Confess and believe
Romans 10:9, Acts 4
Good morning church- glad to have those in house and those online this morning. I hope you have come with a heart open and tender as I title the message confess and believe.
We are in the last week of our series Christianity 101. We are in the book of Romans Chapter 10:9 and then also put your finger also in Acts chapter 4.
Last week we looked at Romans 8:28. “We know that in some things..NO all things God works together for the good of those that love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” We know that if you are not a believer that you cannot claim the promise that all things work out because you are not a believer and that is not your promise.
You cannot stand on God’s promises as a believer and not be a believer.
Our text this morning takes us to the verses where Paul talks about professing our trust in Jesus Christ and confessing Him as Lord.
Romans 10:9-“That if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Confession with your mouth
Remember we have talked how important our words are to the Lord.
Idle words will be addressed (MT. 12), curse words and words of damnation will be addressed (Col 3:8), words of encouragement and words of empathy will be rewarded (1 Thess. 5:11).
So yes, our words of confession and words of adoration to the Lord will not only get his attention, but will bring us into His Presence.
Confess with your mouth and Believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins and was resurrected by God the Father. That if you believe that and not just giving lip service- you are saved, you are assured of going to heaven and Jesus has paid your debt.
THE DEBT HAS BEEN PAID FOR ALL. JESUS WILL NEVER SUFFER DEATH AGAIN. BUT THOSE WHO CONFESS HIM AS LORD AND BELIEVE THAT HE WAS RESSURRECTED WILL BE THE ONES SAVED FROM THE WRATH OF SIN.
Paul in the preceding verses of confession explains it –
Paul’s heart was that the Jews would come to Christ and be saved from the wrath of disbelief.
To explain to them and show them that they cannot possible be righteous in themselves (law) but only through Jesus.
We are only righteous because of what Christ has done for us.
(8) “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, that is the word of faith we are proclaiming;”
What you are confessing has to be the truth (Jesus) and it has to be from the heart (belief)
Illustration
How many of you have corrected your kids when they were small and made them say they are sorry to their brother or sister and their response was something like this… Sorrrrrrrryyyyyyyy. They didn’t mean it, they didn’t want to say it. They only said it because you were standing over them and threatening them with punishment if they did not do it. The only benefit you hoped they would take away is not do it again.
The same would be if an adult prisoner and your sitting amongst a board of people evaluating you to see if you have been rehabilitated and to see if you have learned your lesson to be put back into society. You will probably do whatever it takes to make them believe that you are re habilitated even if you are not.
So that you could get out of that prison.
Apostle Paul knew that the Jews had a mistaken zeal for God because He had until conversion a mistaken zeal for God. Paul was ready to admit to them they had a zeal for God but that it is misdirected. Jewish religion was based upon the meticulous obedience to the law. The law could not save you (he found out by knowing (the truth) of Jesus.
Sabbath law-
Told you exactly how far you could walk on the Sabbath. Not one step farther!
You could not lift more than two twigs of weight.(though all would pull their sheep out of a hole if push came to shove)
No food could be cooked on the Sabbath.
In the event you were sick, you could keep a person from being worse but …YOU COULD DO NOTHING TO MAKE THEM BETTER.
You could not eat pork… they were zealous but they were zealous of their religion and had no relationship with God.
By the Jewish standard, they could earn credit with God like it was a business. It was a matter of law and achievement.
Paul points them back to the fact of calling Jesus Lord- kurios (kur-ree-os). Early Christianity were to say that Jesus was Lord. To call Jesus Lord according to their thinking was to put him on the same level of the emperor and of God himself. To say Lord was to pledge to him obedience, and reverent worship. To have in our hearts Jesus as unique.
For us to be followers of Jesus Christ, He must be Lord and we must have a sense of him being utterly unique to everything else in our lives.
confessing him as Lord
Believing that He was raised from the dead.
To not only believe that He lived…but that He lives!
It is a witness to others that you believe…to acknowledge to the Lord and to acknowledge to others what you have done and who’s side that you on.
To the Jews to believe that the way to God was not by the law- to put their trust in Jesus was incredibly hard to grasp.
That everyone who calls upon the name of Jesus could be saved-even the Gentiles.
No one was as close to God as the Jews!
“Everyone who calls upon the name of Jesus will be saved.” That was without limitation.
In essence, this passage was an appeal to the Jews to abandon legalism and embrace grace!
Many in society today have said at one time the words to a sinners prayer- confessed Jesus as Lord but have not lived up to that truth- when a society that professes that 73-75% of the people in the United States are believers but live far away from the truths of God- there is a problem and it is not with the Lord!
Head knowledge is not saving knowledge and heart knowledge not lived out is a dangerous way to live as a believer.
How could the disciples live out their faith? We saw many backslide, fall short, but we also seen many that once they had their own Damascus road experience they live out their faith right up to most of them losing their life on this earth for Jesus to be welcomed into eternity with the promises of God.
Turn to Acts Chapter 4 in your bible.
You see Peter and John are in the square speaking to the people proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. Verse (2) says they were greatly disturbed at them- I think that was a gentle way of saying they were ticked.
Remember the Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead.
They were the rich aristocrats that made a lot of money and did not want an outburst to upset the Romans. Because they would suffer lost in their pockets.
They seized Peter and John and threw them in prison for the night with plans to severely deal with them in the morning.
They cannot hide the fact that thousands of people “believed”
All the big shots who make decisions were there- Annas, Caiaphas, all the teachers of the law. The captain or Sagan of the Temple was there.
There are 2 kinds of courage- (1) Reckless courage where you are not aware of the dangers that face you- you just plow ahead. (2) Much deeper courage in which you know the perils you will face and you refuse to be daunted by them. Peter understood that he was standing in front of the wealthiest, most intelligent, and most powerful men in the land.
He knew this was the same court of men that condemned Jesus to death.
Peter the fishermen knew he was taking his life in his hands.
They drag these men out to question them- “By what power or what name did you do this?”
Paraphrased-
Who do you two uneducated fishermen think you are to do what we have warned you not to do?
Nobody could be that stupid… what power do you think you would be able to do that in?
What name and who’s permission do you have to speak when we told you to shut up and be quiet.
Going back to the question asked a minute ago- How could the disciples live out their faith? Here’s the answer from God’s word.
Under the power of the Holy Spirit!!!! (not their own strength)
(8) “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: Rulers and Elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: it is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.”
(13)”When they saw how boldly Peter and John spoke, and when they grasped the fact that they were men with no special knowledge and no special qualifications, they were amazed; and they recognized them for men who had been in the company of Jesus.”
Filled with the Holy Spirit of the Lord, their loyalty was only to Him.
We see the enemy attacks and we see Christian’s strength.
“unlearned” no special talents, no special qualification- it was a God things and they were amazed and perplexed one version say- they saw it but did not totally understand it but they knew it was a God thing!
They knew anything this world threw at them was not permanent, that their allegiance was on their Lord.
The powerful name of Jesus (The power is in the name of Jesus)
(12) “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
They were not living on grandma’s faith.
They were not living on somebody else’s relationship with Jesus- they were living in the truth of who Jesus was for them.
They had experienced for themselves the power of God and it was real to them.
They were willing to stake their lives on the power and saving knowledge of almighty Jesus!
They prayed for courage- Godly courage- they did not pretend they could do in their own strength- if the Lord didn’t show up they would be killed and they knew the risk and lived their faith they were going to be a witness even if it cost them their lives.
They remembered his suffering and how he triumphed and they were will to stake their life he would do the same for them.
Close-
Our confessing is our profession of what is in our heart that Jesus is Lord
We acknowledge his authority in our lives
We acknowledge him as master in our lives- it is submission
We are pledging our resources and talents to Him
We are witnessing before men that He is Lord and not ashamed of the gospel and Jesus.
That we will fight the good fight of faith until Jesus brings us home to be with Him for eternity.
Illustration
There is the old story of a king who was once touring a prison. The prisoners fell on their knees before him to proclaim their innocence—except for one man, who remained silent. Inmate after inmate fell down and proclaimed their innocence except for one man. The king called to him, “Why are you here?” “Armed robbery, Your Majesty,” was the reply. “And are you guilty?” “Yes indeed, Your Majesty, I deserve my punishment.” The king then summoned the jailer and ordered him, “Release this guilty wretch at once. I will not have him kept in this prison where he will corrupt all the fine innocent people who occupy it. ”They say that confession is good for the soul. One of the most basic confessions in the life of a Christian is the confession one makes about Jesus. For the Christian, the confession is the door through which one walks to get into the room where God is. There is of course much more to it than that, but the confession we make as a Christian is the beginning. The Apostle Paul is definitely thinking about his in Romans 10:9 when he writes, “That if you confess with your mouth, ’Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Paul goes on to state that obedience to God will follow for the one who trusts in God.
