Automatically translated from Portuguese by AI.Read the original
Page 40
Paul's Epistle to the Romans — page 40
Many evangelical Christians believe that these verses are saying that for a person to be truly saved, they must make a public confession of their faith in Christ. Consequently, preachers press for public confessions in their meetings and gospel services. They make an "altar call" to their audiences, so that anyone who wants to be saved may come forward and make a public statement of their faith. However, if we must confess before men as a necessary condition for the eternal salvation of the soul from the penalty of its sins, then the blessing of the gospel is not based solely on the principle of faith; it becomes faith and works! This is contrary to the foundations of the gospel (chap. 3:26-31). Furthermore, it would mean that a person could not be saved if they were alone somewhere—because they would have no one to whom to make their confession! And what if they died before having the chance to speak to anyone about their faith in Christ? Surely we cannot think that such a person is not truly saved and is not in heaven.
"Confess" in this verse means "admit" or "express agreement". The question is: express agreement to whom? A. Roach said that, in light of , which says: "and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" and which says: "every tongue will confess to God", this confession must be made to God, and not to men. The believer acknowledges to God that "Jesus Christ is Lord". H. A. Ironside said: "The confession here is obviously not the same thing as what our Lord says: 'Whoever confesses Me before men, I will confess him before My Father who is in heaven.' This is rather the confession of the soul to God Himself, that he accepts Jesus as Lord" (Lectures on Romans, pp. 130-131).
In verse 9, Paul mentions the "mouth" before the "heart", which is the order found in Deuteronomy 30, but in verse 10, he reverses the order. Verse 9 emphasizes the facts, and verse 10 emphasizes the order in which they occur in the believer's soul. Faith in the heart produces confession of the mouth; it is a proof of what is true in the heart. Thus, the inward acceptance of the word by faith precedes the outward expression of confession. These are not two separate steps to salvation, but two sides of the same thing.
In the normal course of Christian growth and development, confession before men will follow a person's faith in Christ. The person who truly believes in the Lord Jesus will confess their belief to their fellow men. This should happen naturally, for the gospel is news too good to keep to ourselves! (See 2 Kings 7:9.) The Scriptures encourage us to speak about it: "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so" (). Confession before men is good, but it is not a condition by which a person is eternally saved from the penalty of their sins. The new believer may hesitate to confess Christ at first, but their eternal well-being does not depend on it. Paul has already taught that the blessing of salvation is only in the "principle of faith" (chap. 1:17, 3:30, 4:16, 5:1 all from the JND translation); he would be contradicting himself here if he made confession before men a condition.
The Blessing of the Gospel Is Offered to All
Chap. 10:11-13 – Paul goes on to show from the Scriptures that God's blessing is not limited to the Jews. He quotes Isaiah: "For the Scripture says: Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame" (). "Whoever" is a very large expression, encompassing not only Jews but also Gentiles. God's use of this word in connection with salvation proves that He intends the blessing to reach the Gentiles. Thus, Gentiles who believe the message of the gospel are also blessed with the same principle of faith as the Jews, because, as Paul says, "there is no difference between Jew and Greek" when it comes to being saved (). He showed in chapter 3 that "there is no difference" between Jews and Gentiles as to their ruin and need of a Savior. Now, in this chapter, he shows that "there is no difference" between Jews and Gentiles in God's grace being shown to them. He quotes the prophet Joel for further proof of this: "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" ().
Chap. 10:14-15 – Paul then asks how it could be possible for anyone among the Gentiles to call on the name of the Lord if they had never heard of Him. He shows that there is a need to proclaim Christ among the Gentiles so that they may call on Him and be saved. He says: "How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how will they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? And how will they preach unless they are sent?". He quotes to support the principle of proclaiming the truth in the gospel: "It is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who announce peace, of those who announce good things!" Thus, the Jewish Scriptures actually encourage the preaching of the gospel concerning Christ, the Messiah. This was exactly what Paul was doing among the Gentiles! And by affirming this, he justifies himself for going to the Gentiles with the good news.
The Gospel Was Not Believed by All
Chap. 10:16-21 – It is sad to say that, with the exception of a remnant, the Jews failed in their responsibility to believe the gospel. Not only did they refuse to receive it, but they also resisted the spread of the good news to the Gentiles. Paul reported to the Thessalonians: “Who [the Jews] also killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us, and do not please God, and are contrary to all men. And they hinder us from preaching to the Gentiles the words of salvation, in order to always fill up the measure of their sins” (). The book of Acts also attests to this fact.
Paul quotes Isaiah again to show that the prophetic Scriptures of the Old Testament foretold that the nation would reject its Messiah. He says: “But not all obey the gospel; for Isaiah says: Lord, who has believed our preaching?” In saying “our preaching”, Isaiah was speaking on behalf of his fellow prophets, the other Old Testament prophets who had prophesied about the Messiah. He lamented that the preaching about the Messiah had not been believed by the nation of Israel, despite it containing everything they needed to know about Him. The preaching announced:
The time of His coming ( with ).
The place of His birth ().
His virgin birth ().
His Sonship ().
His Kingship as a direct descendant of David (; ).
His announcement by a forerunner (; ).
The manner of His life ().
His power to bring the blessings of the kingdom (, 35:5-6, 61:1-3; , 89:9, 132:15, 89:9, 132:15, 89, 146:7-8, etc.).
His presentation to the nation of Israel ().
His betrayal (, 41:9, 55:12-14, 69:25, 109:6-8).
His rejection by the Jews (, 69:4, 109:4-5; , 50:5-6, 53:2-4; ; ).
His death (, 22:1-21a, 31:1-5a, 102:24; a).
His resurrection (, 22:21b, 102:24b-28).
His current place at the right hand of God ().
Israel's hope that God would send Him for their deliverance ().
His coming again – the Appearing (, 96:13, 98:9; ; , 4:2-3).
His public reign in righteousness as King over all the Earth (, 61:11; ; ).
He being sought and worshiped by the Gentiles (, 72:11, 86:9; ; ).
Thus, the “preaching” of the prophets about the life and times of the Messiah had been foretold in the Holy Scriptures. The Jews prided themselves on knowing the Scriptures, but they were “slow of heart” to truly “believe” those things (). The Old Testament prophets spoke of the Messiah – first suffering and then entering into the glory of His kingdom (). This testimony was not given only to the Jews, but the Gentiles also heard it, for the gospel was preached to both Jew and Gentile (chap. 1:16).
17 – Paul then speaks of how the blessing of the gospel occurs
in souls. He says: “So then faith is by hearing [a preaching], and hearing [the preaching] by the word of God” (JND). Thus, “faith” in a person is a result of their spiritual faculties of hearing being opened, and this occurs by the power of the “Word of God” working in their soul. The Spirit of God takes the Word of God and applies it to the soul, and thus communicates spiritual life to the person. This action is called the new birth or quickening (; ). Upon receiving divine life, the person's spiritual faculties begin to operate, and they are able to hear and receive divine communications – that is, the truth of the gospel. This is why we need to “preach the Word” to the lost (). “For the word of God is living and effective”, and directed by the Spirit of God when we preach it, it communicates divine life to men ().
18 – Paul then quotes Psalm 19, which has to do with the
testimony of creation, to show that God intends for a testimony to reach “all the Earth”. This, of course, would include Gentiles, for they are all over the Earth. The testimony of creation does not announce the gospel of God's grace. Paul does not quote it for that reason, but to show that God wants all men to receive a testimony of Himself. This, then, underpins the effort to announce the good news in the regions beyond.
Vs. 19-21 – Paul says: “Did Israel not know?” How did they not know that God desired the blessing to be offered to the Gentiles, when their own Scriptures testified to this fact? He quotes what Moses wrote in to prove this: “I will make them jealous with those who are not a people, with a foolish nation I will provoke you to anger” (v. 19). The implication here is that, because they were slow to believe, God would shame Israel in the fact of His blessing going to the Gentiles. Paul adds another statement from for this purpose: “I was sought by those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me” (v. 20; ). But, regarding Israel, said: “I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people” (v. 21). Thus, from their own Scriptures, Paul shows that there would be this remarkable reversal of blessing. When Israel rejected the blessing by not receiving their Messiah, God would send the blessing to the Gentiles! The Lord also taught this in many of His parables (, 22:8-10; , 14:16-24). The result was that many Gentiles entered into the blessing by faith in Christ, and (with the exception of a remnant) Israel lost it!
Thus, Paul showed in this chapter that there is a moral responsibility on man's part to believe in God's testimony of the gospel. God made ample provision for Israel to believe, but the principle applies to all humanity. And if Israel as a nation was set aside, it is not God's fault; it is clearly their own fault. They not only broke the Law, but also rejected the Messiah and the gospel of God's grace.
In the course of this tenth chapter, Paul mentioned three main reasons why the Jews lost God's blessing:
Zeal for the national religion (v. 2).
Ignorance of God's righteousness (v. 3).
Obstinate unbelief (v. 16).
ISRAEL'S STUMBLING BLOCK
OPENING THE WAY FOR THE BLESSING OF THE GENTILES
AND THE GENTILES' REJECTION OF GRACE PREPARING THE WAY FOR THE
RESTORATION OF ISRAEL
Discussion
Questions and comments
Open a topic to ask or comment (one per person on each study — to add more, edit yours). When the author replies, their name appears with the Author badge.
No questions yet. Be the first to comment on this study.