Righteous Because of Faith

This is a sermon I preached @ Bethel on 1/13/2013.  I have a few things I didn't get to say so they are included here.

I’m convinced there are three kinds of believers in the church world today.

1. Nominal believers, they have checked every block.  They go to church when they need to, they have given mental ascent to Christ. These are they you may have referred to as making Christ savior but not Lord. Nominal believers would never admit to it, but they are legalistic.  They think that because of their activity and they are not a “bad” person, that will be sufficient to get them to heaven. Believers like this were in the NT. Demas, Ananias, and Sapphira. Are some that come to mind.

2. Believers.  They love Jesus and pray and bring their kids to church. They sacrifice their time, their talent and their treasure for the church because it’s the right thing to do. They are looking for Jesus to return. They probably listen to Christian music and care deeply about what God is doing.

      3. Missionaries. These are believers that work in the church, volunteer, give to missions, and try to witness to people in their sphere of influence. They are hungry for the things of God. They have discovered that you can have Easter every day because their living hope is alive.  They are rarely depressed, always full of hope, and anticipating the return of the Lord.

Maybe none of these descriptions sound like you…. I just list them to get us thinking.  God wants everyone of His children to believe in His redemptive mission. 

The passage today in Romans describe what we call “Righteous Faith”

Righteous Faith Produces Missionary Vision

Romans 10:1–15 (ESV)

1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. 5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6 But the righteousness based on 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 abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Righteous Faith Answers Logic’s Questions

If you are a thinker, then you will ask the following questions. 

The Final Judgment is doctrine 15 of the AG fundamentals “The Final Judgement”

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed?

And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?

And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent?

As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

⁶ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ^y“Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” ¹⁷ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

So what does that mean?  In 2 Corinthian 5:16, Paul elaborates further when He was talking about what he called “the ministry of reconciliation”

¹⁶ From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. ¹⁸ All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ that is, in Christ God was reconciling  the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ²¹ For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.