Our Beliefs : Sermons : Sermon Archive - 2007 : March 4, 2007

Theme: Confession Reveals the Believing Heart

Church year occasion: Lent 2

Several hundred years before Christ was born, the Persians and Greeks were fighting to be the most dominant empire in Western Civilization. As the Persians invaded Greece, the Greeks were outnumbered 4-1, and it seemed hopeless for them. But they launched a surprise attack, defeated the Persian army, and turned the tide of the war. Do any of you know what memorable thing a Greek soldier named Pheidippides did after that victory, according to legend? He ran the first marathon in history. He ran from the Plain of Marathon where the battle was fought to the city of Athens -- 26 miles away. Based on that historic run, people still run that distance in modern marathons. Apparently the man delivered the news of the victory, but his run had taken so much exertion that he fell down dead afterwards -- again, according to legend.

The fact that Pheidippides died after delivering the message was a strange thing indeed. But how much stranger it would have been if, after running all that way, he arrived, gathered everyone around to share this amazing news, and said, "You know, I forgot what I was going to say" -- and then died? Could you imagine? That would be the most pathetic thing imaginable. What amazing news has God given us to proclaim? The amazingly good news that Jesus has won the victory over sin and death and hell for every sinner in this world by his life and death in our place. Instead of a certainty of hell awaiting us because of our sins, all who believe in Jesus for their salvation have a certainty of heaven. Jesus' victory is our victory. And we don't have to run 26 miles to tell people about that amazing victory -- we can walk across the street. How could we forget such good news! Really, the only question for us is: How many people can you confess your faith to before you die and God takes you to heaven? That is the very question we will consider as the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul tells us something we all need to hear: Confession Reveals the Believing Heart.

Paul begins with these words: "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart." Moses had said these words in Deuteronomy when he was referring to the Law that God had given his people. God's people could never use the excuse, "We never knew what God wanted us to do," because God had given them his will encapsulated in the 10 Commandments. It would be like you trying to tell a judge that you didn't know armed robbery was illegal. It wouldn't work. So the people knew God's will.

In our text, the Apostle Paul takes what Moses said with regard to the Law and applies it to the gospel, the good news that Jesus paid for all your sins. He says that as New Testament Christians the gospel message " '...is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,' that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming." The word of faith, the gospel, is not just "near" us, in the way we usually think of being near something; Paul means that it is what our lives revolve around. Then Paul summarizes that "word of faith" in verse 9: We believe "Jesus is Lord" and after being crucified, "God raised him from the dead." And we believe that through Jesus, our sins are forgiven completely. The crucified and risen Savior Jesus assures you that your every sin has been paid for and eternal life is yours. You believe that with your whole heart.

But Paul takes it one step farther, and even says something that might make us think Paul is saying something wrong. Listen carefully to what he says: "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. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." Did anything make you a little uncomfortable with what Paul was saying there? You know the word of faith; you know the gospel. "It is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this not from yourselves -- it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9) Paul said those words also. Our works don't get us into heaven -- we're saved through faith in Jesus alone. But Paul seems to say something different in Romans here. It sounds like he's saying that there are two things that are necessary for us to be saved: faith and confession of faith. Look at verse 10 again: "For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." Paul says we're justified, or declared not guilty of sin, through the faith in our hearts, and we're saved by confessing our faith with our mouths, in other words, when we tell others about Jesus. Telling others about Jesus is a good work. So is Paul saying we're saved by faith and our good works? It might look like it. It might really look like James is saying that same thing in James 2:24: "A person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone." A critic of the Bible would have a field day with this -- it seems to clearly contradict the very gospel we hold so dear -- that we're saved only through faith and nothing else. Paul says that in Romans 3:28: "A man is justified by faith apart from observing the law," and Jesus says that in Mark 16:16: "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved." So what are we to believe -- that we're saved by faith alone, or by faith and works?

The Bible isn't contradictory. In real estate the three most important words are "location, location, location." In seeing what the Bible says, the three most important words are "context, context, context." James was talking to people who thought that being a Christian was only a matter of the heart. True, we're saved by what we believe in our hearts, and we're saved only through faith. But what is in our hearts will spill over into our lives by what we think and say and do. Simply put, if you're a Christian, it will show. If it doesn't show, you're not a Christian. Being a Christian is a matter of heart and life. We're saved by what we have in our hearts -- faith in Jesus -- and that faith shows itself by what we do with our lives. We don't tell others about Jesus to be saved; we tell others about Jesus because we're already saved -- and we want them to be saved also.

What James says from a negative point of view -- that if a Christian doesn't do good works they aren't a Christian -- Paul says from a positive point of view -- if you're a Christian, good works will show in your life. And Paul gives a specific example. When you are a believer, saved through your faith in Christ, your confession of your faith will show that you're saved. If you're a Christian, you will tell other people about Jesus.

So what happens if you aren't telling people about Jesus? Are you really a Christian? Are you going to heaven if you haven't told someone about Jesus this past week? There are three answers to that very serious question.

1) You actually are telling others about Jesus, but you just don't realize it because it's just how you live. By your words and actions you are telling others who the Lord of your life is. You're telling people everyday that you're a Christian as you let your light shine, so that unbelievers will "see your good works and praise your Father in heaven." Jesus describes Christians as they will stand before him on Judgment Day by asking, "When did we do any of these things for you, Lord." And he will say, "What you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did to me."

2) Another possibility is that you aren't a Christian at all because it doesn't show in your life by what you say or do. You're a hypocrite. (By the way, if you're worried about being a hypocrite, you're not one.)

3) That leaves the third possibility for us if we aren't telling others about Jesus -- your faith is weak. That's why you aren't confessing Jesus to your friends and family and neighbors on a regular basis. Because we're sinners, we will always be struggling with a weak faith. Look at how often Jesus rebuked his own disciples for their weak or little faith. We might not have a passion for lost souls that we need to have. We might be afraid of the reaction we might get from those we tell -- they might think we're a religious crusader, and Jesus freak, and we think it will strain our relationship with our friends as a result. We might think that telling others about Jesus is for the Evangelism Team or the pastor. We might think we'll be at a loss for words. I can keep going if I haven't hit your particular reason for not telling others. But look at what Paul says: "It is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." You have faith in Jesus as your Savior. You are already justified and forgiven of every time you failed to tell others about him. It's a done deal. You have amazingly good news to share. And every Christian is an evangelist. Every Christian is a missionary now to those who don't know Jesus. Paul says, if you are a Christian, you will be confessing him with your mouth to others.

If your confession of Jesus is a small whisper, "I'm a Christian, and I want you to be a Christian too," then you need to hear the shout Jesus gave on the cross after he had suffered the damnation you deserve because of your failures in confessing Jesus' name. Even though you have royally messed up by not seizing opportunities in sharing your faith, Jesus still shouts, "IT IS FINISHED!" Your sins are paid for. Heaven is yours because Jesus loved you that much to give it you. Are you ever dismayed because of the lack of your confession of Jesus' name? You should be. It shows that sin is controlling your life, not Jesus. Are you dismayed because you find every excuse not to tell others about Jesus -- I can't speak well, I don't have time, I'll mess up, people won't want to be around me? Those pathetic excuses are even more pathetic than Pheidippides forgetting the message of victory he had to proclaim. If you're listening to those excuses, you need to hear Paul tell you: "As the Scripture says, 'Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.' ...the Lord...richly blesses all who call on him, for, .Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' "

Just like Pheidippides so long ago, you also have a race to run and amazingly good news to tell sinners. Jesus won! Through Jesus, we have won! That is what your life is all about. So don't spend your life running around after everything else in this world and then drop dead from sheer exhaustion. We don't even have to run 26 miles -- we can just run across the street and tell our neighbor the good news. Get exhausted confessing with your mouth, "Jesus is my Lord and Savior." And then you can die after a full life of confessing his name, knowing that because Jesus is your Lord and Savior, you will live forever. Amen.