Romans 10 Lesson

SAVED BY FAITH

If you are ready to tackle the big questions about faith and salvation, then Romans Chapter 10 is for you!

In this chapter, Paul writes about salvation and how it is obtained.  

He also tells us how to increase our faith, which is important because, without faith, there is no salvation (Romans 10:10).  

Before moving on to Romans Chapter 10, we will quickly look back on Chapter 9. 

In this chapter, Paul wrote:

• “But Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law.   Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works.” – Romans 9:31-32.

This scripture drives home the point that it is by faith, and not works, that we are saved.

CONFESSING JESUS AS LORD AND SAVIOR 

Having faith in Jesus is the most important thing we need to have relative to our salvation.

Everything starts and ends with the atoning blood of our Savior!

In total there arefive matters of salvationthat are discussed in the Bible:

1. Believe in Jesus.  “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” –  Acts 16:31, 
2. Confess our belief in Him.  “For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” –  Romans 10:10, 
3. Repent (turn away from) of our sins.  “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” –  Luke 13:3, 
4. Be baptized.  “ Baptism  now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ .” –  1 Peter 3:21  and “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” –  Mark 16:16, 
5. Obey God’s commandments.  “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.”  –  Mathew 7:21. 

CONFESSING JESUS AS OUR LORD AND SAVIOR

In Romans Chapter 10, Paul talks about the importance of confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior, and how that confession is necessary for salvation:

• “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.” – Romans 10:9-10.

As disciples of Jesus, we are never to be ashamed of the Gospel.   Confessing Jesus as our Lord and Savior shows our faith outwardly , while the belief in our heart shows our faith inwardly .

WHAT ABOUT WORKS?

As Christians, we must let go of the concept that we can gain salvation through our own works, and instead accept the precious gift of Jesus!

As humans, it is hard to fathom how a gift so valuable could be so freely given to the entire world!

That speaks to the amazing grace that we have through God the Father, and God the Son.

And while we are not saved by our works, there is important work that we are commanded to do!

Consider the following three scriptures:

1. “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” – James 1:22,
2. “Faith without works is dead,” - James 2:26,
3. “But someone may well say, ‘You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.’” - James 2:18.

FAITH

Faith plays a critical role in our salvation.

As we said earlier in today’s lesson:

1. Having faith in Jesus is the most important thing we need to have relative to our salvation,
2. Everything starts and ends with our belief in Jesus.

Because faith plays such a critical role in our salvation, it is imperative that we understand faith. 

As always, our source for better understanding is the Bible.  Consider the following five scriptures about faith:

1. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” - Hebrews 11:6,
2. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” - Hebrews 11:1,
3. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” - Ephesians 2:8-9,
4. “Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.” - Galatians 2:16,
5. “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” - 2 Corinthians 5:7.

HOW TO OBTAIN FAITH

Is faith something that we are born with, or is it something we acquire?

The answer is found in the following scripture:

• “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” – Romans 10:17.

Reading the Bible increases our faith. 

The more we read it, the stronger our faith becomes!

Look at the example of Jesus. 

Jesus would often go to a quiet place to pray to His Father and to study the scriptures.  If Jesus believed this was important, so should we!

CONCLUSION

It is our faith in Jesus that saves us, not the works that we do. 

Our faith, however, is useless unless it compels us to act!

We can increase our faith through regular Bible study, but that is just the beginning.

As our faith increases, we must apply what we have learned. Otherwise, as James wrote, our faith is dead and alone.

We will end today’s lesson with the following scripture that highlights that point:

• “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.” – James 2:14-17.