Romans 10:1-13
The book of Romans is Paul’s most powerful and beautiful attempt to explain the foundational doctrine of Christianity. Romans 1:17, the verse that help lead to the conversion of Martin says The good news tells how God accepts everyone who has faith, but only those who have faith. It is just as the Scriptures say, "For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith’” (Romans 1:17. Martin Luther, reflecting back on what this text meant in his life, offered this testimony: When by the Spirit of God, I understood these words—"The just shall live by faith"—then I felt born again like a new man. I entered through the open doors into the very paradise of God.
Why would I preach a sermon on salvation? Many of us if not all of us would consider ourselves to be Christians. Yet, even the terminology “Christian” is being abused today. However, the word “Christianós” which is translated in the English as Christian only appears in the Bible twice. Yet there are many variations of Greek Words translated into either salvation or saved. I am not asking if you are a Christian. I am asking if you are saved. A few days ago I read a comment from a gentleman in response to a posting on Facebook. He shared the story of his uncle who had attended church all of his life. As his uncle laid in his death bed, he had a conversation with his uncle and wanted to be assured of his salvation. He posed this question “Uncle, are you saved?” The uncle looked at him with a look of puzzlement. He was not sure what he was talking about. Every Christian needs to know the meaning of salvation. If we do not, then we are lacking knowledge on a very important element of being a Christian.
Paul shares in Romans 10:1 that he prays for the salvation of Israel. In today’s modern day contemporary church, the term “salvation” is rarely mentioned if mentioned at all. It makes me wonder how many people in our churches truly understand what it means to be “saved” or to have the gift of salvation. It also strikes a chord of fear concerning those within my own church. Have we really taught our people what it means to be saved? If they were asked the question “Are you saved?” how will they respond? Can they explain it? They are told the destination, but they are not told how to get there. Today, I want us to grasp what it means to be saved as we look at “Salvation: Unlocking God’s Grace.”
I. The Meaning of Salvation
The word “salvation” or “saved” as it appears in Romans 10:1 means “safety, deliverance, preservation from danger or destruction.” When I posed the question “What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘salvation”, I received various responses. All of the responses were great but there is one that stuck with me. A friend posted “rescued.” What is it that we are saved from? What do we mean by the question “Are you saved?” To grasp a better understanding of this word, we need to grasp a better understanding of the book of Romans. As I mentioned, the book of Romans was Paul’s wonderful presentation of the Gospel message.
Romans Train of Thought in the first eight chapters
Sinfulness of Humanity (1-3:20)
In the first few chapters, Paul deals with the sinfulness of humanity. You can probably place this segment in Romans 1-3:20. Although various pastors and commentaries will provide a different segment. One of the key verses that Paul presents in this segment is Romans 3:10 - As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one. Think about this for a minute. In one verse, Paul informs us that there is not a single person who is good enough for the gift of eternal life. Of course, this is apart from Christ. Before we get ahead of ourselves, Romans 2 is Paul’s earth shattering news concerning the judgement. There are a lot of excuses and blames going around. But Paul reveals in Romans 2:6 that each one of us will be held responsible for our own actions. There will be no blame to go around. The responsibility is all ours. It is getting a little discouraging. However, if you stop here, you are going to miss the good news.
Forgiveness of sin found through Christ (Ch. 3:21-4)
Thank goodness for Jesus. Now when we think of Romans 3, we often think of this verse: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Rom 3:23). Even more discouraging isn’t it? But we need to pull back on the textual microscope here and get a better picture of the context. Let’s read it. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. (Rom 3:21-26). Did you see it? Paul is saying that we have all fallen short of the glory of God, but we are justified freely by His grace if we believe!! Notice another phrase “remission of sins that are past.” There it is. Salvation! We are free, rescued, delivered from the sins of our past and the judgment that accompanies sin!
Freedom is a result of forgiveness (Ch. 5-7)
Once we have forgiveness, Paul now tells us that as a result of that forgiveness we do not have to live in that sin. In fact, salvation changes us from a condemned sinner to a child of God! We are free from sin! He has given us the power to break the chains of sin in our lives!
ILLUSTRATION- A boy once captured two little birds and put them in a cage. A man saw the boy carrying the cage and asked him what he was going to do with the birds. The boy replied, “Oh, I’m going to play with them for a while and then I’m going to feed them to my cat.” The man looked at the caged birds and took pity on them. He said, “I’d like to buy the cage and the birds from you. How much do you want for them?” The boy thought for a minute and then named his price. The man paid it and the boy handed over the cage. Immediately, the man opened the cage and set the birds free.
That’s what Jesus did for us.
The promise for the believer (Ch. 8)
What a glorious message for those who have received the gift of salvation. Look at the hope of the Gospel message in Romans 8:
- There is the hope of eternity (Romans 8:1-25)
- There is the hope of God’s best for us (Romans 8:28)
- There is the hope that God is always for us (Romans 8:31)
- There is the hope that God will always provide (Romans 8:32)
- There is the hope of victory (Romans 8:37)
- There is the hope of Christ’s never failing love no matter the circumstances (Romans 8:38-39)
To break it down into one simple sentence. Paul is writing in the book of Romans that “The gift and the hope of salvation delivers us from the guilt of our sins and comes through faith in Christ by God’s grace.”
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