October 19, 2023 | Be On Mission
The Path to Salvation
Scripture: Romans 10(NIV)
1 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. 3 Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
5 Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.” 6 But the righteousness that is by 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 deep?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. 18 But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did:
“Their voice has gone out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.”
19 Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says,
“I will make you envious by those who are not a nation;
I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.”[
20 And Isaiah boldly says,
“I was found by those who did not seek me;
I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.”
21 But concerning Israel he says,
“All day long I have held out my hands
to a disobedient and obstinate people.”
Devotional
In the Bible, the word “law” most often refers to the hundreds of commandments in the books of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy). Submitting to God’s righteousness meant perfectly obeying every law, every day. In essence, it meant being sinless, which no person has ever been.
That is, until Jesus. Hebrews 4:15 says that Jesus “has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” Jesus had no sin. Humans had no righteousness. But in His death on the cross, He became our sin and we became His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). Or, as it says here in Romans 10:4, “Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.”
Salvation is not about living a perfect life; it is about believing in a perfect Lord. This passage says that belief comes from both the heart and the mouth. What is in your heart is what is deep down, hidden, and authentic. It’s what you are passionate about when nobody is looking or asking. What comes from the mouth is on the outside. It is publicly expressing what you believe on the inside.
Believing on the inside without confessing it on the outside is ineffectual. People might never see faith through you. Conversely, saying it out loud while not really believing it deep down is hypocritical. People will see right through you.
The world is waiting for Christians who believe it deep down and share it out loud. Others are ready to call on the name of Jesus, and “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Hallelujah! But, they can’t believe in Jesus if they don’t know, and they won’t know unless somebody tells them. The good news of Jesus is meant to be shared!
The theme of this entire year is “Be on Mission.” The idea has been to insert ourselves into the New Testament story, and ask the Lord if we are to live on mission just as the early followers of Jesus did. We are attempting to learn how God moved through people way back then, and ask how God wants to minister through us here and now.
Who is in your network of relationships who needs to hear the good news of Jesus? How can you share your faith with them?
Poem
The Cry Of My Heart
Dear Lord,
Build my desire
Light a fire on the altar of my heart
That I might be consumed
With zeal for my lost brothers and sisters
Bound in cursed flesh
Dry bones
Walking dead
Ignorant of the righteousness of God
Doing life their way
Bound in sin
Dear Lord,
I know their plight
For before your grace
Lifted me
I, too, was lost
You found me wandering
Caught up in the thorny bushes
Of life lived under the curse
Eating from pigsties
Gluttonously seeking fulfilment
In all the wrong places
Dear Lord,
Open my eyes to them
Let them become
The cry of my heart
To know you
To be known by you
To seek and to follow
To ask and to receive
To knock and to have
Heaven’s doors opened
To your hospitable table
Dear Lord,
Keep this prayer
Ever before my eyes
Ever in my heart
With every waking hour
On every path I trace
For every face I meet
With every grace indued
According to your will
So be it
Glory be
