Hearts of Faith

Readings: Psalm 32, Genesis 2:15-17,3:1-7, Matthew 4:1-11, Romans 10:8-13
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY on March 9th 2014

A printable PDF file can be found here

The first Sunday of Lent. The cross that draws our attention reminds us that we are on a journey. In our Bible Study groups this year we began a study on the Book of Romans. We're actually taking a break from that theme as we join with other churches for a joint study during Lent, but I'd like to draw your attention this morning to a verse that appears in Romans 10:10: "For with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation".

Paul was the greatest architect in forming the beliefs of the early church and his writings continue to shape the beliefs of today’s church. He writes as a pastor, deeply concerned for the people of the different congregations he has seen emerging around the Roman world.  He writes of his own struggles and victories. He writes, above all, to deepen peoples relationship with Jesus Christ.

He had a special concern for the Church in Rome. Rome, after all, was the center of power and influence throughout the whole empire.  What happened in Rome affected the whole wide world. And it is in the book of Romans that he gives his most comprehensive outline of what being a Christian involved.

One word rings out through the book of Romans again and again. The word; "Faith".  Faith is the essential ingredient in Christian life. The word of faith brings salvation. Faith sets people free from legalistic religion that would keep them down. Faith releases people  for service. Faith works miracles. Faith is the guiding factor when there are moral choices to be made.

But that faith is not some wispy, indefinable, quality. It is faith that is consciously and deliberately nurtured by the words of Scripture and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It is faith that is nurtured through active participation in a worshiping community.

The verse we are considering makes a distinction between ‘faith’, as an inner quality that shapes our beliefs, and ‘The Faith’, the way we give expression to what we believe. The first part of the verse talks about our personal faith. “With the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness”. The second part speaks about ‘The Faith'; the way our inner beliefs are expressed to the world around us.  “With the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

The two things need to be held together. Paul places them in the right order. Faith has to start somewhere deep within us. As we are changed by God’s Spirit working within our lives, God’s ways come to be seen in our actions. As we share that faith, through acts of service, words of confession and times of worship in community with others, the salvation of God takes on a fresh reality in our lives and influences others. Let’s dig deeper!

“With the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness”

True faith does not lie in simply saying ‘yes’ with our words to the claim of the gospel on our lives, nor simply agreeing that the gospel is true. True faith does not lie in the brain or in the tongue, but in the heart. It’s not about intellectual understanding. Neither is it about simply saying that we believe in something. It is heart work.

God seeks for those who will believe in Him with all their heart, with all their understanding, with all their will, with all their soul and with all their love. As Christian people our faith is focused on Jesus. Faith encourages us to see Jesus in all His glory and to understand the ability of God’s Holy Spirit to work in our lives.  Faith sees how Jesus willingly came to this earth to be our Savior and places all hope of salvation in God’s saving work.

As one commentator puts it, faith is the ‘going out of the soul to Christ’. It is expressed in our lives in different ways. It is being prepared to spend time in the presence of God in prayer, meditation and study of God’s word. It is humbling ourselves before God, for His love is so much greater than any we can conceive. It is seeking to discover God's love though serving those less fortunate than ourselves.

It is being prepared to do whatever, go wherever, act however, God desires us to. It is having total dependence on Christ as our Savior and not assigning that work of salvation to any other. It is leaning and relying upon Christ. It is living in Him. It is allowing the teaching and influence of Jesus to be such an important part of our life that He becomes the rock upon which all other things are built.

Faith is a heart thing. God wants us to be people with a heart of faith. For it is having a heart of faith that leads to the quality the apostle describes as righteousness – which is  essentially being in a right relationship with God and others. Righteousness is a gift, a gift of grace. The righteousness God offers is based upon heart felt faith in Jesus Christ.

Paul is keen to impress upon the Romans, righteousness is not about keeping the Laws of Moses or even the law of the land.  Righteousness didn't involve the accomplishment of great things. It was about receiving the love that God offers to us. The first part of Romans 10;10 talks about our personal faith. “With the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness”. The second part speaks about ‘The Faith’, the teachings that we give assent to with our words.

“With the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness……...
With the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

When Paul uses the word ‘confession’ here, he is not talking about confessing our sins, as we do in the prayer of confession that appears in the bulletin. The confession that he speaks of here, relates to the previous verse. “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you shall be saved.” (Romans 10:9).

'Confessing Jesus as Lord' doesn’t mean ramming your beliefs down other people’s throats at every given opportunity. It implies rather, acting upon the hope you have in your heart, in such a way as it encourages others to want to share in the life of the Kingdom.

As those of you who come to the Bible Studies know, when it comes to understanding the Book of Romans I'm a big fan of Eugene Petersen's transliteration 'The Message'. He has a way of bringing out the meaning of the text. Here is how he interprets the passage we've been thinking about;

“It’s the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us. This is the core of our preaching.  Say the welcoming word to God --"Jesus is my Master” --embracing, body and soul, God's work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That's it. You're not "doing" anything; you're simply calling out to God, trusting God to do it for you. That's salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: "God has set everything right between Him and me!"

These verses remind us that faith is both an 'inward' and an 'outward' thing. We welcome God's influence in the center of our being. We recognize that at the Cross something life changing was taking place... and we allow ourselves to be changed. But we don't leave it there.

The change that God works in us needs to be expressed in concrete ways. We give expression to the fact that through Jesus God has set everything right between us by seeking to make things right for others. We express our faith through the service we give. We express our faith by learning and understanding what our faith is about. We express our faith by joining with others in worship and fellowship and community.

The season of Lent offers us a wonderful opportunity for reflecting on our faith. How does the message of the cross impact our hearts? And how does that work out in the way we live our lives? We rejoice that God in Christ has done everything we need to live in a right relationship with Him. But what things can we do to help put things right for others?

As we travel towards Easter we can find many opportunities both to deepen our personal faith and to serve and work with others to give expression to what we believe. Paul reminds us that 'faith' is a big word, related to both what we believe and what we do on the basis of our beliefs. May God help us to be those who are both in a right relationship to God and who are working to see that others are aware of the love God has for them.

And to God's name be all glory. Amen.

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.