The Cost of Following Christ
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9
I have seen this verse used many times as the magic formula for salvation. How many people have been told this is how they are to be saved? How many people have been falsely assured of their salvation with this verse? We have to understand that belief and profession mean absolutely nothing. The issues is faith. On the last day there will many who will confess to know Christ, saying, “Lord, Lord,” but they will spend an eternity in hell. As one man once put it, the question is not do you know Jesus, the question is, does Jesus know you. You believe Jesus died and rose again? To paraphrase the book of James, good for you, the devils also believe– and they tremble at what it means for them.
What does the verse mean then? The original historical context is essential. You see, we often forget that Paul was writing to Roman Christians– Christians who were being persecuted and killed for their faith, many times in an extremely cruel fashion. Paul was writing to assure these suffering believers that if, when faced with suffering and death, they were true to their Lord, they would without a doubt be saved. Paul, then, is talking about faithfulness unto death, a result and sure evidence of salvation, not a forumula for it.
Just this week, I read a vivid example of this very thing. I was glancing through a children’s textbook of Church history that I found on my bookshelf, and the first chapter dealt with the early church. It specifically addressed the sufferings they experienced, and recounted the martyrdoms of Ignatius of Antioch and Polycarp, two early church fathers. It demonstrates what Romans 10:9 meant in the lives of these two early Christians, and what the verse still means today.
“Ignatius (A.D. 67-110) was ordered by the emperor to be arrested and was sentenced to be thrown to the wild beasts in Rome. He longed for the honor of giving his life for his Savior, saying, “May the wild bests be eager to rush upon me. If they be unwilling, I will compel them. Come, crowds of wild beats; come, tearing and manglings, wracking of bones and hacking of limbs; come cruel tortures of the devil; only let me attain unto Christ.”
Polycarp was the last one of those who had been personally taught by the apostles. He was arrested and brought into the amphitheater in Smyrna, which was filled with an immense multitude. Since there were no images of gods in the house of worship of the Christians, the heathen rightly concluded that the Christians did not in believe in the existence of the gods, and so they accused them of being atheists. The proconsul reminded Polycarp of his great age, and urged him to show his penitence by joining in the cry, “Away with the atheists!” Polycarp looked straight at the excited crowd, pointed his finger at them, and cried, “Away with the atheists!”
Then the proconsul said, “Revile Christ and I will release you.” But Polycarp answered, “Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He has never done me wrong, how can I blaspheme Him, my King, who has saved me?” To the crowd the proconsul then proclaimed, “Polycarp has confessed himself to be a Christian.” The crowds yelled, “Let him be burned!”
Wood was collected and made into a pile. Polycarp asked not to be fastened to the stake. “Leave me thus,” he said, “He who strengthens me to endure the flames will also enable me to stand firm at the stake without being fastened with nails.” The woodpile was lighted. While Polycarp prayed with a loud voice, “Lord God Almighty, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, I praise Thee that Thou hast judged me worthy of this day and of this hour, to participate in the number of Thy witnesses, and in the cup of Thy Christ,” the flames consumed him. Polycarp’s martyr death took place in the year 156 A.D.” -From “The Church In History” by B.K. Kuiper
Five Errors that Arise from Christ-Replacements
In a culture where everything in most churches is man-centered the way that we interpret Scripture is often focused primarily on us. What we must realize is that all of Scripture points to Christ. The only way to correctly interpret Scripture is to have a Christ-centered focus on the text - for no other reason than that is exactly what Scripture does - it points to Christ!
Jesus most clearly taught that “you search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.” (John 5:39-40)
Hendryx comments in his paper that “Jesus never condemned a Pharisee for taking Moses too seriously. They take him far less seriously than they should. For Jesus says, “If you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for He write of Me. But if you don’t believe His writings, how will you believe My words. Your accuser is Moses.” (John 5:46). So to understand Moses is to come to know Christ when He is revealed. Likewise, Abraham saw Jesus’ day and was glad, the Bible testifies. And “…foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU.” (Gal)”
“The Scriptures should be read with the aim of finding Christ in them. Whoever turns aside from this object, even though he wears himself out all his life in learning, he will never reach the knowledge of the truth.” - John Calvin
I ran across an excellent article by John Hendryx entitled “Five Errors that Arise from Christ-Replacements” and it’s a must read. He outlines five examples of doctrinal errors that arise when Christ is unBiblically removed as the key focus of Scripture (which is so terribly common today).
Take some time to read this excellent article over at monergism.com.
How do we glorify God?
I live right down the street from this amazing used books store that is a treasure chest of books for any theologian. Upon checking out, the owner also included a freebee titled How Do We Glorify God?, by John D. Hannah. This little book is a part of a Series about the Basics of the Reformed Faith.
With Romans 11:36 as its central focus. I found that this book was very helpful in narrowing a basic understanding of what any reformed theologian finds to be dear. With a clear cutting tone. The author holds nothing back about the current status of the church and the need for a “radical perspective”
Many churches have fallen prey to cultural assimilation. They have degenerated into self-serving enterprises whose primary celebration is to exalt God as giver and to validate a message of cultural narcissism and personal advantages. Such churches have accommodated themselves to things that are not eternal. Genuine worship is not like that. It realizes the worth of God and our dependence on him. It is not a celebration of a favored socioeconomic status within a decadent capitalistic state.
Offering several key thoughts about why the church has lost it’s God-Centeredness. Hannah offers the stark contrast of what it means to be God-Centered, placing a spot light on the five solas: Scripture alone, Christ alone, Grace alone, Faith alone and Glory to God alone. This again is an affirmation of Romans 11:36 “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” After laying this foundation Hannah offers a few answers to the radical reformed questions such as: What is the chief end of man? What is the chief end of God?
The very nature of God’s being, that is, he alone, is the cause of his creative activities. it might be explained this way: God values himself above all else, and because he does, he is himself the end of creation. When the world is consumed in the final judgment and time no longer exists, the ultimate end of God’s handiwork will be known. It will be evident then that God is the final end of all his activities.
One of the most amazing things he points out is how the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. (Does John Piper ring a bell?) To live out life in such a way that indicates our love for the father. “True virtue is rooted in an inward perception of the holiness and beauty of God… Only a Christian can have true virtue because only a Christian can delight in God for who he is alone.” This means that all the “good” done in society apart from God is not rooted in him it is grounded in “self-love and the desire to enjoy pleasant circumstances.”
Moreover Hannah forms His thoughts around one question each day. “Will you (God) grant me the privilege of glorifying you today?” His focus isn’t; What are my duties today? His desire and focus is glorifying God through the vehicle of his tasks at hand. Rather than focusing on the tasks themselves. God desires “that he would see himself in me each day.” Hannah points out. To have a radical, God-centered perspective in a self-centered, self-loving culture is to live forth and shine forth Him for who He is and not as a mere giver of pleasing circumstances.
How marvelous a transformation this requires in the lives of believers and how marvelous is the creator who will see to its end. To God alone be all the glory!
Judge Not…
People who don’t want scrutiny, people who don’t want to be held accountable for what they teach or what they believe, people who don’t want to be told they’re wrong, they always throw that verse “Judge not lest you be judged!” - John MacArthur
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