“How Are Men Saved?”

TEXT: Romans 10:5-13 – Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee – January 9, 2005

REVIEW

1. Theological Way of Salvation: God has taken the guilty and granted them eternal life. He has done that by the work of a substitute. Jesus Christ lived and died for the elect. The Holy Spirit now powerfully calls the elect to faith, applying the benefits of Christ’s redemption to us.

2. Practical Way of Salvation: But how can families be saved? How are we to experience this new life? What can we do to be Christians? How can a man find new life? Not by zeal alone. Many Jews had a zeal for the Law, a zeal for God, a zeal for righteousness, even a zeal for being submissive to God in many ways. Yet they were ignorant of God’s righteousness, they sought to establish their own righteousness, and were thus deeply unsubmissive to the righteousness of God.

TODAY’S PASSAGE:

Romans 10:5-13 ⁵ For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, "The man who does those things shall live by them." ⁶ But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?' " (that is, to bring Christ down from above) ⁷ or, " 'Who will descend into the abyss?' " (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸ 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 preach): ⁹ that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame." ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. ¹³ For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved."

The First Issue: God’s Glory

Ian Hamilton, writing in the January issue of The Banner of Truth makes this important observation about the system of biblical doctrine that people refer to as Calvinism:

This is what so many miss in their assessment of, or espousal of, Calvinism. It is not first and foremost a theological system; it is more fundamentally a ‘religious attitude’, an attitude that gives inevitable birth to a particular, precise, but gloriously God-centered and heart-engaging system of theology. It needs to be said loudly and often, that the ‘formative principle’ of Calvinism is not, then, what so many imagine, the doctrine of predestination, but the glory of the Lord God Almighty! The fundamental question posed in Calvinism is not, then, ‘How can I be saved?’, but ‘How shall God be glorified?’.

I hasten to add that I use the word Calvinism here only to accurately quote Hamilton’s excellent point. I believe that what is rightly called “Calvinism” is only the true understanding of a biblical writer such as Paul. The point, then, is that the fundamental question posed by Paul’s theology is not, ‘How can I be saved?’ but ‘How shall God be glorified?’ I hope that you hear that message loudly and often from this pulpit, since I am convinced that it is the most pastoral and loving message I can bring to you. You will never have true Christian joy, until you embrace the biblical truth that everything is about God’s glory.

This may seem like something of an odd introduction to a sermon entitled “How Are Men Saved?” Yet as we examine the teaching of Paul on the practical aspects of how we become true Christians, we will only rightly appreciate his answer if we accept the truth that the first issue for Paul, and for God, is the Lord’s own glory. We become Christians in the way that God has determined to be most consistent with His own glory.

When we talk about becoming Christians, we are not speaking merely of some label. We are speaking of moving from a condition of being dead in sin to being made alive in Christ. Yet we recognize that God alone has perfect knowledge of another man’s salvation. That is why all creation groans for the revealing of the sons of God, a revelation that will only be complete with the return of Christ.

Yet we can know who professes the true religion, and this is not some small thing. We do not have a born-again-o-meter that would give us an infallible knowledge of the effectual calling of God’s Spirit. We must hear what people say and see how they live. In an official way, the elders of the church evaluate this when they receive and dismiss members in the church. The work of the church in admitting families is based on hearing a true profession of faith and repentance. If conscientiously undertaken, this determination is the most authoritative thing that we can know about who is right with God today. Perhaps this is why Jesus says to His disciples that their use of the keys of the kingdom on earth will not be overruled from heaven (Matthew 16:19, 18:18). We may disagree with the work of the church in one case or another. The Lord tells us that by their fruits we will know them (Matthew 7:16), but he does not give the keys of his kingdom to individual Christians. He gives them to the officers of the church.

The Righteousness of the Law and the Righteousness of Faith

How is a person right with God? Moses writes about the righteousness of the Law in Leviticus:

Leviticus 18:1-5 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ² "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'I am the LORD your God. ³ According to the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ordinances. ⁴ You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the LORD your God. ⁵ You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.’

This is clear. Obey and live. Disobey and die. This system is perfectly holy and just. The problem is that we are not! The end result of that system is death.

But there is another way of righteousness, and it too was known by Moses, for by it Moses was made right with God. Remember that Moses could not be righteous by the Law, though he was a truly great man. Yet he was not even allowed to go into the Promised Land because of his sin. His access into heaven itself came only through faith in the Messiah who would one day come from heaven, die for us, and rise from the dead. This coming Messiah was the hope of Moses, and he wrote about Him.

Deuteronomy 30:1-14 ¹¹ "For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. ¹² It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' ¹³ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' ¹⁴ But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. "

Moses was preaching to the people a message of repentance and restoration. Repentance implies existing sin, which one turns away from. Where repentance could lead to restoration, there must be something else happening beyond the righteousness that comes through the Law. Moses was writing about God’s grace. He wrote mysteriously about a Word that is very near you, in your mouth, and in your heart. You did not have to go to heaven to bring this Word down to you, or go over the sea of death (see also the second commandment – waters under the earth) in order to get this Word.

Paul tells us that the Word of which Moses spoke is the Word of faith in Christ preached to you. It is the Word of the One who came from heaven to earth in the incarnation. It is Word of the Lord who rose victorious from the seas of death and now appears before the Father as our Advocate.

How then…

How then can we be right with God? We cannot be right through the works of the Law. By the works of the Law we will only face the condemnation of death and hell. We can only be right with God the way that Moses was right with God – through the righteousness that comes by the Word of faith in the precious cornerstone that is a sure foundation for the man who trusts in Him (Isaiah 28:16).

You need to confess the faith with your mouth and believe it in your heart. You confess your trust in the Lord Jesus who died and rose again. Then you will be saved from the wrath to come that stands against all those who insist that they will be right with God through any other means than the finished work of Jesus Christ.

What is the belief of the heart? You heart is your innermost being biblically. At the depths of your being, your confession of faith in Christ must be true. You need to truly trust Him. Words of hypocrisy will save no one.

What then is this confession of the mouth? We are greatly aided in answering this question by Paul’s quote of Joel 2:32. “Whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” To confess with the mouth, is what the prophet Joel spoke of as calling on the name of the Lord. To call on the name of the Lord with sincerity is to believe in your heart when you speak with your mouth. But where and when do you speak with your mouth to be counted as one of those saved from the wrath of God?

Joel is clear on this point. You call on the name of the Lord in the sacred assembly. The people of God were facing and feeling God’s imminent judgment in that day. The prophet told them to call upon the name of the Lord. He instructed them to believe in God and to turn away from sin, and to do this as a part of His worshiping assembly. Remembering that the word “assembly” is the one used for the “church” of God in both the Old and New Testaments, note these two passages from Joel:

Joel 1:14 ¹⁴ Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land Into the house of the LORD your God, And cry out to the LORD.

Joel 2:11-18 ¹¹ The LORD gives voice before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is the One who executes His word. For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; Who can endure it? ¹² " Now, therefore," says the LORD, "Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning." ¹³ So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. ¹⁴ Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him -- A grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God? ¹⁵ Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; ¹⁶ Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room. ¹⁷ Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, "Spare Your people, O LORD, And do not give Your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?' " ¹⁸ Then the LORD will be zealous for His land, And pity His people.

For the glory of His own name the Lord appoints that people will call upon His name as worshippers. They will confess their trust in the Word from heaven who died and rose again. Believe in Him with all your heart. Confess Him with your lips. Repent before Him, and sing to Him with joy.