Romans 10:5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
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:)
7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Paul was directed to begin our text by exposing the fallacy of law keeping. Those who claim to live by law keeping are obligated to live by the law. Failure to keep the law perfectly equals failure to meet God’s righteous standard and thus no eternal life.
Leviticus 18:5 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.
James 2:10 declares:
James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
The problem is not with the law of God. The problem is that no man can keep the law of God perfectly, and yet if a person wants to claim to do that, they must keep it perfectly. That person is obliged not to sin if law keeping is the means of salvation. No man can keep the law of God perfectly. That is why God stated in Romans 10:4 that Jesus Christ is the end of the law of righteousness to every one that believeth.
This is not a copout for not keeping the law. It is not a statement that suggests we can break the law of God as long as we claim to believe in Jesus Christ. There are far too many people who live by that heresy. They will be shocked to find out it did not work out well for them. We can know this because God is very clear on this if we take Him at His Word. If we pick His Word apart and rework what God actually says, we can come up with all kinds of heresies.
In verse 5 of our text, we see once again that small word “but”. The contrast to law keeping as the means of righteousness is that the righteous shall live by faith. Those who are saved believe that Jesus Christ paid the penalty of sin and that they live for God by the power of God in their hearts. They know that as saved individuals they are required to keep the law, and they seek to do so by living by faith in Jesus Christ.
The born again child of God does not have a list of God’s laws hanging from his wall. He does not look at that list every night and check off which ones he kept. He has the law of God written on his heart and by faith he seeks to follow God’s law. His nature has been changed from the moment of salvation and now he has a different motivation for doing right. The love of God in his heart motivates Him to do right. When he fails, he does not make light of it. He seeks God’s forgiveness and he seeks to implement God’s way of escape from temptation more diligently.
In verses 6-7 we are reminded that the saved person cannot doubt the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ nor can he doubt that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. It is a fact that Jesus Christ is alive. It is a fact that He is seated on the right hand of His Father in glory. It is by faith that the saved person conducts himself in a way that pleases God.
In verse 8 we see that the Word of God is close at hand. The Jews already knew the truth. Earlier in this book we were reminded that God gives every person a conscience and in that conscience every person knows the necessary facts that the Holy Spirit uses to seek to draw the lost person to Christ. The problem is that the flesh is actively involved in seeking to keep the person lost.
The Jews had been given the truth from the time of Abraham. They were to be the world evangelists. The problem for them was that they rejected that call of God. They are an expanded picture of Jonah in some ways. The nation of Israel chose to adopt the paganism that was all around them, rather than submit to the will of God. Individual Jews have been saved, but the nation is lost to this day. The point is that the Word of God was not some mysterious mythology. It was expanded to Moses and passed on to the nation of Israel.
In verse 9 we see that little word “if”. The person that would be saved is the one who hears the Word of God and believes it in his heart. He will demonstrate his faith by confessing the Lord Jesus with the mouth. We have mentioned before that a saved person cannot be a foul mouthed person. He cannot walk around with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth or in his hand. He cannot have a bottle of beer in hand or at his table. There are many other things that cannot be a part of a true child of God’s life. It does not fit with confessing the Lord Jesus. This is not law keeping. It is motivated by the new nature that God provides at the moment of salvation.
In spite of what too many preachers have claimed, Jesus Christ is not that cool dude that kind of slithers onto the bench beside the lost sinner and kind of nudges his shoulder and gives him a wink. Jesus Christ ate with publicans and sinners. They all knew Who He was and what He taught. They were under conviction of their sin. Some like Zacchaeus were saved. Others asked Him what they needed to do to be saved. They prided themselves in keeping the law. Jesus exposed their wrong faith and that is why He was hated by so many. The elites hated Him and they lied to the people and caused many of the people to hate Him as well. Each person will be held accountable for their own actions. Yes, we can accept wrong influences, but ultimately, we have a conscience that helps us to discern truth from error. To build on error is foolish. Submit to God’s leading and follow after truth.
In verse 10 we see that the heart must be involved in true salvation. It is more than head knowledge. In our church we have a memory verse for every Sunday. That gives opportunity to memorize approximately 52 verses in a year. We repeat some of them because it is important to review God’s Word and be sure it is fresh in our minds. There are some in our church that memorize the verse of the week in their mind, but it is not in their heart. They are not saved. Hopefully, they will stop fighting and yield to the Word of God and be saved while there is still opportunity. Eventually it will be too late.
In verse 11 we have the promise repeated, that the person who believes on the Lord Jesus shall not be ashamed.
Isaiah 28:16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
The phrase “make haste” speaks of being in a hurry. The saved person walks by faith. He does not need to see the Lord Jesus at the moment of salvation. This again refutes the claim of those who claim they have seen Jesus and that is why they got saved. The saved person is not given a vision of Jesus in our time. He walks by faith. That faith will not make him ashamed. He will eventually be in the presence of the Lord Jesus.
Notice that we must believe on the Lord Jesus. When a person gets saved, they do not write the terms and conditions of their salvation. That has already been written by God. The saved person submits to the Word of God and walks by faith. He trusts in the promises of God and glorifies Him in his heart as a true child of God.
Over and over, the Bible makes it clear that the saved person cannot continue on in sin. That is contrary to the new nature. That is contrary to the walk of faith in the Lord Jesus. He can and He does change every one of His children.
John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
That is why the true child of God is not ashamed. God promises him eternal life, and God cannot lie. Jesus Christ is God and He cannot lie. The saved person is fundamentally changed at the moment of salvation and he or she grows in the grace and knowledge of the Lord from that moment on. Sometimes slower than God wants, but there will be growth. Eternal life is a sure fact for each saved person. That eternal life is what motivates the saved person to walk to glorify his God and Saviour.
Pastor Bartel
