Sermons and Outlines

Romans 10:1-21

GOD'S PLAN OF SALVATION

Intro: Paul continues his appeal to the Jew. He has already shown them that they have had numerous opportunities in the past to enter God's salvation. However, he wants them to know that God is still working to bring them to faith. This chapter is all about what God is doing to bring men to Himself. In these verses, we are given a crystal clear picture of God's plan of salvation. What we will see is that salvation centers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

One of the common misunderstandings in our day is that man somehow cooperates with God in bringing about salvation. People believe that they must be good to be accepted. Or, that they must do certain things to please the Lord and earn His good favor. However, nothing could be farther from the truth! What we will see here is just what we saw in chapter 9. Salvation is the work of God. Let's examine these words from the Apostle Paul and look into God's Plan Of Salvation.

I. V. 1-4 JESUS THE SAVIOR REVEALED

A. V. 1 The Condition Of Israel - Paul begins this chapter with a clear statement concerning the condition of the Jew. Paul says that the Jew is lost in sin! He wants to see them saved. If we will remember, Paul's burden for his kinsmen was great, Rom. 9:1-3. He wants to see them come to know God and to be delivered from the wrath of God that hangs over them.

(Ill. Would to God that His people would get under such a burden for the lost. I have come to believe that we do really see the terror they face, or the terrible condition they are in at the present moment. While they may appear well and healthy, in reality, they are walking dead men, Eph. 2:1, who live under the constant threat of divine wrath, John 3:18; 36. These are people who, at any moment of time, could be cut off and cast into Hell! They are not promised another moment. Let us learn, like Paul, to love the lost and reach out to them in the name of Jesus with the good news of salvation!)

B. V. 2-3 The Confusion Of Israel - The Jews, in their desire to please God by their works, totally missed the truth that God is pleased through faith alone, Heb. 11:6. True righteousness can never be produced by the works of the flesh. Why? Because the flesh is totally corrupt and incapable of producing anything righteous that will be accepted by God, Isa. 64:6. Israel thought they could please God by keeping His Law. They failed to see that they could never keep the Law and that real righteousness is awarded to those who simply look to God by faith and trust Him and the finished work of Jesus on the cross! This was the example left to them by Abraham, Gen. 15:6.

(Ill. Sadly, many are in that same place today. They are trying to be good so that they can please God and earn a place in Heaven. They hope God will weigh their good against their bad. Their hope is that they will have more good than bad and that God will let them in to Heaven on the basis of their good works. However, the Bible is clear when it tells us that this will never work, Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5. Again, I must remind us all that it is not about what we can do, it is about what Jesus has already done for us!)

C. V. 4 The Conclusion Of The Apostle - What Paul is saying here is that Jesus did what the Law could never do. He makes those who trust Him by faith righteous! We could never keep the Law and please the Lord. However, Jesus lived a sinless life and died in the place of every sinner. He fulfilled the just demands of the Law and set us free from it! He provides righteousness full and free for everyone that will trust Him by faith, 2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 4:18-25. Salvation and righteousness are given to all those who trust Jesus by faith. Paul's conclusion is that salvation can be found in the finished work of Jesus alone!

(Ill. This is not to say that we shouldn't live right. This is one of the big complaints people of other denominations have against us Baptists. They say, and are often right in doing so, that we have low standards. We believe we are saved apart from any effort, that we are saved eternally, and as a result that we live undisciplined and loose lives. This should not be! While we are saved bu pure grace, we are saved to serve the Lord. Not the flesh! Not self. Not the world or the devil. If we are really born again, we are free from the Law, but we are not free to follow sin. In fact, we are free from the bondage of sin and are more able to live for the Lord than we have ever been, Rom. 6:6-18!)

I. Jesus The Savior Revealed

II. V. 5-15 JESUS THE SAVIOR RECEIVED

A. V. 5-10 The Procedure - In these verses Paul teaches us the true path to salvation. He shows what won't work, then he shows us what will work to save man's soul.

1. V. 5 It Isn't Found In Keeping The Statutes - Paul reminds us that righteousness is possible through the Law, but only if a person could keep every precept perfectly and not break even the smallest. Because to break one means a person is guilty of the whole thing, James 2:10. Of course, even if a person were able to perfectly keep the Law, he would still have to deal with the problem of his sinful nature. You see, man isn't a sinner because he sins, man sins because he is a sinner, Rom. 3:23; Gal. 3:22. We are born in sin, we just prove the reality of our sinful nature by the things we do.

2. V. 6-7 It Isn't Found In Great Signs - Paul is quoting from Deuteronomy. He is telling his readers that no one needs to look to Heaven for signs or the earth for sings. Just as no one has to go to Heaven to get bring down the Law, Jesus has already come down from Heaven. Just as no one has to search the seas to find the way, Jesus has come to make and be the way.

These are confusing verses, but the emphasis seems to be on the thought that no personal effort is required. The seeker is not required to perform some sort of mystical, fantastic scavenger hunt to find Jesus. He has already come and made the way clear. Jesus had already taken care of everything for us!

3. V. 8-10 It Is Found In Simple Surrender - Paul tells the readers that their entrance into salvation is as close to them as their own heart and their own mouth. They have everything they need to be saved present with them. All they need to do is go about it God's way. Paul tells us that the heart and the mouth are involved in this matter of our salvation. Let's examine these two processes carefully. After all, our eternity depends on our coming to Jesus God's way!

1. The Mouth - It is to confess the Lord Jesus. The Word "confess" carries the idea of "saying the same thing about". God wants the lost sinner to come to the place where he can say the same thing about Jesus that God the Father has already said about Him. God wants us to come to the place where we are in agreement with everything the Bible says concerning the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Such as:

A. His virgin birth

B. His sinless nature

C. His Lordship

D. His substitutionary death on the cross

E. His bodily return

F. His ascension into glory

G. His intercessory work

H. His visible return

All of these are essential to salvation! You cannot treat Jesus like He is a buffet. You cannot select the part of Him you like while rejecting the part of Him you do not like. The mouth is required to confess the truth about Who He is! So, the first step is agreement with God about the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

2. The Heart - The ancients saw the heart as the center of all thought, the house of the will, the deepest and most sacred part of man. Paul is saying that to be saved, a person must place his absolute trust in the finished work of Christ. He mentions the resurrection. However, a resurrection presupposes a death. So, Paul wants lost men to know that is they will be saved, they must believe in the completed work of Jesus with all their beings. The idea being that we are to trust what He did on the cross and at the tomb alone for our salvation! It is to be Jesus and Jesus alone that is the object of faith! He must not be wedded with anything else, but He must be trusted exclusively. Anything less that total trust in the Lord Jesus will not produce salvation, but will lead the sinner straight to Hell.
(Ill. Sadly, many are trying to hold Jesus with one hand and other things with the other. This will not work! Salvation is Jesus plus nothing! That is made clear many times in the Word of God, Acts 16:31; John 3:16; John 6:47; Eph. 2:8-9 The question we need to answer for ourselves is this: "What am I trusting to get me to Heaven right now?")

B. V. 11-13 The Promises - When we come to faith the right way, God's way, we are given some precious promises. Notice what they are.

1. V. 11 Assurance - We are reminded here that when we trust Jesus according to God's plan, we will never be disappointed. We will never hear Him tell us, "I'm sorry, but I can't save you." No! Instead, we will hear Him say, "Well done thou good and faithful servant." No one who trusts Jesus for their soul's salvation need ever fear losing it or being ashamed when they face Him in the next life!

2. V. 12 Acceptance - This verse tells us the precious truth that God does not play favorites. Anyone who hears His call and responds in faith will be saved by the grace of God. You see, there are many places here on this earth where you and I would not be accepted. Yet, when we come to the Lord by faith, we can and will be saved and accepted of Him. Compared to that, what else really matters?

3. V. 13 Amnesty - Here the promise is confirmed. We are reminded that whosoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. By the way, to "call on the name of the Lord" means to call His way! Not on your terms, but His! This word has reference to a time when to "call upon the Lord" meant to seek God is a way He had prescribed. So, when someone says, "God and I have an arrangement." You can bank on the fact that they are lost. They may be calling on the lord, but they are not calling on the Lord Jesus! No one who comes will be turned away, John 6:37. Those who come are said to be saved. This word means "to be rescued from all harm and danger." That is, the redeemed child of God need never fear being cast out or cast away. When God saves a soul, He saves that soul forever, John 6:37-40; Eph. 4:30; John 10:28; 1 Pet. 1:5. We are granted eternal, divine amnesty and will never be brought into judgment for our sins ever again!

C. V. 14-15 The Provision - How did all this come about? Paul wants us to know that it was all the work of God. It may end with the sinner calling on the Lord for salvation, but it began with the Lord raising up a messenger to take to word of life to a lost and dying world. This reminds us of that which we have already learned. Salvation is God's work and He accomplishes it all by Himself!

I. Jesus The Savior Revealed

II. Jesus The Savior Received

III. V. 16-21 JESUS THE SAVIOR REJECTED

A. V. 16-20 Their Rejection Is Confusing - Israel had the prophets. They had the Law of God. They had heard the report of the coming Messiah and they had even had the Messiah in their midst. They had even seen the Lord turn to the Gentiles and save many of them. In fact, during Paul's day the Gentiles were pouring into the kingdom of God while the Jew steadfastly refused to believe. It is confusing that they were able to sin against so much light and still not come to God. They heard and they knew, yet they refused to believe!

(Ill. While this is truly confusing, it is no more so than those who come into our modern churches where the Word of God and the Gospel are preached. These people hear the truth and they know the truth, yet they refuse to come to Jesus. Why? I don't know! I suppose it all goes back to what we learned in chapter 9, man is dead in sin and headed to Hell until he is awakened to his condition by the grace of God. They are like the Jews in Jesus' time. He said this about them in Matt. 13:13; "because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand." It is a situation for which there are no easy answers and no easy cures! However, it is the way things are and we must accept them by faith!)

B. V. 21 Their Rejection Is Continuing - Here the Apostle quotes the prophet Isaiah to remind them of His love and His patience toward them. Even though they have and continue to reject Him, He still reaches out to them and wants them to turn to Him. Throughout their history, Israel had been guilty of rejecting the clear path they had been given by God and of choosing their own path to Him. They attempted to reach God through self-effort and self-righteousness. Both of which failed terribly. This condition of Israel was spoken of by the Lord Jesus in a parable given in Luke 14:21-24. Because they refused to come, He turned to others. This was also the reason for the words of Christ in Matt. 23:37, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" They had been given God's plan of salvation, but they refused to follow it. As a result, they came under His condemnation and judgment. Such will be the case of every sinner who refuses to repent and honor God's plan for the salvation of his soul!

Conc: If we can learn anything from this passage, may we learn the truth that God only has one plan of salvation. It is not a Jewish plan, nor is it a Baptist plan. If we expect to miss Hell and to go to Heaven when we leave this world, then we must come to God on His terms. We must reject every work of the flesh and every attempt to get there on our own. Let us do as Peter commanded in 2 Peter 1:10, "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:" be certain you have come to God on His terms and that you are truly saved tonight. Are you saved?