A person believes, resulting in righteousness

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. 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 John 3:16 Jesus says: God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  Because of the simplicity of the gospel, that whoever believes in Christ shall have eternal life, it seems difficult to understand then why Jesus also says in Matthew 7:13-14:  “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”  How can it be that when the only requirement is to believe in Jesus, still many choose another path? In part it is because the world says that there are many paths that lead to God and heaven, while Jesus says: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6)  We understand then that to believe in Jesus is more than to believe that He lived. It is more than to believe that He was a good teacher or a good example of how we should live. To be one who believes in Jesus means that you must believe that He is the Son of God. You must believe that He not only lived, but also that He died and that His death was a sacrifice for your sin. To believe in Jesus means that you also believe that after He died, He was resurrected from the grave. Finally, in today’s text it says:  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;  for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.  Believing also means that we acknowledge; that we confess that Jesus is Lord. It is often said that if Jesus is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all. To believe in Jesus means that we submit every area of our lives to Him. Anything less is the broad path of destruction.

We’ve already acknowledged the world’s wrong belief that there are many ways to God and heaven. There is also, within the church today, a false doctrine regarding easy believism; that believing does not necessarily require or cause change in the life of the believer.  The text says that believing results in righteousness. In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus says:  “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”   We cannot believe in Jesus and call Him Lord, and continue to live in sin. True believing will result in righteousness in our lives. The text says:  Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” 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; for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  To call on the name of the Lord, one must believe that He is Lord.  Philippians 2:10-11 says:  At the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.   One day everyone and everything will both bow to and confess that Jesus is Lord, but only those who have believed will be saved.   If Jesus is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, I believe. Thank You for leading me on the narrow path.  Thank You that in believing I am also changed and made righteous in Your sight. I choose to acknowledge that You are Lord and to make You Lord of all in my life.  I know I will not be disappointed.  Amen.