The Riches of Christ to All Who Believe | Romans 10:5-13
Introduction
We live in a pluralistic society that says all beliefs, religions, values and philosophies are equally valid. According to religious pluralism, since all religions are equally true, no religion can claim to have exclusive access to God or to truth.
A popular metaphor for pluralism says that all the religions and philosophies of the world are simply different paths up the same mountain: it doesn’t matter which path you take, they all lead to the same summit in the end.
That metaphor is compelling to many. Some find it comforting because it means you can’t be wrong. Some find it conciliatory because it means we can all finally get along.
But pluralism has its problems. For one thing, pluralism is itself an exclusive religious belief—one that claims it is correct and others are wrong. Those who use the different-paths-up-the-mountain metaphor sound humble, but they actually claim to be gazing down on the mountain from their own lofty peak. How would they know all the paths are going to the same place unless they are looking down on everyone from above?
Besides that, pluralism assumes that all people are seeking God, that all people are on the right mountain, generally headed in the right direction. But the Bible presents a very different view of humanity. Romans 3:10–12 says, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” And, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
So is it accurate to say that everyone is on his or her own unique path to God? To the contrary! Everyone is on a path running away from God. The world is not full of basically good people meandering toward God; it’s full of rebels who refuse to come to God on his terms. World religions are not man’s attempt to reach God; they’re various ways for man to reject God.
This is what Paul showed us at the end of Romans 9 and into Romans 10. Israel was the one nation on earth God chose to be his own people. They took God’s law (which called them to submit to and rely on God), and they twisted it into a ladder they thought they could climb to exalt themselves above God. How did they do that? “Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works” (Rom. 9:32). And, “Being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness” (10:3).
One way to reject God is through blatant lawlessness and immorality, but a more subtle and sinister way is through legalism, which distorts God’s law and misuses it as a way to earn payment from God. Israel is proof that sinful humans use religion and moralism, not to rely on God, but to rebel against God.
So how can sinful humans be reconciled to God and return to a right relationship with God? Religious pluralism assumes that God doesn’t care how you seek him. But according to the Bible, God does care how you approach him and relate to him. You will either come to God on his terms and live, or you will die trying to live your life your own way. Romans 10:5–13 reveals God’s way for anyone in the world to be right with him.
Romans 10:5–13
“For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) “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 that we proclaim); because, 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. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for 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.” —Romans 10:5–13 (ESV)
You Will Be Saved
The main point of Romans 10:5–13 is found right in the middle, in verse 9: “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.”
In a world where no one seeks God, how can anyone be right with God? The only way to be right with God is by relying on God to work for you, not by trying to perform billable services for God (my definition of legalism).
Right standing with God is not something you achieve or earn. Right standing with God is something God freely gives to those who rely on him (Rom. 9:32–33) and submit to him (Rom. 10:4), but not to those who boast or brag about themselves (Rom. 9:32, 10:3).
Being right with God is not the exclusive privilege of one ethnic group. It’s not the special advantage of the “elites”—the intellectual elites, the moral elites, or the economic elites. Righteousness—right standing with God—is a gift God freely gives to anyone who will rely on Jesus Christ alone.
This has been the message throughout Romans, and once more, God intends to convince you to abandon all self-reliance and religious pride and moral boasting. The Spirit of God means to use this passage to bring you to faith in Christ for the first time or to fortify your faith in Christ, sustaining you in your ongoing allegiance to him.
And how does God use Romans 10:5–13 to cause you to rely on Christ? He does that by revealing his extravagant generosity toward you in order to persuade you to receive the riches of his grace. According to this text, God freely lavishes the riches of his saving grace on everyone who relies on Christ. And the more you see the glory of God’s generous grace, the more you will trust him. That’s the entire sermon in sentence: God gives the riches of Christ to all who believe.
The Riches of Christ
Look at v. 12: “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.” The KJV says, “The same Lord over all is rich unto all.” The NASB says the Lord is “abounding in riches.”
The Lord Jesus Christ is rich. The word means to have an overabundance of something. So what are the riches of Christ?
In Romans 2:4, Paul said that God is rich in kindness and forbearance and patience. Romans 9:23 says God’s purpose in history is “to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy.” According to Ephesians 2:4, God is rich in mercy. And in Ephesians 2:7, the reason God saves sinners is “so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
Jesus, who is God, possesses infinite kindness, patience, glory, mercy, and grace. When verse 12 says that “the Lord bestows his riches on all who call on him,” it means that he freely lavishes the infinite riches of his saving grace on needy sinners.
Salvation
When the Lord bestows his riches, he saves sinners.
Verse 9 says, “If you confess … and believe …, you will be saved.”
Verse 10: “With the mouth one confesses and is saved”
Verse 13: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”
Saved from what? Saved from the holy wrath of God against sin: “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” (Romans 5:9). Saved from perishing: “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). Saved from destruction and judgment (1 Cor. 5:5) and from sin and death (Eph. 2:5).
So when Jesus bestows his riches on you, he is saving you from the eternal damnation your sins deserve.
Gift Righteousness
When the Lord bestows his riches, he gives the gift of righteousness to unrighteous sinners. “For with the heart one believes and is justified” (Romans 10:10). Or more literally, “With the heart one believes unto righteousness.”
The word righteousness is used 9 times from Romans 9:30–10:13. And the central question is, how do you get righteousness? The answer is that you either try to achieve it yourself (and fail like Israel), or you receive the righteousness of Christ as a gift from God bestowed on you. Righteousness is a gift God gives out of the riches of his glory.
What exactly does it mean to be counted righteous as a gift? The clearest definition is found in Romans 4:6–8: “David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.’”
Out of the riches of his glorious grace, God grants you the full and complete forgiveness of all your sin.
Not Put to Shame
Finally, in v. 11, the riches of God’s saving grace are described one more way: “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” This is not talking about never being embarrassed—say by tripping and spilling your lunch in the cafeteria while everyone is watching.
It is talking about the shame of standing before God and being exposed in all your sin, the shame and dishonor of banking on your own moral goodness to buy you credit with God, only to find out that you have nothing. It means if you trust God to satisfy you, you will not be disappointed; you will be vindicated.
Salvation, gift-righteousness, vindication on the day of judgment—these are the riches of God’s grace that he generously offers. And what you need to know is that God's grace is not meager or scarce. It’s not rationed out begrudgingly. It is not spread thinly over his people like not enough butter on too much toast. God is infinitely rich and extravagantly generous.
But who are his riches for?
The Riches of Christ to All
In verses 11, 12, and 13, Paul repeatedly emphasizes the universal offer of salvation.
Verse 11: “For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.’”
Verse 12: “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.”
Verse 13: “For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”
The riches of Christ are available to all. This is a crucial clarification, especially coming out of Romans 9, which unequivocally says of God, “He has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills” (Romans 9:18).
From the fact that God is sovereign in salvation, some of you are tempted to think hard thoughts toward God. When you hear that God prepares some to be vessels of wrath (Rom. 9:22), you are sure you must be one of them.
Or when you hear that God has mercy on whomever he wills and hardens whomever he wills, you assume that means God is stingy with his mercy, hardening many and having mercy on relatively few.
Some of you may relate to God as though he is unreasonably harsh, reluctant to forgive, and unrelentingly critical. You have a gnawing fear that God is like an IRS auditor looking to nail you on a technicality.
Some of you have no problem believing that God saves other people, but you constantly struggle to trust God would save you. When you hear ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved,’ you figure that means everyone except you.
The point of Romans 9 is not to set you on a quest to probe the secret things of God in order to determine who is a vessel of wrath and who is a vessel of mercy. The point is simply to assert unapologetically that God is absolutely free and sovereign in his mercy, which is good news because it means being right with God does not depend on your exertion (works righteousness), but on the mercy of God (gift righteousness).
Or would you rather have it the other way?
So who are the riches of Christ for? “Everyone … all … all … [and] everyone” (vv. 11–13).
But the universal availability of the gospel is one thing. What really matters is that you personally know that your sins are forgiven. So look at verse 9: “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.”
Paul speaks here, not in universals like “every” and “all,” and not even in broad plurals like “you all,” which is most common when Paul is addressing entire churches.
Here he uses the very personal second person singular: you. “If you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart, you will be saved.” That is an invitation to fill in your name. If you, [Your Name Here], confess and believe, you, [Your Name Here], will be saved.”
No one who hears the gospel should think, “That’s not for me.” You need not waste a single second of your life wondering, “Am I elect? Has God chosen me? Was I predestined from before the foundation of the world, or am I a vessel of wrath?” To think that way is to reject the very promises of God.
So what should you do? How do you receive the glorious riches of Christ?
The Riches of Christ to All Who Believe
Look again at v. 9: “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.” (Romans 10:9).
That is a conditional if-then statement: if you confess and believe, then you will be saved. If you don’t, then you won’t.
“Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame” (v. 11). Those who do not believe will be put to shame.
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (v. 13). Those who do not call on him will not be saved.
So enjoying the riches of Christ is conditional, but it is not merited. Trusting Jesus does not merit—it does not earn or deserve anything from God.
Wages are earned. Gifts are received. Paul makes this point in Romans 4:4–5: “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.”
Believing is not a billable service you render to God. Why would he owe you anything for simply taking him at his word? Believing is the exact opposite of working for God; it means relying on God to work for you.
This is what Paul is getting at in verse 6, when he paraphrases Deuteronomy 30:12–14: “But the righteousness based on faith says, ‘Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?”’ (that is, to bring Christ down) ‘or “Who will descend into the abyss?”’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”
You cannot achieve right standing with God by performing heroic feats for God. Think how absurd it is to imagine you could ascend into heaven to bring Christ down or descend into the grave to bring Christ up! That’s what self-righteousness is. In that arrangement, who’s helping whom? Who is the hero and who is in need? How wicked to relate to God like that!
But look again at v. 12: “The same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.” Which direction do the resources flow? God is the benefactor and he will not allow anyone to treat him as the beneficiary. It is his glory to give. God is rich, you are poor. God gives, you receive.
So how do you receive the riches of God’s saving grace? Believe!
Every verse from 9–13 calls you to simply believe:
V. 9: “If you confess with your mouth … and believe in your heart …, you will be saved.”
V. 10: “For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
V. 11: “Everyone who believes in him”
Confess and believe. Believe and confess. These are not two separate things, but one and the same. The point is that saving faith is a whole-person response to Jesus as Lord. What the heart believes, the mouth declares. Lip service is meaningless. True confession comes from heart conviction and heart conviction is outwardly observable.
Then verse 12 says, “… bestowing his riches on all who call on him.” And verse 13: “For, ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”
Calling on the name of the Lord is another way to speak of the posture of reliance. It means crying out for deliverance from distress, like Psalm 116:3–4 says: “The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. Then I called on the name of the LORD: ‘O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul!”
So you must believe. But believe what? “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” (Romans 10:9).
The substance of saving is Jesus Christ, the resurrected Ruler of the world. Saving faith involves knowing certain facts and agreeing that those facts are true, namely, that Jesus died to suffer the wrath you deserve and rose from the dead.
But saving faith goes beyond knowing and agreeing. Saving faith means submitting to and relying on Jesus as the resurrected Ruler of heaven and earth and as the Lord and Savior of your life.
Jesus’ resurrection and his reign as Lord are tied together, since it was at his resurrection that he was declared to be God’s anointed King. Paul says in his introduction to Romans, “... who was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 1:4).
His resurrection from the dead was the inauguration of his kingly reign as Lord of heaven and earth. And because he is the living King, he is able to give life to all who rely on him. Are you relying on him for all your satisfaction and security now and forever?
Conclusion
J. I. Packer writes, “There is a great moment in the Holy Communion service of the Church of England when the minister utters the ‘comfortable words.’ First the congregation confesses its sins to God …. Then the minister turns to face the people and proclaims to them the promises of God. ‘Hear what comfortable words our Saviour Christ saith unto all that truly turn to him.’”
These promises in Romans 10:5–13 are some of the most comfortable [i.e., comforting] words in the entire Bible. Memorize them. Meditate on them. Pray them. But above all, believe them.