"the Fulfillment Of The Law"

“The Fulfillment of the Law”

Romans 10:5-15

We are finishing our Sermon Series on Paul’s Letter to the Romans this morning.

This letter to the early Church in Rome contains some of the Church’s most important theological writings.

At the same time, they can be challenging to understand and preach, so I am trying to make them as accessible as possible.

It is essential to grasp Romans because much of our understanding of salvation by grace through faith alone is contained here.

(pause)

In his book, “Organic Church,” author Neil Cole tells a story about a young man named Sean.

He writes that “Sean was an outstanding musician before drugs took everything away from him.”

Eventually, Sean started coming to the church Cole pastored and he was baptized in the ocean.

He stayed clean for a while, but when he moved back home he fell into bondage once again.

Cole tried to talk Sean into rehab, but Sean refused and begged for another option.

“Well, there is one other radical option we could try,” Cole told Sean, “You and I get in the car right now and drive over and tell your drug dealer about Jesus.”

His drug dealer was a mother.

She lived next door to Sean in an apartment building and supplied drugs for the local kids.

Sean shared the Gospel with her.

From that point on, Sean never took drugs again.

He was free.

The power of the Gospel received and also given to another transformed his heart.

Sean’s drug dealer didn’t become a Christian that day, but her 14-year-old son did.

Within a year or so, she became a Christian as well.

(Pause)

In our Scripture passage, we just read Paul writes, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?

And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?

And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?

As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’”

Paul is telling us this morning that salvation is found in Jesus.

But, “Declaring with our mouths and believing in our hearts that Jesus is Lord” means to have a deep and inner trust in Christ, beyond mere intellectual assent or beyond just mouthing the words.

To say, “Jesus is Lord” is to give our complete allegiance to the One Who has loved us before the dawn of time.

When we believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, we are raised to live with Him.

And as those who are raised to live with Him, our job is to introduce Him to others.

It’s really a means of grace, whereby we are blessed and sustained in our faith.

John Wesley used to tell his preachers who were having a tough time, “Preach it until you believe it.”

When I was 18 years old, I was a major headbanger.

If you don’t know what that means: it’s a term that comes from the 1980s and the popularity of a particular brand of hard rock music called heavy metal.

The lyrics to many of these songs were angry and spoke to a specific group of primarily male adolescents.

If you get too ensconced in this kind of stuff, it can be troublesome if it starts to define who you are.

And so, I did and I was a lost kid.

I had been raised in a Christian household, and therefore, I knew I was lost.

I didn’t want to be lost.

I felt bad about being lost.

But I couldn’t get myself on the right track.

I knew about the Gospel of Jesus Christ but it hadn’t come alive for me.

It was more what others believed in and lived by, but not me…

…although I wanted to.

Then, I made friends with a kid named Tim, who was a head banger as well, but it no longer defined who he was.

When I met him, the first question Tim asked me was, “Are you a Christian?”

And, since I was raised in a Christian home and went to church my entire life, I said “Yes.”

Then, he asked me something even more peculiar to my ears, “So, you believe Jesus is God.”

Not sure what that meant, but because I didn’t know what else to say, I answered, “Yes.”

Tim and I started hanging out and doing things, and as I watched him and how he behaved, it became apparent that his definition of a Christian and my definition were very different.

Tim was actually living what he believed.

It was the first time I had ever met someone my age with the same kind of background that lived like that.