could not live, and then He died the death we deserve to die, bearing our sins. Then He arose from the grave, ascended to heaven, giving new life to everyone who believes. It’s all about Christ. But self-righteous people, whether Jew or Gentile, just don’t get it. With Paul, we pray for lost people to understand the gospel.
YOU NEED TO CLEARLY DISTINGUISH BETWEEN LEGALISM AND GRACE.
Romans 10:5-7, For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness. 6 But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, ‘WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), 7 or ‘WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”
How much of God’s law do you have to keep in order to live? All of it! Verse 5 says “the man who practices legal righteousness” – present tense, every day, all of it, all your life, from your birth to your death! Plus, you must obey from the heart, not just externally. James 2:10 says if you offend in one point you are guilty of the whole thing! People have no idea how far short they come of God’s perfect righteousness. Can you jump across the Grand Canyon? Could you swim across the ocean to England? Of course not. Neither can you keep the law perfectly from your heart. Legalism says, “I can please God by my own efforts.” Grace says, “No, you don’t even come close to God’s standard of perfect righteousness.” Only one Person has, and you need Him!
What does Paul mean by going up to heaven or down into the abyss? Don’t think you have to accomplish some impossible feat – going up Mars or going down into the seven-mile-deep Mariana trench to find God’s message of salvation. No, God has brought what we need to us. We don’t have to try to go up to heaven or descend into hell to accomplish our salvation. Jesus took that long journey down from heaven as a Man to go to the cross and pay the penalty for our sins, and then to rise from the dead conquering every one of our enemies, Satan, death, and sin, forever. We can’t do it. We don’t have to take pilgrimages to far off places. The Word is near you. It’s right here in your Bible! It’s a message from God to be received, believed. It’s not what you do for God – that’s legalism. It’s what God does for you – that’s grace.
GOD HAS MADE SALVATION A VERY SIMPLE THING.
Romans 10:8-10, But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”–that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
What does righteousness based on faith say? Ah, this is so beautiful. Don’t complicate the gospel. Just listen. Here’s the message of justification by faith alone. It’s right here. You don’t work for it. It’s God’s message to you. How are we saved? Paul assumes we have heard about Christ being the incarnate God-Man who came to bear the sins of many. And that Jesus is Lord. So, Paul says we’ve got to do two simple things which aren’t works, but responses. Here’s how you come to Christ.
#1 – There’s something you do with your mouth. You open your mouth and verbally confess, declare your allegiance, identify with Jesus as your Lord and Christ as God and sovereign Ruler. Confessing means you identify with Him alone as your only hope for forgiveness and heaven. Confessing with your mouth is what Polycarp did when they dragged him into the arena and called him to deny Christ and swear by Caesar. Polycarp refused. He confessed, “For eighty-six years I have been His servant, and He has done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King who saved me.” “Swear by Caesar!” the governor shouted. Polycarp replied, “You try in vain to get me to swear by Caesar. Hear me plainly, I am a Christian.” They burned him and finally stabbed him to death. That’s confessing with your mouth. You declare unashamedly Christ to be your Lord and Savior.
#2 – There’s something you do in your heart. You believe in the center of your being, in your very core, where you live, where you worship. You believe, trust, and rest your soul on that fact that God raised Him from the dead. He’s alive! Notice the importance of Christ’s resurrection. No resurrection, no hope. This was the theme of all the preaching in Acts. “You crucified Him, but God raised Him! Repent and believe in Him right now!” And they did! How simple. It isn’t what you do for God, but what God does for you! That’s the gospel. Don’t add to it. Repent and believe. This is the amazing thing about Christ. While no one comes naturally without the Spirit’s work, and while people are dead in their sins and it takes a divine miracle in the heart for people to come to Christ, coming to Christ is a very simple matter. We don’t have a month of Ramadan. You don’t have a certain number of sacraments you have to keep or be condemned at least to purgatory if not to eternal hell.
Remember the classic response to the question, “What must I do to be saved?” by the Philippian jailor? What was it? First, you need to search your heart to see if you are sincere. Then you need to try to remember all the sins you’ve ever committed and repent of each and every one of them. Then, you need to join our class on beginning instructions for new seekers. Then you need to be baptized and begin coming to church and we’ll see if you ever do get saved, but frankly, being a Philippian jailor with your past, we really see very little hope for you. What did Paul say to the jailor? BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND YOU SHALL BE SAVED!
John Newton, author of Amazing Grace, was on his death bed at 82 and confessed, “My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things: that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior.”
REJOICE IN ALL THE BLESSINGS OF THE GOSPEL.
Romans 10:11-13, For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”
These verses are just rich with the kindness and goodness and assurances of God in His gospel. These are the blessings Paul prays his fellow lost Jews would know. Let me ask you seven quick questions from these final verses.
Who is welcome to believe in Christ? Anyone and everyone.
What will you never be if you do believe in Christ? Disappointed or ashamed. No one gets to heaven and says, “How disappointing. I sure wish I’d never been saved.”
What’s the difference between the ethnic groups in the gospel? None.
How rich is the one true Lord? He is abounding in riches.
To whom is God abounding in riches? To all who call on Him.
Who may call on the name of the Lord? Whoever, any young or old whoever, even me or you!
What happens when you call upon the name of the Lord? This is beautiful! You will be, not might be or hope to be or will be if. If you call on His name, you will be saved. That is no ho-hum truth. It’s the greatest, most wonderful reality you could possibly experience! Saved from the penalty of your sin and forever with your Savior Jesus!
So many people are just like these Jews, going about establishing their own righteousness and missing God’s righteousness in Jesus Christ. While we’re concerned that people really are saved, we don’t want to complicate the gospel. Have you called on the name of Christ? Do you confess with your mouth Jesus is your Lord, that you are under His rule? Are you believing in your heart that God raised Him from the dead? And may God give us Paul’s heart concern for lost people in our lives.