GOD'S WAY OF SAVING SINNERS 
Romans 10:6‑10
God has only one way of saving sinners. If you miss God's way you will miss His salvation completely. This explains the tragic plight of the nation of ancient Israel‑‑in seeking to be righteous their own way, they missed God's way. This also explains the lostness of many people in our day. Though they have been very religious, they have missed God's way of salvation.

In pin‑pointing the reason Israel was lost, the Apostle brings before us in contrast the two ways. Israel sought salvation by the way of the law, which is the way of works righteousness. God's way is the way of faith which bestows upon the unworthy sinners righteousness as a gift.

Thank God for this passage of scripture. To all who are concerned about how God saves sinners, the way is made plain. This passage removes the excuse that you could not understand or be certain about how God saves sinners, or about what God wants you to do in order to be saved.

THE AVAILABILITY OF GOD'S WAY OF SAVING SINNERS
Salvation by the law is now available to anyone. A quotation by Paul from the writings of Moses makes this clear. "For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them." Salvation under the law depends upon the person living by, doing carefully all of the precepts found in the law. Since man is by nature a sinner, this is impossible. In fact, if we transgress just one precept of the law, the law is such that we are guilty of the whole thing. A perfect, holy God cannot accept anything less than absolute perfection and holiness. If you are finding your righteousness by the keeping of the law, then you must be able to keep the law perfectly, not violating even one precept of the law.

In setting forth the availability of God's way, the Apostle personifies the "righteousness which is by faith." The "righteousness which is by faith" utilizes the words of Moses in speaking to the seeking sinner. "Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? ( that is, to bring Christ down from above.)" This question is meant to suggest something that is very difficult, even impossible. Who can go up into the heavens to bring Christ down to be incarnate, to dwell on the earth as a Savior? Obviously no one can, but there is no need to since He has already come to the earth in the incarnation. God has already taken care of this for us.

"Who shall ascend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead." This is another impossible thing. The deep involves the abode of the dead into which Christ descended in death. Is there any man who can raise Him out of the realm of the dead back to the realm of the living? Obviously not, but again we do not need to do this since God has already raised him from the dead.

God's way of saving sinners is near at hand, available to all because God has already taken care of the part man could not do. God did the difficult thing in order that man might be saved by faith.

"But what saith it?" That is, "What is the message that this righteousness which is by faith would say to us?" “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach." Since God's way of salvation is by faith, we have the only thing a man needs in order to be saved right before us. It is already in your heart. It has been placed there through the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As Jesus Christ has been proclaimed in His death, burial, and resurrection, God's way of salvation has come right up to your life. God's way is available to all!

THE APPROPRIATION OF GOD'S WAY OF SAVING SINNERS
God's way of salvation is not by means of the works of the law, but by the appropriation of faith. All that needs to happen is for the sinner to place his faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. These verses of the Apostle should help us understand exactly what is involved in appropriating salvation by faith.
Appropriation of God's way of saving sinners involves believing with your heart. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." The next verse puts faith and confession in their experiential order. "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.''

This believing with the heart is believing with the whole life. It is staking everything on Jesus Christ. The thing to be believed with the heart is that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. A dead Christ hanging on a tree cannot save. God saves those sinners who come to rest their hope of eternal life in the living hands of the living Christ who died, but was raised from the dead.

When a man believes with his heart, he is depending upon Christ alone for salvation. So many have confused a mental assent kind of faith with this heart‑faith! Just believing that there is a God, and that historically He raised Jesus from the dead one time, is not enough. This heart faith depends upon the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to satisfy all of the demands of Holy God against their sins. It depends upon Him for the gift of righteousness.

The confession with the mouth is a vital part of the believing with the heart. The thing confessed is "Jesus as Lord." Such a confession may sound rather bland on the ears of a religiously oriented man today, but not so in the first century. Without a heart faith in the Lord Jesus, no Jew would ever dare make such a confession. He would consider it blasphemy to make such a confession, for only God is worthy of being called Lord in the Old Testament Scriptures. This is the title of deity. No Gentile in the Romans world would have made such a confession lightly for this title was reserved for the Roman Caesar. Only Caesar is Lord!

When Christ is confessed as Lord, He is acknowledged as deity. When He is confessed as Lord, He is recognized as the sovereign over personal life. No man should ever make such a confession lightly.

Is such a confession absolutely essential for salvation? Is it possible for a person to secretly place his trust in Jesus Christ and not ever make it known by confession? This is a rather difficult question, but at the best such a possibility is doubtful. It may be that two such men are found in the New Testament, but none of us can really be sure. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea are said to be "secret disciples for fear of the Jews." but were they? If so, it is to their eternal shame.

Contrast the response of a Nicodemus to the Lord Jesus to that of the Samaritan woman. When she became convinced in heart that Jesus was the Messiah, she rushed into the city to tell everyone. Before long she had brought all of the men of the city out to see the One who had told her everything she ever did. If Nicodemus became convinced of Jesus, and placed his faith in Him, no one ever knew. No one ever placed his trust in Jesus because of his testimony to Him.
Such a confession is not to be made just in the church, just among the friends of Jesus. It is to be spoken by mouth to the unbelieving world. It is to be spoken in such a way that your life is forever linked with the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a confession growing out of one's personal trust in the Lord Jesus alone for salvation.

These verses reflect the experience of the Apostle Paul. As a Jewish man he sought salvation by the keeping of the law zealously, only to remain empty and searching. Then in a moment of heavenly confrontation and vision, he knew that Jesus Christ had been raised from the dead by God the Father. In that moment he placed all of his trust in this Christ alone for salvation. Then immediately he began to confess Him as Lord. It was then that he became aware that the very righteousness which he has been seeking by keeping the law had been given to him as a gift. He was now a saved man on the basis of his faith in the Risen Christ.

These verses are especially meaningful to me for they were read to me the night I came to Christ for salvation. As a lad I had been made aware of my sinfulness, of my need of a righteousness that would be acceptable before God. Then as I, according to this message of this text, placed my faith in Christ and confessed Him as Lord, I was saved!

God's way of salvation is near. It is so accessible that you can know it. The means of your knowing it are already in your heart and in your mouth. You could recount to me the record of his death, burial, and resurrection. All you need now is to place your faith in this risen Christ once and for all, and to confess Him to the world about you as your Lord, and righteousness is yours.

This is the day of salvation. Will you not move in response to this message right now?