Understanding Romans 10: The Essence of Faith in Christ

Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast, where we are proclaiming the truth to the world.

My name is Pastor Josh and I want to thank you for listening to this podcast.

I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen you in the word of God.

Now, come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today.

If you are following along with us, we've been going verse by verse through the book of Romans, and we're in Romans chapter 10 here this morning, Romans chapter 10.

And we left off last week at verse number 17, and that's where we're going to pick up this week.

The idea is this.

All of us as people in this world have faith.

We have faith in something.

Faith in ourselves, faith in someone else, faith in a bigger picture, faith in maybe the government or faith maybe in something that's beyond ourselves.

But what the Bible tells us is that the only object of faith that can sustain, the only object of faith that can satisfy, the only object of faith that can save is the Bible saying here very clearly the truth of Jesus Christ that we find in the gospel, his life for mine.

As we heard this morning in that song, Jesus comes to this earth.

He lives perfectly, no sin.

None of us can claim that.

The Bible says, for all have sinned to come short of the glory of God.

And so Jesus comes and lives that perfect life, and he then dies on the cross for our sins by way of sacrifice, paying our payment in.

The Bible says that we can be justified through faith in that belief system.

And really what that tells us is justified means that we're declared righteous.

We're not righteous in and of ourselves.

We're righteous because of what Jesus Christ has done for us.

And we place our faith in that.

But the beauty is, is the gospel doesn't end with Jesus's death.

The gospel continues on in the fact that Jesus rose again on the third day and that because of Jesus conquering death, we can have everlasting hope in him.

And so when he says in verse 17, so then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God, we understand by context that he's talking about faith in the gospel.

Now we know that because all the way back in Romans chapter one, where we started many, many weeks ago, it says in verse 16, Paul, the writer here, says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.

So we know by way of context, he's not talking about faith in oneself he's not talking about faith in another person.

He's talking about faith in God through Jesus Christ.

John 14:6.

Jesus says, I am the way, the truth and the life.

No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

So to believe in God and to know his salvation is, and to know his everlasting life that he extends to us, it's knowing Jesus Christ in faith.

And so that's what verse 17 is all about in Romans 10, faith.

That's the type of faith that we're talking about here.

Faith is a belief in something that we don't necessarily see.

If you want to do a deeper study in the content of faith, look at Hebrews chapter 11.

What an amazing passage that is when it comes to defining what faith is and why we need faith and some examples of faith.

But in verse 17, he says faith comes by hearing and hearing what?

Well, hearing what everyone has to say.

No, not necessarily hearing how I feel.

No, that's not what it says.

It says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

Where we get our theology is the word of God.

Where we get our faith is not necessarily from the pages of this book or the screen that you have.

But the reason why we can believe in something that's on a page is that the Bible says that it's alive.

The Bible says that it's literally the Word of God inspired by God.

And so when we look at the Word of God, we're seeing the story of our Savior, we're seeing the story of our salvation, we're seeing the story of our Creator.

And so we know in the way of context that Romans chapter 10 is all about dealing with Paul's people, the people of Israel, and their rejection to Jesus.

And in contrast, those that are Gentiles, as we saw in Romans Chapter one, the Gospel is not just for Jews.

It was to the Jew first, but also to the Greek, also to the Gentile.

Says in Romans 10 that there are people that were in the land of Jerusalem, in Israel, when Jesus came and when he died and when he rose again, that are rejecting him, that are turning their backs against him.

And why are they doing that?

Well, the first few verses in Romans 10 tell us that they were trying to find their own righteousness, righteousness in the law, righteousness and their works.

And he's been explaining throughout Romans chapter 10 that that type of righteousness is empty.

It's hopeless.

We even know that in the book of Isaiah, it says that our righteousness, our best works, the best things that we can do, for God are like filthy rags in comparison to his holiness.

And so we don't find righteousness through our hard work.

We find righteousness through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

And so he builds that all the way up to verse 17.

And he says, hey, they need to hear about the message of the gospel.

They need to have a preacher.

We need to send, we need to go.

But really all of us have to come to grips with that verse in verse 17.

So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

What are we doing with the message of the gospel?

First and foremost, have we trusted in the gospel?

Do we have faith in what the Bible says about Jesus and what he has done for us?

If that be the case, if you have trusted in that and you do have faith in what the gospel message preaches, then the next question would be this.

What are we doing with that message?

Are we sharing that message?

Are we living that message?

Are we giving everything that we can to the kingdom of God?

And the fact that we are proclaiming that message to the world?

It is the responsibility for every believer to proclaim that message according to the Great Commission at the end of Matthew, chapter 28.

But then we get to verse 18, and Paul is going to ask a few more questions.

That's one of Paul's favorite tactics to use here in the Book of Romans, to ask a question and give an answer.

And really what the question we're going to be faced with here in verse number 18 is this.

What if one of those people from Israel that are rejecting Jesus at the time, and really the bigger picture would be, what if.

What if anybody doesn't hear the message?

What.

What if they just don't understand or they don't know it, or they never even heard it.

And really that's the first question that's asked.

Verse 18, he says, but I say, have they not heard?

So some people are asking the question of Paul.

Well, how can they be held responsible to have faith in something that they haven't heard?

Well, he's already talked about the importance of preachers going out.

He's already talked about the importance of us as Christians proclaiming that gospel to the world.

But now he's going to tell us a very important truth.

That in the Old Testament and the New, the Bible tells us that God's glory is proclaimed to all the world through various aspects.

And he actually quotes an Old Testament passage here in verse number 18.

He says, have they not heard?

Yes, verily or truthfully, their sound went into all the earth.

And their words unto the ends of the world.

Now, what is he talking about here?

He's actually quoting a passage from Psalm 19 that we read here this morning.

He's responding to people that are basically saying this.

What if people haven't heard?

And really in the context of the message this morning, he's talking about Israel.

He's talking about those people that Jesus came to, that Jesus lived around.

And even in John chapter one, it says that he went into his own and his own received him.

Not.

So he says, what about those people that didn't hear?

Well, Psalm 19 tells us that this doesn't mean.

By the way, I need to make this clear.

Psalm 19 does not say here that everyone in the world has heard the Gospel, because that's not the case.

There are many people in this world that need to still hear the gospel.

So that's not what it's saying.

But what Psalm 19, verse 4, says is something very clear.

It says this their line.

Now what is their line?

What is this talking about?

Well, if you go back to verse number one in Psalm 19, it says the heavens, the creation declared, the glory of God, and the firmament show with his handiwork.

So it says their line is gone out.

What is that?

That is the glory of God.

The line is gone out through all of the earth and their words to the end of the world.

And so what is he saying here?

He says this, that because of creation, it's evident to the world, because of the power of God being seen through creation, it's evident to the world that there is a creator, that there is a Savior, that.

That there is someone more powerful than us.

And so what is he saying here?

He's saying in Psalm 19, and he's saying also in Romans, chapter 10, that nobody is without excuse because of the fact that we can look out and we can see that there's something bigger than us.

The glory of God is proclaimed through creation, through the Old Testament, through the law, through the prophets, through everything that we see throughout all the Bible.

It points to a creator, it points to a Savior, it points to Jesus.

And we even know that in the New Testament, Jesus is talking to some folks on the road to Emmaus.

Some of you know that story.

It's after his resurrection.

And Jesus is walking with his disciples there.

And they don't know who he is, but he reasons with them from the law and from the prophets, basically all the Old Testament, that he is the fulfillment of all of that, that it's all talking about him.

And so what Paul is basically saying In Romans chapter 10 is the same thing that he said in Romans chapter one.

Romans chapter one.

If you look back with me to that, he says in verse number 30, I believe it is actually you could go all the way up to verse number 20.

He's basically saying that nobody can say, well, I just didn't know.

Nobody is exempt from the power of God.

No one's exempt from the judgment of God.

Verse number 20 of Romans chapter 1 says for the invisible things of him mean all the spiritual things that he gives us from the creation of the world are clearly seen being mis or being being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power of Godhead so that they are without excuse.

So what is he saying here?

He says that we can look out into the world and see the general revelation of God.

And I believe that if someone seeks after the Lord through seeing his creation, he will reveal himself to them and give them an opportunity to know him.

Verse 21 he says because of that, because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God.

Neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened.

Meaning this.

There are many people that see God.

God has been revealed to them.

But they reject why, as it says there, it says very clearly why they were not thankful and became vain or empty in their imaginations they went a different direction.

Their heart was, as it says here, foolish and was darkened.

Professing themselves to be wise.

Meaning there are people that say no, we're wise enough to figure out our own path.

We can do it on our own, we can accomplish salvation through our own level.

And so he says they profess themselves to be wise, but actually the Bible says that they became fools.

The Bible says that there is a very clear definition of a fool.

And by the way, this is not me describing a fool.

This is the Bible.

The Bible says the fool has said in his heart there is no God.

A fool is someone who rejects the evidence.

The fool is someone who rejects the power.

The the fool is someone who rejects the gospel message clearly presented.

And it says in verse 23 of Romans 1 and change the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible men and to birds and.

And a four footed beast and a creeping things.

And so what the Bible says very clearly here is that what is going to be the case for many people is that they're going to see that there is a Creator, that there's something bigger than them.

But what they do is instead of worshiping the Creator, they worship the created, they create their own God.

And sometimes what we see in our own culture is that the individual becomes the God or, or, or the, the system becomes the God.

And, and that's exactly what we saw with the people of Israel at the time of Jesus's resurrection.

Many people rejected and said that they had their own path, their own way, their own righteousness.

And he says that's foolish.

So they can't say, I've never heard, he says, because it's evident all around.

And there's so much more to be said about that.

But I want you to understand, he explains here In Romans, chapter 10, the content of the gospel.

And the content of the gospel is this.

From the beginning of time, Jesus has clearly been taught through the Old Testament.

He's been taught through creation, he's been taught through the prophets, he's been taught through the New Testament.

And even today we all have to come to grips with the understanding that Jesus is being proclaimed to us through many different avenues.

God is declaring his glory.

None of us are without excuse.

And so in verse 18 of Romans 10, he says the, the sound of that went through all of the earth and their words unto the ends of the world.

At that time, even at Paul's time, the known world, the Roman world, had heard the Gospel.

There was a great spread.

Most of you know that the church starts there in Jerusalem, and it spreads and it goes to places like Antioch, where they were called Christians for the first time.

It spreads obviously even to Rome, because this is a book written to the Christians at Rome.

And so it's being spread all over the known world at that time.

And praise God.

Today, the gospel message is being spread all over the world.

And we sometimes think about it this way.

We think, well, you know, everyone would believe if they just heard.

Everyone would believe if they just saw.

But the truth is, is that there are many people today that have clearly been preached to.

There are many people today that have clearly seen the glory of God.

They've seen the work of God, they've seen the truth of God, but yet they reject in their hearts.

The Bible says that the content of the gospel is very clear.

It's in Jesus Christ and his sacrifice.

The, the content of the gospel is that it's for all we talked about this last time that it's for everyone to hear.

It's not for everyone to believe though, because the Bible does say that it's the narrow way.

The Bible does say that there are going to be people who reject the Gospel message.

And so the first question that Paul asks is, do they understand the content?

Do they understand the gospel?

Do they know the gospel?

And then he actually goes a little bit further.

He says, okay, they've heard the gospel, but do.

Do they know it?

Verse 19.

But I say, did not Israel know?

So, so he's asking a question, not do they?

Because it would be redundant if he just says, do.

Have they heard it?

And do they know it?

Because then that.

That would be like, what.

What is he saying here?

But that word no means, do they understand it?

Do they live in it?

Some of you know that in the Bible, when it uses that word, no, it's more than just an intellectual understanding of something, but it's.

It's a deeper heart issue.

And so he says here, okay, maybe Israel heard it, but maybe they just don't understand it.

Verse 19, he says, but I say, did not Israel know?

So, so the second question would be this.

Do they know the context of the gospel?

Do.

Do they know the gospel when it comes to what Jesus Christ did?

Yes, they know by facts.

But do they know what it really means?

Do they know that if they missed it, that other people would get it?

Do they know that the gospels for the Gentiles were.

Well, verse number 19, he says, did not Israel know?

First, Moses saith, and he actually quotes a passage of scripture From Deuteronomy, chapter 32, Deuteronomy 32, verse 21, he quotes that.

And he says that Moses said, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation, I will anger you.

Now, if you want to go back and look at that quote, that's like I said, it's in Deuteronomy, chapter 32, verse 21.

And it tells us that God told them from the very beginning, all the way back in the law, all the way back in Deuteronomy, that if they reject and that they will reject if they do that, that God will use other people, as it says here, another nation, people that are not a nation that are historically known for following God, a larger group of people.

He will use them to revoke jealousy in their hearts.

Verse 21 of Deuteronomy 32, it says, they have moved me to jealousy that which is not God, meaning people that were not originally from God.

They have provoked me to anger with their vanities.

That's the people of God, their emptiness.

And I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people.

So basically what God says is that when Israel turns their hearts away from God, specifically through rejecting Jesus, that he will lump in another group of people that would be the Gentiles.

That's why Romans chapter 1, verse 16 says to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

So this was already foretold in prophecy all the way back In Deuteronomy, chapter 32, he says here in verse 21, and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people, and I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

And so the idea here is really this.

Israel has been told throughout all of time that there is a bigger picture, that there is a.

A larger message that needs to be told to the world.

It's not just for them.

They have an opportunity to partake of it.

They have an opportunity to be blessed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

But he says if they reject, there is going to be a place where they are turned to jealousy, that they are provoked in their anger against these people, because God is going to use people that are not part of the nation of Israel.

And that's what Paul's talking about in Romans, chapter 10.

And so Isaiah 65, he quotes Isaiah 65 as well.

And that's an interesting thing.

And by the way, if you're looking at the book of Romans and you say, well, I don't need to know the Old Testament to know the New Testament, folks.

Paul quotes the Old Testament so frequently in the book of Romans and really throughout the New Testament that we need to understand the context.

And so it's so important to see what he's quoting, because if you don't go back to see what he's quoting, you might not necessarily understand exactly the message that he's explaining here.

So verse number 20, he says in Romans 10.

But Isaiah or Isaiah is very bold and saith, I was found of them that sought me not.

I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.

So if you go to Isaiah, Isaiah, this is actually a quote from Isaiah 65, verse 1.

It's the Lord speaking and saying that if my people in this context Israel, reject me, don't believe in me, then he says that he will go to those who sought him not, meaning historically, were not his people.

So Isaiah 65, verse 1 says, I am sought of them that asked not for me.

I am found of them that sought me not.

I said, behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.

So we see in the law in Deuteronomy that God foretold that there would be a rejection from, from Israel of the Messiah and that the gospel message would go to more people.

We see that in the prophets, in Isaiah, which Isaiah was lifted up as one of the main prophets for them at that time.

He even Isaiah said that this would happen.

And then we come to Romans and basically Paul is saying, this is what God already said.

God has been telling you for years, for centuries that this would happen.

So they cannot say that they didn't hear it.

They cannot say that they didn't understand it.

They should have understood.

They did not have a reason to plead ignorance in this case.

And so what we're basically seeing from Paul is that he's looking to the people of Israel, particularly at that time, rejecting Jesus and saying they heard.

So that's not an excuse.

They understood.

So that's not an excuse.

Now we might say, what does that mean for me today?

Well, that means this.

We as people that are in America, we, we have no excuse.

We've heard the gospel, we, we've, we should understand the context of the gospel.

But the reality is, is that many people are still going to reject.

And so we see in this passage that the content of the gospel is clear.

We see that the context of the gospel is clear.

But then we're going to see the last verse here.

And I think it's important for us to note the, the message that Paul is basically saying here is that he says, look, this God is still a God of compassion, even if we understand the context, even if we understand the content.

And yet we're walking in rebellion.

God is still meek, but God is strong.

God is gracious and God is merciful.

And so he says in verse 21, but to Israel he saith, and he actually quotes the very next verse in Isaiah 65.

And I think that this is so important for us to understand because we sometimes think that God is limited by our unbelief.

But what the Bible actually says here is that God is, is not just sitting up there going, well, I wish everyone would just believe in me.

I, I really wish that I would have them come to me.

But yet I'm limited in my power.

No, God is patient and he could judge us at the very moment of our disbelief.

But in verse 2 it says, In Isaiah 65, I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people which walketh in a way that was not good after their own thoughts.

So what is that saying?

That's saying this, that God is still reaching out, that God is allowing for people to come back in repentance and find forgiveness.

And so what I believe verse 21 talks about after we've seen the content and the context of the gospel, is the compassion of the gospel.

God is a compassionate God who is full of mercy and grace, who was patient with us and patient with the nation of Israel.

And he says here, all the day long I have stretched forth my hand unto a disobedient and gain so sane people.

And so really he calls out two sins that I believe lead to people rejecting the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

It says here, number one, that they are an unbelieving people, a disobedient people.

What's their disobedience found in?

Their disobedience is found in unbelief, a lack of faith.

There's a lot of things that we can get in trouble with in our lives when it comes to our disobedience to God.

And certainly God's grace is bigger than all of our sin.

But what we see here is that one of the things that separates people from a relationship with God is simply the sin of disobedience, the sin of rejection, the sin of lack of faith.

And so really, we could summarize it this way.

If we are walking in unbelief, we will not experience the grace of God.

If we're walking in unbelief, we will not experience the salvation of God.

And what the Bible says In Hebrews chapter 11, I mentioned that already.

Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 11, verse 6 says that it's impossible to please God without faith.

And so essentially what he's saying is this.

I'm stretching out my hand to people who don't believe.

I'm giving the gospel message to people who don't believe.

And here in America today, we look at the situation that we're in and we say, well, we're a Christian nation, and in many ways we were based upon Christian principles.

I mean that.

But we look at our world today and we look at a lot of people who are rejecting Jesus.

And if they're rejecting Jesus, they're not Christian.

Okay?

That word Christian means a little Christ.

That means following and believing in him and trusting in him in every way in our lives.

And so we can't just say that we're Christian and not believe in the message of the Gospel.

We can't just say that we're Christian and do what we want to do.

We can't just say that we believe in Jesus, but act a completely different way.

And that's exactly what we see here in Romans, chapter 10.

Basically, the people of Israel say we believe in God, we believe in the law, we believe in the prophets, but yet we don't want to do it that way.

We want to do it our way.

And that's what we see in the world today.

We want to have the blessings of being Christian.

We want to have the blessings of going to church.

We want to have the blessings of God's forgiveness in our life.

We want to have the blessings of, of all the things that he says with the promises to those that are his children.

But yet at the same time, many times we are thinking about it from the perspective of, well, what does this mean for me?

How can I find my own way?

How can I create my own God?

How can I worship the creation instead of the Creator?

And, and so like I've used this example many times in my life and I know it kind of becomes redundant, but I, I want you to understand the point that I'm trying to say is that, you know, you get someone a gift and, and if they're thankful to the gift and not the gift giver, they're missing the point, right?

If I buy something for my children and they're all about the gift and they know, don't even look at me and don't show any thankfulness, they're missing the point.

And that's what many people in America do today is that we look at all the blessings that God has given us and we rest in those blessings instead of resting in the one who blessed us with those blessings.

And so Exactly.

Romans chapter 10.

As he concludes here, he says, hey, I'm reaching out to people who are rejecting me in disobedience.

And I'm just going to say this as a preacher of the gospel in 2026 in America, we are walking in disobedience.

As a people, we are walking in rejection to Him.

We've got to turn our hearts and minds back to the word of God and understanding that if he is our Lord and Master, that we must treat him as our Lord and Master.

I think about this a lot in my own life.

How does my belief about what Jesus Christ has done for me and what he's doing for me now, how does that affect my everyday?

How does that affect my marriage?

How does that affect my, my raising of my children?

How does that affect my work?

How does that affect my private life?

How does that affect everything?

Every element.

And many people walk in accordance to their own will and then just ask God to bless that will.

And instead of what the Bible says is that we should submit ourselves to, to his will and say, lord, I'm not going to be disobedient.

You know, my, My children sometimes will come and ask me for advice or they'll ask me for, you know, hey, what should I do about this?

Or how should I do this?

And then I tell them, okay, so like, my kids just started soccer and I didn't play soccer.

But, you know, if I went out against first and second graders, I think I could score a goal.

Okay, okay, I understand enough about how to score in soccer.

And so the kids will say, like, hey, I want to score a goal.

Okay, well, son.

Well, actually yesterday was Nora, if you remember that.

So I was like, nora, go right there.

If you stand right there, they're gonna get the ball.

And she's like, no, no, no.

She's looking at me like, I don't know what I'm doing.

I'm like, oh, come on.

I'm like, if you just stand right there, they're gonna kick it there and you're gonna get a goal.

And she's like, no.

And so the, the irony is like, we as adults, we as parents look at our children.

We say, we, we know what to do.

We.

We understand that from a better perspective.

But yet they're like, oh, we have a better way.

We have a better path.

That's how we are as disobedient children.

To the Lord, We.

We say, no, we know better.

God's.

God's drawing us.

He's.

He's pointing us to something in our life.

He's trying to change us.

He's trying to convict us.

And at the end of the day, we just look at it and we go, you know what?

It's our.

It's our plan.

It's our way.

And that's what he's saying in verse 21.

He says, all day long.

And this speaks to God's patience.

This speaks to God's long suffering nature.

It says, all day long I've stretched forth my hand unto a disobedient people.

But then he also says something interesting here.

He says, gain saying people.

So it's not just that these people are rejecting God and, and having a life of disobedience and having a life of unbelief.

But we also see here that they are a gain saying people.

That that idea of gainsaying means speaking against.

So it would be one thing if my children were just disobedient.

That's sin in and of itself.

But then the second thing would be this.

If they were sinning against me in disobedience and also saying things against me to other people, right, or.

Or to their siblings.

And that's exactly what God is saying here.

God is saying that these people not only are rejecting me by way of disobedience and walking in that path of unbelief, but that would be enough in and of itself.

But also they're fighting against the gospel.

And that's.

And that's the problem that many of us are facing today, is that maybe we aren't proclaiming in this world against the gospel, but the way that we live our lives is contrary to the gospel.

Therefore, it's not a message of preaching the gospel, it's actually preaching a different gospel, the gospel of the flesh, the gospel of worldly wisdom.

And so he says here that there's a disobedient and gainsaying people.

And actually the Bible says in Titus 1:9, I find this very interesting that one of the ministries of a pastor, one of the ministries of a preacher within the church, is particularly to deal with, again, saying people.

The reality is, is that most of us in our flesh are not content with just being in disobedience, but we also want to be naysayers against those who are against the truth of God.

In the Titus chapter one, I want you to see one of the descriptions of a pastor here.

Qualifications of a leader within the church.

He says that in verse number nine of Titus chapter one, holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught.

Meaning, one of the things that we have to do as spiritual leaders within the church is that we have to receive the word of God and believe the word of God.

But then at the same time, we're supposed to, as it says here, verse nine, holding fast the faithful words, as I have been taught that he may be able, by sound doctrine, by the right teachings, both to exhort and to convince the gainsayer.

So the truth is, is that all of us have a responsibility not only to try to give the gospel message out to people who are disobedient, but also we're called to preach a message against the people that are coming, against the gospel message of Jesus Christ, instead of just hating them, instead of just rejecting them, instead of just saying, you know what?

They're done, they're over, they're hopeless.

No, we have to have the same heart that Paul had here in Titus chapter one, the same heart that God had for his people of Israel in verse 21, that we should reach forth, we should have patience, we should have mercy, we should have grace to those that are in need, but at the same time not condoning their disobedience and not condoning the gainsaying and speaking against of the truth of the gospel.

So in context, what's happening is that there are people in Rome that were speaking to these Roman Christians and saying basically this.

You don't have to believe the message that Paul is preaching.

You don't have to do the things that Paul is telling you to do.

You can just do it your own way and actually follow the law and be your own righteous individual who can find forgiveness and grace through that.

But the Bible says in verse 21 that that's not the answer.

The answer is really at the same time, verse 17.

So then faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God.

And so what is the call to action in Romans chapter 10?

What's the call to action for all of us in all of Scripture?

Is that what are we going to do with the message that has been clearly proclaimed to us that, that we clearly understand now?

There, there are things in our life that we're still trying to understand.

I, I know that not all of us are able to say that we know everything in scripture.

I would say none of us are able to say that we know everything that Scripture teaches.

I mean, all of us are still growing.

All of us are still understanding.

All of us are still getting to that place in our life where we're growing in the grace and the knowledge of who God is in our life.

But at the same time, all of us, okay, if you're here this morning or if you're watching on the live stream, all of us have the responsibility to respond to what we know.

And what we should know is that Jesus Christ came.

He died on the cross for our sins.

He rose again on the third day.

He's ruling and reigning today.

We all have the responsibility to respond to that.

Whether we're Jewish, whether we're Gentile, whether we're rich, whether we're poor, whether we're Baptist or whether we're another denomination, it really doesn't matter.

All of us have to come to grips with what is being preached there when it comes to having faith.

And so what Paul is saying is this.

Those people that were coming from that Jewish lineage were saying, it's my bloodline, that's enough.

Like, I don't need to be saved through faith.

I don't need a Messiah.

I don't, I don't need Jesus.

I don't need that message of sacrifice.

I can find my righteousness, my own way.

And so what does it look like for us today?

Like, what do we do in that way?

Because some of us don't say, well, I was born and I grew up, you know, in Middletown, Delaware, so I don't need Jesus.

No, that's not usually what we think.

But oftentimes what we think is we think that we can be enough, that we can be righteous enough, that we can be good people.

Most people in our culture today, even some that say they're Christians, say, well, well, as long as my good outweighs my bad, I'll be all right.

Well, the Bible tells us in many ways that our good will never outweigh our bad.

Our bad.

Think about a scale.

The bad is, is going to be the one that's all the way on the ground.

And our good, no matter how much we do, is never going to outweigh our bad.

And some of you might say, well, I'm a pretty good person.

I'm.

I'm actually, I think I'm a good citizen.

I don't break the rules.

I obey all the speed limits.

You know, I'm a nice person.

I don't do you know, and, and the truth is, though, the Bible goes back and tells us that there is none good, no, not one.

And that even Jesus takes it to a different standard.

If you remember back in Matthew, he says that, yes, you've been told that you shouldn't murder, but if you hate your brother in your heart, you've committed murder already.

So Jesus, you know, a lot of people think like, well, the Pharisees had the tightest standards.

Actually, no, Jesus had the tightest standards.

The Pharisees standards were as long as you didn't commit adultery, you could think about whatever you wanted to think about.

And he says, no.

Remember what Jesus said?

He said, you've heard, not to commit adultery.

But then if you lust after someone in your heart, you've commit adultery already.

Jesus takes it to a different standard to show us that none of us could claim that we are holy and righteous.

Even the Pharisees couldn't claim that.

And so what I'm trying to get across to you here this morning is that all of Romans 10 is condemning a people who are trying to earn it their own way.

It's challenging a people who think that they can find righteousness and holiness on their own.

And what we see from the very beginning to the very end in Romans chapter 10 is that we need Jesus for righteousness.

We need Jesus for, for salvation.

We need Jesus for all the things in our life all the problems in our life.

You know, someone comes up to me and they say, hey, I've got a problem, and then fill in the blank, okay?

And many of us, all of us have problems, okay?

That's the reality of things.

We all have problems and many different avenues.

We have physical problems, we have emotional problems.

We have spiritual problems.

We might have family problems.

We may have work problems.

We might have problems in our house.

We might have problems everywhere in our life.

But at the end of the day, the answer to all of our problems is Jesus.

Now, I know that that is a cliche, and I know that many people think, well, you can't just say that Jesus is the answer and leave it at that.

I understand that.

But the bigger picture is that Jesus is the answer for all of our problems, and he has given us his word.

Verse 17.

So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

If I don't know what Jesus has promised me, if I don't know the way that Jesus works, if I don't know the type of love that he has for me, if I don't know what his power looks like in my life, then I'm going to put my faith in something else and I'm going to find myself back in that same problem that I was in before.

And so when we look at scripture, yes, the Bible doesn't talk to every situation in our life.

You say, I thought I did.

Well, the Bible doesn't tell me how I should use my phone.

I never.

I mean, maybe you guys caught it, but I never saw clearly, explicitly in scripture, thou shalt not be on your iPhone 12 hours a day.

Okay, I didn't see that.

So does that mean I have freedom to just be on my phone no matter what?

You know?

Well, there are what we call principles in scripture that are taught that we can read these principles in scripture and we can build our theology, our belief system, our faith off of these principles.

So, yes, the Bible doesn't say I can't be on my iPhone for eight hours a day.

But you.

The Bible also says that I should set no wicked thing before mine eye.

The Bible also says that.

That I should not live with.

With idolatry in my life.

And so I can take those principles that are taught in scripture and apply it to something in 20, 26.

And so with the point I'm trying to make in verse 17 and all the way down to verse 21 is that faith comes by hearing.

But we have to hear it, we have to believe it.

We have to understand it, to walk in that faith and that obedience.

And so, in contrast, we see verse 17.

Those that are saved are those that come to faith.

Verse 21.

Those that are in disobedience and that are gainsaying are those that are not going to find salvation.

And so all of Romans chapter 10 is pointing us to our need for a savior, particularly the nation of Israel, particularly Paul's people.

He says they need Jesus.

They can't find it any other way.

Jesus is the only answer for their sin problem, for their rejection, for their gainsaying, for their.

For their lies, for their slander.

And the same thing goes for us today.

Jesus is the answer to all of our problems in our country.

Jesus is the answer to all the problems that we find in our home.

Jesus is the answer for all the problems that we find in our workplace.

And he gives us those principles.

He gives us the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

He gives us the peace of God which passeth all understanding.

He gives us the joy of the Lord being our strength.

And he allows us to walk in those blessings.

And so we can't say that God's not working.

You know, there are some people that might question whether or not God is still at work today.

There might be some people that say, you know what?

I just don't see God working today.

And my advice, I don't want to try to be as gracious and patient as I can, but I'm going to just say it, okay.

Open up your eyes to what's around you.

God is at work.

God is still moving.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is still powerful.

The church is still going to prevail over the gates of hell.

We all have hope in Jesus Christ.

The problem is that Satan is giving us lies to believe that it's not enough, that we need something more, that God is still not on the throne, that he's still not working.

And what we see is that's the same lie that was being told to the people back then.

And if we believe those lies, we're not going to be believing in what Jesus has said, but we're going to be believing in all the things that the world wants us to believe, all the things that Satan tells us to believe in.

And so the challenge for all of us is to come to a place that Paul comes to at the end of Romans chapter 10 that says, the only hope for my people of Israel is that they come back to Jesus Christ.

The only hope that I have for Middletown Baptist Church, the only hope that we have for the Middletown Community, New Castle county, the state of Delaware.

And by the way, if you've been here a long time or you've been here for a short amount of time, you'll realize that we have a lot of corruption and sin around us, not just in Delaware, but all over the world.

And the answer to that corruption is not for us just to get angry at everybody, even though we should be angry at sin.

The answer to all of our problems is to be angry enough at the sin to preach the only remedy to that sin, and that is Jesus Christ.

You know what gets me up early in the morning and gets me driven in the day is to know that Jesus has given me a purpose.

And we lose our purpose, we lose our focus.

If we lose our identity, we lose our understanding of what God has called us to do.

And the question that I would have for you this morning is this.

Where do you find your identity?

If I ask you, who are you?

You know what, a lot of times people say, well, I'm, you know, I'm Josh, I'm from Florida.

I work as a pastor, got three kids.

I'm married to Alicia.

I like, you know, outdoors and sports and hobbies like that.

That's what I do.

That's who I'm married to.

That's my children.

But that's not my identity.

Because what happens is, is that we tie our identity to something in our life.

Some, some men, specifically, some of us men, we tie our identity to what we do in our careers sometimes.

And sometimes what we see happening is if we lose that in our life or, or some of us tie our identity to our physical health.

Some of you that are, you know, peak physical health and strength, you say, look at me, that my identity is.

I work out, my identity is, I like to run, or my identity is like eating healthy.

Well, the truth is, is that all of those things that we define in our identity can be taken away from us.

The one aspect of our identity as a Christ follower that can't be taken away from us is our relationship with him.

And so what we see is a lot of people in America that have an identity crisis.

And the, the truth is, is that they think that their identities in something and if that gets swayed, they.

They don't know what their identity is.

Come on.

Like, you guys know there's people in this world, they don't know who they are.

And, and the, and the truth is, I've been there.

Okay, so confession time.

I have wrapped up at part in parts of my life.

I have wrapped up being a Pastor as my identity.

And some people say, well, that's good.

That is your identity.

Really my peak identity is being a child of the King.

That that's really what it is.

God has allowed me to be a pastor, but the truth is, is that my identity can't be in just that I'm a pastor.

Because guess what?

What if I lost that opportunity?

Then what's my identity?

I don't have an identity anymore.

My identity must be that I'm a child of the King, that he has given me life, that he has called me his child, that he said, you know what?

I have given you new life in Christ.

And therefore we can walk in that identity.

But then sometimes we lose our purpose.

Okay, so my identity is in Jesus Christ.

But then what's my purpose in life?

You know, my purpose to sit in a pew and, you know, just be in church and go home and that's it.

I don't know what your identity is, but if your identity is in Jesus Christ, that's not your purpose.

Your purpose is not just to maintain space.

Your purpose is not just to take day by day and just survive day by day.

Bible tells us very clearly that though we might not have all the things that we want, the Bible tells us very clearly that it's not always about comfort.

It's not always about satisfaction when it comes to our physical state.

But the Bible says that we all have a purpose of glorifying the Lord and to making other disciples and to serve him in every capacity in our life that we can.

That he is our master and that he is our Lord.

And so what I would tell you here this morning is I really have you.

And which I'm doing in my own life, praying and asking the Lord to clearly confirm in my life my identity in him.

And secondly, to give me the understanding of what my purpose is.

Because when you understand what your purpose is, you wake up, hit the ground running.

And maybe some days you don't run.

Maybe you hit the ground and stumble like five times and crawl to your finish line.

But one way or the other, the Bible says that we're in a race and that race is not a sprint.

That race is a marathon.

And we're going long distance and we're pushing forward in the gospel.

And so what Paul says is that these people in Israel at the time that were rejecting, and not just Israel, the people in Rome that we're rejecting, it's not particular just to that one country, it's particular to the whole world.

But the idea would be this he says that if you're trusting in anything else, if your identity is in where you're from, if your identity is in what you do, if your identity is in how much work that you have, how many letters you have after your name, PhD, whatever it is, if you're looking in that as your identity, you're missing the point because your identity must be in Jesus Christ.

If your purpose is in anything else, if your purpose isn't getting fame, if your purpose isn't getting finances, if your purpose isn't getting your focus on you, then at the end of the day that focus is in the wrong direction.

And the purpose must be to glorify our Lord.

The Bible says to glorify the Lord, what do we do?

If we love him?

We keep his commandments.

That means obedience.

Let's go back and this is what we're going to conclude.

Look at verse 21 says, but to Israel, he said, all the day long I've stretched forth my hand unto a disobedient people.

God wants obedient people.

God wants people who are going to love him really essentially, because obedience is tied to love.

And so if we're Christians and we love the Lord, our obedience is going to follow.

Well, if I got up here and I said, okay, look, you guys need to be obedient Christians.

So what we're going to do is I'm going to, I'm going to check you guys on this.

I'm going to have a checklist when you leave the church today.

And, and these 613 rules you have to keep every single day when you leave.

And that's what it means to be an obedient Christian.

And I'm going to have spies throughout the whole Middletown community.

And we're going to be watching out for you guys and we're going to write down your names.

If you mess up, some of you would say, forget it, I'm never coming back to this church again.

Which you should.

That would be good.

But some of you, let's say, say you're well meaning people.

You're like, I want to be a good Christian.

I want to obey.

So you could say, okay, I'm going to not go to this place.

I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that.

But at the end of the day, there's no love.

It's all just, I've got to do this to perform for somebody else.

The Bible says that obedience is tied to our love.

God wants our obedient hearts to be tied to the love that we have for him.

And so then it's not a burden to follow him.

It's actually a joy to follow someone that we love.

So that idea would be this.

To, to be an obedient people would be to be a people who are loving God.

And to love God.

The Bible says to love him with all of our hearts, souls, minds and strength.

To love him with everything.

To love him with our minds.

So what we think about, what, what we spend time on, what we love, what we meditate on.

There's so many things in my life if, if I struggle with this, maybe there's someone else that struggles with this.

But I'm being pulled in so many different directions right now in my life, but got three kids, all different ages.

They've got their sports things, they've got school things, We've got work, we've got ministry, we've got family, we've got all these different things.

And so if I'm a person that's like that, I'm sure you can identify with that as well.

There's so many distractions.

And on top of that, I've got this thing and I, and I turned on, I said, okay, let me, let me just.

I'm going to watch one sermon on, on my phone real quick.

You know, when I, when I've got my free minutes, which I don't have that many free minutes in my life, but let me.

The kids go to bed and I say, okay, I'm going to watch a good sermon on this passage of scripture.

You know what happens?

I watch that sermon.

Then right underneath it, it suggests the video and it says, watch 10 Ways to Catch, you know, largemouth bass.

And I'm like, oh man, yeah, that would be really cool.

And then boom, boom, start swiping.

And before I know it, I've wasted, I've wasted so long because it's distractions.

And those distractions in our life can eventually deviate us to places that we don't want to be.

And what I would encourage you to be is to be a people that are not distracted, that are not disobedient, that are not doubters, that are not, as the Bible says here, to be gainsaying people, to speak against people that are trying to serve the Lord.

Because how ironic is it this way that we actually have people that are Christians that look at other Christians and get mad at them for trying to take a stand for righteousness?

You ever heard someone do that?

Like, how are you can be some holier than thou person by doing that?

Why why, folks, if we're saying that we're believers, we should celebrate other Christians living for righteousness, and we should try to live for righteousness.

And so Romans, chapter 10 ends with that compassion of Jesus Christ.

It ends with that the arm of the Lord is stretched forth upon a people who are rejecting.

That's his mercy.

That's his grace.

I think it's Mark, chapter nine.

There was a fellow that says, lord, I believe, but help my unbelief.

I think that all of us to some degree believe, right?

You wouldn't be here, you wouldn't be searching if you didn't believe that there's something greater than you.

But then the question would be this, how many of us need the Lord's help to believe today, to believe in that next trial, to believe that God's going to take care of my children, that believe that God's going to take care of that doctor's appointment, that believe that God's going to take care of my job, that believe that God's going to take care of this church, that God's going to take care of his message, that God's going to take care of his people.

That's where we need God to step and say, lord, I believe, but help me in my unbelief.

Lord, I need more of your grace.

Lord, I need more of you.

I need more of your word, folks, if you want to grow in faith.

If I want to grow in faith.

The Bible very clear, clearly tells us where we find that faith.

So faith cometh by hearing verse 17 and hearing by the word of God.

We get our truths from right here.

Don't get your truths from the enemy.

Don't get your truths from the world.

Don't get your truths from your feelings.

Don't get your truths from anything else.

We find truth in Jesus Christ.

So we're going to come back and we're going to see the last chapter in this three parts, this three chapter parentheses in the middle of Romans, because the first, really the first eight chapters of Romans tells us what we are to believe.

Then there's this middle ground that deals with the nation of Israel and their rejection, basically to remind us that though God is faithful to his people, there are going to be still people that reject.

And for chapter 11 is all about the opportunity to see God's covenant with Israel being fulfilled.

But at the end of the day, what we're going to see in Romans chapter 12 on to the rest of the end of the book is really how to put all this to practice practical stuff.

So theology always becomes practical theology because what we believe about God will adjust what we do in our lives.

And so I hope that you can stay tuned for that.

So next week we'll come back and we'll look at Romans, chapter 11, because some people still are questioning, well, if God's people there in Israel reject Jesus, is God still faithful to his people?

And the answer to that, every time, a thousand times, a million times, is that, yes, God is always faithful.

He's faithful and just.

And so we're thankful for that.

So if you're able to stand with me, every head bowed, every eye closed as the music plays, we're going to conclude here this morning, but I want to give you a time for response today.

There's nothing more important in our lives than how we respond to the gospel.

The people of Israel saw Jesus.

They saw the resurrection.

They had the law, they had the prophets, they had all of creation around them.

There was no reason for them to reject, except for the fact that they were unbelieving, except for the fact that the pride got the best of them.

And they believed that it was all about them and what they could do.

Folks, that could still, if we're not careful today, that can still be the problem of our church is this, that we can look around and we can say, yes, God has done this.

Yes, God has done this.

Yes, he's working in this area.

I've seen it over and over again.

I have the Bible, I have preaching, I have the history.

But I still don't know if he's going to handle today.

I still don't know if he's going to handle tomorrow.

I don't know if he's got a grip on my life.

Folks, I'm going to tell you that he's proven himself before and he will prove himself again.

And so rest in the word of God and walk in faith.

Not just for salvation, though salvation saves us, but also faith in the everyday, faith that he will take care of us, faith that he will be with us, faith that he will provide the things that we need in every area of our lives.

And so here today, first question.

Do you believe in Jesus?

Not just in his existence, but as we talked about today, the complete understanding of knowing him in a personal way.

If you do, that's amazing.

If you don't, today is the day of salvation.

Trust in Him.

The Bible says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

The word is this, that Jesus Christ lived for you, he died for you, and he resurrected on the third day for you to give you new life in Him.

But if you've trusted in that, maybe today it's just a challenge of faith.

Maybe it's the challenge of disobedience.

Maybe you've been obstinate, maybe you've been hard hearted to God because of your own path, your own ways.

Today, turn that over to Him.

Give him your whole life, give him your heart, give him your obedience.

Not because you have to, because other people are judging you, but because you want to.

Because God loves you and he wants your love from Him.

Lord, I pray that you be in this time of invitation, working hearts and lives.

We thank you for all that you do.

Pray that you bless us even now as we come before you in faith.

We ask all these things in Jesus name.

Amen.

Some have already come.

Follow as the Lord leads here this morning.

Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast.

I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you.

If you would like to find out more information about our church or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org or find us on Facebook or YouTube.

You can also also email me directly at Josh Massaroiddletownbaptistchurch dot com if you've enjoyed this podcast.

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Thank you so much.

God Bless.

Have a wonderful day.