Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.

Romans 9:25-10:13 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

As He says also in Hosea, “I will call those who were not My people, ‘My people,’
And her who was not beloved, ‘beloved.’” ²⁶ “And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘you are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.”

²⁷ Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “Though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved; ²⁸ for the Lord will execute His word on the earth, thoroughly and quickly.” ²⁹ And just as Isaiah foretold, “Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left to us a posterity, We would have become like Sodom, and would have resembled Gomorrah.”

³⁰ What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; ³¹ but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. ³² Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, ³³ just as it is written,

“Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense,
And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.”

10 Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. ² For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. ³ For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. ⁴ For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

⁵ For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness. ⁶ But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), ⁷ or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” ⁸ But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, ⁹ that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; ¹⁰ for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; ¹³ for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

In today’s text it says:  That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved…“Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”    To be saved we must know what it is that we are being saved from. In Matthew 14:20-31 we see an excerpt of the account when Peter walked on the water with Jesus.    Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him.    So, Peter called on the name of the Lord and he was saved from drowning. Many people call on the Lord that same way. They pray when there is no other way out of their problem. They call on the Lord to be saved from circumstances and situations, or to be saved from the attacks of their enemies. As He did for Peter, Jesus will stretch out His hand and take hold of them. But, that is not the saving that today’s text is speaking of. In John 3:16 Jesus says:  "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”  So, we are saved from perishing and given eternal life in Christ. Romans 6:23 says:  The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.     So, being saved from death, we are saved from sin. Confessing with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, calling on His name to be saved, means that we acknowledge that we need to be saved from our sin.

Even in the confessing of Jesus as Lord, there is more to it than simply saying the words. In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus says:   “Not everyone who says to Me,‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he whodoes the will of My Father in heaven.Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have wenot prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’Andthen I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you;depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”   If we confess that Jesus is Lord, we must also believe that He is Lord. If we believe we will not continue in lawlessness.  In today’s text it says:  With the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.   The result of believing Jesus is Lord is righteousness. It is Christ’s righteousness which saves us not our own. As Ephesians 2:8-10 says:   By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.    We are not saved by our own righteousness or works, but having received the righteousness of Christ we are saved for good works, which God prepared before our salvation. They are prepared for us and through Christ and the resurrection, we are prepared to walk in them. 1 John 4:19 says:  We love Him because He first loved us.   His love for us was so great that He died for us. Our response to His love is that we also love Him. In John 14:15;21;23-24  Jesus says:  “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments… He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him…If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.  He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.”   If the result of confessing Jesus as Lord is not an effort to walk in righteousness, then He is not really Lord. Believing results in righteousness. Jesus says He will declare that He never knew those who practice lawlessness.

It is critical also that we believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. It is through the resurrection that Jesus conquered sin and death. He paid the price for our sin on the cross, but the victory was won in the resurrection. Jesus lives so that we too might live.  Romans 6:10 says:  For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.   Believing that He lives is what empowers us also to live our lives to God. In Mark 16:15-18, after His resurrection, because Jesus lives, He said:  “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”    Verses 19-20 say:   So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.      In John 14:12-14 Jesus says:   “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”     As we are faithful to confess the Lord and to share the good news that He died for the sins of the world, the signs that follow, the greater works that Jesus continues to do will be the evidence that He also lives.

Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed. Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.    Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; I confess and I believe. Lead me in the good and righteous works that You have prepared for me and prepared me for. As I declare the good news of salvation from sin through the death of Christ on the cross, may You reveal the evidence that You live through the works that You do.    Amen.