But Paul's answer is: "Israel may have failed to understand; but the Gentiles did not. Alas! You must carefully guard against the notion of its being a question of Paul's own experience, because he says, "I had not known," "I was alive," etc. There never can be solid peace with God without both. Everything Paul touches in this letter he relates to God. "Christ's Prayer for his People.". which we preach; being sent, commissioned, qualified, and assisted by Christ thereunto; which shows the agreement between Moses and the apostles of Christ; for the word which he spoke of, they preached, and indeed said no other things than what the prophets and Moses said should come, that Christ should suffer in the stead of his people, and rise again for their justification; the sum of which is delivered in Romans 10:9. No trembling sinner doubts but that by the breaking of the law we are condemned: be you equally sure of it, that by not believing you are condemned. Here, again, the apostle takes up what he had but announced in chapter 1 the righteousness of God. This plainly shows that Christ's descent into the deep, or into hades, was no more than his going into the state of the dead, in allusion to Jonah. He is come up from the deep; we need not perplex ourselves how to bring him up. You cannot hear about him unless there is someone to proclaim the good news. He shall never have cause to repent his confidence in reposing such a trust in the Lord Jesus. Such has been their singular fruit of promise; such even in the midst of all their misery it is at present. The law ends for the believer in the sense that our obedience to the law is no longer the basis for our relationship with God. We went astray from the womb, speaking lies; we were rebellious to our parents in our childhood, and wayward in our youth; in our early manhood we were carried about with this passion and with that, and since then all kinds of evils have led us astray. To the contrary, the salvation of God is as near them as their own mouths and hearts. Possession of it is not dependent on some act of Herculean proportions, such as ascending into the heavens or crossing the sea. Isaiah says: "I was found of them who sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me." Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? The bearing of this on the contents and main doctrine of the epistle will appear abundantly by-and-by. And I heard Keith giving his testimony on television the other night and he said that living here in southern California, going to UCLA and all, he was twenty-four years old before he ever heard about Jesus Christ. Zealous the Jews were and are. And he says to Israel: "All the day I have stretched out my hands to a people who are disobedient and contrary.". There is nothing about law there; it is all based on faith. There was a most important trial of man in the person of Adam; but after this, what dispensation was there? They also had a moral problem: they have not submitted to the righteousness of God. A man is responsible for failing to know what he might have known. But still, all day long His hand stretched out to the Jew who refused to come God's way through Jesus Christ. They give us the basis of the first Christian creed. But what does it say? (ii) There is the ignorance which comes from wilful blindness. Is It Ok for Christians to Follow Zodiac Signs? Israel responsible for its own loss (9:30-10:21). Without faith there is neither justice nor life that God owns; where faith is, the rest will surely follow. What blindness! A person cannot save himself. The doing supposed must be perfect and sinless, without the least breach or violation. He is not coming according to the covenant that God established by Moses for sins to be forgiven. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. If one may so say, He thus holds the man, instead of letting the man presume that he is holding fast the truth. Paul does not raise the possibility of the message being read. Paul rightly observes that it all goes back to the preaching of the gospel, and preachers must be sent both by God and the Christian community at large. The "word of faith" is the message of justification by the system of "faith" as opposed to the Law. Pauls intent here is to use the same words to express the same idea about the gospel instead of the law. Moses writes that the man who works at the righteousness which comes from the law shall live by it. There is entrance into favour, and nothing but favour. This was the key to their difficulties this alone, and fully explains their coming ruin as well as God's solemn warnings. Hence, as is shown later in the chapter, Adam is a head characterized by disobedience, who brought in death, the just penalty of sin; as on the other hand we have Him of whom he was the type, Christ, the obedient man, who has brought in righteousness, and this after a singularly blessed sort and style "justification of life." I hope that brethren in Christ will bear with me if I press on them the importance of taking good heed to it that their souls are thoroughly grounded in this, the proper place of the Christian by Christ's death and resurrection. In true faith, there is need of a great deal of submission; therefore the first lesson Christ teaches is to deny ourselves. In the Fourth Book of Maccabees there is an amazing incident. Once it was far otherwise. It is the going forth of His richest blessing. Christ is come down from heaven; we need not go to fetch him. "Don't scold," said one. Thus the introduction opened with Christ's person, and closes with God's righteousness. He takes their own books, and proves from one of them (Deuteronomy) that in the ruin of Israel the resource is not going into the depths, nor going up to heaven. But even if it were not already broken, should we get through to-morrow with its temptations, bearing such a heart as we have within us, without breaking that perfect and spotless law? First, as to practical holiness, it is not merely that Christ has died for my sins, but that even in the initiatory act of baptism the truth set forth there is that I am dead. He speaks of the sovereignty of God having elected that it might stand by election. But what is testified by Christian baptism is Christ's death. They are generally gentlemen in good health, with regular incomes and sweet tempers, and so they soon reach their imaginary sinlessness vain creatures that they are; but you never get any of that among the poor, suffering, tried people of God. There is the type of confession described in Matthew 10:32. Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. the word of faith -- The gospel peached by the apostles. Help me to believe, Lord." That is, it is the power of God unto salvation, not because it is victory (which at the beginning of the soul's career would only give importance to man even if possible, which it is not), but because it is "the righteousness of God." ( Romans 10:15 ). The story of Jesus Christ passed through all of the Jewish communities around the world. This it was before it was his prayer. This passed away with man when he sinned. Then the domains of flesh and Spirit are brought before us: the one characterized by sin and death practically now; the other by life, righteousness, and peace, which is, as we saw, to be crowned finally by the resurrection of these bodies of ours. Whatever it is that God has commanded, you must do; whatever he forbids, you must avoid; for by such obedience alone can you live. But how, argues he, could this stand, seeing that Abraham had another son, just as much his child as Isaac? That it is not at all hard or difficult. "No, not if you pluck out my eyes, and consume my bowels in the fire. He says, "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." And I answered him, "That is a very difficult question for me, because I do believe that your father does love God, has a zeal for God, but what is he doing about his sin? This time Paul quotes Psalms 19:4: "Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world." Surely it would need that I mount to heaven to own my sin, or dive to hell to bear its punishment. It was a very great thing, especially, when the profession of Christ or Christianity hazarded estate, honour, preferment, liberty, life, and all that is dear in this world, which was the case in the primitive times. The rest of the epistle takes up the practical consequences of the great doctrine of God's righteousness, which had been now shown to be supported by, and in no wise inconsistent with, His promises to Israel. Thus then, if Paul gave his own sense of Jewish privileges, there was no unbelieving Jew that rose up to his estimate of them. Just as the sun in the heavens is not for one people or land alone, no more is the gospel. Nothing less, I am persuaded, than this full blessing is the line that God has given to those who have followed Christ without the camp, and who, having been set free from the contracted ways of men, desire to enter into the largeness and at the same time the profound wisdom of every word of God. "No, I am not." Believe in him as your risen Saviour, declare him to be your Lord, and you will receive from God the righteousness that saves (9-10). ROMANS 10:8-17 INTRODUCTION: It is amazing how little people know about the Word of God, especially here in America where virtually everyone has access to the Bible. Not only is God's righteousness revealed, but also His wrath. It is no longer a question of man's guilt, but of his nature. The same was true of the doctrine requiring faith in Christ. The apostle is therefore plainly in presence of the broadest possible grounds of comparison, though we shall find more too. Inductive Bible study on Romans chapter 10. And boy, she comes elbowing her way in and she is going to get right there next to Grandpa. Paul didnt just care, he prayed. How are they to hear without someone to proclaim the good news to them? Ourselves nothing, Christ everything that is it. Going to where Jesus went (the abyss/Hades/the realm of the dead, verse 7) is also unnecessary. (2.) The best of them are but filthy rags: stow them all away in the coal-hole, and look to the merits of your Lord for salvation. There are several texts from which it may be gathered that believers shall not be put to shame. (Spurgeon). d. Glad tidings of good things: Obviously, the salvation Isaiah prophesied about could not be salvation through works or the law. That is quite true, because Isaiah says: "Lord, who has believed what they heard from us?" You need not "bring up Christ again from the dead," for the Lord has risen indeed. The subserviency of the law to the gospel (Romans 10:4; Romans 10:4): Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. 21). So he essayed to join himself unto the church, but the brethren looked suspiciously at him and enquired, "What is your experience?" (That is, to bring Christ up from the dead.) For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. Go not to the loom to weave a righteousness. Not, of course, that the Roman saints were in this condition; but that God, writing by the apostle to them, seizes the opportunity to lay bare man's state as well as His own grace. If salvation for man is possible by any other means, if man can be saved by the law, if man can be saved by his own efforts, by his good works, if a man can be saved by sincerity, then, God, let this cup pass from Me. (324) For the purpose of removing the impediments of faith, he has hitherto spoken negatively: but now in order to show the way of obtaining righteousness, he adopts an affirmative mode of speaking. In the same way the apostle disposes of all pretence on the score of ordinances, especially circumcision. John MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Book of Romans 2 Volume Set. The extent is what God Himself, so to speak, possesses the universe of God, whatever will be under Christ: and what will not? Would that the Lord would give us hearts to remember, as well as eyes to see, according to His own grace! It became simply a question whether, in fact, God did call Gentiles, or whether He had revealed such intentions. It is our duty truly and earnestly to desire the salvation of our own. But that wasnt their only problem. Confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus: We can never forget all that it meant to say that Jesus Christ is Lord. There is laid down the most essential of all truths as a groundwork of salvation; namely, expiation. A good wish (Romans 10:1; Romans 10:1), a wish that they might be saved--saved from the temporal ruin and destruction that were coming upon them--saved from the wrath to come, eternal wrath, which was hanging over their heads. b. I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God: Paul will readily recognize that Israel has a zeal for God but he also sees that it is zeal not according to knowledge. Romans 1:16,17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek Isaiah 57:19 It is in your mouth and in your heart." If God has made you feel yourself a sinner, then Christ is such a Savior as you need and you may have him at once: the only difficulty lies in the way being so easy that you can hardly think it can be so. It is true God gave them that law for which they were so zealous; but they might have known that, by the appearance of the promised Messiah, an end was put to it. The righteousness of the law required absolute sinless perfection achieved through flawless obedience; however, the righteousness that is of faith does not make requirements that are impossible for sinners. I confine myself to its doctrinal import, and the full Christian sense of the word; and I maintain that salvation signifies that deliverance for the believer which is the full consequence of the mighty work of Christ, apprehended not, of course, necessarily according to all its depth in God's eyes, but at any rate applied to the soul in the power of the Holy Ghost. 1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. No, if the law is once broken it is all over with you as to salvation thereby: one single fault takes away the possibility of your ever being justified by the law. It is the paradox of the human situation that God is in control and yet the human will is free. Oh, how nice you look today. There never was a sinner yet to whom God said, "You must not trust my Son": on the contrary, it is written, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." (325) It is the word which requires faith, and is received by faith; or it is the word entitled to faith, worthy of being believed; or it is the word which generates and supports faith. As He has made all, so He is heir of all. Paul was entirely ready to admit that the Jews were zealous for God; but he also saw that their zeal was a misdirected thing. i. ii. And this is said to be unto salvation, because it is the performance of the condition of that promise, Matthew 10:32. Its remarkable that Paul found something good to say about these Jewish people who persecuted him so mercilessly. The ground taken by a Jew for supposing God exclusively for Israel was, that they had the law, which was the measure of what God claimed from man; and this the Gentile had not. The promise is the same to all, who call on the name of the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, as God manifest in the flesh. Kurios Serapis is Lord Serapis. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may bear it, and do it? So, then, faith comes from hearing, and hearing comes from the word which comes from Christ and which tells of him. Chapter Summary Paul's heart is broken for his people, Israel. The chapter closes with the day of the Lord in its practical force on the Christian walk. This was not suitable to the character of the epistle; but the glory of God he does. Strange as it was, this too was foretold. It may be helpful to read Deuteronomy 30:10. i. This same term occurs again in verses 14 and 15. Experience says, and we are some of us here to say it, that it is the grandest way of living in the world. Romans 10:14-17. The 14th verse in Deuteronomy 30:1-20 completes the thought by saying that the Jews could do what God wanted them to do - that thou mayest do it. He shall come, says one Testament, out of Zion. God is gracious, but holy; He is faithful, but righteous. But unto Israel he said, All day long I have stretched forth my hand unto a disobedient and gainsaying people ( Romans 10:20-21 ). "For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Unlike verse 5, Paul does not say, "Moses says" or "Moses writes." Moses does not allow any person to dream that under the law he can be saved in any other way than by perfect obedience thereto. This it was before it was his prayer. and how shall they preach unless they be sent? What did they say to Ishmaelites as joint-heirs? Surely if equal birth-tie could ensure community of blessing if a charter from God depended on being sprung from the same father and mother, there was no case so strong, no claim so evident, as that of Esau to take the same rights as Jacob. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for SDA Bible Commentary Set Vols. "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness" (ver. In vain will you preach Romans 3:1-31, or even 4 alone, for souls to know themselves consciously and holily set free. ( Isaiah 53:1.) But what does it say? But if children, we are His heirs. There would be no remnant if justice took its course. This is true for both Jews and Gentiles. (that is, to bring Christ again from the dead.) Was he not himself, says Paul, a proof to the contrary? He must not only know about Christ: he must know him. Let man be what he might, or where he might, God's good news was for man. who would defraud God of that which He delights in the blessedness of bringing in deliverance by that One man, of whom Adam was the image? The righteousness which is of faith, what does it say to us? The Jews have indeed heard this message, so they have no excuse (18). Believe in Christ as you would believe in your friend: believe that he died for sinners, and trust in him for salvation. (9-13) How Gods righteousness is gained by faith. The subject terminates with the grand truth which must never be obscured by details that we are to receive, one another, as Christ has received us, to the glory of God. One is from Deuteronomy 32:21 where God says that, because of Israel's disobedience and rebellion, he will transfer his favour to another people, and they will be forced to become jealous of a nation which has no nation. "He resisted," says the writer, "even to the agonies of death, for the law's sake.". If you get extreme on the Calvinistic side and into election and predestination and all, then you have lost the center of truth. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. Jesus had come and died; Jesus had been a propitiatory sacrifice; Jesus had borne the judgment of God because of the sins He bore. We also do not need people to enter into heaven to learn Gods will since this information is revealed in His word. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth This is what Moses saith: hear it and be humbled. Along with this he gathers testimonies from more than one prophet. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site. StudyLght.org. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (ver. I'm sorry you can't accept it, but that is the way it is. Up also his body rose on the light of the third day; and he sojourned for forty days among his disciples. Although there is undoubtedly that profoundness which must accompany every revelation of God, and especially in connection with Christ as now manifested, still we have God adapting Himself to the very first wants of a renewed soul nay, even to the wretchedness of souls without God, without any real knowledge either of themselves or of Him. The soul of prayer is the heart's desire. Compare Romans 10:14; Romans 10:14. If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved: We do not gain God's righteousness by works. That is - This is the use which the apostle makes of it; not that Moses referred to the gospel. But this is the very thing that has happened, as it stands written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news of good things. 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