The Kind Of People God Wants Us To Be Series

The Kind of People God Wants Us to Be

The Book of Romans

Romans 10:12-21

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - September 11, 2016

(Revised April 21, 2021)

BACKGROUND:

*Please open your Bibles to Romans 10. Most of you know that the big picture in Romans 9-11 is that Paul was led by the Holy Spirit to discuss the Jewish nation. Warren Wiersbe explained that "It seems strange that Paul would interrupt his discussion of salvation and devote a long section of three chapters to the nation of Israel, but a careful study of Romans 9-11 reveals that this section is not an interruption at all. It is a necessary part of Paul's argument for justification by faith." (1)

*All three chapters connect back to the central truth Paul stated in Romans 1:16-17. There the Apostle proclaimed: "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith.'"

*That's the big picture, but as always, God has something to say to us in His Word. And tonight's Scripture helps us see the kind of people God wants us to be. Please think about that as we read Romans 10:12-21.

MESSAGE:

*What kind of person are you? There are literally dozens of ways we could answer that question. Some of us are tall. Some of us are short. Some of us are younger. Some of us are not.

*There are dozens of different ways we could describe ourselves. But hopefully, all of us could say we are Christians. Hopefully, all of us could say we are sure we are going to Heaven, not because we have been good enough, but because we have received Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior.

*We believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for our sins. We also believe that Jesus rose again from the dead. We know that the only way to get to Heaven is to trust in the Risen Lord, and we did this at some point in our lives.

*We are Christians, and some of us have been Christians for many years. But do you think any of us have lived a perfect life this past week? If you do think you've been perfect this week, I'd really like to talk to you later.

*One day a man walked up to Evangelist D. L. Moody, and this man said that he had no sin in his life. Mr. Moody just replied, "Well, I would like to ask your wife about that." (2)

*Richard Wilson said, "Some folks think they are good really good people. Let's suppose that a person only sins 3 times a day: A sin in the morning, a sin during the day and a sin at night. Sounds like a pretty good person! But if that person lives to be 70 years old, they will commit 76,650 sins in their lifetime." (And that doesn't include leap years!) (3)

*The reality is that all of us have sinned a lot more than we think. Some of us are doing a lot better than others, but all of us need to live better lives. And the good news is that we can! Tonight's Scripture helps by showing us the kind of people God wants us to be.

1. FIRST, GOD WANTS US TO BE SAVED.

*We saw this truth last time in vs. 12-13, where Paul said, "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For 'whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.'''

[1] PLEASE NOTICE HERE THAT GOD'S SALVATION IS ABUNDANT.

*Paul makes this truth clear in vs. 12, where he said, "The same Lord over all is RICH unto all that call upon Him." In Ephesians 3:8 Paul called the Gospel "the unsearchable riches of Christ!" That means we can't even begin to find out how big God's riches are! They are inexhaustible and beyond our comprehension.

[2] SO GOD'S SALVATION IS ABUNDANT TO ALL WHO BELIEVE. IT'S ALSO AVAILABLE TO ALL WHO WILL BELIEVE.

*Again in vs. 12-13, "There is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto ALL who call upon Him. For 'WHOEVER calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.''' Hallelujah! That includes you, -- if you have called upon the Lord Jesus Christ to receive Him as your Lord and Savior.

*God's love on the cross was equal for everyone in the world. That's why preachers have asked people to plug their own names into John 3:16. "For God so loved (Rick and you and you) that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." On the cross of Jesus Christ, there was nobody in the world that the Lord loved more than you!