☀ † What Romans 10:9,10... DOESNT Say! Romans 10:9,10 9. 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, thou shalt be saved. 10. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. The above passage, isolated from its context, appears to give us simple instructions of salvation for our lost soul. We confess that Jesus is Lord; we believe God raised Him from the dead; and we are saved. We then erroneously defined saved here as I go to Heaven when I die for eternity. Who is Paul talking about in Rom.10? Read verse 1 to see... Rom. 10:1 Brethren, my hearts desire and prayer to God for *Israel* [The nation of Israel] is, that they might be saved. (emphasis added for clarity) The problem here, is, these two verses were not meant to be for eternal salvation of the soul of lost Gentiles. Rather, they are part of an epistle titled The Book of Romans. By all the laws of biblical interpretation, we must interpret a passage in terms of the *entire context*. Text without context is often pretext. (Pretext defined: a reason given in justification of a course of action that is not the real reason) Given Paul’s comments in Chapter Nine through Eleven, one could NEVER be satisfied with interpreting Romans 10:9,10 to mean all there in Rome, to receiving Gods gift of eternal life for an unbelieving *Gentile (*person who is not Jewish - from another nation) is to confess that *Jesus is Lord* and *believe God raised Him from the dead*. To be intellectually honest and practice correct biblical exegesis a bible student MUST consider the preceding and following chapters if he is to get the true meaning of these two verses in overall context. Lets us look at what Romans 10:9-10 doesnt say: 1.) By two or three witnesses let every word be established ~~2 Corinthians 13:1 ...In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. 2.) Precept must be upon precept, line upon line; Isaiah 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: This is how we are able to prove or disprove even the craftiest of teachings; those that are strung together with two or three scriptures which, when together and out of context, appear to be sound doctrine. If you have two or three witnesses saying one thing and someone else has two or three witnesses that seem to say another, then you begin to build upon the precepts of the Bible, or in other words, you see how the teachings stack up in reference to the rest of the Bible. There is a Biblical principle used in both the Old and New Testaments to discern between falsehood and truth. In matters of Biblical translation, the Bible is its own witness, **testifying at least two or three times** (often much more) of standards and principles that can truly be called Biblical. The Bible supports itself in sound doctrine, and therefore **interprets itself.** 3.) What Romans 10:9-10 doesnt say... There are certain criteria for salvation that are, without controversy, absolute. They are scriptural, cannot be argued, and for the most part, are accepted by almost every Christian denomination. The ironic thing, however, is that Romans 10:9-10 does not fit these widely accepted criteria! Romans 10:8-10: But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 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, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 4.) First what are key elements of the gospel? The gospel is simply the good news found in the Gospel of Christ, that **Jesus died for our sins, was buried and rose from the dead** (Please see salvations: Rom. 1:16, followed by 1 Cor. 15:1-4, Rom. 4:25, 1 Thess. 4:14). Belief in Jesus provides full and free deliverance from the *penalty of sin*[death - Rom.6:23] and the power of sin according to the grace of God alone through faith in Jesus Christ and what He did to save us, alone. This is the core of what we want to communicate when we share the *gospel of our salvation* with non-believers. It is critical and necessary whenever salvation is offer that the 4 elements of the gospel of Christ is present: 1. Belief/Faith 2. Jesus shed blood, his death for our sins. 3. Jesus was buried. 4. Jesus rose from the dead to provide eternal life to all who believe. (Please see Rom. 1:16; 1 Cor.15:1-4; Rom. 4:25; 1 Thess. 4:14; Ephesians 1:13) These requirements” for eternal salvation of the soul, in Jesus instruction directly to St. Paul, are NOT present in Rom. 10:9,10. No contribution from man is required, NOR ACCEPTED, be it confession, profession, prayer, invitation, promise to turn from sin, water baptism or anything else except Faith/Belief alone in Christ. The sole condition for entering into the Body of Christ is faith alone that Jesus Christ shed his blood, dying a substitutionary death on the cross for our sins and rose bodily from the tomb for our justification. (1 Cor. 15: 1-4; Rom 4:25; 1 Thess. 4:14)) And of course faith/believe is the conviction that something is true that we rely-on or trust-in and not mere intellectual understanding. The bible teaches no act of obedience, preceding or following *faith* in the Lord Jesus Christ, such as commitment to obey, sorrow for sin, *confession, prayer, turning from ones sin, baptism or submission to the Lordship of Christ, may be added to, or considered *part of FAITH,* as a condition *for receiving everlasting life* (Salvation.) (Rom 4:5; Gal 2:16; Titus 3:5). This saving transaction between God and the sinner is simply the *giving and receiving of a free gift*. (Eph. 2:8-9; Rom 6:23). God is speaking of the Nation of Israel in Romans Chapters 9, 10 & 11 to all who are in Rome. Rom. 1:7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. The key to these passages is to understand the difference between Israel nationally, and the Israelite individually. Paul in Romans chapters 9-11 is talking about the national condition of Israel, not each individuals standing. Hence, in verse one Pauls desire is that the *nation of Israel* would have salvation. Salvation from what? Salvation from the judgment God is placing upon her for rejecting His Son, their Messiah. Did you even realize in In Romans 10:6-8, Paul quotes Deuteronomy 30:11-14. Why? To demonstrate that God gave to the *nation of Israel* a message to believe. It was a message that was knowable to her *as a nation.* “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach” (Romans 10:8). Whos mouth? – Israel’s (national) mouth. The purpose of Rom. 10, verses 9-11 is not to teach salvation from hell for Gentile’s or Jew’s *individual salvation*, but rather to show Israel what she could have and should have done to avoid her stumbling and subsequent fall. By simply exercising faith in Christ as Messiah, instead of going about to establish her own righteousness, as Romans 10:3 states. This is why Paul will quote Isaiah 28:6 in Romans 10:11. To understand Rom. 10, verses 9 and 13 we must understand them in the context of Chapters 9-11. Hence, chapter 10 amplifies on the stumbling of Romans 9:32-33, pay close attention to the words in: Romans 9:33: As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Paul is saying, See! I put in Jerusalem a Stone that my people will trip over. It is a Rock that will make Israel fall. But whosoever who puts their trust in the Rock (Christ) will not be put to shame. Whosoever believeth – the Messiah and His claims. This is a quote out of Isaiah 28:16. Israel as a nation had the opportunity to respond in faith to the claims and message of Christ as Israels Messiah, and thus avoid the **nationally judgment** befalling her. She could have in faith embraced Jesus as her Messiah, and thus received salvation from her future *national judgment* [Tribulation]. Paul in Romans 10:1-13 explains why Israel stumbled over Christ and continues *as a nation* to do so – she (as a nation) had no faith. Romans chapter 10, has nothing to do with the individual Jew or Gentile – but everything to do with *Israel as a nation!*
Posted on: Wed, 09 Apr 2014 20:47:32 +0000