Big Idea: The gospel will never let us down.
Those who know me know that lots of chapters of the Bible are my favorite. But Romans 10 has to be my favorite. Or at least one of them. In Romans 9, Paul spent some time elaborating on God’s sovereignty and faithfulness to fulfill His promises, while chapter 10 shifts to our responsibility to respond in faith. Chapter 9 profiles how we often fail to serve God as we ought to, but chapter 10 tells us that when we place our hope in Him, He never lets us down: whoever believes in Him shall not be ashamed. This chapter is the basic promise that we do not have to climb up to heaven to wrestle God down or go to the grave to rescue Him from the jaws of death. No, Jesus has already voluntarily come down to us and has already conquered death. We do not need to go anywhere, God has already brought the solution to our mouths and our hearts, we just need to accept it.
Have you ever believed in someone and had them disappoint you? Of course. When our hearts are tied up in other people, their sin or their weakness will always fail eventually. Another person is not built to bear the weight of your expectations like that. Have you ever said something about someone and regretted it later? I have recommended someone for a job and been deeply embarrassed and recommended a book from someone who later went off the deep end. The hope that I expressed with my mouth made me ashamed because it did not match reality. Indeed, the basic problem most of us have is that our hearts have entirely too much confidence in ourselves, and our mouths boast much more than we could ever do.
But when our heart trusts in Jesus, and we confess that He is Lord with our mouths, there is no disconnect. Just faithfulness. No broken promises just answered prayer. Not all have believed the gospel, but everyone who has (whether Jew or Greek) is never let down. When we share the gospel with others, there is no need to fear that it might not work for them, and leave them back in their sin. If they hear the Word of God and believe it, they will be delivered.
Discussion Idea: A lot of things in our society seem unstable. What are some things you thought you could trust that have let you down? How does God’s faithfulness override those things?
Prayer Focus: Pray that our faith would be in the One who can always deliver.
