Jesus Is the Only Savior - Romans 9:33-10:15 - November 2, 2008

Sunday school lesson - Jesus Is the Only Savior – November 2, 2008

We continue our study in the book of Romans.

Our scripture is Romans 9:33- 10:15.

In today’s world it is difficult for many people to acknowledge that there is only one way to heaven and that way is through JESUS CHRIST. We can see other people who pray many times a day or do difficult feats to follow a religious practice. Often, we believe that their sincerity will earn them a right to heaven.

But why wonder and guess where you will spend eternity when JESUS tells us in:

John 14:6:

6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 5:24:
24 “I assure you: Anyone who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.

To me there is no clearer message for a person seeking GOD and eternal life. Believers in CHRIST have the Good News. We have the truth and not fantasy. We have the HOLY SPIRIT in our hearts WHO confirms that we are GOD’S children. GOD wants HIS children to tell others the Good News of CHRIST. HE is their hope and salvation.

In Galatians 2: 19-21 Paul tells us that if there was any other way to GOD, then CHRIST died for nothing:

19 For through the law I have died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; 20 and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh,[10] The physical body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

Paul had died to the law to be freed from the law so he could live as GOD directed his life. He had died when CHRIST died on the cross but he had been born-again to continue his life in the flesh through faith and the power of CHRIST in him. The life giving power of the flesh was dead and had been replaced with the eternal life giving power of GOD through his rebirth in his spirit.

Let’s read Romans 9:33:

33 As it is written: Look! I am putting a stone in Zion to stumble over, and a rock to trip over, yet the one who believes on Him will not be put to shame.[26] Isaiah 8:14; 28:16
The Apostle Paul had studied the Old Testament scriptures under the famed Sanhedrin teacher Gamaliel and he knew the scriptures. Paul had been a Pharisee before his conversion experience on the road to Damascus.

Acts 22:3:

3 He continued, “I am a Jewish man, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city[1] Probably Jerusalem, but others think Tarsus at the feet of Gamaliel, and educated according to the strict view of our patriarchal law. Being zealous for God, just as all of you are today,
Paul used two (2) Old Testament references in verse 33:

Isaiah 28:16:

16 Therefore the Lord God said: “Look, I have laid a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will be unshakable.[7] Lit will not hurry [8] 1 Pt 2:6

Isaiah 8:14:

14 He will be a sanctuary; but for the two houses of Israel, He will be a stone to stumble over and a rock to trip over, and a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

This stone is JESUS CHRIST and all who believe in HIM will be unshakable because they will be on a solid rock foundation. CHRIST will be a sanctuary to believers but to the unbeliever HE will be a stone to stumble over.

A believer builds upon the solid unshakable foundation of the stone, which is CHRIST and unbelievers who reject the stone are crushed by the stone. GOD will do all HE can to reveal truth to all humans but HE leaves the decision to the person.

Have you made the decision to ask CHRIST to forgive you of your sins and asked HIM to come into your life? If not, please do it now. He has placed this stone in front of you today for you to pause and reflect on where you will spend eternity. CHRIST is the only way to GOD. DO not accept or believe there is any other way. It is simple. It is GOD reaching out HIS hand to you. Why not accept it and let HIM rescue you from certain death and give you life eternal? The choice is yours.

Let’s read Romans 10:1-3:

1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God concerning them[1] Other mss read God for Israel is for their salvation! 2 I can testify about them that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 Because they disregarded the righteousness from God and attempted to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness.

Paul said his heart’s desire was for all Israelites or his countrymen to be saved. Of all people, the Israelites should know the truth. They have had the scriptures and GOD had led them for thousands of years. GOD had given them the scriptures prophesying the coming of the Messiah. CHRIST came to earth as foretold in the scriptures and lived among them. The vast majority of the Jewish religious leaders rejected HIM. They prided themselves with their ability to follow the law, which in their minds made them righteous. Therefore, they did not need CHRIST to make them righteous or acceptable to GOD.

Paul knew their zeal to perform and earn their way to GOD because he had been where they were. Paul had been zealous to crush the group called Christians until he encountered CHRIST on the road to Damascus. Paul was earning his way to GOD and in a profound conversion experience, he saw the truth that he had been searching for. Once he found the truth, he was zealous for the LORD. His heart was heavy for those still immersed in darkness and self-righteousness. They may have recognized the truth but would not submit to GOD through CHRIST because they considered themselves righteous by observing the law. They did not need a SAVIOR other than their own ability.

Paul stated in verse 2 that they had zeal but it was not based upon knowledge of the truth . A person can be very sincere and be very zealous in what they believe but be dead wrong because they are without truth. A person must have the knowledge of the truth. CHRIST said in John 14:6 that HE is the truth. Have you been searching for the truth? You just found it. Truth is CHRIST.

Let’s read Romans 10:4-13:
4 For Christ is the end[2] Or goal of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. 5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is from the law: The one who does these things will live by them.[3] Lv 18:5 6 But the righteousness that comes from faith speaks like this: Do not say in your heart, “Who will go up to heaven?”[4] Dt 9:4; 30:12 that is, to bring Christ down 7 or, “Who will go down into the • abyss?”[5] Dt 30:13 that is, to bring Christ up from the dead. 8 On the contrary, what does it say? The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.[6] Dt 30:14 This is the message of faith that we proclaim: 9 if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 With the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 Now the Scripture says, No one who believes on Him will be put to shame,[7] Isaiah 28:16 12 for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, since the same Lord of all is rich to all who call on Him. 13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.[8] Jl 2:32

People search for truth. Most of us have been taught the “Thou shall not’s” from early childhood, which will please GOD. The law gets our attention and we try to live by the law and find that we cannot live as the law dictates. We become a slave to the law. The law becomes a burden. Those who try to follow the law show they are sincere in their desire to please GOD. All of their efforts fail because it is impossible to keep both the letter and spirit of the law.

When they get to the end of their ability to keep and obey the law through their efforts, CHRIST is there. In essence, HE is saying you have tried it your way now accept ME, because I have fulfilled both the letter and spirit of the law for you. I died where you should have died because you failed to fulfill the requirements of the law. Accept MY free gift of eternal life and the gift of grace. Refer back to John 5:24.

All believers are made righteous by GOD. This was accomplished when CHRIST gave HIS life on the cross because HE was the perfect sacrifice. Paul expressed this in:

2 Corinthians 5:21:

21 For He (GOD) made Him (JESUS) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Paul referred to a statement from Leviticus 18:5, which he knew those who believed in following the law would reference regarding the adequacy of the law:

5 Keep My statutes and ordinances; a person will live if he does them.[3] Rm 10:5; Gl 3:12 I am the Lord.

Paul saw that the problem was that no one could keep the letter and spirit of the law. He knew that the law showed people how far short they fell in trying to keep the law and there was a solution to the problem.

Paul continued to use the Old Testament scriptures to make his points. He refers to Deuteronomy 30:12-14 where Moses is telling the people that the law was accessible and understandable:

12 It is not in heaven, so that you have to ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’ 13 And it is not across the sea, so that you have to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’ 14 But the message is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may follow it.[7] Rm 10:6–8

Moses is saying a person does not have to go to heaven or cross the sea to get the law. But the law is right here with you. Paul uses this to reveal the fact that a person does not have to run hither and yon searching for CHRIST. HE is as close as your heart and mouth. CHRIST is seeking the lost and all the lost person has to do is open his or her mouth and ask CHRIST to forgive him or her of his or her sins and to ask HIM to come into his or her life. This is very simple but a life changing experience. A person is changed in an instant through the miracle of rebirth.

Paul states this simple process in verses 9-13. Salvation is open to everyone and is all around a person. All he or she needs to do is to reach out and claim it. Salvation is free and available to everyone who wants it but CHRIST is the only way. It is a matter of the heart.

All who accept CHRIST as their SAVIOR can stand boldly before GOD on Judgment Day and not suffer the shame of rejecting CHRIST.

Let’s read Romans 10:14-15:

14 But how can they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How welcome[9] Or timely, or beautiful are the feet of those[10] Other mss read feet of those who announce the gospel of peace, of those who announce the gospel of good things![11] Isaiah 52:7; Nah 1:15

All believers are GOD’S representatives here upon earth. Believers are the light of the world and the salt of the earth. How can the lost person know the truth of the gospel? All believers have the truth and they are to share the good news with others, as GOD leads them. GOD calls some to be preachers who are to go, as GOD leads them, to spread the message of CHRIST to the lost. Others are called to witness to those around them. All believers have to make a choice whether or not to respond to GOD’S call. The call may be to preach to the masses or to live an obedient life or give a cup of cold water. Just be willing to respond as GOD leads you. A believer offers the Good News of eternal life to those helplessly lost to sin and death. CHRIST is the message of hope to the lost. A person drowning welcomes a life jacket or a helping hand to rescue him or her from certain death. Salvation is a welcomed message to those who are dying because of sin.

We who know the truth must share the truth as the HOLY SPIRIT leads us and empowers us. GOD will equip us with the words we need to say. GOD does the saving, all we do is deliver the message that GOD lays upon our hearts. HE does the rest. We may get the privilege to help a new believer grow in CHRIST.