Accordingly he tells them now what reason he had to speak thus strongly, not of the more advanced truths, but of the good news. Consequently the call of God, and not the birth simply makes the real difference. Suppose you cannot walk on the sea, like Peter: never mind; you are not called to do it. Time was when none of the English, nor French, nor of any other nation believed in the Saviour. There is hardly any phraseology that tends to more injury of souls in these matters than a loose way of talking of salvation. 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. e. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation: These two together (belief and confession) result in righteousness and salvation. The righteousness of God flows from His mercy, of course; but its character and basis is righteousness. If you trust in him with your heart, trust him openly, and confess him with your mouth, owning that he is your Lord, and your Savior. It is Paul's one desire that the Jews may be saved. I want to preach that same gospel this morning, in the hope that in after days this word may be scattered far and wide, and some Jack the Huckster, or some other like him, may find himself to be utterly empty and undone, and may then know that Christ is ordained to be his salvation. Not only is God's righteousness revealed, but also His wrath. They did not understand, and believe, and consider, the strict justice of God, in hating and punishing sin, and demanding satisfaction, did not consider what need we have of a righteousness wherein to appear before him; if they had, they would never have stood out against the gospel offer, nor expected justification by their own works, as if they could satisfy God's justice. (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) Then, fourthly, we will hear what experience saith; for we may bring in the experience of believers to back up the declarations of God. (iii) There is the ignorance which is in essence a lie. This would not have been just. Dig not into the bowels of the earth to find the gold of salvation. Now hearken. This verse shows that believing faith does not come ultimately from the believer's witness but from the Word of God. [2.] And that word is the message of faith which we proclaim. He will not be ashamed to own that Christ in whom he trusts; he that believes in the heart will not be ashamed to confess with the mouth. which we preach; being sent, commissioned, qualified, and assisted by Christ thereunto; which shows the agreement between Moses and the apostles of Christ; for the word which he spoke of, they preached, and indeed said no other things than what the prophets and Moses said should come, that Christ should suffer in the stead of his people, and rise again for their justification; the sum of which is delivered in Romans 10:9. First, he cites Isaiah 28:16: "Every one who believes in him will not be put to shame." Christ's work of redemption deserves that God should act as He does in the gospel. He suffered agonizing pain, but his peace was as deep as the sea. Suppose your faith cannot work miracles; never mind about miracles. But what saith it? 14, 15). Some thought him half-witted, but the story would show his wind to be sound enough. of To the limits of the holy land? (that is, to bring Christ again from the dead.) 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." 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. Justification by faith has always been the way for people to come to God. But what saith it? 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. But there is a third. He had no uncertainty; he was as sure of his safety as it it had been a matter of calculation by the rules of arithmetic. The things about which we are in doubt are far fewer than we would like to think. It is God who now makes known a righteousness to man, instead of looking for any from man. These things are matters of conscience, and depend much for their solution on the degree to which souls have attained. or who hath been his counsellor? All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous) / Genesis 21:8-21 (The rescue of Hagar and Ishmael); Psalm 86:1-10 16-17 (Prayer for deliverance); Romans 6:1b-11 (Buried and raised with Christ in baptism); Matthew 10:24-39 (The cost of discipleship) ( English Standard Version) June 25, 2023. Horribly offensive as sin is to God, and inexcusable in the creature, it is sin which has given occasion to the astonishing display of divine righteousness in justifying believers. They are a disobedient and contrary people, and all the more so because of their great responsibility before God. 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. For all this, as he presses further, there was the weightiest reason possible. He was in the end killed. 2. b. I was found by those who did not seek Me: It is strange that Israel, for the most part, rejected their own Messiah. Till the cross, well might a converted soul be found groaning in misery at each fresh discovery of evil in himself. "For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. That was said to Paul, rather than what was taught by Paul. No prayers, or tears, are wanted to bring him down: he has already come and is near at hand. And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? But such thoughts altogether vanish now, because, as the Gentile was unquestionably wicked and abominable, so from the law's express denunciation the Jew was universally guilty before God. Christ is come, and has changed all. The meaning of verse 6 is a little more difficult. They get so extreme in the election predestination and all, they get so extreme that there are some churches that will not put a scripture on the board out in front, lest some sinner who has not been elected might walk by and believe in Jesus Christ and get saved when he wasn't predestined to do so.Don't get extreme. He lays down such a summary as no Jew ever gave since they were a nation. d. But what does it say? Second Sunday in Lent Our Savior/Redeemer Pettibone/Woodworth, ND: Sun, Feb 20, 2005 Second Sunday in Lent : IN NOMINE JESU . "What are you?" In Romans 14:1-23 and the beginning ofRomans 15:1-33; Romans 15:1-33 we have the delicate theme of Christian forbearance in its limits and largeness. First, in 10:8b, he uses rema ("the word") to explain faith. There the truth is held, and apparently with firmness too. Moses does not allow any person to dream that under the law he can be saved in any other way than by perfect obedience thereto. 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. Because this word is so important, Paul said it was preached (present tense). (ii) A man must believe that Jesus is risen from the dead. The word of faith is to be taken for the word of promise, that is, for the gospel itself, because it bears a relation to faith. In the end the soldiers so pitied him that they brought him dressed meat, which was not pork, and told him to eat it and say that he had eaten pork. This do, and thou shalt live. (1-3) Israels refusal to submit to the righteousness of God. a. Did they fall back on Abraham? Gentiles, who have no law, are justified by faith, and Jews can be too, if they will believe instead of trying to win Gods favour through keeping the law. But now they were; and thus God vindicated Himself perfectly as to the past. Uttering a wish of evil against somebody or a thing. But the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against them pre-eminently. So when the other grandkids come over, I make a big to do over them, exaggerated. Not that any part of the truth has escaped: it is the fatal brand of that "great house" that even the most elementary truth suffers the deepest injury; but as to this truth, it seems unknown altogether. It is just as clear as ever the law was, and quite as sharply distinct. He was a man of rare common sense, straightforward and downright in his aims, and most pithy in his speech, with such a mixture of mother-wit that he might have been taken for John Ploughman's brother, as indeed he was. He bade them read that chapter, "Let not your hearts be troubled"; and, as they read it, he did not take the verses, and apply them to himself. Why should this be so strange and incredible to you? Yet, how many times we take the promises of God and say, "Oh, God, just help me to believe. For his sake let me tell it again. This he shows further, Romans 10:3; Romans 10:3, where we may observe. "Oh, come over here and sit on Grandpa's lap. This is where so many religious people even sincere Christians go astray. Read this verse, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." No one is lost until he sins and sin becomes full grown (James 1:15). Once, again, though your faith should only be strong enough to lead you to pray, yet it shall save you, for "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." In Deuteronomy 30:11 Moses said his information was not far off, and it was not hidden from the Jewish people. Even in their best estate the saved ones need their Lord: even if we walk in the light as God is in the light, and have fellowship with him, we still sin, and still the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin. For it may have been noticed from chapter 3 to chapter 5, that nothing but fitness for the glory of God will do now. They have not all obeyed the gospel. On the contrary, he says Gods word is as close to a person as his own mouth and heart. How can they hear about Him unless someone preach to them? (d) In the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures it is the regular translation of the divine name, Jahveh or Jehovah. And what was all this about? The Jews have indeed heard this message, so they have no excuse (18). It is with that objection Paul deals; and, as he deals with it in its various forms, on each occasion he clinches his answer with a text from scripture. In verse 11 of that chapter, Moses tells Israel that Gods commands are not beyond their grasp as if they could find them only by ascending to heaven or crossing the sea. There is water as well as blood, and to that, not to this, the washing here refers. May you experience the joys of His power, of His presence, of His glory, as God day by day showers you with His goodness and with His love. It is for the lost, therefore; for they it is who need salvation; and it is to save not merely to quicken, but to save; and this because in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed. Click to enable/disable Google Analytics tracking. Sin is our operating outside of God's grace. No one would undertake it at all unless he was supremely in earnest. In the gospel there is revealed God's righteousness. As to those who have been called home, how have they died? Christ indeed did both; and so the word was nigh them, in their mouth and in their heart. Oh, how nice you look today. No trembling sinner doubts but that by the breaking of the law we are condemned: be you equally sure of it, that by not believing you are condemned. Conscious deliverance, to be solid according to God, must be in the line of His truth. The problem is that none is able to keep the law perfectly. Thus one could not fail to see these two weighty inferences: the bringing in to be God's sons of those that had not been His people, and the judgment and destruction of the great mass of His undoubted people. I have tried my best; and so I close by bidding you hear WHAT EXPERIENCE SAITH. Tonight whoever you might be salvation is so close to you, all you have to do is call upon the name of the Lord and you will be saved. Have done with every other confidence. Have as many good works as you can cram into your life, but never tell anybody about them, or think anything of them. Their crowning glory was precisely what they would not hear of. Let me hold you." For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. The righteousness of the law required absolute sinless perfection achieved through flawless obedience; however, the righteousness that is of faith does not make requirements that are impossible for sinners. Romans 10:17, ESV: So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Did not I show you just now that when Moses spoke he did not mystify the matter, but put it plainly, "The man that doeth those things shall live by them." True ministry gives out not merely truth, but suited truth to the saints. But if it were so, He had not done with them. One does not have to mount a ladder to heaven in order to beseech God to send Christ down. () in Romans 10:8, as afterwards . This were indeed to deny the value of His death, and of that newness of life we have in Him risen, and a return to bondage of the worst description. Retrieve. It is no longer in our power to dream of a perfect, life-long obedience. God was not satisfied alone. Rather does it add to his guilt: such is man's evil state and will. Everything Paul touches in this letter he relates to God. When we confess the Lord Jesus, we agree with what God said about Jesus, and with what Jesus said about Himself. What was to be the stumbling-stone? That early prophet tells Israel, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God. We have Paul informing us that he transfers sometimes in a figure to himself that which was in no wise necessarily his own experience, and perhaps had not been so at any time. Moreover, He gave up the knowledge of God that had been handed down from father to son (ver. StudyLght.org. Then the domains of flesh and Spirit are brought before us: the one characterized by sin and death practically now; the other by life, righteousness, and peace, which is, as we saw, to be crowned finally by the resurrection of these bodies of ours. Brethren, my hearts desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. He shall never have cause to repent his confidence in reposing such a trust in the Lord Jesus. Choose a verse from 'Romans 10' to begin your 'Verse-by-Verse' study of God's Word using the more than 100 commentaries available on StudyLight.org. The ground taken by a Jew for supposing God exclusively for Israel was, that they had the law, which was the measure of what God claimed from man; and this the Gentile had not. Birthright from the same father would let in Ishmael on the one hand, as from both parents it would secure the title of Esau on the other. I know that he would have said to me, Give them Christ crucified, and salvation by grace through faith, as plainly as ever you can; for when he was sore sick and in the very agony of death, he repeated as his dying creed, and in his own quaint way he added, "They may talk as much as ever they like, but the whole of it lies in Jack the Huckster's verse. He speaks of the sovereignty of God having elected that it might stand by election. The man who, being baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, or Christian baptism, would assert any license to sin because it is in his nature, as if it were therefore an inevitable necessity, denies the real and evident meaning of his baptism. It is not believing (not to be reckoned so) if it be not with the heart. The way of salvation is now both plain and easy. 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. As he whom we sorrow for today could die peacefully, and even merrily, so shall you and I if we rely on the same Savior. I had no difficulty in answering that question. Paul wants the Jews to be saved, but they cannot be saved while trying to create their own righteousness through law-keeping. Now listen. There was no law there or then; for Abraham died long before God spoke from Sinai. Nothing shows better the Jewish attitude than the three classes into which they divided mankind. Ah, my Lord, what should I do then if I could not as "a poor sinner, and nothing at all" find Christ to be my "all in all." I do not come to-day with a gospel veiled in mystery and shrouded in doubt; I do not bring a message which you cannot understand or receive; neither do I come with "ifs" and "buts" and "peradventures," but with this, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." He has put the two things together, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." There is no simple mind that can evade the plain force of this last expression. There is then the solemn truth also of divine wrath. Man goes back to the righteousness of works. All of Pauls teaching of Gods election and right to choose does not diminish mans responsibility. 2. It is not a mystical, obscure thing; it is near and familiar. , , The word, that is, the word of faith is nigh thee. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for SDA Bible Commentary Set Vols. To hold the truth in unrighteousness would be no security. Those that were under the law were to do all themselves, Do this, and live; but the gospel discovers the greatest part of the work done already, and what remains cut short in righteousness, salvation offered upon very plain and easy terms, brought to our door, as it were, in the word which is nigh us. Having shown first, then, the sources and the character of the blessing in general as far as regards deliverance, the apostle sums up the result in the end of the chapter: "That as sin hath reigned in death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life," the point being justification of life now through Jesus Christ our Lord. In his final sermon, Moses made some other points. For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God." If he was called, so were they he an apostle, they not apostles but saints; but still, for them as for him, all flowed out of the same mighty love, of God. If you are to be saved by the commandments you must do them: that is clear. Hence, as God's wrath is revealed from heaven, it is against every form of impiety "against all ungodliness." Thus, their good works must outweigh their bad works. This occupies the central part of the chapter, which then closes with the unfailing and faithful power of God for us in all our experiences here below. 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 ). If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain. While there were people who could read, the ordinary first-century citizen depended rather on being able to hear something. (Morris). His own mouth and heart amp ; used options and get the best deals for SDA Bible Commentary Set.! 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