Origins (of Living A Godly Life)
Moses writes about receiving God’s approval by following his laws. He says, “The person who obeys these laws will live because he obeys them.” However, Scripture says about God’s approval which is based on faith, “Don’t ask yourself who will go up to heaven,” (that is, to bring Christ down). “Don’t ask who will go down into the depths,” (that is, to bring Christ back from the dead). However, what else does it say? “This message is near you. It’s in your mouth and in your heart.” This is the message of faith that we spread. If you declare that Jesus is Lord, and believe that God brought him back to life, you will be saved. By believing you receive God’s approval, and by declaring your faith you are saved.'
-the Apostle Paul writing to the first Christians in Rome, 1st century
Romans 10:4-10
[This is the 16th message of this series]
We are continuing where we left off from the previous message.
Paul
The excerpt above are the following verses from the passage we read in the preceding message (where we saw how humankind was trying to gain God's approval through works.
This was Paul writing to the first Christians in Rome, some 2,000 years ago.
God's Approval
Paul told the church in Rome that God's approval is gained through faith.
The law was given for us to know first hand that we need help, we need a Savior, the Christ. It was intended as a foreshadowing of the coming Messiah -- who when we put our faith on Him, will be the fulfillment of the law.
Not Easy
Anyone wanting to get God's approval by trying to live God's laws on their own strength will soon find out that it will not be easy.
Paul told them not to ask themselves who will climb up to heaven to bring the Messiah down and who will descend into hell to bring the Messiah up. Who can do that? No one.
The Message Paraphrase says it like this:
The word that saves is right here,
as near as the tongue in your mouth,
as close as the heart in your chest.
Salvation
As we've said previously, salvation is God's business not ours.
This message of Christ is that faith gains God"s approval. And this is the gospel -- if you believe and declare that Jesus is Lord and that God brought him back to life, then you will be saved. Salvation is God's gift, it is not earned or worked for. Jesus did all the work. It was finished.
Born Again
Once you believe and declare this, then you are spiritually reborn, meaning the Spirit of God (the Holy Spirit) takes up residence in you and becomes your ever present Guide, Comforter, Counselor, Helper in living the Christian life. He will give you the passion to know Christ more, to read Scriptures and to start a personal relationship with Our Father in heaven -- talking and listening to Him daily.
God's Spirit will convict you when you fall short of God's expectations. He will bring you to your knees at the foot of the cross. He will help you remember that Christ saved you by taking away the punishment of your transgressions of God's laws. He will nudge you to repentance and to do better the next time you are tempted.
And you should know better. God is not mocked, He is not deceived, He knows who are truly Spiritually Reborn. You cannot fake being one. The same way you cannot fake that you can fulfill all of God's laws on your own strength. Because if you do then you will have no need for a Savior. You are you're own savior. You do not need God. You don't have the Spirit of God. Appearances can deceive some people but you cannot deceive God.
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