Have Faith to Chage 2

SALVATION COMES BY FAITH 

One Preaches

And how can they preach unless they are sent?  Romans 10:15

 ◦          The gospel message goes forth by believers preaching the word.  The good news is not a fancy, elaborate message, but a testimony of what you have seen Jesus do.◦          God sent each of us out into the world to be a light.  Jesus told His disciples, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21).  We have each been sent into the world to do the works that Jesus did: heal the sick, preach the good news, be a light, serve the poor, and destroy the works of the devil. 

One Hears

And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  Romans 10:14

 ◦          There are many people in the world who have never heard the name of Jesus and do not know what He did for them.  They have never heard His name because no one has ever preached it to them.◦          When we share Jesus with others, it may be the first time they have really heard the truth spoken to them.  They must first hear the gospel before they can believe its message and then call upon the name of Jesus. 

One Believes

And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?  Romans 10:14

 ◦          If you had never heard the name of Jesus, you would have no reason to believe in Him or place your total trust in Him.  But since you have heard of all that He has done for you and the world, you have had the choice to accept Him and His invitation to follow Him.◦          This idea does not contradict what you learned in the first lesson on Romans, that God’s existence can be seen from everything that He has created.  Although we can see that God exists because of everything He has made, that is only enough to prompt us to seek Him out.  We had to hear someone share the message of the gospel before we could believe on the name of Jesus. 

One Calls

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?  Romans 10:14

 ◦          Once a person believes in the message of the gospel, he begins to call upon the name of Jesus as the One in whom he trusts.◦          Romans 10:13 says, “Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”  Jesus is Lord, so if we call upon Him to protect, provide for, and save us, He will do it.  When we decide to call upon the name of Jesus, we are saying that we will no longer call upon any other idols to give us what we need.  Romans 10:8-13 

     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: 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.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.  As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”  For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 

◦          As followers of Jesus who have surrendered our lives to Him, we no longer need to memorise and struggle to follow long lists of laws and traditions, because the Word of God is written in our softened hearts, and we know for certain that we are saved.

◦          When we have faith in Jesus, we are changed from the inside out.  God gives us a new heart and a new spirit and makes His home in us.  This give us strength to change on the outside—our thoughts, deeds, expressions, attitudes, etc.

Have a great day

John 

This entry was posted on 10/11/2009 at 08:06 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.