Romans

     "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus  our Lord," 2 Peter 1:2-3 offers, "seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence."
     A common error in the religious world today is the belief that the Bible does not provide us with everything we need.  So hundreds and thousands of humans meet together and pool their ignorance in an attempt to take care of what they feel are deficiencies in what the Bible has revealed.  By doing this, they say, they will be able to arrive at compromises and achieve unity between the various denominations.
     What actually happens is that more division is created and we wind up with additional religious bodies.  Unity is not found in compromise.  Unity is found in following only what the Bible teaches.
     One of the New Testament books that provides a good overview of Christian doctrine is Paul's letter to the Romans.
     Before a person will listen to instruction about being saved, he must realize that he is lost.
     "Both Jews and Greeks are all under sin," Paul charges in Romans 3:9.
     "There is none righteous, not even one," the following verse adds.
     "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God," verse 23 states plainly.
     So what?  What if all of us are sinners?
     "For the wages of sin is death," Romans 6:23 responds.
     Up to this point all is hopeless.  But then God's mercy and grace enter the scene.  Remember that by God's mercy we do not receive what we deserve; that is, spiritual death.  By God's grace we receive what we do not deserve: spiritual life.
     "But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord," is how the second half of Romans 6:23 reads.
     God offers us life, then, not because we deserve it but because He wants us to have it.
     "For while we were still helpless," Romans 5:6-8 informs us, "at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
     "For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.
     "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
     So we are all sinners.  We have earned eternal condemnation.  But by His grace God offers the free gift of eternal life.  How is it, then, that we can take advantage of this free offer?
     Early in the letter the writer affirms the relationship between the Gospel and salvation.
     "For I am not ashamed of the gospel," Paul states in Romans 1:16-17, "for it is the power of God for salvation to every one who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'But the righteous man shall live by faith.'"
     Later in the epistle, the apostle repeats the importance of the Scriptures.
     "For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God," Paul writes in Romans 10:2-3, "but not in accordance with knowledge.
     "For not knowing about God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God."
     "How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed?" Paul wonders in verse 14.  "And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard?  And how shall they hear without a preacher?
     "So faith comes from hearing," the passage continues in verse 17, "and hearing by the word of God."
     So learning what God teaches through the Bible is the first step toward salvation.  In the letter to the Romans Paul informs us that the second step is faith.
     "For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith;" Paul says of the Gospel in Romans 1:17, "as it is written, 'But the righteous man shall live by faith."
     "Therefore having been justified by faith," we learn in Romans 5:1, "we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."
     We are sinners.  We merit spiritual death.  By His grace God gives us the gift of eternal life.  We must learn from God's word and have faith in order to be saved.  But is this enough?  Most religious people today would say, "Yes!"  But the Bible clearly says, "No!"  What else is required?  We'll find out after this song.

     Although the idea of salvation by "faith only" is very popular in the religious world today, it is contrary to what the Bible teaches.  In fact, most people are surprised to learn that in the New Testament the word "faith" is never combined with "only" or "alone" except in James 2:24.  If you don't care what the Bible has to say about "faith only" then don't bother to read James 2:24.  But if you ARE interested in knowing what God has to say about the matter, check James 2:24 for yourself.  In fact, be sure to read the entire passage in context from verse 14.
     "Much more then," we read in Romans 5:9-10, "having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
     "For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God though the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."
     Are we saved by faith only, or does the blood of Jesus play a part?  Of course, if the Bible taught that we were saved by the blood when we believed, then it would be O.K., wouldn't it?  But, then, this wouldn't be "faith only" any more.  Besides, "faith only" is not what the Bible says puts us in contact with the blood of Jesus; with His death, burial and resurrection.  We'll see this in just a little bit.  But first we want to look at repentance, the third step on the road to salvation.
     Repentance means that we change our lives.  We are sorry for the wrong things we have done.  But, more than this, we give up our sinful lives in exchange for lives of service to God.  Chapter six of Romans, beginning with verse 10, stresses this.
     "Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus," Paul admonishes in verse 11.
     We must hear the gospel, have faith and repent of our sins if we want to be saved.  But there is more.
     "But what does it say?" Paul asks in Romans 10:8-10.  "'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart' - that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."
     Are we really stretching it when we say that the Bible does not agree with the doctrine of salvation by "faith only?"  Here the New Testament states that confession results in salvation.
     We must point out what kind of confession this passage is talking about.  Verse nine states clearly that we must confess Jesus as Lord.  So we are not talking here about confessing our sins.  That is something entirely different.  That is more closely associated with repentance.  What is being discussed here involves confession of Jesus as Lord.  Read 1 John chapter four, verses two, three and 15 to see if this is true.  Check 1 Timothy 6:12-13 along with John 18:37 to see if this is true.
     If we accept what the Bible teaches, hearing, believing, repentance and confession are required for salvation.  Is this all?  If the answer is, "Yes!", then what are we going to do with Christ's blood; with his death, burial and resurrection?
     "Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?" Paul asks in Romans 6:3-10.
     "Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life..
     "For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.
     "Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over him.
     "For the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God."
     We are sinners.  We deserve death.  God offers us life.  We must listen to the Gospel, have faith, repent of our sins, confess Jesus as Lord and be buried into His death through baptism.  The book of Romans makes it clear that we are also expected to continue to live faithfully after baptism.
     What can we expect if we obey what God tells us to do?
     "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God," we read in Romans 8:28, "to those who are called according to His purpose."
     "What shall we say to these things?" we note in verse 31.  "If God is for us, who is against us?"
     "But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us," the final three verses of chapter eight promise.
     "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
     And that sounds like motive enough to reject what man tells us to do and turn to God for the truth that will set us free.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.lockman.org)