The
Bible is pointless…unless you know Jesus Christ personally. The point of the bible is Jesus. Your relationship with him, with his other
faith-bearers, and with those who do not yet have such faith.
The apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans 10:1-17. The letter was most probably written while
Paul was in Corinth, and probably while he was staying in the house of
Gaius. There are a number of reasons Corinth is most plausible. Paul was about
to travel to Jerusalem, which matches Acts 20:3 where it is
reported that Paul stayed for three months in Greece. This probably implies Corinth as it was the location
of Paul’s greatest missionary success in Greece. Erastus, mentioned in Romans 16:23, also lived
in Corinth.
The precise time at which it was written is not
mentioned in the letter, but was about to "go unto Jerusalem to minister
unto the saints", that is, at the close of his second visit to Greece,
during the winter preceding his last visit to that city, which would place it
in the mid to late 50’s
Brothers, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. (Paul’s purpose was to see people saved from
their sin by placing their faith in Jesus – he desired it and prayed for it.) 2 For I can testify
about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on
knowledge. Zeal without knowledge is a bullet with direction – it
can hit the wrong target and bring death. I have known excited Christians who
have done more harm than good because they are so excited to share yet have no
knowledge of the truth.) 3 Since they did not know the righteousness
that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to
God's righteousness. 4 Christ is the
end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. (We have a prime example of establishing your own
righteous in our community – and it is easy to see how false it is – yet it has
just enough truth to make people believe.)
Christ is the end of the law – there is no 2nd revelation –
no more after him. Jesus Christ and HIS
word His word His word are the final authority – PERIOD – THE END! Rev 22:18-21 I warn everyone who hears the
words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will
add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away
from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree
of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. He who
testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come,
Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen. That’s it – it is finished – there is NO
MORE!
5 Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law:
"The man who does these things will live by them." 6
But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart,
'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 "or 'Who will descend into the
deep?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? "The word is
near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of
faith we are proclaiming: (What is that word
they are proclaiming? Paul’s purpose and
prayer – that people will be saved from their sins by putting their trust in
Jesus!) 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. (Confess & believe – it comes from a place of
knowledge as well as from your heart) 10 For it is with your heart that you believe
and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. (so salvation – being saved from your sin – that which separates
you from God and eternal life is believed deeply - in your heart and confessed
with your mouth – you must say the words, not just think them.) 11 As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be
put to shame." 12 For there is no difference between Jew and
Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name
of the Lord will be saved." (Everyone – your background does not matter – your sin
does not matter – your imperfections do not matter – they are all made right in
Jesus ALONE)
How do people know
about salvation – how do they know to put their trust in Jesus?
14 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? (Rom 10:14
keerússontos
kerusso; of uncertain affinity; to herald (as a public crier),
especially divine truth (the gospel): KJV - preacher, proclaim, publish.)
kerux a herald, (especially of the gospel):
kerugma; a proclamation (especially of the gospel; by implication, the
gospel itself): preaching.
15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? (Are all Christians sent to preach? Yes – to a
degree. Is that what this passage is
talking about? NO! It is for those who
are appointed by God to proclaim the Good News – the preacher. Are all preachers ordained by God? NO Are the
majority in our churches today ordained by God?
May it ever be so. If the preacher is sent to proclaim good news what is
the task of the church? To get people to
where they will hear the good news – the gospel of Jesus Christ.) As
it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good
news!" Is
everyone who hears the message going to believe? NO! But is a person going to believe who has not
heard? 16 But not all
the Israelites accepted the good news. For
Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our message?" 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the
message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
FAITH COMES
BY HEARING
ROMANS
10:8-17
It is
amazing how little people know about the Word of God, especially here in
America where virtually everyone has access to the Bible. This was demonstrated
by Tonight Show host Jay Leno. Leno does "man-on-the street"
interviews, and one night he asked some young people about the Bible. "Can
you name one of the Ten Commandments?" he asked two college-age women. One
replied, "Freedom of speech?" Leno said to the other, "Complete
this sentence: Let he who is without sin..." Her response was, "have
a good time?" Leno then turned to a young man and asked, "Who,
according to the Bible, was eaten by a whale?" The confident answer was,
"Pinocchio." Such misunderstandings while seeming to be humorous are
tragic. The importance of God’s Word is reiterated throughout its pages and no
more powerfully than in Romans 10:7 where it states, "faith comes by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God"
Evangelist
and educator, D.L. Moody said “I prayed
for faith and thought that some day it would come down and strike me like
lightning. But faith didn’t seem to come. One day I read in Romans that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the
word of God.” I had up to this time, closed my Bible and prayed for faith.
Now I opened my Bible and began to study and faith has been growing ever
since.”
Bible: True Bestseller
Do you have a Bible in your home? Probably. Estimates of
the number of Bibles sold during the past century and a half are between 2½ and
3 billion copies.
The second best-selling book during that time, “Quotations
From the Works of Mao Tse-Tung,” had only about 800 million sales.
Who would even try to guess at the number of Bibles sold
before records were kept.
For some, the Bible has been a dust-collecting furnishing
in a home. For others the Bible is truly the Work of God – the Word of life. There
are some for whom the Bible has come at great cost.
Shortly
before a crack appeared in the bamboo curtain, a number of letters were smuggled
out of cities like Peiking. The letters
were sent to the Far East Broadcasting Company and each pleaded with that
agency for a special service. The people wanted the station announcers to read
the Bible to them slowly enough so they could write it out in longhand. The “Gospel by Dictation” program lasted for
more than decade.
The best-selling Bible is everywhere … though the human and
financial cost varies greatly … as does the amount of use to which each of us
puts in the Bible and the value we place on it.
A certain pastor traditionally ends
all of his home visits by reading a chapter from the Bible and leading the
family in prayer. As one visit was drawing to a close, a
woman, smiling with a great show of piety, said to her 3-year-old daughter,
“Darling, the pastor is going to read to us. Go and bring Mother the book she loves
best.” The
little girl raced from the room and soon returned … with a Sears catalogue.
BIBLE son was sent
Pastor Clifford S. Stewart of Louisville, Kentucky,
sent his parents a microwave oven one Christmas. Here's how he recalls the
experience: "They were excited that now they, too, could be a part of the
instant generation. When Dad unpacked the microwave and plugged it in,
literally within seconds, the microwave transformed two smiles into frowns! Even after reading the directions, they
couldn't make it work. "Two days later, my mother was playing bridge with
a friend and confessed her inability to get that microwave oven even to boil
water.’To get this darn thing to work,' she exclaimed, 'I really don't need
better directions; I just needed my son to come along with the gift!'"
Salvation – being saved from our sins has come with an
instruction book – the bible, but the instructions, the bible are pointless
unless they come to us with the son – that is a true gift.
