Today the devotional period is about law vs faith. Looking at how Paul wrote this in the scriptures. What was the law? Why was Paul speaking about the law given to Moses. Paul was leading up to the present day, in which they were living. Paul had to let the people know about the new law that they were under. The law that was given to Moses man had to live by them. It was an obligation to the Israelites to walk in the law given to Moses. It was governed by God and it was needed to help the nation of Israel along. Without such law people would do anything at any time.
The law helped them to understand God more, but it didn’t cleanse them from their sins. They were made righteous by doing and living the law. God justified their action and saw them as righteous.
For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.” But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) or, “ ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:5-9 NKJV
Now what about the righteousness of faith. This was a different concept from the righteousness of the law. By faith in God, knowing what Jesus did, a person can be saved. The righteousness of faith is an inward condition. How do we know this? We know this because of what Paul said. The word is near you , in your mouth and in your heart.
Something about Paul that he realized the power of the word he preached. What was the message or word that Paul preached. It was the word that can change a person’s life forever. What are the conditions to being saved.
1. Confess with your mouth. Confess what with your mouth? Confess the Lord Jesus. We need to confess that Jesus is Lord. He rules and reigns in our life. Other words acknowledge who Jesus is.
Second part is to believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. This is important because you are acknowledging the fact Jesus died and was buried.. Yet it was God who raised him up from the dead. The belief from our heart to understand that Christ died and rose again proved he was God’s only begotten son.
When a person comes to Christ Jesus two factors need to be in place. Confessing and believing are the two elements need to be saved. The confession is knowing who Jesus Christ is and what he did on earth. We confess with the mouth, I do think it’s an ongoing process. It’s not a one time thing that some people do. They confess Christ but don’t really believe in him totally.
A person needs a strong belief system. Many come to church but don’t allow full access to God’s throne. God’s throne is not just a physical throne but also a spiritual throne. The condition in being saved you need to believe. Believe in God and on God. Many start out but years later they, starts questioning God. What happened to their Faith in God. Knowing that God has all power to provide for us to make things right. Meaning man had no way of delivering themselves out of their sins. God gave his only son as a ransom. Jesus Christ died that we might live. As we come to God, we are saying, we need him in our life. We need God’s grace to run in this race. We needed a Lord and savior to govern our lives. Not in the natural but in the spiritual. We are spiritual beings and it’s all about the unrighteous state of a man and the righteous state of a man.
It is the law vs faith. The law that says we are living our life in a way that goes against the nature of God. When we have faith in God, we are living for him, because of Jesus Christ. No other person on earth is who we are saved by. Within our heart we believe, that goes for and against God. When God steps into our lives, we now believe in all he has set up. His divine order of things in both the earth and heaven. Our faith is based on his love towards us, and his Almighty nature. As we believe in the heart and confess with our mouth it’s a continual action. This continual action isn’t just a one time event but a lifestyle of living. Just like those who lived under the law, they lived by what was given to Moses. This wasn’t directly given to each person personally , but it came through Moses.
Now with faith in God, God is within us and his words they’ll tell us how to live a life to honor and give God the reverence. Not my will no longer but doing as God the Father has instructed us to do.
Remember those actions a person takes when they accept Jesus Christ as Lord and savior. It is a heart condition and a profession of faith, not toward man but towards God.
Givin H.O.P.E. Ministry of Evangelism 