"God is looking for believing hearts"
Romans 10: 8-13 February 21, 2010
“Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, calling for you and for me.” I love that song. “Come home,
come home, you who are weary, come home... Earnestly, tenderly Jesus is calling, calling O
sinner, come home.”
You know why I love that song? I love it because it is my song. I I am a sinner. I have failed
God time and time again.
USA Today conducted a survey a couple of years ago and asked Americans in the top 1%
income bracket how much they would be willing to spend on three intangible items: Great intellect,
true love, and a place in heaven. The super wealthy would be willing to spend an average of $407K
for great intellect, $487K for true love, $640K for a place in heaven! To tell you the truth, I’m not
sure what that means! But, I do know that a majority of people in our country—and that means this
is true of the majority of your neighbors—believe that one way or another a place in heaven,
salvation, is something that can be bought—not necessarily with money mind you, but bought with
good works and deeds.
In fact, according to researcher George Barna, “one out of two people (51%) believe that "if a
person is generally good, or does enough good things for others during their life, they will earn a
place in Heaven." Let’s take a look at that belief, unfold some of the implications of that line of
thought, and then ask if it just the human way of looking at things or if it is God’s way.
I have admit that I am greatly encouraged when I see bumper stickers that tell me to engage in
random acts of kindness. We’re so used to random acts of violence that it’s nice to think that
people still do good things. The idea of doing good things for other people, of doing community
service has taken hold so deeply that there are some school districts that require community service
as a prerequisite for graduation. And, it’s not uncommon to hear that someone who committed a
crime is sentenced to community service as a way of paying his or her debt to society. In both of
those examples, doing good is a means to a better end—do community service to work off a crime
or do community service to graduate. Now, I’m not saying those are bad ideas—I like the idea
actually. But, the concept behind them is basically the same: Good works are currency used to buy
some reward—graduation from high school or working off a sentence. In the same way, most
people think of good works as the currency used for buying the reward of eternal life. People think
that they can earn their way into heaven based on being good and by doing enough ‘community
service.’
That great theologian Sophia Loren was quoted in USA Today as saying that although she was
not a practicing Christian, “I should go to heaven; otherwise it’s not nice. I haven’t done anything
wrong. My conscience is very clean. My soul is as white as those orchids over there, and I should
go straight, straight to heaven.” I love it! She thinks she’s been good enough, and so she should get
to go to heaven! Otherwise, it isn’t nice.
That point of view is as ancient as civilization. The Apostle Paul discussed it in his letter to the
Christians in Rome. It is crucial to note, however, that Paul said it is a mistaken idea. People who
believe they can earn their way into heaven are mistaken “for they don’t understand God’s way of
making people right with himself. Instead, they are clinging to their own way of getting right with
God by trying to keep the law. They won’t go along with God’s way” (Romans 10:3). There is our
way, and there’s God’s way. Our way is to try to earn it. Isn’t that how we try to get everything
that’s good? We tell each other that we have to earn respect, earn rewards, and earn promotions.
We can sing about the best things in life being free, but the hard-boiled truth about most human
relationships and endeavors is that the good-stuff has to be earned. And that’s the way most people
think about heaven. The Jews in Paul’s day believed that the only way to get to heaven was by
observing the Law—the Ten Commandments as well as the other 600 and some odd laws
contained in the Old Testament. They were good and earnest people. Paul said “I know what
enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal” (Romans 10:2). Paul doesn’t have
anything against the Jews—he was Jewish! He is simply stating clearly that their zeal for obeying
the law and doing good works is misdirected because they thought they had to earn their way into
heaven and more importantly, thought they could earn their way into heaven.
There’s a major-league problem with trying to earn your way into heaven by keeping God’s Law
and doing good: quite simply, it is impossible! The problem with works is that it demands 100%
compliance 100% of the time. Paul said “Moses wrote that the law’s way of making a person right
with God requires obedience to all of its commands” (Romans 10:5). Paul is pointing out a simple
truth, if you’re going to try to get into heaven by doing good then you’ve got to be good all the
time. Being good enough requires that we are good all the time—all the time. Did you catch that? All
the time! And that impossible. Let’s be honest: How good have you been? Let me ask you to be
honest with yourself for a moment: How good can you be … for the rest of your life? Are you
never going to get angry and say things that you later regret? Are you never going to think evil
thoughts about people you don’t like? Are you never going to lust for someone other than your
spouse? Any one of those things—and anyone of a thousand other moral or ethical lapses is all it
takes to be not good enough. Trusting in good work is 100% or it’s nothing. Mark Twain said if
getting into heaven was a matter of doing good then “you would stay out, and your dog would go
in!” Why? Because being good enough is out of your reach just like it is out of mine. To use Paul’s
language, you can no more be good enough to get into heaven that you can stand on earth and
touch the stars. It cannot be done.
You know what the good news is? Getting into heaven isn’t a matter of being good enough
anyway! Remember that being good enough is the human way. God has a much better way in
mind. In fact, God has a much better way to offer us and it has everything to do with Jesus. Paul
stated that through Jesus the purpose of the Law had been fulfilled. Jesus was perfectly obedient to
God in every single way. In being perfectly obedient to the Law—to doing good—Paul said “Christ
has accomplished the whole purpose of the law” (Romans 10:4). What Paul is getting at is this:
Jesus did all the good works for us so that we don’t have to—which is a good thing since we can’t
do it anyway!
So, if good works is the human way and the human way doesn’t work, then what is the way to
heaven? How can we experience eternal joy and peace with God? The answer is so simple that it is
hard to believe and it’s easy to miss. Paul said “all who believe in [Jesus] are made right with God”
(Romans 10:4). That’s it. Salvation comes through believing in Christ—and that’s within easy reach
You don’t have to be able to reach the stars, all you have to do is listen to your heart. “Salvation
that comes from trusting Christ—which is the message we preach,” said Paul “is already within
easy reach. In fact, the Scriptures say, “The message is close at hand; it is on your lips and in your
heart.”
There’s only one way to heaven, God’s way, and it has two parts. The first part begins in your
heart. The Bible says “It is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God” (Romans
10:10). The truth is, you do not have to earn God’s love because God already loves you. God
proved his love for you and for every other human through Jesus Christ. He gave us Jesus to show
us His love. That is what you have to believe in your heart. You may have to earn every thing else
in life, but you do not have to earn God’s love and you do not have to earn the joy and peace of
heaven. Earning your way into heaven has nothing to do with merit like getting a promotion at
work. Promotions are earned. Getting a promotion is a matter of selling more, losing less,
improving the bottom line. Love’s got nothing to do with it. But when it comes to being made right
with God, love’s got everything to do with it. The human way of trying to earn salvation is like
trying to earn a promotion, but God’s way of getting right with Him is accepting in your heart that
you are loved. Love isn’t something you earn, it is something you simply accept right in your heart.
I could never earn Melissa’s love for me. I’m pretty good, but I’m not that good! I’m a nice guy,
but I’m not that nice! If her loving me depended on how good and nice I am then I wouldn’t stand
a chance. Her love for me is a gift that flows from the graciousness of her heart that I have to
accept in my heart. Her love is a gift that I have to accept—and gladly do accept. In the same way,
God’s love in Jesus is not something you can earn—it’s something you have to accept, and gladly
accept. That’s why Paul said that it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God.
You have to believe it in your heart because that’s where love resides.
God’s way is the only way and it has two part, the first part starts in your heart, the second part
is that the love of God that is in your heart has to travel from your heart to your lips. Paul said “It is
by believing in your heart that you are made right with God and it is by confessing with your mouth
that you are saved” (Romans 10:10). So why is confessing with your lips so important? Why isn’t
it just enough to accept God’s love and that be that? Imagine for a moment that you’re in a
church—on your wedding day. The preacher is looking at you, and you are looking deeply into the
eyes of your beloved. The preacher asks you a question: “Do you accept this person to be your
lawfully wedded spouse, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer
for poorer, in sickness and in death, and forsaking all others be faithful to this person until death do
you part?” Tell me what would happen if you stood there silent! Tell me what would happen if your
response to the preacher was: ‘no comment.’ Keep your mouth shut and I guarantee you can forget
about the honeymoon!!! If you’re not willing to publicly declare that you accept this wonderful
person’s love and if you are not willing to say out loud that you love that person standing before
you on your wedding day, then the relationship is already over. On your wedding day there is only
one response needed because there is only one response that matters. The most important thing you
can do is let the belief in your heart travel up to your lips and say “I do.”
See, if you don’t confess it with your lips then there’s not much love, is there. The heart of a
disciple is the heart of belief that God loves the world so much that He gave Jesus to be our Savior.
The heart of a disciple is the heart of belief that spills over into love. God does not want our perfect
obedience to the law because we can’t do it; God wants our love. God does not want us to try to
earn His love because God’s love can’t be bought. God wants us to accept His love in Jesus Christ
and be so filled with joy about His love that we cannot help but shout it out to the world.
The question is not, how good have you been or how good can you be? The question is: “Do
you take Jesus Christ to be your savior, from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for
poorer, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all other be faithful to Jesus knowing that not even
in death will you part?” There is only one response needed because there is only one response that
matters. Let the belief in your heart that Jesus is your savior travel up to your lips and say “I do.
Romans 10: 8-13 February 21, 2010
“Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, calling for you and for me.” I love that song. “Come home,
come home, you who are weary, come home... Earnestly, tenderly Jesus is calling, calling O
sinner, come home.”
You know why I love that song? I love it because it is my song. I I am a sinner. I have failed
God time and time again.
USA Today conducted a survey a couple of years ago and asked Americans in the top 1%
income bracket how much they would be willing to spend on three intangible items: Great intellect,
true love, and a place in heaven. The super wealthy would be willing to spend an average of $407K
for great intellect, $487K for true love, $640K for a place in heaven! To tell you the truth, I’m not
sure what that means! But, I do know that a majority of people in our country—and that means this
is true of the majority of your neighbors—believe that one way or another a place in heaven,
salvation, is something that can be bought—not necessarily with money mind you, but bought with
good works and deeds.
In fact, according to researcher George Barna, “one out of two people (51%) believe that "if a
person is generally good, or does enough good things for others during their life, they will earn a
place in Heaven." Let’s take a look at that belief, unfold some of the implications of that line of
thought, and then ask if it just the human way of looking at things or if it is God’s way.
I have admit that I am greatly encouraged when I see bumper stickers that tell me to engage in
random acts of kindness. We’re so used to random acts of violence that it’s nice to think that
people still do good things. The idea of doing good things for other people, of doing community
service has taken hold so deeply that there are some school districts that require community service
as a prerequisite for graduation. And, it’s not uncommon to hear that someone who committed a
crime is sentenced to community service as a way of paying his or her debt to society. In both of
those examples, doing good is a means to a better end—do community service to work off a crime
or do community service to graduate. Now, I’m not saying those are bad ideas—I like the idea
actually. But, the concept behind them is basically the same: Good works are currency used to buy
some reward—graduation from high school or working off a sentence. In the same way, most
people think of good works as the currency used for buying the reward of eternal life. People think
that they can earn their way into heaven based on being good and by doing enough ‘community
service.’
That great theologian Sophia Loren was quoted in USA Today as saying that although she was
not a practicing Christian, “I should go to heaven; otherwise it’s not nice. I haven’t done anything
wrong. My conscience is very clean. My soul is as white as those orchids over there, and I should
go straight, straight to heaven.” I love it! She thinks she’s been good enough, and so she should get
to go to heaven! Otherwise, it isn’t nice.
That point of view is as ancient as civilization. The Apostle Paul discussed it in his letter to the
Christians in Rome. It is crucial to note, however, that Paul said it is a mistaken idea. People who
believe they can earn their way into heaven are mistaken “for they don’t understand God’s way of
making people right with himself. Instead, they are clinging to their own way of getting right with
God by trying to keep the law. They won’t go along with God’s way” (Romans 10:3). There is our
way, and there’s God’s way. Our way is to try to earn it. Isn’t that how we try to get everything
that’s good? We tell each other that we have to earn respect, earn rewards, and earn promotions.
We can sing about the best things in life being free, but the hard-boiled truth about most human
relationships and endeavors is that the good-stuff has to be earned. And that’s the way most people
think about heaven. The Jews in Paul’s day believed that the only way to get to heaven was by
observing the Law—the Ten Commandments as well as the other 600 and some odd laws
contained in the Old Testament. They were good and earnest people. Paul said “I know what
enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal” (Romans 10:2). Paul doesn’t have
anything against the Jews—he was Jewish! He is simply stating clearly that their zeal for obeying
the law and doing good works is misdirected because they thought they had to earn their way into
heaven and more importantly, thought they could earn their way into heaven.
There’s a major-league problem with trying to earn your way into heaven by keeping God’s Law
and doing good: quite simply, it is impossible! The problem with works is that it demands 100%
compliance 100% of the time. Paul said “Moses wrote that the law’s way of making a person right
with God requires obedience to all of its commands” (Romans 10:5). Paul is pointing out a simple
truth, if you’re going to try to get into heaven by doing good then you’ve got to be good all the
time. Being good enough requires that we are good all the time—all the time. Did you catch that? All
the time! And that impossible. Let’s be honest: How good have you been? Let me ask you to be
honest with yourself for a moment: How good can you be … for the rest of your life? Are you
never going to get angry and say things that you later regret? Are you never going to think evil
thoughts about people you don’t like? Are you never going to lust for someone other than your
spouse? Any one of those things—and anyone of a thousand other moral or ethical lapses is all it
takes to be not good enough. Trusting in good work is 100% or it’s nothing. Mark Twain said if
getting into heaven was a matter of doing good then “you would stay out, and your dog would go
in!” Why? Because being good enough is out of your reach just like it is out of mine. To use Paul’s
language, you can no more be good enough to get into heaven that you can stand on earth and
touch the stars. It cannot be done.
You know what the good news is? Getting into heaven isn’t a matter of being good enough
anyway! Remember that being good enough is the human way. God has a much better way in
mind. In fact, God has a much better way to offer us and it has everything to do with Jesus. Paul
stated that through Jesus the purpose of the Law had been fulfilled. Jesus was perfectly obedient to
God in every single way. In being perfectly obedient to the Law—to doing good—Paul said “Christ
has accomplished the whole purpose of the law” (Romans 10:4). What Paul is getting at is this:
Jesus did all the good works for us so that we don’t have to—which is a good thing since we can’t
do it anyway!
So, if good works is the human way and the human way doesn’t work, then what is the way to
heaven? How can we experience eternal joy and peace with God? The answer is so simple that it is
hard to believe and it’s easy to miss. Paul said “all who believe in [Jesus] are made right with God”
(Romans 10:4). That’s it. Salvation comes through believing in Christ—and that’s within easy reach
You don’t have to be able to reach the stars, all you have to do is listen to your heart. “Salvation
that comes from trusting Christ—which is the message we preach,” said Paul “is already within
easy reach. In fact, the Scriptures say, “The message is close at hand; it is on your lips and in your
heart.”
There’s only one way to heaven, God’s way, and it has two parts. The first part begins in your
heart. The Bible says “It is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God” (Romans
10:10). The truth is, you do not have to earn God’s love because God already loves you. God
proved his love for you and for every other human through Jesus Christ. He gave us Jesus to show
us His love. That is what you have to believe in your heart. You may have to earn every thing else
in life, but you do not have to earn God’s love and you do not have to earn the joy and peace of
heaven. Earning your way into heaven has nothing to do with merit like getting a promotion at
work. Promotions are earned. Getting a promotion is a matter of selling more, losing less,
improving the bottom line. Love’s got nothing to do with it. But when it comes to being made right
with God, love’s got everything to do with it. The human way of trying to earn salvation is like
trying to earn a promotion, but God’s way of getting right with Him is accepting in your heart that
you are loved. Love isn’t something you earn, it is something you simply accept right in your heart.
I could never earn Melissa’s love for me. I’m pretty good, but I’m not that good! I’m a nice guy,
but I’m not that nice! If her loving me depended on how good and nice I am then I wouldn’t stand
a chance. Her love for me is a gift that flows from the graciousness of her heart that I have to
accept in my heart. Her love is a gift that I have to accept—and gladly do accept. In the same way,
God’s love in Jesus is not something you can earn—it’s something you have to accept, and gladly
accept. That’s why Paul said that it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God.
You have to believe it in your heart because that’s where love resides.
God’s way is the only way and it has two part, the first part starts in your heart, the second part
is that the love of God that is in your heart has to travel from your heart to your lips. Paul said “It is
by believing in your heart that you are made right with God and it is by confessing with your mouth
that you are saved” (Romans 10:10). So why is confessing with your lips so important? Why isn’t
it just enough to accept God’s love and that be that? Imagine for a moment that you’re in a
church—on your wedding day. The preacher is looking at you, and you are looking deeply into the
eyes of your beloved. The preacher asks you a question: “Do you accept this person to be your
lawfully wedded spouse, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer
for poorer, in sickness and in death, and forsaking all others be faithful to this person until death do
you part?” Tell me what would happen if you stood there silent! Tell me what would happen if your
response to the preacher was: ‘no comment.’ Keep your mouth shut and I guarantee you can forget
about the honeymoon!!! If you’re not willing to publicly declare that you accept this wonderful
person’s love and if you are not willing to say out loud that you love that person standing before
you on your wedding day, then the relationship is already over. On your wedding day there is only
one response needed because there is only one response that matters. The most important thing you
can do is let the belief in your heart travel up to your lips and say “I do.”
See, if you don’t confess it with your lips then there’s not much love, is there. The heart of a
disciple is the heart of belief that God loves the world so much that He gave Jesus to be our Savior.
The heart of a disciple is the heart of belief that spills over into love. God does not want our perfect
obedience to the law because we can’t do it; God wants our love. God does not want us to try to
earn His love because God’s love can’t be bought. God wants us to accept His love in Jesus Christ
and be so filled with joy about His love that we cannot help but shout it out to the world.
The question is not, how good have you been or how good can you be? The question is: “Do
you take Jesus Christ to be your savior, from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for
poorer, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all other be faithful to Jesus knowing that not even
in death will you part?” There is only one response needed because there is only one response that
matters. Let the belief in your heart that Jesus is your savior travel up to your lips and say “I do.
Pastor Cal Lord's Recent Sermons
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