Elliott Baptist Church - November 4, 2001 Sermon

Dr. Cecil A. Fayard - 2001 Sermons Sunday, November 4, 2001

Faith Righteousness
Romans 10:5-14a
INTRODUCTION: Is salvation by faith or not? Is salvation by faith plus works or by faith alone? Are we saved by faith, trusting in Christ, believing that He died, was buried, and rose again; or are we saved by faith plus prayer? Is prayer salvation or a result of our believing? If we read Romans 10:9 and Romans 10:13 without considering carefully what is said in Romans 10:10 and Romans 10:14 we may come to a wrong conclusion. Let me ask the question that is posed in Romans 10:14. How can you call on someone you do not believe in? The question I want to ask is this: are we saved by calling or by believing? Over and over, we are told that those who believe are saved. Note with me the familiar scriptures found in John’s Gospel: John 3:15-18, 36; 5:24; 6:35, 40, 47; 7:37-38; 11:25-26; 12:46; 20:31.

VERSE 5, Human Inability
1. The way to salvation, the way to eternal life is by complete obedience to the law. This is something that no one other than Christ has accomplished.
2. No one is justified before God by the law. Why? Because no one has ever been able to obey it completely.
  1. Human inability is the weakness of the law (3:20; 8:3).
  2. Because of our disobedience, because of our inability to keep the law, we are cursed.
    1. We would stay under the curse but for the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
    2. You may think that you are pretty good that you are better than others; but, my friend, read the words of Galatians 3:10. If you fail in any part of the law, you are cursed (Romans 3:10, 23).
3. Only Christ completely fulfilled the law. He did so by His perfect life, by His death for sinners and by His resurrection.
  1. “That which was infinitely difficult, hard, and painful, in fact for sinners impossible, has been accomplished by Christ. No mere sinner should now try to do what for him is both impossible and unnecessary” (Hendriksen 343).
  2. Our weakness, our human inability is overcome by divine ability to save.
VERSES 6-8, FAITH RIGHTEOUSNESS IS IN THE REDEMPTIVE WORK OF CHRIST JESUS
1. Verse 6, Paul quotes here (verses 6-8) from Deuteronomy 30.
  1. You do not have to go up to heaven to bring Christ down to get the righteousness of God. Friends, it is available!
  2. We do not need to bring Christ down because He has already come down.
    1. He came and walked with men (John 1:14).
    2. He came down and suffered, died, was buried, and rose again!
    3. Men wanted to do something to earn righteousness. Christ has already done the hard work for us (Titus 3:5).
2. Verse 7, Christ has risen; we do not need to bring Him up again. He is alive; He is seated at the Father’s right hand.
  1. Belief in the resurrection is essential to salvation.
  2. Romans 4:25.
3. Verse 8, The Gospel is near; the Word of truth is near. You do not have to go up to heaven or down to hell. It is near.
  1. Salvation by faith is not out of reach. It is available. “It is available where you are sitting. A great many folks think they have to go to an altar in some meeting to be saved. But salvation is available to you right where you are now” (McGee Volume 4 718).
  2. It is not in ritual or in religion. Salvation is in Christ.
VERSES 9-10 FAITH RIGHTEOUSNESS RECEIVED BY BELIEVING
1. Verse 9, It is most important to believe that God raised Christ form the dead, to believe this in your heart.
  1. “…a person confesses with his lips that which is already present in the heart” (Hendriksen 345).
  2. There must be faith in the heart of man for the lips is empty (Matthew 7:22-23).
  3. If faith is real, confession will be the natural result (Acts 4:20, “For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”).
    1. Inward belief will result in outward confession.
    2. If you confess with your mouth, it is because of faith in your heart.
2. Verse 10, Salvation is a matter of the heart.
  1. The heart believes unto righteousness.
    1. When a man is righteous, he is saved. He is accounted as justified in the sight of God.
    2. Romans 4:3.
  2. In true salvation, the mouth and the heart will be in harmony saying the same thing.
  3. Remember what it says in Romans 10:14a: “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed….”
    1. If you do not believe, your confession is hypocrisy.
    2. If you believe, you will confess Him as Lord.
VERSES 11-14a, THE GOSPEL-ITS SCOPE
1. Verse 11, Here is the scope of the Gospel: “Whosoever.”
  1. Everyone who believes will be saved. Not everyone will be saved, but everyone that believes will be.
  2. Everyone who believes will not be ashamed and will not be put to shame.
2. Verse 12, God is rich to all who believe, to all who call upon Him.
  1. All who call on the Lord shall receive rich blessings.
  2. Jeremiah 33:3.
  3. He bestows rich blessings on all who call both Jew and Gentile.
3. Verse 13, Those who call on the Lord in faith are the saved.
  1. Do not forget to put this verse with verse 10 and 14.
  2. Without believing, calling means nothing.
4. Verse 14a, Calling presupposes knowing and believing in His name, believing that He died, was buried, and rose again.

CONCLUSION: Do you believe the Gospel? Christ came and died for sinners. He was buried; He rose the third day and is available and accessible to sinners. He paid our sin debt so we do not need to anything. Just believe: “Trust and Obey.”

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Dr. Cecil A. Fayard - 2001 SermonsSunday, November 4, 2001

Dr. Cecil A. Fayard - 2001 Sermons
Sunday, November 4, 2001