Presented to TSA Swift Current Corps, 11 September 2011 and 614 Regent Park 14
February 2016 by Captain Michael Ramsay
To read the original 2011 version click
here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2011/09/romans-109-say-it-know-it-do-it.html
Today we are speaking about 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.” And, Romans 10:13, “For
everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” These are some of
the basics of the whole Christian faith (cf. TSA doc. 7).
Therefore as we launch into our time today,
along these lines I thought that I would share this piece of wisdom that was
presented to us at Officer Camp by Major David Ivany back long before we or he
were Corps Officers here at 614 Regent Park Toronto. He told us:
This senior lady, Emma, she goes into a local Christian bookstore
and sees a “Honk if you love Jesus” bumper sticker. Feeling particularly good
that day because she has just come from a great choir practice and prayer
meeting, she buys the bumper sticker and she put it on her car – professing her
faith publicly. She recalls, “Boy, I’m glad I did! What an uplifting experience
followed!” and then she launches into this story. She remembers stopping at a
red light at a busy intersection just when she first had on her new ‘Honk if
you love Jesus’ sticker. Lost in thought about the Lord and how good He had
been to her, she didn’t notice the light had changed.
“It is a good thing someone else loves Jesus,” she said, “because if
he hadn’t honked, I’d never have noticed that the light had changed!” She then
noted that indeed, lots of people actually love Jesus because while she sat
unmoving, blocking the lane of traffic, the guy behind her also honked like
crazy before leaning out of his window and screaming, “For the love of God! Go!
Go! Jesus Christ, Go!” She remembers thinking, “What an exuberant cheerleader
he was for the Lord!”
Suddenly, it seemed as though she had started an epidemic and
everyone started honking. Impressed by such a response, she leaned out of her
window and started waving and smiling at all these loving people – while she
was still parked in front of the intersection. “I even honked my horn a few
times to share in the love!” she recited. Then she realized the mix of
celebrants. “There must have been a man from Florida back there because I heard
him yelling something about a “sunny beach… I saw another guy waving in a funny
way with only his middle finger in the air. I asked my teenage grandson in the
back seat what that meant, and he suggested that it was probably an Hawaiian
good luck sign or something…”
The woman admitted that she had never met anyone from Hawaii before
and was unaware of their customs. “I leaned out the window and gave him the
good luck sign right back,” she reminisced.
She also remembers that a few persons were so caught up in the joy
of the moment that they got out of their cars and started walking towards her.
“I’ll bet they wanted to pray or ask what church I attended but that was when I
noticed that the light had changed. So, I waved to all my loving sisters and brothers
in Christ, grinned joyously, and drove on through the intersection. I noticed
that I was the only car that made it through the intersection before the light
changed again and I felt kind of sad that I had to leave them after all the
love we had shared, so I slowed the car down, leaned out of the window and gave
them all the Hawaiian good luck sign one last time before I sped away.”
I love this story.
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.” And, Romans 10:13, “For everyone who calls on the
name of the Lord will be saved.”
These two verses are two critical verses to
that famous ‘Romans Road to Salvation’ so I thought that we would visit them
today. The passage has in it a ready-made 3 points:
1) Romans 10:9: “That if you confess with
your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’
2) Believe in your heart that God raised
him from the dead, you will be saved.”
“For ...” 3) Romans 10:13, “everyone who
calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
1) Confess Jesus as Lord with your
mouth. Say it.
2) Believe in your heart in His
resurrection. Know it.
3) Call on the name of the Lord. Do it.
These are the three things we need to
remember, pertaining to Salvation, when we leave here today – and forever more
– to take advantage of the Salvation that God has provided the whole world as a
free gift (Romans 6:23; John 3:16-17); to take advantage of God’s Salvation, we
should:
1) Say it!
2) Know it!
3) Do it!
1)
Say it! Romans 10:9: “…confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord…’
This is important. Whenever I hear this
verse I immediately think of Peter, the rock upon which Christ was to build His
church (Mt 16:13-16; cf. Mk 8:27-29, Lk 9:18-20). Jesus tells Peter that he is
going to use him to help build his church. This is when Jesus gives him the nickname
‘Peter’ – that wasn’t his given name; Simon was his given name – Peter means
‘Rock’ or even ‘Rocky’. Simon ‘Rocky-Peter’ is to be one of Christ’s main ‘go
to’ people after His resurrection and we remember the story about how Jesus
told Rocky-Peter that he would deny him 3 times before the cock crows twice and
then shortly after Peter’s saying ‘I would never deny you’, he denies Christ
and then shortly after Peter’s third denial that he even knows Jesus; the
rooster crows and Peter is devastated (Mt 26:69-75; cf. Mk 14:66-72, Lk
22:55-62, Jn 18:15-27).
Point #1 about Salvation today: Say it!
(Cf. Lev 21:12–15; 1 Cor 12:3; Phil 2:11; 1 Pet 3:13–16, 21) Simon Peter had
his chance to confess Jesus as Lord but he declined it. Now, if the story ended
there it would be sad indeed but John 21:15ff, records Simon Peter’s
restoration, as Rocky, as Peter. [1] The Resurrected Lord asks him 3
times to feed his sheep and he agrees to it.[2] Near the conclusion
of the book of John, Jesus then blows on Peter -and the other disciples- giving
him the Holy Spirit (Jn 20:22). Luke picks up the story of Rocky-Peter in the
book of Acts where Rocky-Peter is there at Pentecost, taking the lead as the
Holy Spirit, like a starting pistol, sends the disciples and more out to say
it, to proclaim salvation to the world. And as recorded in Acts 2, after they
say it, after they share the gospel in many different languages as the Spirit enables
them, the Lord adds to their number daily those being saved (cf. also Dt 30:14;
Mt 10:32, 2 Cor 4:13-14; Phil 2:11). Point 1, Romans 10:9, for us today, Say
it!
Peter and the disciples said it and many
were saved. And just to underscore that Peter did fully recover from his
earlier denial, church tradition states that in the end Peter even earned his
martyr’s crown. He was apparently crucified upside down as he left his life
here for heaven to await the resurrection. Pt 1: Say it! This brings us to Pt
2.
2)
Know it! Believe in your heart in His resurrection.
It is great and it is very important to
proclaim the gospel but that is not the end of it. Speaking is one thing and
believing is quite another. If you have any doubt about that, think about the
general reputation (accurate or not) of our elected politicians – speaking is
one thing, believing what you say is quite another. Paul in this section of
scriptures is really addressing the whole problem of Israel (Ro 9-11; cf. Dt
30, Lev. 18). He is addressing the problem of the Law and their relation to the
Law and their relationship to God. He is quite concerned about people who are
quite happy to say what needs to be said – the Pharisees, as a group, did
believe in the resurrection in general and as a group said a lot; they were
quite evangelistic (cf. Acts 23:7-8)! But believing in your heart in Jesus’
resurrection is quite a different matter though (1 Cor 15:17; cf. 2 Cor
4:13-14). And the Apostle Paul - who was
a Pharisee - celebrated the fact that Jesus has been raised from the dead but
sadly many Israelites and even Pharisees did not. It pained Paul that people
who were zealous for God’s Law were indeed missing out on the benefits of the
culmination of the Law, Jesus, the one whom the Law points towards (cf. Ro 9:1-5;
10:1-4; Mt 5:17,18; Lk 16:16; Acts 4:12; Gal 3:19-24). Salvation is about,
Point 1, Saying it, confessing that Jesus is Lord, and it is also about, Point
2, Knowing it, really believing in your heart in the resurrection and in Jesus’
resurrection, which is the central part of not only’ Paul’s message but of all
of Christianity (Ro 6:9, 9:16; 1 Cor 15:17, 20; 2 Cor 4:13-14; Eph 1:20-23;
Phil 2:9-11; Col 3:1-4; Heb 2:9; Rev 1:17-18; cf. Dt 30:14, Acts 4:12, Isa
28:16).[3] N.T. Wright tells us, “Almost all early Christians known
to us believed that their ultimate hope was the resurrection of the body. There is no spectrum such as in Judaism. Some in Corinth denied the future
resurrection (1 Cor 15:12), but Paul put them straight; they were most likely reverting
to pagan views, not opting for an over-realized Jewish eschatology.”[4] Belief
in the resurrection and the resurrection of Christ is central to Christianity.[5]
To review what we know so far about Romans
10’s three points of Salvation:
1) Say it! -
Confess Jesus as Lord with your mouth.
2) Know it! -
Believe in your heart in His resurrection.
3) Do it! Call
on the name of the Lord.
3)
Do it! Call on the name of the Lord.
This is important. Saying it is good.
Knowing it is better. Doing it is imperative (This fact is also implied in v.
9). [6] The scriptures speak about this quite a bit (cf. Lev 18:5, Dt
30:11-16; Acts 2:16-21, Joel 2:32). [7] I believe that Matthew
actually paints this picture quite vividly. In Chapter 25:31ff is recorded the
parable of the sheep and the goats. In that parable you have two groups of
nations. Both groups – the sheep and the goats – 1) say and 2) know that
Jesus is Lord. But it is only the sheep that do anything about it. As a result,
only the sheep are saved. The goats which didn’t
do anything go off to where there is a weeping and gnashing of
teeth. Matthew 7:21 is quite clear on this matter: it is recorded that the Lord
says “Not everyone who calls me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven
but only he who does the will of my Father in heaven”: Say it! Know it! Do it!
We must actually call on the name of the
Lord. We have to call on Him. We have to trust him.[8] This is
important. For example, on this Valentines Day, it is one thing for me to
confess that I know my wife; it is another thing to believe in my heart the
many wonderful things that have been done through her: these are wonderful
things but my relationship with Susan only grows when I actually call on her,
when I actually spend time with her. I can say she is my wife all I want; I can
believe she is my wife all I want; but we only actually have a marriage if I
bother to see her, to call on her sometimes. This is important. Christianity
isn’t some academic pursuit. Christianity isn’t some code. Christianity isn’t
some rules and regulations. Christianity isn’t some club. Christianity isn’t
some principles to live our life by. Christianity is a relationship with the
risen Christ. Jesus Christ raised from the grave and he promises that, Romans
10:13 “…everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” He loves us
and he wishes that none would perish. And Salvation in our text today is as
easy as 1, 2, and 3. It is my prayer today that every one of us here will:
1) Say it! -
Confess Jesus as Lord with our mouths.
2) Know it! -
Believe in our hearts in His resurrection.
3) Do it! – That
we would call upon the name of the Lord.
Psalm 34:8, “Taste and see that the LORD is
good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.” Matthew 11:30: “For my yoke
is easy and my burden is light.” Romans 10:15 and Isaiah 52:7, "...How
beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" (cf. Ps 118:26, Mt
21:9, 23:39, Mk 11:9, Lk 13:35, 19:38, Jn 12:13). Romans 10:9a, say it: confess with your mouth
that Jesus is Lord. Romans 10:9b, know
it: believe in your heart in Jesus’ resurrection. And above all else,
Romans 10:13, do it: call
upon the name of the Lord and then even we will be saved. Halleluiah! Praise
the Lord! Let it be.
Let us pray.
---
[1] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, ‘John
21:15-23: We’re Back!’ Presented to Weston Corps of the Salvation Army, May
2006 and Nipawin Corps of The Salvation Army, 21 February 2009. Available
on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2009/02/john-2115-23-were-back.html
[2]Cf. George R. Beasley-Murray, John, (WBC
36: Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1987), 404-405.
[3] Cf. William Hendricksen, Exposition of
Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, NTC (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic:
1981), 345
[4] Cf. N.T. Wright, 'Jesus’ Resurrection
and Christian Origins' (Originally published in Gregorianum, 2002, 83/4,
615–635). Reproduced by permission of
the author on-line at http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Jesus_Resurrection.htm
[5] Cf. Everett F. Harrison, The Expositor's
Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-, ROM:Romans/Exposition of Romans/VI. The Problem
of Israel: God's Righteousness Vindicated (9:1-11:36)/D. Israel's Failure to
Attain Righteousness Due to Reliance on Works Rather Than Faith (9:30-10:21),
Book Version: 4.0.2: Paul's statement in vv. 9, 10 is misunderstood when it is
made to support the claim that one cannot be saved unless he makes Jesus the
Lord of his life by a personal commitment. Such a commitment is most important;
however, in this passage, Paul is speaking of the objective lordship of Christ,
which is the very cornerstone for faith, something without which no one could
be saved. Intimately connected as it was with the resurrection, which in turn
validated the saving death, it proclaimed something that was true no matter
whether or not a single soul believed it and built his life on it.
[6] Cf. John Murray, The Epistle to the
Romans Vol. II, NICNT, (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Eerdmans, 1968), 56; John
Stott, Romans: God’s Good News for the World, (Leicester, UK: IV Press: 1994),
283; F. F. Bruce, Romans: An
Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1985
(Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 6), S. 201 - Doing it, though not
specifically reference (it doesn’t need to be because it is referenced a few
verses later in v.18), is implied as well in verse 9.
[7] F. F. Bruce, Romans: An Introduction
and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1985 (Tyndale New
Testament Commentaries 6), S. 201: There the statutes and ordinances of God
were enjoined on the people so that they might do them and live. Here God says
that his commandment ‘is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not
in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up for us to heaven, and bring it
to us, that we may hear it and do it?” Neither is it beyond the sea, that you
should say, “Who will go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, that we may
hear it and do it?” But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in
your heart, so that you can do it.’ (Paul significantly omits the italicized
words.) That the doing of the commandment was the way to life in the
Deuteronomy context is evident from the words of Moses which follow
immediately: ‘See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and
evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you
this day, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping
his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, then you shall live …’
(Deut. 30:15–16).
[8] Cf. John Stott, Romans: God’s Good News
for the World, (Leicester, UK: IV Press: 1994), 285
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