Romans 10:5-13What Must I Do To Be Saved?

WREFC 4/21/19

“What must I do to be saved?” Have you ever asked that question? If not, you should! It’s the most important question that you can ask.

Perhaps some of you are wondering “What do I need to be saved from? As far as I know, no one is out to get me. I don’t know anyone who wants to hurt me. I’m relatively healthy for my age. I don’t need to be cured of a life threatening illness. I pay my taxes on time I’m not afraid of an IRS audit. Over all, I feel relatively safe and secure in my surroundings.”

But let’s put that question in a spiritual context. “What must I do to be saved?” is the same thing as asking “What must I do to avoid a terrible place called hell? And what must I do to gain entrance into a wonder place called heaven?” As you can see, it’s a very important question because the destiny of your eternal soul rests on your answer.

What must I do to be saved? It should come as no surprise to you, that I have a biblical answer to the question. Let’s go to the N.T. Book of Romans for the definitive answer—specifically, Rom.10:5-13.

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First, I will read the passage in its entirety. Then, with God’s help, I will explain what it says, clarify what it means, and encourage you apply what you heard. Today just might be the day where you entered this service not knowing what you must do to go heaven and leave this service knowing that when you die, you’ll go to heaven:

I’m going to begin reading at v.3. Listen for the word righteousness. Count how many times it’s used?

Rd Rom.10:3-13

How many times is the word righteousness used in this passage? 7 times—7 times in 11 verses. As you can see, the emphasis is on righteousness. Knowing what Paul, the inspired writer of Romans, meant by righteousness is key to answering our question—What must I do to be saved?

Many people are confused about the word “righteousness”. At one time, surfers used it to describe the perfect wave. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles use it whenever things go right. I can assure you, that the apostle Paul is not using righteousness with those slang concepts in mind. So, what is righteousness? Why do we need it? How do we get it? What does it have to do with

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salvation and going to heaven? Here’s a basic biblical definition of righteousness:

Righteousness is the state of moral perfection required by God to enter heaven. (1) In other words, righteousness is a right standing with God on His terms, not on my terms or your terms. And we’ll discover what His terms are in the course of my message. So, with that definition of righteousness in mind, let’s take a closer expositional look at v.5:

Rd Rom.10:5a

V.5 is talking about Law righteousness. What’s that? Law righteousness is the attempt to have a right standing with God by keeping the Law of Moses and obeying the 10 Commandments. The Jewish people in Paul’s day thought they could earn salvation by keeping the law. They believed that they could gain entrance into heaven by obeying God’s commandments. The emphasis on law righteousness is on what we do to have a right standing with God.

Notice the word “does” in the 2nd half of v.5. It’s a quote from the O.T. book of Leviticus, chapt.18:Rd Rom.10:5b

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So, the formula for going to heaven is do—do this and live, keep the law and you’ll be saved, obey the commandments and gain eternal life. But here’s the catch. If you want to be saved by keeping the law, you must keep it perfectly. If you want to gain eternal life, you must obey all of God’s commandments completely and continually 100% of the time. The Bible teaches that there is absolutely no room for error.

James, the half brother of our Lord Jesus Christ, said “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. 11 For He who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.” (Jas.2:10-11)

You might say, “Well, I’ve never committed adultery or murdered anyone.” That may be true, but did you ever lie, or steal, or use the Lord’s name in vain just once? The Law is a unit. It all hangs together.

Let’s say you inscribe numbers 1-10 on a glass window. If you take a hammer and forcefully strike any one of those numbers—3,4,7, or 10—the whole window shatters. Likewise, when you break one of God’s commandments, any commandment, just

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once, you shatter the unity of God’s law and that makes you guilty of breaking all ten.

So, here’s the point of v.5. It’s talking about law righteousness—having a right standing with God by keeping the law and obeying His commands. In other words, if you think that you can obey all the laws of God perfectly, 100% of the time, without error, then you’ll have the kind of righteousness that will get you into heaven.

Unfortunately, that’s impossible. The only perfect person who ever lived was the Lord Jesus Christ. Regarding the human race, the Bible is clear:

“There is none righteous, no not one …” (Rom.3:10)

“… There is none who does good, no not one.” (Rom.3:12)

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom.3:23)

All of these verses essentially say the same thing— we’ve all failed to measure up to the principle of Law righteousness.

I hope you get the idea. If eternal life with God in heaven is based on our ability to obey God’s law, we are in deep trouble. We don’t even come close to earning our salvation. As one commentator put

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it “Those who think they are good enough to get into Heaven have either a faulty view of sin, an inflated view of self, or a diminished view of God’s holiness.” (1)

Verse 5 points to a righteousness of the Law. Law righteousness is the wrong way to have a right standing with God.

That brings us to vv.6-13. These verses point to a different kind of righteousness. It’s called the righteousness of faith. Faith righteousness is the right way to have a right standing with God. It’s the only way to be saved. It’s the God backed, sure-fire, guaranteed, real deal, done deal way to spend eternity with God in heaven.

Law righteousness says “DO”—do this and do that and you’ll be saved. Faith righteousness says “DONE”—have faith in what Jesus Christ has done for you. Believe in His finished work on the cross. Trust Him as your Savior and you will be saved. Notice how Paul develops this theme of DONE vs DO in vv.6 & 7:

Rd Rom.10:6-7

This passage contains a quote from Deuteronomy 30. Moses gives his final message to the people of Israel. He reminds the nation that God had already

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revealed Himself to them on Mount Sinai. They could never say they didn’t know what God wanted. No one could say, “I wish God had done more to make Himself clear.” God spoke and He didn’t stutter.

The apostle Paul takes these words of Moses and applies them to the gospel message. If God had spoken through the law, how much more has He now spoken to us through the gospel of Christ.

No one has to say, “I want to bring Christ down from heaven,” because he’s already been here. No one has to say, “I want to bring Christ up from the dead,” because he rose again 2000 years ago.

When it comes to providing salvation, God has already done the hard part. God sent his Son from heaven to earth through the incarnation; He allowed Jesus to be crucified by wicked men and then buried in the tomb. On the third day God raised his Son from the dead. Forty days later Jesus ascended into heaven. You don’t have to go to heaven to try to bring Jesus down; he has already come down. You don’t have to go digging around in the ground as if you have to raise Christ from the dead. God has already done that. The tomb is empty.

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These things would be impossible for you to do anyway. But God did the impossible so that salvation is no longer unreachable. It is not through any works that you might try to accomplish.  Righteousness, having a right standing with God, getting saved and going to heaven, it comes through faith in what Jesus did, not in what you do. V.8 says the message of righteousness by faith is available and accessible:

Rd Rom.10:8

The word is “near you.” What word? The word of the gospel. The Good News of salvation has come near to you. Jesus, the Savior, is within reach. He’s not far away. You don’t have to take a trip into outer space in order to find Him. Jesus Christ is not hiding from you. But if you’re a Law Righteousness person, you are hiding from Him.

A lot of religious people stumble over this very point. They work hard, pay their bills, go to church, give to charity, serve the community, and play by all the rules. They think that Jesus is so far away that they have to work all their lives to get closer to Him. But that’s not what the Bible says.God’s salvation is near to us. He is as near as your heart and your mouth. How near is Jesus to the sinner? Just open the door of your heart and let Him in. Just open your mouth and confess, “Lord

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Jesus, I accept faith righteousness and reject Law righteousness. I receive you as Savior and Lord.

Now, in vv.9-10, the apostle states the content of faith righteousness. He’s actually giving us a definition of saving faith—the kind of faith necessary to secure God’s righteousness and enter God’s heaven:

Rd Rom.10:9-10

Notice the two phrases, “confess with your mouth” and “believe in your heart.” What must you confess with your mouth?—you must confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. The implications of confessing that Jesus is Lord were revolutionary for both Jews and Gentiles in the 1st Century.

The Greek term, rendered “Lord” here, is equivalent to the Hebrew word “Yahweh” the God of the Old Testament. So, for the Jew, confessing Jesus as Lord was the acknowledgment that Jesus was God incarnate—He was the Son of God dwelling in human flesh, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords; the promised Messiah and Savior of the world. Jesus was to be trusted and obeyed as the Lord God.

How would confessing Jesus as Lord affect Gentiles? Gentiles in the Roman Empire thought of

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Caesar as “Lord.” When a Gentile trusted Christ as Savior, He recognized that Jesus was the only One worthy to be called the Lord of his life. It meant that obedience to Caesar must take 2nd place to obedience to Christ. Because the Roman emperors viewed this as treason, many Christians were put to death for confessing Jesus as Lord.

So, whether you were a Jewish Christian or a Gentile Christian, declaring Jesus as Lord set you apart from all others and it put you at risk for martyrdom.

Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord means that you publically announce your allegiance to Jesus Christ. We have a national pledge of allegiance to the American flag: “I pledge allegiance, to the flag, of the U.S.A, and to the republic, for which it stands …”.

How about a pledge of allegiance to the Christian flag! It’s over there to your right: “I pledge allegiance to the Christian flag, and to the Lord Jesus Christ for whose kingdom it stands; one Savior, crucified, risen, and coming again, with life and liberty for all who believe.”

As Lord, God, YHWH, Jesus has supreme authority over your life. We can confess his Lordship in many

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different ways. 19th Century, British Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon gives a helpful list:

By attending public worship services By getting baptized and participating in the

Lord’s Supper By our association with God’s people By leading your family in the ways of God By choosing to stand with Christ in the time of

trial By sharing your faith with those around you By choosing Christ when tempted to sin—like

Joseph when Potiphar’s wife tried to lure him into the bedroom.

In all of these ways we can declare and confess, “Jesus is Lord.” Now, what does it mean to believe in your heart that God the Father raised His Son from the dead? To believe in the resurrection of Christ is to have faith that the resurrection is true. As the angel said at the empty tomb “He is not here for He is risen!” Our faith is in a living Savior. In fact, if you do not believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, you do not have saving faith—it’s a dead faith that saves no one. That’s what Paul said in the resurrection chapter of 1Cor.15: “… if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified

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against God that He raised Christ … and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.” (1Cor.15:14-15a, 17)

The empty tomb is the crux of the Christian faith. Don’t enter eternity without believing in the resurrection earnestly.

Back to Romans 10. The substitutionary death of Christ on the cross is not mentioned here in v.9, but it is implied. For Christ to be raised from the dead, He must have died. Christ’s resurrection proved that His death on the cross could save us and make us fit for heaven. Paul said in Rom.4:25 “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised because of our justification.”

Justification means that God declares us righteous. By faith in the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ we become the righteousness of God in Christ; we have a right standing with God through Christ. That’s what is meant by Faith Righteousness. Faith Righteousness is the opposite of Law Righteousness. The Righteousness of Law is DO; the Righteousness of Faith is DONE.

Jesus done-did everything necessary to save us. Just before His death by crucifixion, He cried out “It is finished”. By that statement, Jesus did not mean “I am finished, the enemy has won, woe is Me!”

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No! when Jesus said “It is finished”, He meant that the work of salvation was complete. Nothing more need be done. Everything that was necessary to provide salvation was accomplished on the cross. He died in our place; He took our punishment; He shed His blood to pay the penalty for our sins. And three days later He rose from the dead. His resurrection proves that He is a living  Savior who gives eternal life to all who believe. God accepted Jesus’ death as the sole payment for our sins. Nothing more need be added. All that is required by sinful men and women to be righteous—to have a right standing with God—is sincere, come-from-the-heart saving faith. Saving faith says…

Forsaking All I Trust Him.

Here’s a step stool that represents Law Righteousness. There’s something I must DO to be saved. Here’s a chair that represents Faith Righteousness. I believe what Christ had DONE for me on the cross so I could go to heaven.

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When I stand on the Law Righteousness stool, what am I trusting in to get me to heaven? I’m trusting in law keeping, obeying the commandments, and doing good works. Will that get me to heaven? No!

When I place one foot on the Law Righteousness stool and the other foot on the Faith Righteousness chair, what am I saying? I’m saying that Faith Righteousness is insufficient. I’m saying that Christ’s death and resurrection is not enough to save me from sin. I need to help God by adding law keeping and commandment obeying and doing good works. Will it get me to heaven? No!

When I place both feet on the chair, what am I standing on … what am I trusting to get me to heaven? I’m trusting in Faith Righteousness. I’m placing my full weight of saving faith on the substitutionary death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to give me a right standing with God.

Paul essentially says the same thing in Phil.3:9: “… [that I] may be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—”

The year was 1859. It was a bright, clear morning. A large crowd had gathered at Niagara Falls to see the famous Blondin walk across on a tightrope. The

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sun glistened on the cascading torrent as it rushed over the precipice. From below came the ceaseless thunder of the plunging cataract.

The world’s greatest tightrope walker briefly tested the taut strand which reached across to the opposite bank. Then, he took his long pole and balancing himself expertly, started across. The crowd followed every move. Step by step he moved forward. The people on the shore reacted nervously to every sharp motion of the balancing pole. But their fears were unnecessary. The great Blondin not only went across safely but returned as well—to the relief and admiration of the people.

Turning to the audience, he now made a sensational offer. He would cross the falls again, this time with someone over his back. Who was willing to go? No one rushed forward to accept his offer. (If you were in the crowd that day, would you be willing to go?) Picking out a man at random, Blondin asked, “Do you believe that I am able to carry you across?” With some hesitation the man answered, “Yes sir.” “Well then, let’s go”, Blondin urged. “Not on your life!” and the man withdrew into the crowd.

And so it went on. One after another expressed great confidence in the tightrope walker, but they would not agree to let him take them across the

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falls. Finally, a young person moved forward to the front of the crowd. Blondin repeated the question: “Do you believe I can carry you across safely?” “Yes I do.” “Are you willing to let me?” “As a matter of fact, I am.” The young man climbed onto the expert’s back. Blondin stepped onto the rope, paused momentarily and moved across the falls without difficulty.

There were many in the crowd who believed that Blondin could do it. But there was only one who trusted him to do it. When it comes to Jesus transporting you across the chasm of sin, death, and judgment to the shore of forgiveness, eternal life, and heaven, do you believe in your heart that He can do it? Are you trusting Him to do it? And what about confessing Jesus as Lord? Confessing Jesus is Lord comes from a heart that truly believes. Believing and confessing; the one leads to the other. What the heart believes, the mouth confesses. And what the mouth confesses is believed in the heart.

There are some who wish to make salvation a private matter. They politely suggest that we mind our own business when we talk to them about their personal relationship with God. Salvation is indeed a personal matter. Each individual must decide what he or she will do with Jesus Christ. Will they trust Him or reject Him?

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While salvation is an individual matter, it cannot be a private matter. God requires that sinners not only believe in Christ personally, but after they get saved, that they take a stand for Christ publically. The N.T. does not give us the option to believe and keep it a secret.

Now, please do not misunderstand what I’m saying. Taking a stand for Christ is not something we do to earn God’s forgiveness. Confessing Christ as Lord publically is simply a statement that we believe in Jesus Christ personally. Trusting Christ will save you. Confessing Christ simply lets others know that you already possess faith righteousness. It’s a public acknowledgment that you have a right standing with God through faith alone in Christ alone who died for your sins and rose again.

When the Philippian jailor asked the apostle Paul, “What must I do to be saved?”, what was his answer? Did Paul say “Get baptized, join a church, take communion, do good works and you will be saved!” No, he answered “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).

What are we saved from? We are not saved from problems and trials, from adversity and struggles, from sickness and disease. These things will be with us to one degree or another throughout our

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lifetime. But what we are saved from is judgment. We are saved from God’s wrath and punishment for our sin. And in vv.11-13 we have God’s gracious invitation to trust Christ as Savior:

Rd Rom. 10:11

You may be ashamed of your friends. You may be disappointed in some of your loved ones. But this partial quote from Isa.28:16 says that you’ll never have any reason to be disappointed in Jesus Christ. You will never regret your decision to follow Christ. A million years from now, you will still be glad that you believed in your heart and confessed with your mouth that Jesus Christ is the living Savior and Lord God of all. As Paul stated in Rom.1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…”.

And notice in the next verse that God doesn’t play favorites. God not only provides salvation for us; His salvation is not only near to us; salvation is not only His gift to us; it’s available to all of us:

Rd Rom. 10:12

No ethnic group can stake a claim on God’s grace. Today we would say that there’s no difference between black and white or Hispanic and Asian.

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There’s no difference between Australian or Malaysian or Haitian. There’s no difference if you’re young or old, rich or poor, educated or non-educated, male or female, religious or atheist.

If you’re already saved and you meet a person who doesn’t look like you, or sound like you, or walk like you, go ahead and share the gospel with them. Salvation isn’t limited to people just like you. V.13 is a quotation from the O.T. book of Joel. It says “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”Suppose you witness an automobile crash. You’re the first person on the scene. You find a man who is obviously near death. What will you say to him? You can’t say, “Come to church,” because he doesn’t have time. You can’t say “Here’s a 45 min. CD with a gospel message by Charles Stanley” because he’ll be dead soon.

Do we have any good news for a dying man? Yes we do. “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Do we have any good news for a healthy man or woman in tip top shape? Yes we do—whoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved; whoever has faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross will be saved from God’s judgment; whoever puts their trust in Jesus Christ who died

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for their sins and rose again will receive God’s forgiveness, secure a right standing with God, and one day spend eternity with Him in heaven.

Some say “That’s so narrow minded. There are many roads to heaven. The Buddhists have one way, the Hindus have another way, the Muslims have their way; the Jews, the Catholics, the Mormons, the Baptists and Methodists all have their way. We’re just taking different roads to get to the same place!  All that matters is that you’re sincere.”  It’s interesting how people want to be open-minded when it comes to their eternal soul, but narrow minded in other areas. As one pastor put it “When I go to the pharmacy I don’t want an open-minded pharmacist. I don’t want him to just start grabbing bottles saying, it doesn’t really matter which medicine I give you…I’m sincere!  No, I want him to understand reality, and the difference between right and wrong, helpful and dangerous!

He also said “I don’t want an open-minded banker. If I deposit $100 I want a receipt for that exact amount. I don’t want him to say ‘numbers are just numbers, we’ll make sure you have somewhere in the neighborhood of what you put

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in.’ No, I want him to be narrow-minded … that 2 plus 2 is always four! (2) All the religions of the world cannot be right. They are either a DO religion or a DONE religion. And Biblical Christianity is the only DONE religion. Salvation is not by doing it’s by believing. Getting right with God is not by trying; it’s by trusting—trusting in Jesus Christ who died for your sins on that first Good Friday and rose again on Easter/Resurrection Sunday.

Last week I suggested a prayer to help you express saving faith in Christ. You didn’t trust Christ then. Maybe you’re ready to trust Him now. Even if you weren’t here last week, you can call on the name of the Lord in prayer.

Remember, the prayer won’t save you. The prayer is just a way to tell God that you’re trusting Christ to save you:

“Heavenly Father, I confess that I’m a sinner and deserve the judgment of hell. But I believe that Jesus Christ took my punishment when He died on the cross and rose again. I believe that Jesus shed His blood to pay the penalty for my sins. I now transfer my trust to the person and work of Jesus Christ, the One who loved me and gave Himself for me—Amen.”

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Did you just call on the name of the Lord to save you? Great! That’s awesome. Now, let someone know of your decision. As we learned from our text, those who truly believe in their hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead will rise up to confess that Jesus is Lord in public. Whoever believes in Him will not be ashamed.

______________________________________________(1)http://www.unionchurch.com/archive/020605.htm (2)https://www.gbcdecatur.org/sermons/WhatDoesItTake.html