Hence the apostle does not, as in the early chapters of this epistle, take up our sins, except as proofs and symptoms of sin. Being Pure, blazing, glorious Godhead, "Light of lights, very God of very God," on a sudden they found him in a stable hanging on a woman's breast. If slurred over, as it too often is in souls, it invariably leaves practical obedience lame, and halt, and blind. As used by Moses in this place, it evidently means that his doctrines were in their mind, or were a subject of meditation and reflection. There seems to be more than a tinge of implied rebuke against the self-righteousness of the Jews who have rejected Christ Jesus and the gospel. His soul scarce descended among the shades before it quitted them for ever; that day he died he was in Paradise, and the thief was with him there as a trophy. Its remarkable that Paul found something good to say about these Jewish people who persecuted him so mercilessly. Confessing the Lord Jesus--openly professing relation to him and dependence on him, as our prince and Saviour, owning Christianity in the face of all the allurements and affrightments of this world, standing by him in all weathers. This brings in the contrast with the other Head, the Lord Jesus Christ, whom we have here not as One bearing our sins in His own body on the tree, but as the spring and chief of a new family. You see how simple God has made it? But that wasnt their only problem. It is not here a question of how a man is to be saved, but of God's indispensable moral judgment, which the gospel, instead of weakening asserts according to the holiness and truth of God. we know how this was in Israel, how it might be, and has been, in Christendom. Is he one of those that we elected? That is, the Jews did not need to wonder about or ask how God would treat those who obeyed and disobeyed. then, go out to Gentiles? There is a preaching which blasts the sinner with tempestuously angry words; but always Paul speaks the truth in love. 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, Believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation, calls upon the name of the LORD shall be saved. Beneath it there runs the conviction that there are certain kinds of ignorance which are inexcusable. () in Romans 10:8, as afterwards . There. For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. "Their voice is gone out to all the earth, and their words to the boundaries of the inhabited world." The Rock of Ages never fails. The past history of Israel was sketched inRomans 9:1-33; Romans 9:1-33; the present more immediately is before us inRomans 10:1-21; Romans 10:1-21. It is important to note, however, that Paul does not quote Moses. There is no hope for man otherwise; for the gospel is not all that is now made known. They ought to have known better: they had every chance to know better; but they rejected the appeal of God. (a.) [1.] Man goes back to the righteousness of works. People cannot come to Jesus without the right information about the gospel, but information alone is not enough to save anyone. It may well be that what we have here is the notes of some address which Paul was in the habit of making to the Jews to convince them of their error. He never said a word more than he felt; yet that was the style of man. The word of Christ is what brought us out of the world and that to which we were converted. In the most solemn way he appeals to man with the demand, whether he thinks that God will look complacently on that which barely judges another, but which allows the practice of evil in the man himself (Romans 2:1-3). It is exquisite the delicate love with which he singles out distinctive features in each of the saints, men and women, that come before him. But oh, thank God we have a message to tell to the nations. Thus it is a mistake to suppose that saints may not be benefited by a better understanding of the gospel, at least as Paul preached it. He shall come, says one Testament, out of Zion. As positively as the law utters its promise and threat, so positively and unalterably doth the gospel deliver its decree. The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach: The 5th verse is a quotation from Leviticus 18:5. He is, of course, the same absolutely perfect and unchangeable God of goodness; but His perfection has displayed itself in new and more glorious ways in Christ's death, in Him who humbled Himself, and was obedient even to the death of the cross. And what was all this about? I have had almost thirty years among you, and God has been very gracious to us, so that we have lost very few comparatively by death; but now many are going home, and, according to the course of nature, many of our honored brethren and sisters will soon follow. No, confess yourself a sinner; trust in the sinner's Savior, and you are saved. It was not only his heart's desire, but it was his prayer. Then there is another and crowning part of the blessing: "And not only so, but also boasting in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the reconciliation." Here, then, it is not a question at all of pardon or remission. The idea of salvation by works sits like an awful incubus upon the breast of humanity, and presses out of the soul all hope, thus robbing man of strength to attempt true holiness. Paul's Discourse of Righteousness; The Method of Salvation. We have God and man in presence, so to speak. It is not an esoteric message hidden in some secret place or located at some far corner of the universe. The contrast of Christ with Adam takes in man universally as well as the Christian; and man in sin, alas! This, they say, would at least make men moral and keep them sober: whereas even in this they err against the light; for it has been proved by history that such preaching makes men worse and worse. 17 So then [ therefore] The words "so then" indicate the consequence of those who believe the message. Because for He has revealed Himself to us. Thus the introduction opened with Christ's person, and closes with God's righteousness. Duty as to the Lord's return-watchfulness, 13:11-14. . Confess with your mouth: Confession has the idea of agreeing with. No fresh revelations from God can nullify those which preceded them; but as the prophets looked onward to what was coming, so is the gospel already come, supported by the past. There is entrance into favour, and nothing but favour. 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? He is not studying an historical personage, however great; he is living with a real presence. Second, he cites Joel 2:32: "All who call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered." This Good News is readily available to anyone who will receive it freely from God through Christ. While there were people who could read, the ordinary first-century citizen depended rather on being able to hear something. (Morris). The answer is, that this will not do one whit better; for when we come down to the next generation, it is apparent that the two sons of Isaac were sons of the same mother; nay, they were twins. IV. They beat up on him the other day. I mean to let it stand out simply before you, that the incarnation, the life, the death, and the resurrection of Christ are the one foundation upon which we must depend for eternal salvation, and upon that alone; and if we do so depend we shall most assuredly be saved. "Oh, God surely loves all mankind, and God loves the Buddhist and God loves the Mohammed, and God loves everybody." He refused. i. Jesus wept over Jerusalem. His sons and daughters will tell you that his death was sad to them, but not to him. Now listen. "Sing" said he. Let the cross pass. Antiochus ordered him to eat pork. Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. This is as certain and clear as the utterance of that dreadful roll of thunder which has just now left on your minds the thought, "He that doeth these things shall live by them.". Your name is not on the list." That is quite true, because Isaiah says: "Lord, who has believed what they heard from us?" But it is quite possible for the unconverted to be tenacious of the truth, yet unrighteous in their ways; and so much the worse for them. Apparently the meaning is: "What if the message was so difficult to grasp that even when Israel did hear it they were unable to grasp its significance?" The apostle refers to Isaiah to show that God would "lay in Zion a stumbling-stone." 1. As long as we are nothing Christ is our all in all; we may be sure of that, and that is just the gospel in a nutshell. 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. Thus, how can your father have the forgiveness of sins which is essential for fellowship with God?" The Jews built on a false foundation, and refused to come to Christ for free salvation by faith, and numbers in every age do the same in various ways. One day I was in my office studying Romans, and I was just so upset I put my Bible down and I said, "God, I can't reconcile it," and I walked out of the room. Their zeal was not according to knowledge. It is a great piece of condescension for a proud heart to be content to be beholden to free grace; we are loth to sue sub forma pauperis--as paupers. "What shall we then say that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? Do not believe in yourself, but believe in Jesus. First Moses says: I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish but can know the eternal life of God and the glory of God's eternal kingdom and can share as children of God, heirs of God, joint-heirs with Jesus Christ, kings and priests in that glorious age that is coming. Believe that he can save you; believe that he will save you; at any rate leave the whole matter of your salvation with him in unquestioning confidence. There is such a thing as a blind misguided zeal: such was that of the Jews, who, when they hated Christ's people and ministers, and cast them out, said, Let the Lord be glorified (Isaiah 66:5); nay, they killed them, and thought they did God good service, John 16:2. Man is only so much the worse for knowing the truth, if he holds it ever so fast with unrighteousness. The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them: You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page. In this too we have the blessed connection of the Spirit (here peculiarly designated, for special reasons, "the Spirit of holiness"). The story of Jesus Christ passed through all of the Jewish communities around the world. He shall come to Zion, says the other. They did not know it, because they would not; they shut their eyes against the discoveries of it, and love darkness rather. Since the word of God is in our mouth, "confession" (homologeo) of Christ is almost automatic. "Doubts," he said, "what do you mean? I had no difficulty in answering that question. is the double prophecy. Also, Gods word works in the Christian (1 Thessalonians 2:13). "Are you a Protestant?" Romans 10:17, ESV: So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. In Romans 10:1-21 Paul made this same point. But what saith it? Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God.We are told in Jude that one of the ways by which we keep ourselves in that place of blessing, the blessings of God's love, is building up ourselves in the most holy faith. to deal with the whole posterity of Adam as involved in death because of one, their common father, who could deny the consistency of one man's saving? To prove this point Paul quotes two passages. As Cottrell says, "The word of faith is another shorthand expression for the entire way of grace" (Vol. So Paul's first answer is: "You cannot say there was no messenger; Isaiah describes these very messengers; and Isaiah lived long ago.". It is in our mouth--we are reading it daily; it is in our heart--we are, or should be, thinking of it daily. (that is, to bring Christ down from above:): In Moses sermon these words mean the law that he commanded Israel to obey was not some far off impossibility requiring heroic superhuman efforts to discover and obey. The sacrifices, and offerings, and purifications appointed under the Old Testament, prefigured Christ, and pointed at him; and their inability to take away sin discovered the necessity of a sacrifice that should, by being once offered, take away sin. Nothing shows better the Jewish attitude than the three classes into which they divided mankind. So the gospel does not propose a second way, and suggest "a larger hope," but it declares with solemn decision, "He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." "Paul, a bondman of Jesus Christ" an apostle "called," not born, still less as educated or appointed of man, but an apostle "called," as he says "separated unto the gospel of God, which he had promised afore by his prophets." For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved ( Romans 10:12-13 ). For "every one who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.". The facts were so well known by the preaching of the apostles, that they might be said to be in every mans mouth. - BN. Why would they not allow such a pretension? The problem is that none is able to keep the law perfectly. He says rema is "the word of faith" that is proclaimed by the followers of Jesus. Zeal for God, but not according to knowledge: This is a perfect description of Paul himself before his conversion. He know what he did know, and to that he held fast, Well, they must take him into the church; they could not well refuse a man with such a confession of faith; and when he was in the church, walking with the brethren, he was happier than the rest of them, at which they greatly marvelled, and one said to him, "Brother Jack, don't you sometimes feel doubts and fears? 2. The word is close to you, it is even in your mouth, and in your heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth that Jesus is Lord, and will believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved ( Romans 10:8-9 ). There is evil at work, and grace does not close the eye to danger; at the same time it is never under the pressure of the enemy, and there is the fullest confidence that the God of peace will break the power of Satan under the feet of the saints shortly. It is not merely a call then; but as we have by our Lord Jesus Christ our access into the favour wherein we stand, so there is positive boasting in the hope of the glory of God. We should take notice of that which is commendable even in bad people. . This is the essential point. A man may be well aware that some habit, some indulgence, some way of life, some friendship, some association must have disastrous results; but he may simply refuse to look at the facts. This would not have been just. In Romans 7:1-25 we have the subject of the law discussed for practice as well as in principle, and there again meet with the same weapon of tried and unfailing temper. (16-17) The testimony of Isaiah 53:10. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. May you begin to experience greater victory in your walk with Jesus Christ as you yield yourself to that touch of God and as He molds and shapes you into that person He wants you to be, and as He conforms you into the image of Jesus Christ. If you were to be saved by the law you should have begun without sin, continued without sin, and then it would be needful to end without sin. First, What is promised to us: Thou shalt be saved. Directions for our behaviour, as members of civil society, Rom. . (14-15) The necessity of the preaching of the gospel. The believing and the confession of that believing in God's own way are never to be separated, for "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." It is Paul's one desire that the Jews may be saved. As He has given us through the blood of Jesus full remission, as we shall be saved by this life, as He has made us know even now nothing short of present conscious deliverance from every whit of evil that belongs to our very nature, as we have the Spirit the earnest of the glory to which we are destined, as we are the vessels of gracious sorrow in the midst of that from which we are not yet delivered but shall be, so now we have the certainty that, whatever betide, God is for us, and that nothing shall separate us from His love which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. For `` every one who calls on the name of the universe, it... And closes with God? Christ passed through all of pardon or remission always! Leaves practical obedience lame, and you are saved. `` while were! Able to hear something death was sad to them, but not according to:. That Abraham our father, as pertaining to the nations problem is that none able... 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