Turn with me to the 10th Chapter of Romans. (v 1/20)

We hear  of people being assailed with the question ‘are you saved brother/sister?’.

Whilst we may recognize the commitment of those who indiscriminately ask others

 this question, there is as much lost than is gained.  The mass of people will have no

 understanding what is being asked, and so offence is caused regarding am essential

 part of the Christian faith, which reflects on Christian believers.

 I read of one man’s experience in a theatre, when another man pointed to an empty seat and asked if it was saved.  The first man replied, ‘no, but I am’, and the person      asking quickly moved away.  

Paul speaks of people who have a zeal for God, but such does not lead them to salvation.  The problem is so many people do not believe they need Jesus’ sacrificial death to make them right with God, they can earn that by their own efforts.  Just be honest, be a good citizen, etc.

  In a gospel passage we read of Thomas doubting the telling by the other Apostles of having seen Jesus in his absence.  We should be able to understand the reaction of an ordinary man who had seen Jesus crucified a few days earlier and was now told that in his absence Jesus had appeared physically alive and well.  When Jesus confronted him    later, he made that tremendous confession, ‘my Lord and my God’.

   Such reluctance to believe in the power of Jesus to come alive is mirrored in the lives of so many people to day, who will not accept that a man who died on a Cross 2,000 years ago in a land on the other side of the world was raised from the dead.  More so, that people actually believe he lives on by His Spirit in their lives today and influences their way of life. Even some clergy fail to accept the facts of both His birth and physical resurrection.

  Belief demands commitment and faith and trust, which is not given by the majority, and it is that lack of faith that Paul writes about in his Letter to the Romans.

Paul was specially and uniquely called by God to be an Apostle to the Gentiles, but he never forgot his own Jewish people.  This Letter was directed to the Jews who were        carrying a mistaken belief, but its teaching is equally applicable to us, as all Paul’s Letters are.

   Verses 6/8 show the contrast between the righteousness based on faith, and that which comes from the law, now fulfilled in Christ. There is no need to travel to heaven to bring Christ down. for God has already done that, and no case of bringing Him from the realm of the dead because God has done that too.

The Jews believed all they had to do was obey the Jewish Law which God had given them, and that made them righteous in God’s sight.  The Law however was given to the Jews to show them that is not enough, for no one can keep all the Commandments, and just as with a chain if you break one link the chain is totally broken, so as no one can keep every commandment perfectly, the lot are broken.  The Mosaic Law was given anticipating the coming of Christ, and when Paul states Chris the end, it means the law is no longer binding and is replaced by Christ Himself as the means of salvation.

.       From verses 9/15 is the main thrust of the passage. 

Verse 9 states, ’if you confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved’. The whole Christian message is close to hand, on the lips and in the heart.

  We are in fact at the doctrine of justification by faith; ‘by grace you have been saved through faith, it is not your own doing, it is the gift of God and not by your own works.’  God in great mercy is ready to pardon all who accept that Jesus died on the Cross as a penalty payment for all our individual sins, and God raised Him from the dead.  If we confess that we believe this God grants us His righteousness.

Why do we need God’s grace?; because all men and all women are by nature spiritually dead and separated from God.  Grace is the unmerited favour of God

Grace saves us through faith; nothing more, nothing less. than salvation is by grace.” Something in us always wants to add to God’s free grace. It’s humbling to admit that we can do nothing to earn our deliverance from sin. Grace must be free or else it is not grace at all. Three words; grace, saved, faith. Grace is the source, Faith is the means, and Salvation freely given and received by faith alone is the result. We are saved by grace through faith:

Think what heaven would be like if you had to earn your way there. People would be trying to outbid each other and probably boasting how important they had been in the world.

When I was being inducted the Rural Dean who was a real traditional English gentleman (and there’s not many of us about), introduced me to a man and mentioned some of the position he had held in his Church, and the man was really indignant because some obscure committee was omitted.  There really are people who join the Church for egotistic reasons.     Heaven would be just like that if you had to earn your way there. But it won’t be like that, when Jesus died on the cross, he paid the full price for your salvation. God alone gets the glory in your salvation. Jesus did all the work when he died on the cross.

ace also means that some people may be too good to be saved. That is, they may have such a high opinion of themselves that they think they don’t need God’s grace. They may admit they are sinners but they don’t admit they are spiritually dead. They may think they’re sick because of sin but not truly dead. God’s grace cannot help you until you are desperate to receive it.

We have admit to the fundamental fact that we live in an evil world and we all become tainted and lost, but by the grace of God He gives us an opportunity to come to Christ and be saved. The majority of people do not consider they need saving as they think their lives are already safe.  The thought they are sinners is mortally wounding, as one Vicar discovered when he put a notice outside his church saying this Church is here for sinners; half his congregation were absent the next week.  Sin is not just murder, theft and immorality; it includes pride, jealousy, envy, anger and hatred.

Salvation is never gained by earning it, or by trying to be good, or by the good outweighing the bad, but simply by acknowledging that Jesus Christ has done it all on your behalf.

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." The important thing, therefore, is to bring people to that place. It is not just a routine matter, it involves our whole being. The heart must be involved, that is, the inner consciousness, the deep conviction of the will. Then the mouth must acknowledge it. There must be a willingness to consciously confess that Jesus is Lord,

 

Thank God for His holy Gospel and Praise the Lord Jesus Christ.