Scripture reading: Psalm 85:8-13.

Sermon text: Romans 9:1-10.

For further reading on the notion of St. Paul’s meaning in this passage, I recommend you read The Right Rev. N.T. Wright’s paper, “Paul's Gospel and Caesar's Empire” at the N.T. Wright Page. Wright currently serves as Bishop of Durham in the Anglican Church.

Introduction

To what do you owe allegiance? Here in the United States, we frequently say the Pledge of Allegiance before special events and on national holidays. Here in the South, we’re now less than 3 weeks from another occasion that reveals other allegiances: The beginning of the college football season. (Few other than fans of the Southeastern Conference can understand.)

Empires have often used pledges of allegiance in a common cause or charismatic leader to unite their subjects. Such was the case in the Roman Empire of the first century A.D. In the time of St. Paul, the Romans used the cult of the emperor to unite their disparate populations in a common cause. The Roman Senate often voted rights of divinity on the reigning emperor. Each year, Roman citizens were required to offer a pinch of incense on an imperial altar and declare, “Caesar is Lord.” At the time St. Paul, the imperial cult was actually the fastest growing religion in the empire.

Given this requirement of Roman citizens, and the pride of Romans in their empire, you can possibly imagine the shock the words of today’s passage would have caused to his Roman readers. When we read these words today, most Baptists see words of hope; words of salvation. We also see words of comfort. Unfortunately, I don’t believe these words shock us as they should. St. Paul’s words from his letter to the Romans should both comfort us in our salvation before God and also challenge us to live them in our lives today. When St. Paul used the verb “shall be saved,” he meant more than a future existence in eternity. St. Paul called his readers, both in the first century A.D. and today, to a life that exemplifies Jesus as Lord of our lives.

Sermon

St. Paul wrote his masterpiece letter to the Romans in the year c. 57 to the congregations in Rome, the capital of the empire. These congregations existed in a state of tension caused by the presence of both Jewish and Gentile Christians. Most likely, the congregations had begun with Jewish believers. However, the emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome in c. 49. The Jewish believers returned after Claudius’ death, but they found themselves in a tenuous position within the congregations.

St. Paul had already explained to both Jew and Gentile that salvation came by grace, not by birth into a particular ethnic group. The Jews held a position because of the covenant of Abraham, but St. Paul brilliantly explained how this covenant included all true believers through faith in God. Both Jews and Gentiles could live in covenant relationship with God by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who had died for the sins of the world.

In chapter 10 of the letter, St. Paul had just described the issue of the Jewish failure to accept Jesus’ sacrifice for their salvation and for the salvation of all who would believe in Jesus. This chapter describes many people today as well as the Jews of St. Paul’s life.

For one thing, many people today like to claim that all religions lead to the same truth. These people may have a “zeal for God,” but they do not know the true God if they do not know Him through Jesus Christ. Many people today try to “establish their own” righteousness. In so doing, they refuse to “submit to God’s righteousness.” However, God alone, as the Creator of all, can establish the standards by which we must live. And, as St. Paul declared, “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” Jesus had stated, “I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17). Only in Jesus can we expect to live by the laws of God.

Here we find a problem: Many people claim they want to live by God’s laws. “Show me a list,” they say, “and I’ll keep them.” We find the list in the Old Testament, but as St. Paul points out earlier in his letter to the Romans, the Jews themselves couldn’t keep the list. What makes us think we can do any better? As St. Paul wrote, “Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them.” The Jews couldn’t live by these laws; we can’t, either.

If we can’t keep God’s laws, what hope do we have? As St. Paul had already explained earlier in the book, we are saved by grace (see chapter 5). When we are saved by grace, we don’t have to ask whether we must try to bring salvation down from heaven or  fear descending into hell after death; we know that, by faith, that Christ will live in our hearts and help us live as God guides us.

This brings us to the crucial verses in this passage:

...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. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

St. Paul calls this message “the word of faith that we proclaim.” The word for “proclaim” refers to the heralds of Greek religion and politics. The heralds proclaimed no message of their own, only that which their sovereigns had given them to proclaim. St. Paul’s message would have stunned the Romans: “Jesus is Lord.”

This message would have spoken to both Jews and Gentiles. When St. Paul used the word “lord” to refer to Jesus, he used the word the Jews had used to translate the Hebrew name for God, the name too holy to pronounce. When the Romans heard the phrase,” Jesus is Lord,” they would have instantly thought of the ritual of the imperial cult: “Caesar is Lord.”

This phrase explains the way to salvation for us. When we declare, “Jesus is Lord,” believing in His resurrection, we “shall be saved.” This requires explanation.

First, we must ask, “saved from what?” In a Baptist church, we instantly respond, “from hell, of course.” However, we need to realize that salvation brings tangible results in this life, not only guarantee of the life to come.

Declaring our allegiance in Jesus as Lord brings the benefits of a relationship with God, our Creator and King. St. Paul had already referred to the “adoption as sons” we receive at our confession of Jesus as Lord. We do not relate to God as slaves, but as His children. We receive the Holy Spirit into our hearts to guide us through life and to help us live according to God’s commands.

This relationship brings us the protection of God in our lives. God will allow nothing to affect His children that does not prepare us for a glorious eternity in His presence. Christians have suffered torment and death, but they have always remembered that God’s love overwhelms anything this world can bring.

Our relationship with God also brings His provision in our lives. When we live by grace through faith, living out our allegiance to Christ, God constantly provides for us. Read the history of the Church; read the lives of the saints; see how many times God provided for His people, in ways we could not imagine or explain.

This should help us in concrete ways in life today. If God will provide for us, we should not worry about the future. We should remember Jesus’ teachings from the Sermon on the Mount: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

While our confession of Jesus as Lord brings tangible benefits, it also brings challenges to our lives.

We must understand that this confession is not simply words we say. In the first century A.D., to “confess” something meant more than simply saying mere words. Confessing that “Caesar is lord” meant you would obey anything Caesar commanded, even if you knew you would die obeying him. Today, we need to consider the implications of confessing Jesus as Lord.

Confessing Jesus as Lord means we must place this allegiance above all other allegiances. Although this poses little problem for most of our allegiances in life (especially football), sometimes we must keep our allegiance to Christ first and foremost, above even family and friends. If we confess Jesus as Lord, we must place Him above all other priorities in life.

Confessing Jesus as Lord means we owe Him our obedience. As St. Paul had already written, “The person who does the commandments shall live by them.” We cannot claim Jesus as Lord without living according to His commands.

Jesus commands that we love other people. We must love one another: “let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7). We must also extend this love to our enemies: “I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:44-45).

Jesus also commands that we fellowship with one another: “let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25). Christian living requires Christian worship. Those who confess Jesus as Lord, claiming to love other believers, will demonstrate this love through worship with these believers.

We must also learn a crucial lesson from this passage and from history: This confession is for life. This week, I re-read the story of St. Polycarp, a bishop martyred in the second century. Polycarp was arrested and sentenced to death. At the execution, the Roman proconsul urged Polycarp to offer the pinch of incense on the imperial altar. St. Polycarp replied, “"Fourscore and six years have I served Him, and he has done me no harm. How then can I curse my King that saved me." With that, St. Polycarp went to his death. Millions of Christians since St. Polycarp have upheld their confession to their deaths.

Knowing this, are you willing to make this confession? Are you willing to experience the adoption into God’s family and enjoy the benefits while keeping the responsibilities? St. Paul said, “the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” Confess your allegiance to Christ, believing in His resurrection. Then, allow God to help you live the life He intended for you all along.