Sunday, September 11th, 2011
Romans 10:5-13
“Power Play”
Background Information:
- This paragraph is part of a longer section beginning with Rom 9:30 and running to the end of Rom 10, a section in which Paul is explaining that the unbelief of his countrymen is not God’s fault but theirs, since the gospel had been communicated to them. (James Montgomery Boice, An Expositional Commentary: Romans, Vol. 3, 1173)
- Paul takes the opportunity in Romans to face this issue head-on, for the church in Romewas in need of direction on this matter. Jewish Christians were apparently insisting on the continuing importance of law-observance, Gentile Christians saw no need to burden themselves with these requirements. Jewish Christians thought that the OT guaranteed them the inside track to salvation, Gentile Christians, basking in their majority in the church, thought that they were the ones in the driver’s seat. Thus, as Paul presents his gospel to this church he has never visited, he refers again and again to its relationship to the OT. Over the course of the letter, he builds a balanced view, in which both the continuity and discontinuity between OT and New, law and gospel, emerge. (Douglas J. Moo, The NIV Application Commentary: Romans, 337)
- As far as Romans itself goes, a study of “Lord” shows that Paul uses it 44 times in this book. In 30 cases it is used of Jesus Christ. In 8 cases it is used of God the Father. In the remaining cases it could refer either to the Father or to Jesus referred to as God. In other words, the term is used interchangeably for both Jesus and the Father and is a clear evidence of Paul’s belief in Jesus’ complete deity. (James Montgomery Boice, An Expositional Commentary: Romans, Vol. 3, 1192)
The question to be answered is . . . Why is Paul pushing so hard to get us to see that there is nothing we can do to earn or merit our salvation and that we must have saving faith in Jesus to be saved?
Answer: First, because as Paul has demonstrated numerous times already, attempting to merit a righteousness by way of the Law is a hopeless enterprise. No one is justified by keeping the Law. Second, God has made His righteousness available to all if they have saving faith in Jesus. When we confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead then our faith can be designated as saving faith. It can be summed up in the statement from the prophet Joel: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
The Word for the Day is . . . Lord
I. The way of righteousness by the Law is perfection (Rom 10:5; Lev 18:5; Dt 27:26; Neh 9:29; Ez 20:11, 13, 21; Rom 10:1-4; 7:10; Gal 3:10-11; Jas 2:10)
The first reference (Dt 9:4) is straightforward. We may think that the words are few enough as to leave doubt about whether Paul intended “Do not say in your heart” to be a quotation from the Deuteronomy text. But these words occur only here in the OT, so they are distinctive. Moreover, they are most appropriate to Paul’s application. Moses warns the Israelites about presuming to think that the Lord has blessed them because of their own righteousness, just as Paul has scolded the Jews for seeking to establish “their own [righteousness]” in Rom 10:3. (Douglas J. Moo, The NIV Application Commentary: Romans, 335)
The Lord also declared through Moses: “You shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them” (Lv 18:5). In other words, whoever relies on his own obedience to the law is held accountable for everything that the law requires. Quoting again from Deuteronomy, Paul testifies that “as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them’” (Gal 3:10; cf. Dt 27:26). (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Romans 9-16, 68-69)
The quotation is from Lv 18:5, in which God is speaking to the Israelites through Moses, saying, “Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. I am the LORD.” This verse seems to have meant a great deal to Paul, for in addition to our text he also uses it in the letter to the Galatians. In Romans he says, “Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: ‘The man who does these things will live by them.’” The Galatians passage reads, “The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, ‘The man who does these things will live by them’” (Gal 3:12). In both passages he contrasts the way of works with the way of faith and shows that they are mutually exclusive. (James Montgomery Boice, An Expositional Commentary: Romans, Vol. 3, 1174)
Do you want to know what the law is like? Well, here it is given in a tremendous description by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews. “Ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched”–this is, the giving of the law of God–“and that burned with fire, not unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken unto them any more: (For they could not endure that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart)” (Heb 12:18-20).
Have you ever felt that about the law? Have you ever asked that it should not be spoken to you any more? Have you felt that it is unendurable because of its exalted and impossible demands? If you have not, you have never seen the law, you know nothing about it. But that is the law. And when men and women truly realize its terms and demands, and hear it saying to them, ‘If you keep that, it will justify you; the man that doeth these things shall live by them,’ then they say, ‘What am I to do?’ They feel like Paul when he cried, ‘O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me?” (Rom 7:24). They are terrified, and filled with alarm, as those children of Israelwere at the giving of the law on mount Sinai. Then they cease to attempt to save or to justify themselves by keeping the law, and are delighted and thankful to listen to what the righteousness which is of faith has got to say; and so they become saved men and women. (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 73)
II. The way of righteousness is by faith in Jesus (Rom 10:6, 9; Acts 16:30-31; Rom 3:20-26; 4:24; 9:30; 10:1-4; Gal 3:11)
The notion of God’s “word” is the key bridging concept. In Deuteronomy the word takes the form of a command, here in Romans, that word is the message of faith. As God made available his will to his old covenant people, so now he makes available his will for the new covenant. Yet the new covenant word has an added element of “nearness.” Christ, as the One who brings the law to its culmination (v. 4), also writes that law on the hearts of God’s people, as was predicted by Jeremiah in his famous “new covenant” prophecy (Jer 31:31-34). So in Christ, the law has come near to God’s people in a way that it never had before. All that is now required of human beings is that they accept God’s word in faith. (Douglas J. Moo, The NIV Application Commentary: Romans, 335-36)
Looked at from one perspective, that OT word, as “law,” demanded an obedience that was impossible (v. 5). But, from another perspective, God’s OT word was a demonstration of God’s grace, as he revealed himself and his will to a sinful and rebellious people. Now, in Christ, God has brought that word of grace to its climax–and all people need to do is accept the gift of righteousness he offers by believing. (Douglas J. Moo, The NIV Application Commentary: Romans, 336)
The words that are quoted carry us back to the time when Moses was giving instructions to the people ofIsraelwith respect to their entrance into thelandofCanaan. He sets forth the curses that would be poured out upon the disobedient (Dt 27:9-26), as well as the blessings that would be bestowed upon the obedient (Dt 28:8-14). He then addresses each Israelite as follows:
“Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it down to make us obey it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea for us and bring it to us to make us obey it?’” (Dt 30:11-13).
The point Moses emphasizes is that the law has been given to Israelin the context of grace, and that Canaan, which the people are about to enter, is God’s gift to them. It is in no sense whatever the product of their own righteousness or strenuous effort. See also Dt 8:17, 18; 9:4-6. (William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: Romans, 343)
The quotation found in Rom 10:6, 7 ended with words from Dt 30:13. So here in Rom 10:8 the words of Dt 30:14 are quoted: “The word is close to you; it is on your lips and in your heart.” By means of his very gracious assurances, promises, and admonitions–present in abundance in Dt 10;12, 13; 11:13-15, 22-25; 18:15-18; 26:16-19; 28:1-14–the Lord had, as it were, drawn his people very close to his heart. Let them now answer with the response of love.
The more one takes time to study Deuteronomy, the more also he will agree with Paul’s statement that this is indeed “the word of faith we are proclaiming.” It must be, for the heart and center of this book and of the entire OT, is Christ, exactly as the apostle has affirmed (see Rom 10:4). (William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: Romans, 344)
Salvation and its attendant righteousness are appropriated by confession and by faith. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Romans 9-16, 72)
Are we clear about justification by faith only? Are we free from any tendency to go back to works? Is there some small part of us that is relying upon anything we have ever done or thought or said or experienced? Because if we are basing our acceptance with God even to the slightest extent upon any one of those things, we have slipped back. To use the phrase that Paul uses in Gal 5:4, we have ‘fallen from grace,’ which does not mean that we have actually fallen from grace but that we have fallen from it in our thinking; we have gone back to justification by works. Our experience shows us that we are constantly doing so, and thus we become miserable. (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 66)
A. Near to all ( Rom 10:6-8; Jn 1:14; Gal 3:28-29; Eph 2:11-13; 3:1-6)
Through the incarnation and the resurrection Christ is near us; He is immediately with us. (Anders Nygren, Commentary on Romans, 381)
This is difficult to understand. I am not sure exactly what Paul means here, but there was a tradition among the Pharisees that if any single Pharisee kept all the Jewish laws perfectly for one day, that man’s righteousness would be so pure that it would induce God to send the Messiah. The idea was that if a person was good enough he could have the merit to climb right up to heaven and bring the Messiah down, or if the Messiah had gone into hell, he could bring him back up. But who has that kind of righteousness, that kind of merit? We can’t climb up into heaven and bring the Savior down from heaven. The whole point is that only God can send a Savior from heaven, and only God can bring one back from the dead. Only God can save you and that is where your faith must be. (RC Sproul, The Gospel of God: Romans, 178)
God is not a principle, distant and undefinable, but a person, near and intimate, present in the word of the gospel. He is known not through sentiments and feelings, or by proofs and deductions, or through mystical and ineffable experiences. God imposes upon himself the limits of knowability; he is known only as he makes himself known through the Word incarnate and through the witness to the Word in preaching and proclamation. That is the word of faith we are proclaiming (see Eph 6:17; Heb 4:12; 6:5). (James R. Edwards, New International Biblical Commentary: Romans, 254)
Don’t miss what the apostle has done here. It’s quite clever. He has taken Moses’ words which pertained to the Law, and by making a few substitutions, had the Lawgiver speaking of Christ. With a few changes, such as substituting “Christ” for the “Law;” and “among the dead,” for “across the sea,” Paul has Moses saying, “Put your faith in Christ!” Now that was bound to have a startling effect on his Jewish readers at Rome. They were very familiar with this passage of Dt. Those words now spoke to them with new meaning. Here’s what Paul had Moses saying to them: “You don’t have to find someone to perfect salvation for you. It has already been done for you. You don’t need anyone to come down from heaven with it, Jesus has already done that. Neither do you have to search for Him among the dead, so as to see Him that you might believe in Him. He has already risen from the dead, proving that He is alive and has the power to save. The fact is, everything you need is right here in the gospel. (C. S. Lovett, Lovett’s Lights on Romans, 264-65)
No one has to go up to heaven to bring Christ down as though he had never been incarnated; Christ himself has already come in the flesh (Jn 1:14). The attitude that Paul is attacking is the assumption that one’s righteousness can contribute to God’s saving plan. Self-righteousness goes looking for God, seeking to find him. Righteousness by faith begins by submitting to God, allowing him to find us. (Bruce B. Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: Romans, 198)
The extent of the quest in verses 6 and 7 is reminiscent of the psalmist’s recognition of the universal presence of God: “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there” (Ps 139:7-8). Before people even begin to look for God, he is already present, and no matter how far they go out of their way to find him, he is never farther away than when they first started out. As long as we insist on doing the finding, we will discover that the search never ends. But if we begin by trusting God, we discover he is to be found right where we are. (Bruce B. Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: Romans, 198-99)
Here too the truth to be emphasized is that the really difficult task is not for us to undertake. It has been accomplished for us by Christ. It is he who came down from heaven, dwelt among us as in a tent (Jn 1:14), suffered the agonies of hell for us, died, was buried, rose again, ascended to heaven. The hard work was accomplished by him! Therefore, any attempt on our part to ascend to heaven to bring Christ down would amount to a most ungracious denial of the reality and value of Christ’s incarnation. Similarly, any attempt to descend into the realm of the dead in order to bring Christ up from the dead would be a disavowal of the genuine character and meaning of Christ’s glorious resurrection from the dead and triumph over the grave (See Ps 16:10; Acts 2:27; Rom 4:25; 1 Cor 15:20, 55-57; Rv 1:17, 18). (William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: Romans, 344)
Paul betrays here again his hermeneutical boldness in reading the OT in light of Christ. He seems to be implying that the grace of God offered to Israelin the old covenant is now available to all people through the new covenant (see, for more detail, the Bridging Contexts section). (Douglas J. Moo, The NIV Application Commentary: Romans, 332)
The similarity he sees and stresses between Moses’ teaching and the apostles’ gospel lies in their easy accessibility. He knows that Moses began this part of his speech (although he does not quote it) by telling the Israelites that his teaching was neither ‘too difficult’ for them nor ‘beyond their reach.’ Moses went on, using dramatic imagery, that it was neither up in heaven nor beyond the sea – remote, unrevealed and unknown – so that they would have to find someone to ascend into heaven or cross the sea in order to bring it to them. On the contrary, his teaching was very near them. They knew it already. Far from being above or beyond them, it was actually inside them, in their hearts and in their mouths. (John Stott, Romans, God’s Good News for the World, 284)
The gospel is “near you,” a Hebrew idiom meaning that it is within our grasp. It is right in front of us. The word of faith is simple. I have said to you throughout our study of Romans that to understand the doctrine of justification by faith alone–the very heart and soul of the gospel–is not a difficult thing. (RC Sproul, St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary: Romans, 350)
In his short but valuable book on Romans 9-11, the Danish Professor of NT Johannes Munck argues from rabbinical texts that “the Jews held that it would require an effort to bring the Messiah down from heaven. Israelmust repent before the Messianic era can begin.” (Johannes Munck, Christ and Israel: An Interpretation of Romans 9-11, 87) It is hard to say with certainty that this is exactly what Paul is thinking of, but the idea of doing something certainly fits this context. The Jews wanted to do something to earn their salvation. Yet even before the Messiah came they were not expected to do anything, only to believe God’s word and look forward to him in faith, as Abraham, David, and the other OT believers had done. (James Montgomery Boice, An Expositional Commentary: Romans, Vol. 3, 1177)
Some of the most popular books today are those which say, “We have got to have a new truth for this century. Man in the atomic age, scientific man, has grown up, come of age. We must set out to discover truth, the truth that is adequate for people today.” And the answer is, “Say not in thine heart, Who…” There is no need for you to do anything, it is all here, it is all available. That is what Paul is saying. There is no difficulty. We are not, as Christians, here to exhort one another to seek for the way of salvation and of truth, there is no need for us to search at all. A revelation has been given. It is not a quest, not a voyage of discovery, it is not research–it is here, it is given. (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 80)
The Apostle has already said that: “They being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about…”–you remember how we interpreted that–all this “going about,” this tremendous effort here and there with a number of people researching in different directions. Then you try to get all the data together and collate it to see if you can find some sort of solution. It is all a denial of Christianity; it is all wrong. The very attempt is already a proof that such people have not understood the gospel. (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 81)
Books and manuals have been written about this mystic way, telling you what you have got to do. It will involve, perhaps, a good deal of fasting. It will involve regular prayers at given times, and other acts of self-denial to make you thus die to everything, and die to yourself, until you enter into a completely negative state, and so reach “the stage of contemplation.” If you read the works of the mystics, you will see what is involved in it all.
And that is a complete denial of all that Paul says here. The mystic is someone who ascends into heaven, or tries to, and attempts to go down into the abyss. Mystics make this tremendous effort. (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 85)
No, says Roman Catholicism, the Lord Jesus Christ is very remote. He is the Lord! He is far away in the glory, so that we need somebody to help us to get to Him. Who can we get? Ah!…His mother! Now I am not caricaturing their teaching; that is precisely what it is. They say, “She is a woman, she is tender, she understands us, and she will have influence with Him. Let us ask her to help us.” You see, they put her between Him and us! He is so far away in the heavens that they banish Him, and say that Mary is necessary first.
So in many Roman Catholic churches you see Mary and, somewhere behind her, there He is on the cross! Or look at their pictures. Very often Jesus is represented as a baby; He is either that or someone who is far removed! Mary is always central and prominent. And this is an utter denial of Paul’s teaching. We do not need her. Nor do we need the saints. There is no need to pray to them, or to borrow merit from their works of supererogation. And there is no need for the church, there is no need for a priesthood, there is no need for sacraments! The Roman Church says all these things are essential to salvation. (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 86)
B. Salvation comes by surrender (Rom 10:9; Mt 10:38; 16:24; Mk 8:34; Lk 9:23; 14:27; Gal 3:20)
At the conclusion of his third address to the people, Moses explained, “Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven…Nor is it beyond the sea…No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it” (Dt 30:11-14). In other words, the people knew what they had to do to please God. The message was as near as their mouths and hearts. No one would have to go up to heaven or cross the sea to get it so that they would know what to obey. They knew what God required of them, and they could do it if they chose. But they also knew what God had committed himself to do, which is the point of Dt 30. There God spoke of his intention to “circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love [God] with all your heart and with all your soul, and live” (Dt 30:6). From the beginning, the law had been given with the understanding that it would guide those who submitted to God. Without that submission, the law’s effectiveness was nullified. (Bruce B. Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: Romans, 198)
When I read Thomas a Kempis, however, I realized there can be no conditions to our true surrender. God is Lord of the universe–He is not a used-car salesman. Here are the words that challenged me: “Some there are who resign themselves, but with certain exceptions: for they put not their whole trust in God, therefore, they study how to provide for themselves. Some also at first offer all, but afterward being assailed with temptation, they return again to their own place, and therefore they make no progress in the path of virtue. These shall not attain to the true liberty of a pure heart, nor to the grace of my sweetest familiarity, unless they first make an entire resignation and a daily sacrifice of themselves unto me. For without this, there neither is nor can be a fruitful union with me.” (Thomas A Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, III:37:2) (Gary L. Thomas, Seeking the Face of God, 91-92)
In a helpful analysis of Schuller, authors Dave Hunt and T. A. McMahon write, “One thing is certain…: The Bible never urges self-acceptance, self-love, self-assertion, self-confidence, self-esteem, self-forgiveness, nor any of the other selfisms that are so popular today. The answer to depression is not to accept self, but to turn from self to Christ. A preoccupation with self is the very antithesis of what the Bible teaches. (Hunt and McMahon, The Seduction of Christianity, 195) (James Montgomery Boice, An Expositional Commentary: Romans, Vol. 3, 1216)
The minimum amount a person must believe to be a Christian is everything, and the minimum amount a person must give is all. You cannot hold back even a fraction of a percentage of yourself. Every sin must be abandoned. Every false thought must be repudiated. You must be the Lord’s entirely. (James M. Boice, Christ’s Call to Discipleship, 114)
C. No shame (Rom 10:11; Gen 2:25; Job 10:15; Isa 28:16; Ezek 16:63; Dan 12:2; 5; Hos 10:8; Lk 23:30; Rom 1:16; 8:1; 9:33)
Jesus said of the wicked in that day, “They will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’” (Lk 23:30; cf. Hos 10:8), so great will be their dread of this ultimate exposure. (James Montgomery Boice, An Expositional Commentary: Romans, Vol. 3, 1224)
D. Based on The Name (Rom 10:13; Joel 2:32; Acts 2:21; 1 Cor 1:2)
The formula kyrios Iēsous here would have been equally provocative for his Jewish readers, for the title “Lord” (GK. Kyrios; Heb. Yahweh) occurs as a proper name for God some 5000 times in the OT. Paul could not yet define the nature of Jesus (in the later words of the Nicene Creed) as “being of one substance with the Father,” but the fact that he freely applies the personal name of God in the OT to Jesus implies that Jesus shares the dominion of Israel’s God. What is true of God’s lordship is also true of Jesus’ lordship. To speak of Jesus is therefore to speak of God, and speech about God must begin and end with Jesus, for Jesus is “the word of faith” (v. 8). (James R. Edwards, New International Biblical Commentary: Romans, 254)
The resurrection is proof that Jesus died. And if He died, it is certain that He died for our sins. He had none of His own. Believing in the resurrection amounts to faith in the deity of Christ and His saving work, for the resurrection proved Him to be God’s Son (Rom 1:4). (C. S. Lovett, Lovett’s Lights on Romans, 266)
To call on him is, more precisely, to call on the name of the Lord, that is, to appeal to him to save us in accordance with who he is and what he has done. (John Stott, Romans, God’s Good News for the World, 285)
If we page through the Word of God, we find scores of instances of men calling on the name of the Lord. Three times in the life of Abraham we find him calling on the name of the Lord. It is significant that each time when he calls on the name of the Lord Jehovah, he is standing at an altar of blood sacrifice. This shows us that, from the beginning, calling on the Lord was connected with the blood atonement. (Donald Grey Barnhouse, God’s Covenants, 84)
To call upon the name of the Lord is to believe all that the name of the Lord stands for; to know the Lord in His qualities as Savior God, Lord of all; to approach Him through the altar of the cross; to recognize that there is no strength in ourselves but that all power dwells in Him; and to commit ourselves to Him in faith, desiring that He should act for us as He sees our need. (Donald Grey Barnhouse, God’s Covenants, 85)
“The title ‘Lord’ is a symbol of Christ’s victory over the forces of evil. If Jesus has been exalted over all the principalities and powers of evil, as indeed he has, this is the reason why he has been called Lord. If Jesus has been proclaimed Lord, as he has, it is because these powers are under his feet. He has conquered them on the cross, and therefore our salvation–that is to say, our rescue from sin, Satan, fear and death–is due to that victory. (John R. W. Stott, “The Sovereignty of God the Son” in Our Sovereign God: Addresses Presented to the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology 1974-1976, 18)
The resurrection is God’s proof that the penalty for our transgressions has been fully paid by Jesus. (James Montgomery Boice, An Expositional Commentary: Romans, Vol. 3, 1194)
When we were looking at verse 4, one of the applications of that study was that “Christ is everything.” He is “the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.” It is the same here. For the message that is near us, in our mouths and hearts, is Jesus, and the confession of faith through which we are saved is that “Jesus is Lord” and that God raised him from the dead. Those are not simplistic items, as we will see. They involve a great amount of biblical theology. But they are all about the Savior. That is my point. Christianity is Jesus Christ. So anything that detracts from him or his work is a false religion. (James Montgomery Boice, An Expositional Commentary: Romans, Vol. 3, 1179)
What a welcome teaching this is–“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” If it were not for this teaching, we might think that the doctrine of election necessarily excludes us or that the gospel is for people other than ourselves. But here we are told that it is for you and me, all of us, if we will trust Jesus. It does not make any difference who you are or what you may or may not have done. You may be rich or poor, educated or uneducated, advantaged or disadvantaged. You may be passive or highly motivated. You may be religious or not religious at all. You may be moral, or you may be very immoral. You may have lived in sin a long time. You may have committed adultery or stolen money. You may even have murdered someone. It does not matter. The text says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (James Montgomery Boice, An Expositional Commentary: Romans, Vol. 3, 1231)
CONCLUSION/APPLICATION: Two Questions we must be able to answer to have the assurance of salvation.
A. What is saving faith? (Mt 17:5; 19:16-22; Lk 9:57-62; Rom 10:17; 2 Thes 2:10; Heb 11:1; Jas 2:19)
Scripture never approves, much less commends, contentless faith, a “faith in faith” as it is often described. Paul here specifies two truths that must be believed in order to be saved. The first is that Jesus is Lord, the second that God raised Him from the dead. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Romans 9-16, 73)
1- Knowledge
The Scripture always starts with truth, not experience. (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 100)
Before you can believe in somebody you have to at least have heard of him. Paul is being as elementary as he can possibly be. The message is one of the simplest that the apostle Paul ever wrote, but it goes right over the heads of most people in the church who don’t see any reason why the church should be involved in evangelism. (RC Sproul, The Gospel of God: Romans, 180)
The resurrection was the Father’s final stamp of approval on His Son and the final feature in the provision of salvation for those who trust in Him. The resurrection divinely certifies that Jesus is the Messiah, the only Savior, the sovereign and sinless Lord, the sacrificial Lamb who paid the price for our redemption, the judge of all men, the conqueror of death, the coming King of kings. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Romans 9-16, 76)
Christian faith has content! Here it is: “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…”–that is it, that is the content–“thou shalt be saved.” So this modern idea of bringing Christianity up to date is not only not Christianity at all, it is a complete denial of it. It is a denial of the very essence of the Christian faith as it is defined here by this great Apostle, and as it has been defined in the creeds and confessions of the Christian church throughout the centuries. (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 92)
So the Christian faith is about this Person, who He is, what happened to Him, and the meaning of it all. That is the content. The Christian faith is centered on the Lord Jesus Christ. It would not be called Christian otherwise. He is not incidental to the Christian faith; a helper of it. He is essential to it; there is no Christian faith without Him! Take Him out and you have nothing left. It all depends upon Him and upon Him alone. He is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. “Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 3:11). There is no other. (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 93)
Let us remind ourselves that Paul states the truth about the Lord. He presents Him as the One “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Col1:14). So who is He? He is “the image [the exact likeness] of the invisible God”–that is who Jesus is. You see, Christianity is all about this Person. It is not about that nice feeling you get; it is not about a sense of love, or kindness, or goodness; it is not your objection to the immorality of others and your desire to do good. (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 95)
2- Ascension
But I have a certainty, says Paul: “It is Christ that died”–Ah yes, that is where the work was done, but how can I be sure of it?–“yea rather!” Risen from the dead! And it is there that I have my absolute certainty that the work was complete, that it was utterly finished, that He has paid my debt in full, that there is no condemnation, and never can be. (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 116)
3- Conviction
Anyone can say he or she believes something, but God knows each person’s heart. In this confession, it is not enough to merely utter the words; they must be declared, professed, proclaimed “from the heart,” expressing our full conviction. For salvation you must truly believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. In 1 Cor 15:17 Paul asserts how the Resurrection is totally interrelated with our salvation: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.” Jesus is distinct from all other religious leaders: he is the only “Lord” to have risen from the grave. This makes Christianity more than a philosophy of life or a religious option; it is the only way to be saved. (Bruce B. Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: Romans, 199)
To believe and to confess involve whole-person commitment. Neither are these components described in such a way that a person might accomplish one without accomplishing the other. They are two parts of a single step, just as lifting the foot and then placing it back down are two movements in the one act of taking a step. Likewise, one cannot be saved without being justified, nor justified without being saved. (Bruce B. Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: Romans, 200)
First of all there must be faith in the heart. Without such faith a confession with the lips would be mockery (Mt 7:22, 23). But also, even if there is faith in the heart, confession with the lips is not only required (Ps 107:2) but altogether natural if the faith is genuine (Acts 4:20). Faith and confession should be combined (Lk 12:8; Jn 12:42; 1 Tm 6:12; 1 Jn 4:15). (William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: Romans, 345)
Ryrie says, “The message of faith only and the message of faith plus commitment of life cannot both be the gospel; therefore, one of them is a false gospel and comes under the curse of perverting the gospel or preaching another gospel (Gal 1:6-9). (Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Balancing the Christian Life, 170) But this argument fudges on the definition of faith. If true faith includes commitment, as the greatest theologians of the church have always claimed it does, then to insist on commitment is not to add anything to faith but only to insist that faith be true faith. And that is an important point, because a false faith, an imitation faith, or a dead faith saves no one. (James Montgomery Boice, An Expositional Commentary: Romans, Vol. 3, 1200-01)
Robert Haldane, the Scottish Bible teacher responsible for the Swiss revival of the early 19th century (sometimes called Haldane’s Revival) wrote, “Confession of Christ is as necessary as faith in him, but necessary for a different purpose. Faith is necessary to obtain the gift of righteousness. Confession is necessary to prove that this gift is received. If a man does not confess Christ at the hazard of life, character, property, liberty, and everything dear to him, he has not the faith of Christ. (Robert Haldane, An Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans, 508)
It was because they believed these things that the early Christians refused to listen to the Roman authorities who came to them and said, “You must stop saying that Jesus is Lord; you must say that Caesar is Lord.” But they would not listen. They defied them. Then they were told that if they did not say this, they would be thrown to the lions in the arena. It did not make the slightest difference. Why not? It was their certain, assured confidence in this glorious truth. To them “to die [was] gain (Phil 1:21), because it meant going to be with Jesus. And they could not deny the One who was the Lord of the universe. The Roman emperor was a great man but put him by the side of Christ and he was nothing, a nobody, here today and gone tomorrow. His empire would vanish–and it did, fairly soon. But here was One whose kingdom is without end, who shall reign for ever and ever. He is seated, waiting until His enemies shall be made His footstool (Heb 1:13). (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 121)
B. In who or what is the object of your faith? Who/what tells you what to do? Who is your Lord? (Rom 10:9; 14:9; 1 Cor 12:3; Phil 2:11)
It is always amazing to me, that some people, when bad things happen to them, blame God. And then procede to be angry, rebellious, and antagonistic towards God. I find this amazing. Now if God did cause their problems, and if God has all power and all knowledge and is in all places at one time to oversee their problems, I would think the LAST attitude they would want to cultivate is rebellious. Submission, repentance, humility, apologetic . . . yes! But rebellious! This person who rebels against God and at the same time sees God as the cause behind all their problems is nothing but a mindless fool! 3-27-08 thought by Keith Porter
If you put any conditions on your service to Christ (“I will serve you if”) then you are not really serving Christ at all but it is yourself you are serving. — Tim Keller
If you obey only when you understand or agree with what is being asked, you are not obeying, you are only agreeing or affirming what is being commanded. When you really obey, you do what you are told whether you agree or understand. — Tim Keller
We are to profess the faith, but the profession without authentic faith attending it will justify no one. (RC Sproul, St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary: Romans, 351)
If you have any conditions then Jesus is not your King and you are not in the Kingdom. Because the thing that is the basis of your “if or when” of your salvation is your salvation and King. You cannot say “I’ll follow you if Jesus . . . or “I’ll follow you when Jesus . . .” because the thing that is the if or when is your king and Lord . . . not Jesus. (Keith Porter after listening to Tim Keller)
The world understands a confession of Christ. When anyone has publicly confessed Christ, the world is astonished if the life is not changed. This is one reason why the unregenerate world publicizes the sins of those who have acknowledged Christ. You would never see a newspaper headline shouting, “Bartender defrauds widow!” Nor would you see a headline that would indicate that it was extraordinary if some fraud had been committed by a doctor, lawyer, prize fighter, merchant or a man of some other profession. Let a man who has been set apart for the ministry of Christ be caught in some sin; then it is good for the banner headlines. “Preacher robs couple.” That, from the point of view of the newspaper, is a newsworthy item. When a dog bites a man, it is not news; but if a man bites a dog, it is news. When an ordinary worldling steals, it is not news; but if a minister of Christ steals, it is national news. (Donald Grey Barnhouse, Romans: Volume 4–God’s Covenants, 73)
Access to God, for all people, now comes through Jesus Christ. With this last reference, Paul neatly lays the foundation for the necessity of worldwide evangelism. Joel 2:32 is an OT mandate for missions. To call on the Lord is to ask the Lord to come to you and be real to you. Those who call on Jesus as their Lord want him to be their Lord and Savior. (Bruce B. Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: Romans, 201)
When we confess that Jesus is Lord, we are acknowledging his rank or supreme place. We are pledging our obedience and worship; we are placing our life under his protection for safekeeping. We are pledging ourselves and our resources to his control for direction and service. Lord is intended to represent the highest authority to whom we submit. (Bruce B. Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: Romans, 200)
Nobody is going to call upon somebody for salvation without the belief that that person can save. If I don’t believe that Jesus is a Savior, I am never going to call upon him. So before anyone will ever call upon Christ he has to believe that Jesus is capable of saving. (RC Sproul, The Gospel of God: Romans, 180)
By means of the resurrection from the dead the Lordship of Jesus had been made abundantly clear. See Rom 6:9; 1 Cor 15:20; Eph 1:20-23; Phil 2:9-11; Col3:1-4; Heb 2:9; Rv 1:17, 18. (William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: Romans, 345)
What do you know about Jesus Christ apart from what you read in the Gospels? So how can we sit in judgment upon them and say, “I believe this but not that”? Doing that is no longer to believe that Jesus is Lord! You have made yourself the Lord. (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 104)
James’ point is that men can hold such demon belief, belief that is theologically correct but that does not include reception of Jesus as Lord. People may be well aware of their sin, be under deep conviction about it, and even have a great emotional sense of guilt from which they long to be delivered. But they do not repent and forsake the sin that causes the guilt, nor do they trust in the Savior who can forgive and remove the sin. Speaking about such people, the writer of Hebrews gives one of the most sobering warnings to be found in Scripture: “For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame” (Heb 6:4-6).
In other words, a person can hold orthodox theology, lead a moral life, acknowledge his sin, desire eternal life, be scrupulously religious, and yet go to hell. Jesus encountered such superficial and spurious “believers” early in His ministry. “When He was in Jerusalemat the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, beholding His signs which He was doing. But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men” (Jn 2:23-24). Those disciples apparently acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah (believing “in His name”), and, unlike the Pharisees (see Mt 12:24), they believed that His supernatural powers were from God. But they did not submit themselves to Him as their Lord and Savior. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Romans 9-16, 73-74)
Submitting to Christ’s lordship is such an integral part of salvation that Paul testified, “I make known to you, that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, ‘Jesus is accursed’; and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor 12:3). When the Holy Spirit brings faith and salvation to a heart, that heart proclaims the lordship of Christ. “For to this end Christ died and lived again,” Paul says, “that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living” (Rom 14:9). (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Romans 9-16, 74)
Contrary to much teaching today, Scripture never separates Christ’s lordship from His saviorhood. Lord is from kurios, which signifies sovereign power and authority. In the book of Acts, Jesus is twice referred to as Savior but 92 times as Lord. In the entire NT, He is referred to some 10 times as Savior and some 700 times as Lord. When the two titles are mentioned together, Lord always precedes Savior. And even if, as some erroneously contend, Lord were simply a synonym for God, the very term God by definition includes the idea of sovereign authority, that is, of lordship. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Romans 9-16, 74)
We must further note that our text teaches that God has made Christ to be Lord over all. There will be no help for the man who has underestimated God’s opinion about the Lord Jesus Christ. In the sight of the Father, Christ is everything. God will have no thought for anything or anybody that has not moved toward conformity with the Lord Jesus. “What think ye of Christ?” (Mt 22:42). This is the most important question that any man can ever face. Our answer will determine our eternal state and our eternal position in that state. Christ “is the image of the invisible God,” He tells us, “the first-born of all creation; for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities–all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things and in him all things hold together” (Col1:15-17). Thus the Holy Spirit writes to the believers in the town of Colossae. To the church at Philippi, He revealed all that the Lord Jesus had done in leaving the throne of God in heaven in order to go down to the earth as a man and submit Himself to death, even to death by crucifixion. It was bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:9-11). (Donald Grey Barnhouse, God’s Covenants, 81-82)
The best and best-known denial of the view that miracles are for today is B. B. Warfield’s classic study of the alleged miraculous events in church history titled Counterfeit Miracles. It is a devastating exposure of many bogus claims of miracles from the patristic age to the twentieth century. But although Warfield begins from the perspective that miracles were given by God to authenticate the office of the apostles and ceased with them and their immediate successors (those on whom they laid their hands and passed on their gift), this great Princeton theologian nevertheless believes, as do most Christians, that God answers prayer and sometimes heals and does other humanly inexplicable things in answer to it. “We believe in a wonder-working God; but not in a wonder-working church,” says Warfield. (Benjamin B. Warfield, Counterfeit Miracles, 58) (James Montgomery Boice, An Expositional Commentary: Romans, Vol. 3, 1184)
The technique employed at a general crusade is the altar call. People are asked to respond to the gospel by coming to the front of the church or coliseum, or to raise their hand, pray a prayer, or sign a card. All these techniques are designed to urge people to take a step to finalize their commitment to Christ. Nothing is actually wrong with those things unless we think that walking down an aisle, raising our hand, signing a card, or saying the sinner’s prayer will get us into the kingdomof God. If we think so, we are in trouble. We have to understand that a profession of faith alone will never justify us. The possession of faith, not the profession of it, is the necessary condition for our justification. (RC Sproul, St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary: Romans, 351)
Because men in the past have prayed all night that revival has come, therefore let us have an all-night prayer meeting and revival will come. But that surely is to deny the whole principle which our Lord is teaching. I do not care what it is, whether prayer or anything else, in no respect must I ever argue that because I do something I am entitled to get something – never. And of course the principle can be seen to be true in practice. Think of the many such prayer meetings that have been held. And yet the revival has not come, and I am going to venture to say that I thank God that it has not. What would the position be if we could command these things at will. But we cannot. Let us get rid of this bargaining spirit, that if I do this then that will happen. You cannot have a revival whenever you want it and as a result of doing certain things. The Holy Spirit is Lord, and He is a Sovereign Lord. He sends these things in His own time and in His own way. In other words we must realize that we have no right to anything at all. (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure, 129)
Idolatry is worshiping anything that ought to be used, or using anything that ought to be worshiped. — Augustine.
Today’s idols are more in the self than on the shelf.
Goudzwaard’s three basic Biblical rules:
1. Every person is serving god(s) in his life.
2. Every person is transformed into an image of his god.
3. Mankind creates and forms a structure of society in its own image.
That for which I would give anything and accept nothing in exchange is the most important thing in my life. Whatever that is is my god (cf. Isa. 44:6-20). — J. McMath.
Worship point: Do you really know Jesus? Have you ascended to the knowledge that you possess of Jesus? In other words, do you believe what you know to be true? Are you resting in that knowledge? Think about what Jesus has done for you. Realize why Jesus did what He did for you. Then worship.
Spiritual Challenge: Bask in the reality that Jesus loves you so very much and that He desires for you to be a co-heir with Him of all that God has for Jesus. Those in Christ no longer face any condemnation. We possess by faith the righteousness of God Himself as Christ has given it to us by faith: Saving faith. The fruit of the Spirit is now ours. Grasp it by faith. Saving faith in Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith.
His reply was in the form of a great contradiction: “not so Lord.” If He is Lord one cannot say, “Not so,” and if one says, “Not so,” He cannot be Lord. (Charles Caldwell Ryrie, The Acts of the Apostles, 62)
Quotes to Note:
The verb “call on” (epikaleo) is apparently the trigger that leads Paul to yet another OT text that underscores the universality of God’s offer in the gospel (Joel 2:32): “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.” The “LORD” in Joel is Yahweh, the covenant name of God. But Paul identifies this “Lord” with Jesus (see Rom 10:9, 12), the “stone” of Is 28:16 (Rom 10:11). Verse 13, then, is important evidence that the early Christians identified Jesus with God. (Douglas J. Moo, The NIV Application Commentary: Romans, 333)
How easy to say, “I am going to follow Jesus!” Follow Jesus? If you stop and think what He did, who He was and what He was like, then you will not move a fraction of a centimeter in an attempt to follow Him. You cannot follow Him, and it is only blindness that makes men and women talk about doing so. No, He is the Savior, not the example. (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 84)
We must continue to read, study, and meditate on the OT. Christ may have fulfilled the OT and brought the law to its intended goal (Rom 10:4). But Paul is clear about its enduring value for believers. The Law and the Prophets bear witness to the revelation of God’s righteousness in Christ. If we do not understand them, we will be unable to understand the gospel. For the gospel is presented in terms that can be understood only through thorough acquaintance with the OT. (Douglas J. Moo, The NIV Application Commentary: Romans, 337)
God cannot pretend that there is no such thing as sin. Sin is the opposite of God and it must be destroyed; there must be an “everlasting destruction;” there must be a judgment. God made a perfect universe, and, I say it with reverence, God will not be satisfied until it is restored to perfection. And all this is implicit in this doctrine of the resurrection. The resurrection makes a proclamation, gives assurance, concerning the judgment of the world by the Son of God “at that day.” (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 123)
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” — Romans 10:13
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