If: A Big Word With Two Letters" Series

“IF: A BIG WORD WITH 2 LETTERS” Romans 10:1-13

FBCF – 10/12/25

Jon Daniels

INTRO – Gas pump video last week – PSA for railroad crossing:

- STOP

- LOOK

- LISTEN

- LIVE

The plan according to the railroad folks is that, IF you’ll do the first 3 things, you will live. IF you choose NOT to do those first 3 things, you will place yourself in a very dangerous position & may die.

This is what we need to do today:

- STOP – You’ve stopped your busy life to be here today, & that’s not by accident or coincidence. It’s by God’s design.

- LOOK – Look at your life, the condition of your heart, the level of your faith & commitment to Jesus, or if there is even a commitment to Jesus.

- LISTEN – Listen for the voice of God speaking to your heart today. Hebrews 3:15 – “Today, IF you heart His voice, do not harden your heart…”

- LIVE – IF you’ll do those first 3 things, there’s a great possibility that you will live & live forever if you commit your life to Christ. But IF you choose NOT to do those things, there’s the real possibility that you will NOT live & be forever separated from God in a very real place called hell.

EXPLANATION – Romans 10:1-13

Suppose you were standing in line at Sullivan’s or sitting at a TCA game & someone behind you speaks to you & says, “Hey! Don’t you go to FBCF?” You reply, “Yes, I do.” “Aren’t y’all a Christian church?” “Yes, we are.” “Well then, can you tell me how to be sure that I’m going to go to heaven when I die?” What would you say? Many of you would know how to answer them. You might take your evangelism bracelet off & share it w/ them. Or you might share the Roman Road to salvation or the FAITH Evangelism outline or pull out a Gospel tract or go to THE BEST NEWS app on your phone.

But if you don’t have a clear understanding of the Gospel, then you might answer that the same way the Jewish people would answer in v. 1-3.

- “You’ve got to have a zeal for God” - an “enthusiasm for God” (NLT) & “cling to your own way of getting right w/ God” & TRY real hard.

- TRY to live a good life

- TRY to keep the 10 commandments

- TRY to do enough to satisfy God’s requirements

- TRY to appease God & HOPE you've done enough

- TRY to make God happy & TRY to keep Him happy

Paul had a deep love for his fellow Jews & a deep desire for them to be saved. In fact, salvation is the main issue in Rom. 9-11. Paul’s heart was heavy for the Jews due to their misguided & misdirected zeal like so many people have today. They were sincere about God, but their sincerity was based on establishing their own righteousness on the basis of obeying the law instead of Christ alone.

- Philippians 3:9 – “I am not dependent upon any of the self-achieved righteousness of the Law. God has given me that genuine righteousness which comes from faith in Christ.” (Phillips)

Truth is that many sincere, religious people are just flat wrong in their beliefs about how a person goes to heaven. Sincere Muslims are wrong – Sincere Mormons & Jehovah’s Witnesses are wrong – Sincere Buddhists & Hindus are wrong – Sincere churchgoing Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians & nondenominational folks are wrong IF their sincerity is based on their church attendance, how many Bible studies they attend, family history & heritage, or the size of the offerings or the size of their study Bibles.

- “…human effort, no matter how sincere, can never substitute for the righteousness God offers us by faith. The only way to earn salvation is to be perfect - & that is impossible. We can only hold out our empty hands & receive salvation as a gift.” (Note on Rom. 10:3-5, Life Application Study Bible, p. 2241).

APPLICATION – You can be confident of your salvation today!

Paul said, “Dear brothers, the longing of my heart & my prayer is that the Jewish people might be saved.” (TLB) May I use Paul’s words & say this to you today: “Dear brothers & sisters, the longing of my heart & my prayer is that the people under the sound of my voice right now might be saved!” So today, I’m preaching a message of confirmation: That you would confirm that you ARE saved or confirm that you need to BE saved.

2 Corinthians 13:5 – “Check up on yourselves. Are you really Christians? Do you pass the test? Do you feel Christ’s presence & power more & more within you? Or are you just pretending to be Christians when actually you aren’t at all?” (TLB)