Do you mean to tell me that because my father does not believe that Jesus is the Messiah that he is lost?" But besides this he adds "to faith." First of all the apostle points out that death has come in, and that this was no consequence of law, but before it. 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.". Suppose your faith cannot work miracles; never mind about miracles. The whole Jewish approach was that by this kind of obedience to the law a man earned credit with God. All day long I have stretched out My hands Click to enable/disable essential site cookies. Paul's joy and boast were in the gospel of God. Nevertheless the apostle does not expressly mention heaven here. Consequently the call of God, and not the birth simply makes the real difference. Moses saith, "I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people," etc. The soul of prayer is the heart's desire. Our Lord gives the law all it requires, not a part, for that would be an admission that it might justly have been content with less at first. (Spurgeon). Paul's answer is: "Israel's disbelief was only to be expected, for, long ago, Isaiah was moved to say in despair: 'Lord, who has believed what we have heard?'" Cold desires do but beg denials; we must even breathe out our souls in every prayer. Brethren, my hearts desire and prayer to God for Israel, I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, i. John MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Book of Romans 2 Volume Set. For if the law could give a man a righteous standing before God, then it was not necessary for Christ to die. There is no limitation there; the promise is to everyone; therefore, there is no difference between Jew and Greek. How Daniels Prophecy of 70 Weeks Connects to the End Times, 4 Ways the Parable of the Sower Encourages Spiritual Growth. "Whosoever believeth in him hath everlasting life." Although circumcision began with Abraham, manifestly it had nothing to do with his righteousness, and at best was but the seal of the righteousness of faith which he had in an uncircumcised state. 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. Undoubtedly divine judgment fell on Him; but this is not "the righteousness of God," as the apostle employs it in any part of his writings any more than here, though we know there could be no such thing as God's righteousness justifying the believer, if Christ had not borne the judgment of God. 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. Let us go a little further. It is no longer in our power to dream of a perfect, life-long obedience. You must believe in your heart; and even that belief is not enough without accompanying action: confess with your mouth. So Paul's first answer is: "You cannot say there was no messenger; Isaiah describes these very messengers; and Isaiah lived long ago.". Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. The gospel or the system of grace or "the righteousness which is of faith" is not difficult to find or to accede to. And there (for such was the point) it was the complete condemnation of this evil thing, the nature in its present state, so as, nevertheless, to set the believer as before God's judgment free from itself as well as its consequences. How shall they hear without a preacher? No, he directed the comfort to his dear wife, for she had greater need of it than he had his faith was firm. And what led to the call of Abraham, of whom we hear much in the epistle to the Romans as elsewhere, was the departure of man into idolatry. 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 That act denoted not even the washing away of our sins by the blood of Jesus, which would not apply to the case, nor in any adequate way meet the question of nature. Nevertheless Gods normal way of bringing people to Jesus Christ is through the preaching of the gospel. Do not leave that out. . The unbelieving Jews were the most bitter enemies Paul had in the world, and yet Paul gives them as good a character as the truth would bear. There are several texts from which it may be gathered that believers shall not be put to shame. (Spurgeon). why am I still under bondage and misery from the constant evil of my nature, over which I seem to have no power whatever? The direction is "unto all;" the application is, of course, only to "them that believe;" but it is to all them that believe. This existential pain is deepened and furthered by the divisions between Paul and his own people as he simultaneously argues his claims for inclusion of the Gentiles within God's salvific plan. All then that believe, though uncircumcised, might claim him as father, assured that righteousness will be reckoned to them too. They beat up on him the other day. 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. This is the first ground. Still, it is "man" not yet exactly the Jew, but man who had profited, it might be, by whatever the Jew had; at the least, by the workings of natural conscience. I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I want a righteousness which would need as much labor to produce as a climb to heaven would need; and I require an expiation for sin as great as though a man were plunged into the abyss itself, and there were made to suffer the divine anger. I do say this for them--that they do have a zeal for God, but it is not a zeal which is based on a real knowledge. It is not as if we have to ascend into heaven or descend into the abyss to gain Jesus. I want to call your special attention to the fact that Paul borrows the words of Moses; for his intent was the ending of all fears. Paul was well aware of that; at this very time he was planning the evangelization of Spain, a province where the name of Christ was not yet known (c.f. The Jews were the last in the world to take such ground as this. Also, Gods word works in the Christian (1 Thessalonians 2:13). "But there is no place for boasting neither now or eternally when we get to heaven and when before the throne I stand in Him complete. There is a disposition continually to imagine that what is frequently spoken of must be understood; but experience will soon show that this is not the case. If you were to descend there, what would you do without him whom God has anointed to save? 2 Corinthians 2:14-16, 3:4-5, 5:18-21, Exodus 19:6 Hebrews 4:14-16, Psalm 32:8 Romans 5:10-11, James 2:14-17 Proverbs 4:1-9, John 14:26 Romans 10: . 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). Far from denying or obscuring what they boasted of, he goes beyond them "Who are Israelites," says he, "to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all God blessed for ever." God sought by His work among the Gentiles the pouring out of His grace and love and blessings, to provoke the jealousy of the Jew, so that the Jew will seek after God through Jesus Christ. (i) There is the ignorance which comes from neglect of knowledge. Christ is nigh thee, for the word is nigh thee: nigh thee indeed: it is in thy mouth, and in thy heart; there is no difficulty in understanding, believing, and owning it. The Scripture; so some copies, and the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic version read, "what saith the Scripture?" Paul was entirely ready to admit that the Jews were zealous for God; but he also saw that their zeal was a misdirected thing. The gospel means His glad tidings for man. A voice cries "Who shall ascend into heaven?" May faith be increased as you study His Word. For this he quotes that scripture (Leviticus 18:5), You shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them. This is precisely what salvation does not mean; and I would strongly press it on all that hear me, more particularly on those that have to do with the work of the Lord, and of course ardently desire to labour intelligently; and this not alone for the conversion, but for the establishment and deliverance of souls. Throw thyself upon him now; even as a babe casts itself upon its mother's breast. Here, again, the apostle takes up what he had but announced in chapter 1 the righteousness of God. What could be conceived closer or more even than this? 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 Gods righteousness by works. The offering up of this desire to God. The Bible describes confessing Christ in two ways. The language of faith says, Do nothing. Justification is not from works of law. His witness to our spirit is this, that we are children of God. Sin was in the world between Adam and Moses, when the law was not. (ver. For the Jew stumbling at Jesus Christ going about by works trying to establish a righteousness before God.Paul declares they just haven't made it and can't make it for they have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God and Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. "For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. Was he not himself, says Paul, a proof to the contrary? And the blessedness of the gospel is, that it is (not merely an exercise of mercy, but also) divinely just. Thus the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against (not only the open ungodliness of men, but) the orthodox unrighteousness of those that hold the truth in unrighteousness. I will read his exact words to you. And we hear it on all sides. All through this section Paul has been driving home the personal responsibility of the Jews. The believer is not put under law, you will observe, but under grace, which is the precise reverse of law. The righteousness of God is revealed from faith; and consequently, if there be faith in any soul, to this it is revealed, to faith wherever it may be. It will be observed therefore, that in this connection the apostle shows the place both of conscience and of the law, that God in judging will take into full consideration the circumstances and condition of every soul of man. It is "the power of God unto salvation." We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You won't get glad tidings of good things. b. 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? 14, 15). First Moses says: I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, It can mean many things such as: 1. The chapter closes with the day of the Lord in its practical force on the Christian walk. From the Septuagint, Deuteronomy 30:14. Neither was there a need to ask about Gods will. Romans 10:5-9 . i. It is through the Word of God that we come to know God. There is nothing that proves this so convincingly as the book of Genesis; and the apostle, by the Spirit of God, calmly but triumphantly summons the Jewish Scriptures to demonstrate that which the Jews were so strenuously denying. "The just shall live by faith" (not by law). Through His Word. How blessed it is when a child of God has actually fallen into sin, God keep us so that we never may, but if guilt is on the soul, what is a poor creature to do? But there is much more in Christ than that to which too many souls restrict themselves, not less to their own loss than to His dishonour. higher, if so high, in this epistle. It is against the "unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness." When people say we need something other than Gods word, they deny what Paul wrote (compare 2 Timothy 3:16-17). We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website. Isaiah says: "I was found of them who sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me." Moreover, He gave up the knowledge of God that had been handed down from father to son (ver. 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. It is not the mercy of God., Many have contended that so it is, and to their own great loss, as well as to the weakening of the word of God. The way of justification and salvation has in it no such depths or knots as may discourage us, no insuperable difficulties attending it but, as was foretold, it is a high-way, Isaiah 35:8. The "word of faith" means the message that righteousness comes by faith. Your name is not on the list." This accordingly leads, as connected with the deliverance of the body, to the inheritance we are to possess. The consequences spiritually are blessed to the soul; how much more is it to Teach the source from which all flows! God has condemned the flesh. He has Gods law; all that remains is for him to obey it. It is a dilemma of human experience. 16). What did they say to Ishmaelites as joint-heirs? Man seeks to complicate it. 1. (b.) But "justification of life" goes farther, though involved in the latter, than the end of Romans 4:1-25; for now we learn that in the gospel there is not only a dealing with the guilt of those that are addressed in it; there is also a mighty work of God in the presenting the man in a new place before God, and in fact, too, for his faith, clearing him from all the consequences in which he finds himself as a man in the flesh here below. Thereby is identification with His death. As your next door neighbor's house is not hard to get at, so neither is salvation by the gospel. No, we will find out next week as we move into Romans 11:0 that God still has a plan whereby He is going to bring salvation to the Jew. It was laid down that he must lift no burden which weighed more than two dried figs. and in your heart -- --when you believe on Him. But by now the gospel had been carried to most parts of the Mediterranean area where Jews were to be found; and that is all the argument requires. (Bruce), b. Man goes back to the righteousness of works. a. 1. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. To man this is the hardest of all obedience; but when once secured, it leads peacefully into the obedience of every day. b. Not so, says the apostle. That is quite true, because Isaiah says: "Lord, who has believed what they heard from us?" Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary 10:12-17 There is not one God to the Jews, more kind, and another to the Gentiles, who is less kind; the Lord is a Father to all men. We have God and man in presence, so to speak. You cannot hear about him unless there is someone to proclaim the good news. Never lose the balance. already. He believed God and His word, with special approval on God's part; and his faith was counted as righteousness (ver. Observe again, it is not victory here; for that would give place to human pride. Christianity is belief plus confession; it involves witness before men. The last verses of the chapter, however, bring in the deliverance not yet the fulness of it, but the hinge, so to speak. So Paul concludes his argument by citing two Old Testament texts to prove his case. It is part of the honour of Christ that every tongue shall confess, Philippians 2:11. (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) Hence it is wholly apart from the law, whilst witnessed to by the law and prophets; for the law with its types had looked onward to this new kind of righteousness; and the prophets had borne their testimony that it was at hand, but not then come. It is no longer blood, but death Christ's death and resurrection. 1. The word is near you -- --easily accessible. ): Paul says it is not necessary for men to descend into the realms of death and Satan to attain salvation. But it is a word one must believe with all his hearta word he must believe enough to give up all hopes of self-righteousness and submit his whole being to it in faithful, obedience. We may request cookies to be set on your device. If a man confessed faith in Jesus, as the Lord and Saviour of lost sinners, and really believed in his heart that God had raised him from the dead, thus showing that he had accepted the atonement, he should be saved by the righteousness of Christ, imputed to him through faith. Well, I can't either, but God didn't call me to reconcile it, He just called me to believe it.I tried to reconcile it for years until I was in such mental gymnastics I was worn out. By the preaching of the Gospel the doctrine of salvation is nigh thee, and the saving influence is at hand: it is in thy mouth, easy to be understood, easy to be professed: and in thy heart, if thou art upright before God, sincerely desiring to be saved on his own terms, not striving to establish thy own method of justification by the law, which must for ever be ineffectual, but submitting to the method of justification which God has devised. Christianity is not a system of promise, but rather of promise accomplished in Christ. 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. First Moses said, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation and I will anger you ( Romans 10:19 ). , , The word, that is, the word of faith is nigh thee. The Holy Ghost, who now gives the soul its consciousness of deliverance from its place in Christ, is also the witness that the body too, the mortal body, shall be delivered in its time. Amen, so let it be. Hereupon he enters upon the direct proofs, and first cites Hosea as a witness. This verse shows that believing faith does not come ultimately from the believer's witness but from the Word of God. Includes cross references, questions, verse by verse commentary, outline, and applications on Romans 10. He shall not be ashamed of his hope in Christ; he shall not be disappointed of his end. Bible > Commentaries > Romans 10:9 . Yes, whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Upon our believing, that is, our humble consent to the terms of the gospel, we become interested in Christ's satisfaction, and so are justified through the redemption that is in Jesus. No, if by keeping the law, then that encourages boasting, but it is eliminated because I am saved just through simple faith in Jesus Christ. The rest of the chapter (7-25) is an instructive episode, in which the impotence and the misery of the renewed mind which attempts practice under law are fully argued out, till deliverance (not pardon) is found in Christ. Hence the very fact of being renewed makes one sensible of a far more intense misery than ever, while there is no power until the soul looks right outside self to Him who is dead and risen, who has anticipated the difficulty, and alone gives the full answer to all wants. He came down, indeed, when he was born; and, being down so low as that, he descended to the carpenter's shop, to the weariness of the well's brink, and to a thirst which made him say, "Give me to drink." Click to enable/disable _ga - Google Analytics Cookie. The information in this verse is a rather loose quotation from Deuteronomy 30:12-14 (it would be best to read these verses). So I have found by my making over my other grandchildren she'll come elbowing her way in to get close to Grandpa. And this leads us to see not only where there was an analogy with those who believe in a promised Saviour, but also to a weighty difference. Just before Israel crossed into the Promised Land, Moses spoke of righteousness by faith.. Christ's fullness is meant for our emptiness; Christ's righteousness is meant for our sin, salvation is for the lost. Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? The same was true of the doctrine requiring faith in Christ. Have done with every other confidence. Not a pretty toy for Sundays, but food to live upon; a common-sense hope; a blunt man's religion that he can carry into business. () in Romans 10:8, as afterwards . All that which is done for us is already done to our hands. They are zealous for God, yes. The truth is not difficult to be understood and embraced. The word of Christ is what brought us out of the world and that to which we were converted. He observes Sabbath; he loves God. Did the call of God. There is no need to bring Christ down to find out what God wants. But this does not content the apostle, or rather the Spirit of God; for he goes on to point out that Isaiah "is very bold" in a similar way; that is, there is no concealing the truth of the matter. a. When God gives you growth in grace and fruitfulness in good works it will be your safety to be as little as ever you were, and to trust in nothing but the work of the Lord. Whosoever believed should not be ashamed; whosoever called should be saved. In fact, when Paul wrote the letters to Timothy and Titus, he spoke of the faith several times (see 1 Timothy 1:19 b; 3:9; 4:1, 6; 5:8; 6:10, 12, 21; 2 Timothy 3:8; 2 Timothy 4:7; Titus 1:13; Titus 2:2). Abraham is the proof of the value of faith in justification before God. But for the time it is held fast, though in unrighteousness. 2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. We know not how low he went, but we are told that "he descended into the lower parts of the earth." The information in verse 6 may be contrasted with many modern religious claims. There is entrance into favour, and nothing but favour. Thus the second man looks to excitements and feelings just as the first looked to works and self-denials. 12:1-21. If you will go around and knock on a hundred doors a day and peddle the magazines and wake people up, continue this faithfully, and you will be saved. Their zeal was not according to knowledge. It is not a mystical, obscure thing; it is near and familiar. It is not an esoteric message hidden in some secret place or located at some far corner of the universe. It is done. II. He laughs at all our comeliness, he knows that it is a hollow cheat, a vile sham. So also the gospel by no means involves itself in obscurity, but says, Believe and live, quite as distinctly as Moses said, "Do and live." Confess with your mouth: Confession has the idea of agreeing with. 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. In its practical force on the Christian walk you believe on him justification God... Favour, and the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic version read, `` I provoke. The promise is to everyone ; therefore, there is someone to proclaim the good news even belief... That they have a zeal of God that had been handed down from father to son ( ver to... Earth. from father to son ( ver whosoever will call upon direct. ) there is no longer blood, but death Christ 's death resurrection. Second man looks to excitements and feelings just as the first looked to and. 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