As we continue traveling down the Romans Road, let me remind everyone of where we’ve already been.
We began at Romans 3:23 where we learned that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Acknowledging our status as sinners, we then proceeded to the second step, which is Romans 6:23. This second step affirmed that “the wages of sin is death,” both physical and spiritual. Therefore, because we are all sinners (step #1), and the wages of sin is death (Step #2), we came to the awful realization that all of us deserve death.
The third step of the Romans Road began to shed some hope onto this otherwise perilous and precarious position. Romans 5:8 declared to us that “God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
This coming Sunday, March 29, we will arrive at the fourth step of the Romans Road, which is Romans 10:9.
“…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.”
This fourth step, therefore, gives us two indicators to affirm the spiritual reality that Christ’s death (step #3) has been applied to a specific person’s sin. If that person confesses and believes, according to Romans 10:9, then this is proof of his/her salvation. But if that person does not confess and believe, then there is no reason to believe that he/she has been saved.
Here are some questions to assist you in you as you consider the implications of Romans 10:9 and as you prepare to interact with this Sunday’s sermon.
1. Read Romans 10:9 in its immediate context (Rom 10:5-13). Now read Deuteronomy 30:11-20. What similarities and differences do you detect between these two passages? How do these similarities and differences affect your understanding of Law and Gospel?
2. What does it mean to say, “the word is [very] near you, in your mouth and in your heart.” (Rom 10:8; Deut 30:14)
3. Reconcile Jesus’ statement in John 6:40 with Paul’s statement in Romans 10:9. How does Paul’s requirement to “confess with your mouth” fit into this reconciliation?
4. “Lord” is not a name, but a title. By confessing this title belongs to Jesus, what exactly are we committing ourselves to?
5. Why is it important that we believe in our heart that God the Father raised Jesus from the dead? Does this mean that those who deny the bodily resurrection of Jesus cannot be saved?