Down an Unfamiliar Road

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER TEN (Lesson XX)

Albert Barnes calls Paul’s message: all those who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, a “uniform promise,” meaning, “the same for everyone.” It was certainly encouraged by Peter on the Day of Pentecost,¹ and Paul received the identical instructions from Ananias at his conversion.² For Barnes, this is not only proper but indispensable. It is proper because we must start by confessing our sins against God. Then it is indispensable because He alone can pardon us. By calling upon God for salvation is more than just saying, “Get me out of here so I can get on my way and do what I want to do.” To call on Him is to acknowledge Him as Sovereign, Father, and Redeemer. So it is only right that we give Him all our reverence and respect.

Also implied in this is that when we call on Him we must do so with solemn and sincere feelings. It should reflect our humility that we come to Him as sinners and our desperate need for a pardon. We must also go to Him with a willing heart to be what He wants us to be, and with joy that we are receiving eternal life. When all of this is followed, this passage teaches us that salvation comes to all who are willing to do so. Believe me, if God has called you to repentance through the Holy Spirit, when you arrive He will not throw you away as unwanted or unworthy because He finds some flaw or irreparable damage done by sin. His invitation and the assurance it brings extends to all nations and to all people at all times regardless of their condition.³

H. A. Ironside said it was not a new thing that God desired to speak to the Gentiles. If there is anything new, it is the manner He chose in which to get the message of salvation to them. Why should this, then, not be a surprise to the Jews. After all, did not Israel know that God was going to reach out to all people of all nations through them? They should have known because of what God said to Moses about finding others who would love and obey Him.⁴ Also what God said to Isaiah with uncompromising boldness.⁵ Surely words like these could only apply to the heathens of the Gentile world. As for Israel, with all their privileges, God was forced to tell them: “All day long I opened my arms to a rebellious people. But they follow their own evil paths and their own crooked schemes..⁶”⁷

Paul takes the frustration we hear in God’s words to Isaiah into the opening verses of the next chapter. There we will see how the Apostle shows God got ready to institute His plan of election. First He starts with Israel and then continues with the Gentiles to this day. But let us not forget that although the major outreach of God’s grace went way beyond the borders of Israel to non-Jewish peoples, it does not mean He had forgotten His promise to Israel. Many Jews are turning to Christ every day, but Paul’s heart reflects God’s heart in wanting them all to turn to Jesus as the Messiah. The wall that once divided the Jews and Gentiles has long ago been broken down. So the only wall that is still standing is the one the Jews built between themselves and Christians. Still, the grace of God is offered through Jesus Christ to all who own their guilt and confess Him as their Savior.⁸

Charles Hodge points out that when God looks at the Jews through the prism of the precepts He gave them, and then looks at the Gentiles through the prism of paganism they chose, He sees the same thing. Not only are they both His creation, and both are under His dominion, but both are sinners. This is why God laid down equal terms for salvation to all people; Jews and Gentiles alike. This allows God to deal evenly with everyone because His mercy is free and sufficient for all.⁹

This cuts across all lines: skin color, race, ethnicity, nationality, age, and gender. That means all, whosoever will, without any limitation, who call on Him, will be saved. Not only is this Paul’s doctrine, but a teaching that is in one accord with all those of old who spoke as the Spirit gave them utterance. That’s why Paul was so upset with people who proposed that salvation was only for the Jews. As long as it was taught under Jewish Law, it was restricted. That’s why God sent His Son to broaden and widen the path to salvation by way of the cross.¹⁰

Preacher Charles Spurgeon shares a personal anecdote related to these verses. He writes: “Someone once said to me, ‘I think that the Church of Rome cannot be the Church of Christ. I do not think that the Church of England is the Church of Christ. Do you think the Baptists are the Church of Christ?’ And my answer was, ‘The Church of Christ is to be found mixed up in all churches, and no churches at all.’ It is a people that God has chosen from among mankind, and they are to be found here and there and everywhere, a spiritual seed that God has marked out to be His own; and they are known by this – that they call upon the Lord, and, as Paul says here, ‘the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him’.”¹¹

Frédéric Godet calls this universal salvation, meaning, all-inclusive, leaving out no one. That corresponds with Paul’s message here in verse 12 that he confirms in verse 13. And the only way to accomplish this was to replace the Law of Moses given only to the Jews and expand it to include everyone. Paul speaks of a partition, a wall, that separated the Jews from the Gentiles.¹² So not only did Jesus tear the veil in two that separated worshipers from the Holy of Holies, but also destroyed the wall that kept the Gentiles outside the Temple. And once this wall once broken down by the work of the Messiah, those who join together to worship God are now more than a single body of Jews but a combined body of all believers.

This is the church, the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. That’s because we have one Redeemer, one Savior, one Lord, and one Master. And when He returns to resurrect and rule and reign, we will all have one King. The people of Israel never imagined anything like this, even though their own Scriptures clearly told them so. Everyone came to the cross equally as sinners so everyone will leave equally as believers to share the Good News that this is now for everyone. And there is one other factor. By sharing the same Lord, what He has to offer us is no less available to one person than it is to another. As the Psalmist said: “You will lead me to the path of life; being in your presence fills me with joy,; and your right hand is filled with eternal pleasures..¹³”¹⁴

Professor F. F. Bruce discovers a gem in what Paul says here. When we go back to Romans 3:22, the words “no difference” or “no distinction” was not good news for the Jews. It means they were lumped together with the Gentiles as those needing to get right with God. Now Paul uses the same words to convey the fact that in Christ Jesus there is no difference or distinction. No longer are we called Jews or Gentiles, but Christians. We all came through the same gate to receive the same grace, mercy, forgiveness, and pardon. And now we all live by the same faith and hope in the return of the same Messiah.¹⁵ Bruce also notes that this quote by Paul from Joel 2:32, echoes what Peter said to explain the events that marked the first Christian Pentecost.¹⁶

Master Bible scholar Karl Barth believes we should take an exegetical view of Paul’s words. We are looking at a truth that is beyond the inventive capabilities of mankind. It comes as a revelation of what was until now unknown that includes both the final question and answer with both the death and resurrection of the Messiah. The question is: who can be saved? The answer is all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

He did not come to start a new religion. In fact, by the time He left there had been no new denomination or church group founded so that later on they could be compared or contrasted with one another. He had written no new books or established a new set of rules. He had taken what was given to Him by the Father and expounded on it is such a way as no one had ever heard before. Instead of His teaching being cut and dried, it was fresh and vibrant and the living word. He represented a relationship with God that combined friendship and liberty. For once people were able to see over the horizon and understand what was yet to come. No wonder when the religious leaders of the Jews sent some soldiers to bring Jesus back for questioning, they came back and said, “No man has ever spoken like this Man speaks.”¹⁷

By the resurrection of Jesus, the past, present, and future of human existence could be understood from a new perspective and directed towards a different destiny than what the mind could imagine. The Law had a goal, but it was shrouded in the fog of unbelief, misbelief, and disbelief. But the light of Jesus helps those who believed to see what His coming was all about. For those in the past, and even some in the present, could not comprehend all that had happened. The full depth, height, breadth, and length of the turmoil around them could not be perceived. It was like feeling the wind but not knowing where it came from, or hearing a sound but not knowing its source. They needed an explanation.

So the Law appeared to tell them, and in conjunction with the Law, a religion was developed for them to express their understanding of what to do. This Law and religion have been around for centuries. While it may not be all that was asked for or needed, it did create a longing and anticipation to call upon the One who sent it. And by doing so, it revealed God to be God. That brought into focus life and death. Both were not that hard to comprehend since they rule and hang above humans from the cradle to the grave. What made it turn out to be incomprehensible was the real possibility of resurrection and eternal life.

Barth wants to know if people will able to recognize and identify the coming universal tribulation without also giving an explanation of the universality of salvation, of which it is only a shadow? There is also the question concerning the secret meaning of life which is manifested in every Law and in every expression of faith as calling upon the Lord who is the deep and hidden answer to these questions. People tend to call upon God in desperation without realizing that He has already answered.

People then end up suffering more because of doubt and fear and, therefore, think they need more help. That was the case between God and man, as manifested in Jesus. Jesus was already the master of His situation because He knew in advance of His resurrection. This is the way we should look at our times of trial, testing, and tribulation. Instead of sighing and questioning, we should see that within these things meant to harm or hurt us are the seeds of God’s divine salvation and divine healing. After all, if nothing ever went wrong, why then, would there be a need for God to help us get through troubles. But it exactly the opposite. We need those things to learn how great and mighty is our God.¹⁸

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER TEN (Lesson XIX)

When it comes to identifying true Christians, this is what John saw in his revelation: “For He is LORD over all lords, and KING of kings and His people are the called and chosen and faithful ones.”¹ We see this reflected in the Greek word ekklēsia which is translated as “church” 115 times in the Final Covenant.² Thayer in his Greek Lexicon tells us that it basically means those who are called out from their homes to gather in one place. This has led to the phrase: the “called-out ones.”³

That’s why, Paul says, all of those who were called, chosen, and are faithful have full access to all the riches of God through Christ Jesus. Paul told the Corinthians: “You know how full of love and kindness our Lord Jesus was: though He was so very rich, yet to help you He became so very poor so that by being poor He could make you rich.”⁴ Paul was not talking here about material wealth such as land, precious metals, jewels, or possessions, but about those things that God holds in store for those who love Him. One of those riches Paul describes to the Ephesians: “So overflowing is His kindness toward us that He took away all our sins through the blood of His Son, by whom we are saved; and He has showered down upon us the richness of His grace – for how well He understands us and knows what is best for us at all times.”⁵ Later he tells the Ephesians about God being rich in mercy,⁶ and how very rich His kindness is,⁷ the unfathomable riches given to the Messiah,⁸ the unlimited treasure of His glory,⁹ the riches of our unity with secret riches of God’s plan of putting Christ in our hearts as our hope of glory.¹⁰

But these riches are not indiscriminately scattered around and allowed to fall on whoever happens to be in the right place at the right time. Even King David recognized this when he said in his prayer: “Adonai, you are kind and forgiving, full of grace toward all who call on you.”¹¹ And in one of David’s praise songs, he sang: “Adonai is righteous in all His ways, full of grace in all He does. Adonai is close to all who call on Him, to all who sincerely call on Him. He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them. Adonai protects all who love Him.”¹² Even the prophet Isaiah learned that God will not be an uninvited intrusive Lord. He told the children of Israel: “Seek the Lord while you can find Him. Call upon Him now while He is near.”¹³

But Paul is not finished. He knows there must be a series of prerequisites in place before everyone for whom Christ died and rose again can benefit from all the riches that God has placed at Christ’s disposal. It isn’t that whosoever will may come and receive the blessings in Christ, but whosoever believes in Him may come and be blessed.

Early church writer Ambrosiaster takes what Paul wrote here as another way of treating all those who are sinners because of unbelief, and when they are converted exalting them together with all other believers. The reason for this is because apart from Christ there is no other salvation in God’s presence. So when people are born-again, God does put them in different groups based on their importance or special status. Paul wanted the Jews to know that their privileged status as descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, nor having been given the Law to afford them a head start in knowing Him, gave them any advantage over the Gentiles.

At the same time, he told the Gentiles believers that although they were deemed to be infidels and heathens by the Jews, yet God accepts them on the same basis as He does the Jews. Paul says here that God does not bestow His riches on those who simply believe He exists but on those who call upon Him for salvation. So after believing, the mind will not cease to ask God for more understanding so they will better know what they need.¹⁴

To put this same thought in today’s circumstances, it would more or less state that the church cannot save you, and not being part of a church cannot keep you from being saved. All who are saved have come to that salvation through Jesus Christ. That then opens the door to not only what the Body of Christ has to offer, but also what you can get directly from God to keep you walking toward the destiny He has for all who believe. That’s why it is so important that believers become part of a church that knows its purpose and mission in God’s kingdom.

For Reformer Martin Luther, these verses went contrary to the way salvation was being preached in the church in his day. No one could come to the Father and call on Him for salvation outside the church. It had to be granted through the sacraments of the church in order for it to be accepted. Paul faced the same problem in his day with the Jews claiming rights over the covenant between God and Abraham, and no one could have access to God unless they went through the Temple with the proper offerings and sacrifices.

But Luther also sees another truth in what Paul says here and it relates to how generous and giving God is to those who call on Him, especially for assistance. He admonishes many who go to God in prayer for acting like beggars. He puts it this way: “we act poor when we pray.” That is not how a child of God should ask their Heavenly Father for what they need. He also reproves those who are timid and bashful when they ask God for their needs. As Luther sees it, God has a lot more in hand to give us then what we ask for. But instead of this being criticism on the believer’s ability to pray, it is a critique on God’s ability to give. But God does not let that stop Him. He is always prepared to give us more than we ask for because He knows what we need.¹⁵

Calvin feels that God’s riches Paul is talking about is the abundance of His grace and mercy by which salvation is granted. The fact that after God offered His plan of salvation first to the Jews, and even with their refusal He still continued to send out the message to the Gentiles. Isn’t it amazing that Jesus spent some 33 years teaching and healing in Israel, yet in a very short time after His ascension He called Paul and sent him to the Gentiles? And the inscription on the cross not only reads: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, but Savior of the world.¹⁶

So what does Paul want us to deduce from this? Since faith alone is required, and since faith is available to everyone who believes, then wherever faith is found there the goodness of God will manifest itself. So God is not looking at the differences between people of various races, colors, ethnicities, or stations in life to decide who should or should not receive an invitation to the cross. All He is looking at is faith.

Furthermore, since God is the Creator and Maker of the whole world, why should He not feel free to show Himself as loving and kind to all who will acknowledge and call on Him as their God. Why have infinite mercy and never-ending grace if it is only meant for a few? Believe it or not, if every sinner on the planet knelt at the same minute and prayed for forgiveness, there would still be enough power in the blood of Jesus to wash every one of them clean in the twinkling of an eye.¹⁷ Calvin points out that even though Paul’s reasoning is sufficiently strong, yet he calls on the prophet Joel to testify in support of God’s generosity to those who worship Him.¹⁸

John Bengel sees a fine line here between what Paul says about people calling on the Lord for salvation and God calling on them to be saved. It is already established that whoever wills to call will be saved, but God wills that they should call on Him for their salvation.¹⁹ In other words, it is not just because it is the choice of some to call on God for salvation who will be heard and granted their freedom from sin, but that God is the only one they can call on for salvation. Bengel joins Luther and Calvin in admiring God’s abundance of mercy and grace by saying: “No multitude of believers, however great, can exhaust Him; He is never compelled to act within limits.”²⁰

Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards gives us this interesting series of verses we can compare to what Paul is saying here in Romans 10:12:²¹

           Compare                                 with:

1 Kings 8:39b	John 2:24 and John 16:30, and Acts 1:24
Jeremiah 17:10	Revelation 2:3
Isaiah 44:6	Revelation 1:17
Revelation 1:8	Revelation 22:13
1 Timothy 6:15	Revelation 17:14; 19:16
Isaiah 10:21	Isaiah 9:6
Romans 10:12	Acts 10:36; Romans 9:5
Psalms 90:2	Proverbs 8:22ff
Nehemiah 9:6	John 1:3; Colossians 1:16-17
Genesis 1:1	Hebrews 1:10
Exodus 20:3	Luke 24:25; Hebrews 1:6
Matthew 4:10	John 5:23

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER TEN (Lesson XVIII)

Professor F. F. Bruce concludes that believing then confessing is the order of both logic and experience of a sinner’s emancipation from sin’s bondage into the freedom of God’s grace. The two clauses say essentially the same thing: believing and confession are as inseparable as justification and salvation. Both are given a prophetic reference in verse 10 with the use of (“unto righteousness … unto salvation” – KJV) – cannot be separated from one another.¹ From a Jewish perspective, verse ten reads: “For with the heart one goes on trusting and thus continues toward righteousness, while with the mouth one keeps on making public acknowledgment and thus continues toward deliverance.”² This shows the prophetic aspect even clearer.

Douglas Moo offers an interesting interpretation of verse 10 from a personal perspective. Moo writes: “When my wife and I were living in St. Andrews, Scotland, we frequently encountered a passionate, though overenthusiastic evangelist. She roamed the streets all day and much of the night, accosting people and loudly proclaiming to them her own faith and the need for them to ‘turn’ before they ‘burned.’ In a conversation with her one day, I asked why she had such zeal for evangelism. She quoted Romans 10:10b: ‘It is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.’ Confession with the mouth, she argued, was clearly set forth as a requirement for salvation, and she was determined to make sure that she fulfilled the condition.”³

It is obvious that her use of that text was a case of reading too much into the Scripture that wasn’t there, to begin with. When Paul used the terms “heart” and “mouth” in Romans 10:8 it is a quote from Deuteronomy 30:14. Paul was using these words as an illustration of how it was fulfilled in the preaching of the Gospel and the response to the Gospel. Nowhere does Paul say that you must go around telling everyone that you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior in order to stay saved. Of course, there is nothing wrong with witnessing to others about your experience. But when interpreted the way the lady evangelist did in Scotland, then your heart must find a way to vocalize its agreement with what the mouth is saying with equal fervor.

Jewish scholar David Stern gives us his view, after examining what Paul says here. He noticed that the tense of the verbs: declare, believe, raised and saved refer to action taking place at a specific time. But in verse 10, the tense of the verbs: believing and confession often implies continuing action. This should not be a surprise since we usually admit that we came to believe and trust in Christ at a particular point in our experience. But if we want to continue toward being right with God and prepare ourselves for deliverance on the day of His return, we must go on believing and trusting as we continually acknowledge our faith in the One who saved us.

But there is another factor. We must ask ourselves what is the significance naming Yeshua’s Lordship and pointing to His resurrection as two necessary “articles of faith” essential to righteousness and salvation? The key begins with acknowledging Yeshua as Lord of our lives. The Greek word Paul uses for “Lord” is kurios, If he were writing in Hebrew he would have used Adon, from which we get Adonai. So to acknowledge Yeshua is Adon implies committing oneself to obeying Him as Master.⁴ This is what Paul meant when he told the Philippians that God exalted Jesus to a place of highest honor and gave Him a name that is above all names so that every knee in heaven and on earth would bow and every tongue would confess that Jesus is kurios – Adonai: LORD.⁵

Verses 12-13: It says this because there is no difference between those who are Jews and those who are not. The same Lord is the Lord of all people. And He generously blesses everyone who looks to Him for help. Yes, “anyone who calls on the name of Adonai will be delivered.”⁶

This doesn’t mean that Christians will never suffer shame, reproach, embarrassment, or disappointment for the cause of Christ. Rather, Christ will see to it that no one will suffer such atrocities after having been abandoned and forsaken by this world. You won’t come to the end of your Christian life and find that there are no vacancies in heaven. Your reservation was issued at Calvary and sealed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.⁷ So Christ’s promise is forever true.⁸ Christ does not just give His all to you, He gives Himself to you, which is His all. There are no copyist’s errors in the Book of Life if you have been born again your name is there. For with Paul, “We are persuaded that He is able to keep all that we committed to Him until that day comes.”

Another thing that Paul wants to emphasize is that no one should ever be ashamed to call themselves a Christian. Too often, stigmas are attached to groups because of one or two things that other members of that group have done or said, and as a result, the whole group suffers the embarrassment and vitriol. But being a Christian does not mean you belong to one particular church or denomination, it means you belong to Christ as His disciple. You may be embarrassed by some action, doctrine, or church rule that your group may take or stand for, but you never need to be ashamed that you belong to Christ.

In Jeremiah we find it put in a way that echoes Psalm 1: “But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and has made the Lord his hope and confidence. He is like a tree planted along a riverbank, with its roots reaching deep into the water—a tree not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Its leaves stay green, and it goes right on producing all its luscious fruit.”⁹ And even though something said or done in your past may make you feel uncomfortable, remember what the Apostle Peter said in quoting the prophet Isaiah: “See, I am sending Christ to be the carefully chosen, precious Cornerstone of my church, and I will never disappoint those who trust in Him.”¹⁰

Apparently, there was some tension in the Church in Rome because Gentiles were being allowed to worship there and were considered as equal believers. Paul told them that when the world looked at them they should not see Jews or Greeks, they see Christians. Paul agreed with what Peter said to those gathered at Cornelius’ house in Caesarea: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation those who reverence Him and do what is right.”¹¹ Later, Peter shared this same sentiment at a meeting between Paul and the council in Jerusalem when he said: “God, who knows men’s hearts, confirmed the fact that He accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He gave Him to us. He made no distinction between them and us, for He cleansed their lives through faith, just as He did ours.”¹² So on this matter, Paul had Peter’s backing.

Then, when we look at Paul’s letter to the Galatians, we see that this concept was already well-established in his mind early on in his ministry. He told them: “We are no longer Jews or Greeks or slaves or free men or even merely men or women, but we are all the same—we are Christians; we are one in Christ Jesus.”¹³ Clearly, Paul is not suggesting that all racial, ethnic, or gender differences were altered or removed at conversion, but that in spite of all these variants, in God’s eyes He sees us as equal in His sight. This is no doubt a reference to the bias and discrimination that existed between the races, ethnicities, and genders in his day. When writing to the Ephesians, Paul put it this way: “He [God] has brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were very far away from Him, and to us Jews who were near. Now all of us, whether Jews or Gentiles, may come to God the Father with the Holy Spirit’s help because of what Christ has done for us.”¹⁴

Then Paul reemphasizes the point when later on he writes: “This is the secret: that the Gentiles will have their full share with the Jews in all the riches inherited by God’s sons; both are invited to belong to His Church, and all of God’s promises of mighty blessings through Christ apply to them both when they accept the Good News about Christ and what He has done for them.”¹⁵ Understandably, this was a truth that Paul felt compelled to share everywhere he went. As he told the Colossians: “In this new life one’s nationality or race or education or social position is unimportant; such things mean nothing. Whether a person has Christ is what matters, and He is equally available to all.”¹⁶

What makes this union so successful, isn’t that we all belong to the same organization or follow the same forms of praise and worship, or conduct all the ordinances the same way, but that we all have the same Lord. After Peter’s vision on the rooftop of the tanner’s house in Joppa, and his introduction to the Gentile congregation at Cornelius’ house in Caesarea, Peter told them: “I’m sure you have heard about the Good News for the people of Israel – that there is peace with God through Jesus, the Messiah, who is Lord of all creation.”¹⁷

So both Peter and Paul were not introducing Jesus the Jew to the Gentiles, but Jesus the Lord of all creation. Not only was this a fact at the time of creation, but Paul told the Philippians it would be true all the way until the end. He wrote: “God raised Him up to the heights of heaven and gave Him a name which is above every other name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”¹⁸

Paul wanted everyone who heard him teach to have this understanding. That’s why he told his young protégé, Timothy: “He [God] longs for all to be saved and to understand this truth: That God is on one side and all the people on the other side, and Christ Jesus, Himself man, is between them to bring them together, by giving His life for all mankind.”¹⁹ It is also somewhat confusing to the world when we refer to each other as Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, etc. as if that’s the way God sees us.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER TEN (Lesson XVII)

The Apostle Paul pushed this definition of a true confession a little further than some people think was necessary. For Paul, if a person does not confess Christ at the risk of losing their life, their character, their property, their liberty, and everything near and dear to them, they are not confessing true faith in Christ. We see a similar understanding expressed by the fifty-six signers of the United States Declaration of Independence. It reads like this: “We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” Did they really mean what they pledged?

History tells us that twenty-four were lawyers and judges. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners, and well-educated. But before it was all over, five were captured by the British as traitors and tortured before they were put to death. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army. Another had two sons captured, and nine fought and died from wounds or hardships in the war to free them from British tyranny.

So if people were willing to suffer and died for the liberation of their country from the rule of a foreign tyrant, how much more should a person be willing to suffer and die for the faith that liberated them from sin’s bondage. So when Paul says that confession is made unto salvation, the Apostle meant that one’s commitment and dedication and loyalty to the Gospel should last from their rebirth until death separates them from this earth. Once they die, they can go to their rest until the day of resurrection when their eternal life will be activated.¹

Albert Barnes feels that the reason why confession and faith are made so important is, that there can be no true attachment to Christ which will not manifest itself in life. Just as a city built on a hill cannot be hid,² so should it be impossible for a person to build their house upon the Rock without wanting it to be seen.³ Jesus made it clear that we are to be a light to the world.⁴ Any true and genuine belief that is active in the heart of an individual should clearly show itself in their lifestyle and conversation. This is one sure way for a person’s faith and trust in God to prove its existence and have influence.

Barnes feels there are some important things we can learn from what Paul says here. One of them is that a profession of faith is as indispensable to salvation as it is to believing. One’s belief should be as connected with salvation as much as faith is attached to justification. Jesus made that clear when He said that anyone who acknowledges Him before the public He will likewise acknowledge them before His Father in heaven.⁵ Another thing, a person’s faith is less than useless if they are not willing to make public that they are followers of Jesus Christ. Just like there is no true repentance unless we are willing to confess our sins, so there is no true attachment to Christ unless we confess our faith in Him. What would you say of a person who claimed to be married but you never saw them with their spouse and their actions did not conform to those of a married person?

There is also another factor, anyone who claims to be a Christian but makes no profession of their faith in Christ as Lord and Savior, is only pretending. As we all know, true emotions are easily expressed in life for others to see. Otherwise, they have no use. So a person can profess with their behavior or deny with their actions whether or not they have any regard or no regard for God. As the writer of Hebrews puts it, let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we have been promised⁶.⁷

Bible teacher H. A. Ironside told his students that it is impossible to understand the Gospel if the basic principle is misunderstood or denied. Justification by faith is only part of it. No mind untaught by the Holy Spirit will ever learn to obey God. The Spirit is the One who helps the believer to distinguish between what is profitable or unprofitable as they grow in Christ. Paul could not have said it much better than the way he did to the Philippians: “You can be certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”⁸

That’s why we live to give honor, praise, and glory to the One who started the work and is committed to finishing the work in us. By doing so, His holiness is maintained and His righteousness vindicated. The plan of salvation was instituted not to bring death to the sinner but life to all who believe. Such a Gospel is worthy of a loving God, and in the heart of every believer it demonstrates its power to call and keep those who submit to its authority.⁹

Charles Hodge sees some doctrinal aspects in verse 10. For instance, having faith is more than just nodding your head in agreement to certain doctrinal positions. It is being joyfully convinced of the truth founded on an experience so powerful that the perception of its nature brings on rejoicing and an inspiring testimony. Seen this way, faith is a motivational exercise. That’s because faith is believing with the heart with the full consent of the mind. And anyone claiming faith that does not proceed from the heart will find no connection with justification.¹⁰ Furthermore, a person who is too timid or too embarrassed to openly acknowledge Christ as their Savior, cannot hope to saved. The lack of courage to confess with the mouth is a clear indication that there is lack of faith in the heart.

When it comes to verse 11, Hodge finds there are two points established. First of all, the universal applicability of salvation when what is said in verse 10 is followed. And second, it is by faith alone that brings the invitation to salvation. There are probably few things that prove more embarrassing than when someone attends an event and is discovered not to have received an invitation. If you are asked why you are there, you can show the invitation with your name clearly embossed on the front. You need not hide or pretend you were invited. In this case, Paul’s main object was not only to exhibit the true nature of God’s redemption plan but be given the privilege to announce that the Gentiles were now also on the invitation list. It is all important to know what the Bible teaches, both as to the object and nature of saving faith. That object is Christ, and saving faith is trust. He is so complete a Savior as to be able to save all who come unto God by him; and, therefore, whosoever believes in Him shall not be ashamed.¹¹

Charles Spurgeon preached under the conviction that true faith must be accompanied by an open confession. Here’s his way of putting it: “Come forward, and outwardly own what you inwardly believe.” Jesus didn’t make it very complicated when He said: “Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved.”¹² As far as I know, the good Lord has not changed that formula. But it must be noticed that in Christ’s words, believing precedes baptism. That means a person must have been convinced by the Holy Spirit that the Gospel they heard was real and it resulted in an inward act of the will to believe. Then, and only then, is an outward and visible sign given in the confession of that faith. A person may sneak into church and pretend to be a believer by participating in the praise and worship, but no one will be allowed to sneak into heaven without first being able to testify that Christ was the one who saved them.

It is worthy of note, that after Jesus gave His formula for salvation, He followed it with this: “But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.” That’s why Paul made it clear that if your faith and beliefs are real, you’ll never need to fear being put to shame. You may be able to wear an imitation high luxury watch for awhile, but when it breaks down and you take it to the jeweler to be fixed the truth will come out. The same with salvation. You may have an imitation copy of the real thing but when you stand before God the truth will come out. Why risk such embarrassment before all the angels in heaven? Get the real thing now!¹³

When Frédéric Godet analyzes the idea of salvation he sees it embracing these two facts: being justified and being saved. Justification is especially connected to faith. Not as an idea, but as an act. The reason for that is because an act of faith demonstrates the strength of a person’s convictions. Salvation is especially connected to profession. This is more than just a testimony, it is also an act. If a person’s commitment to the guidelines of the Gospel allows them to submit to the discipline by those above them in the Lord, then such a profession results in becoming an active part of the body of Christ.

This is more than just a parallelism being express by the Apostle Paul. In his eyes, a real distinction must be made between being justified and being saved. As Paul expressed it back in Romans 5:9-10, justification is a prelude to the future. It introduces us from the time of our new birth toward complete reconciliation with God. And once we are reconciled with God, it provides His guarantee that the condemnation of sin – which is forever being separated from God, will not touch us. Once we receive that blessed assurance, we move on to sanctification and glory. So while justification depends on faith, salvation depends on faithfulness. And that faithfulness will keep us secure even unto death.

But Godet also touches on the idea of the liberality of salvation. The idea that it was offered to whosoever believed was something the Jews found hard to accept. Not only did they reject the idea of justification by faith, but spurned the idea that it was open to the whole world. What they didn’t know was that this was necessary for the implementation of God’s salvation plan. As long as they believed that salvation was tied to fulfilling all the dictates and ordinances of the Law, they could monopolize it to their advantage. That put it off limits to all Gentiles accept those who would accept circumcision and the Mosaic Law in order to become part of the people of Israel.

By having this concept of salvation, it put them in conflict with the mind of God. The reason He sent His Son was to lead all people who would believe out of a religious legal system that promised everything but gave nothing. His plan was to make salvation universal. That way the Gospel could be preached to every tribe and nation. That’s why Paul says here in verse 11 that anyone who trusts in Jesus will never be ashamed that they did so. In other words, God’s promise of salvation will never let you down or cause you feel sorry you accepted His love, grace, and mercy, even if it costs your life.¹⁴

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER TEN (Lesson XVI)

Ambrose sees the human heart and mouth as twin trumpets that should always sound together in harmony so that they may be in accord with what God says in His Word.¹ There is nothing complicated about it. Believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and don’t be ashamed to tell others about it. But that’s only half of the story. They must also proclaim His resurrection from the dead by His Father in heaven as proof that Christ was His Son. Not only that but after God raised Him from the dead, He brought Him back up to heaven to stand at His right side as our only Mediator. And since He ascended in His transformed body, He will return in like manner to gather all those who believe in Him.² Here we can see items that would later become part of the Apostles Creed written by Ambrose in 390 AD.

Augustine points to the fact that the innumerable and multiple rites by which the Jewish people had been oppressed have now been taken away so that in the mercy of God they might attain salvation by the simplicity of a confession of faith.³ But down through the ages, we have seen how believers in the church became oppressed by the innumerable and multiple rites that were developed to provide them grace for salvation and ensure their entry into eternal life.

But for Ambrosiaster, he looks into the future for the vindication of those who put their entire faith and trust in the Lord for salvation. Judgment Day is coming when everything will be laid out for all to see. That’s when all false doctrines and teachings will be exposed. But only those who truly believed in Christ will rejoice seeing that what they believed is true. There will be no reason to prove all other teachings and religions as false, that will be obvious. It’s like having a ring full of keys, but only one will open an important door. As soon as that one is identified by the owner, all the others are automatically disqualified⁴.⁵

Bishop Cyril had the same thing in mind as Ambrosiaster with regard to the Jews and Gentiles. He cautioned the Messianic Jews about assuming that salvation by faith is a blessing peculiar to them. The Scriptures disagree by saying that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. It doesn’t matter whether they are Jew or Gentile, male or female, slave or free.⁶ The God of the universe saves everyone without distinction because all things belong to Him. And everything God is and has is shared with His Son Jesus Christ⁷.⁸ Remember, Paul was writing to a church where both Jews and Gentiles met in fellowship and worship. But for some reason, Paul felt led to write them because news had reached him that the Jewish leaders were doubting the authenticity of the Gentile’s faith because they did not also practice the Laws and customs of the Jews.

Reformer Martin Luther makes it plain that faith alone will not suffice unless it is combined with a confession of belief in order to reach the goal of salvation. In his eyes, confession is the chief work of faith because it involves man’s denial of his ability to save himself and confesses that God is the only source of salvation. By doing this, a person surrenders their will in order for God to be acknowledged as their only source of salvation. God, in return, will confirm that person’s confession of faith as being genuine.⁹

John Calvin gives us his explanation concerning believing in one’s heart what they are willing to confess with their mouth. Calvin sees this passage as helping us to understand what justification by faith is; for it shows that righteousness then comes to us when we embrace God’s goodness offered to us in the Gospel. We are then, for this reason, justified because we believe that God is gracious to us in Christ. But let us observe this, – that the seat of faith is not in the head, (in cerebrum — in the brain,) but in the heart. To Calvin, Paul’s design was only to identify true faith out from which fruit proceeds. This would prevent anyone from laying claim to the name of faith. For real faith should kindle the heart with such zeal for God’s glory that it would ignite its own flame.¹⁰

As Calvin sees it, after stating all the reasons why God justly disowned the Jews, Paul gets back to the subject of the calling of the Gentiles. He has already explained the manner in which people obtain salvation, including Jews and Gentiles. So now it is time to hoist the universal banner of salvation so that it waves over those who were previously excluded. That’s when Paul repeats the testimony to which he called Isaiah as a witness. This certainly would establish more authority in the eyes of the Jews, and also establish as evidence how well the prophecies concerning Christ harmonize with the Law.¹¹ As German Bible scholar Johann Bengel put it: “Unrighteousness and being lost produce shame; righteousness and being saved bring glory.”¹²

Adam Clarke is not bashful about what he hears Paul saying here. If you really put your faith and trust in Christ Jesus it will result in a full conviction of the truth of His message. Not only that but with it will come overwhelming evidence of His redemption that you will not be able to keep quiet. You will boldly confess your love and dedication to your Redeemer. Not only that, but declare for all to hear about how He and He alone has provided for the remission of all sins through His blood on the cross. One major goal in Paul’s efforts to get the word out is to show the simplicity of the Gospel’s Plan of Salvation. Not only is it simple but it is very effective. That’s because it does not rise or fall on the practice of rites, rituals, and ceremonies like the Law. Each one of these requires that they are perfectly fulfilled by each follower.

But here is the tragedy: after one has done their utmost with unreserved zeal to conscientiously observe all the precepts of the Law, not only will it fail to attain justification, but it does not bring any peace of conscience. That’s why Paul was so adamant that both Jews and Gentiles recognize that their faith and belief in the Lord Jesus, according to the simple declarations of the Gospel, had justified them freely. This was something the Law of Moses could not do. As a result, they now had the witness of the Spirit dwelling in them that they had passed from death to life.¹³ Clarke also feels that Paul is addressing the fact that many Jews despised the Gospel because it did not come with proper pomp and circumstance. So how could it put those who receive it into possession of every heavenly blessing? So Paul borrows from the prophet Isaiah to show that those who do believe will never be disappointed,¹⁴ and never be sorry,¹⁵ for taking such a leap of faith.¹⁶

Robert Haldane makes it clear that although confessing Christ as Savior is necessary, that alone is not enough to bring about salvation. Look at it this way: there is a confession of the mouth as a confirmation of the heart.¹⁷ This implies that the truth confessed with the mouth is known, received, and believed in the heart. So when both are authentically joined together, then one’s salvation is genuine. The reason for this unity can be seen if there is someone who says, “I believe in Christ,” yet when put in the spotlight of criticism they don’t have the heart to back up their claim. This proves that their faith is not genuine. It also must always be kept in mind that if a person believes anything other than what God said about the person and work of the Savior, that is not Gospel. Therefore, it can neither save or sanctify. The Gospel alone is the power of God for salvation to every one who believes it.¹⁸

Also, Paul’s statement: “Has raised Him from the dead,” poses the question – Why is so much stress laid on the resurrection? Isn’t what Jesus did on the cross sufficient to pay the ransom price for redemption? When He said, “It is finished,” was this not before His resurrection? Most certainly it was. But His resurrection proved that His work was finished. Therefore, the belief of His resurrection is part of His whole work. To illustrate this, a gardener plants all the seeds for a beautiful arrangement of flowers around the house. After all the seeds are planted and covered, they are then given water to grow. So the gardener tells the homeowner, it’s finished. But the homeowner will not be satisfied until they see the flowers sprout, blossom, and bloom. The same is true with Christ’s work on the cross. Although He said it was finished, He had to rise from the dead to show everyone all He came to do had been accomplished.

Haldane further explores the connection between believing and confessing. This is important since it results in righteousness and salvation. What righteousness is Paul talking about? It is the righteousness of Christ. What is the righteousness of Christ? It is His perfect standing with God having fulfilled all the demands of the Law. So how is this righteousness imputed to the believer? This righteousness is called “the righteousness of faith.” It is patterned after the righteousness of Abraham.¹⁹ Not that it IS faith, but what Abraham did by being obedient came BY faith; his faith in God’s Word and promise. Only in the believer’s case, their faith is placed in Jesus Christ.²⁰ That means faith is in the work that Christ did on the cross by being the sacrifice for sin. By doing so, no longer must anyone try and produce their own righteousness through good works in an effort to completely obey the Law.²¹ By putting their faith in Christ as their justifying sacrifice, they simultaneously place their faith in Christ as their sole mediator with God the Father. This is not done simply by choice, but by their union with Christ.

Haldane then looks at Paul’s phrase: “And with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Confessing Christ as Savior is more than just taking an oath. It is more than making a substantiated claim. There is a difference between having faith in Christ and confessing Christ as Savior. Each one serves a different purpose. Faith is necessary to obtain the gift of righteousness; confession is necessary to prove that this gift has been received. When we look at the Greek term homologeō, it can be used to “give assent, to promise, to profess, to praise or celebrate.” Thayer, in his Lexicon, identifies its use here as, “openly declare, speak out freely.” He explains it as that of which a person is convinced, and which they hold to be genuine. It’s not a guess or a supposition, it is fact, a known reality.

Elbert Green Hubbard (1856–1915) was an American writer, publisher, and artist, He and his second wife, Alice Moore Hubbard, died aboard the RMS Lusitania when it was sunk by a German submarine off the coast of Ireland on May 7, 1915.

But during the years before his untimely and tragic death, Hubbard had visited the elegant homes of many of the world’s richest families. As a result, he published a fourteen-volume work titled: Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great. After seeing all the luxury in the mansions of these titans of industry and commerce, he made the statement: “I would rather be able to appreciate things I can not have than to have things I am not able to appreciate.”

How true this should be for all of us. As a young man, I was what one of those you’d call a “Car Guy.” Before I knew how to drive, I would visit all the car dealerships where I lived when the new cars came out and collect brochures showing their latest models. As I leafed through the pages, I wondered what it would be like to own a Cadillac Eldorado or Lincoln Imperial or Ford Continental Mark II. Every time I’d see one on the street I’d stand and stare.

My first car was a 1949 Oldsmobile that I bought for $75. It was sitting up on blocks in a neighbor’s driveway. I think he took the money just so I’d haul it away because it didn’t run and had holes in the floorboard. But with a little hard work changing the spark plugs, the points, the timing, the battery and putting in new oil and a filter, I got it to running again. It had a sun visor over the windshield, but that wasn’t enough, I put visors over the headlights and mudflaps behind the wheels.

When I drove into the parking lot of my high school with my beauty, I noticed everyone looking at the preacher kid’s car, especially the girls. With my shoulders back I walked into school as proud as I could be. But still, whenever I saw a luxury car go by I’d still stare at it. Not with greed, but with awe and appreciation. Did I hope one day I may have one? Yes! Of course! But did that make me not appreciate the old Oldsmobile I had? Not in the least!

Too often people are so enamored and jealous of what others have they lose all appreciation for what they do have. Once you no longer value something as being precious to you, you lose interest and are then prone to abandon it. What a terrible state to be in! You’re unhappy that you don’t have what you can’t afford, and at the same time, miserable about what you can afford. In that state of mind, you’ll end up letting everything that counts in your life decline to the point where it’s of no use to you.

Some men are pathetic because their wife is not like someone else’s, and many a woman is upset because her husband is not some other woman’s. The same goes for kids, families, houses, jobs, etc., etc. King Solomon said it is better to be poor and content than to be rich and always wanting more.¹ He also said that if you have what you need to live comfortably, you will be happy that God blessed you with what you had to work for. In other words, it’s hard to appreciate something given to you out of pity rather than earning it with lots of sweat and hard work.

The Apostle Paul once told the church members in Philippi that he knew what it was to have very little, but also what it was like to have all he needed to be comfortable. It taught him to be satisfied with whatever he had to meet the needs of the moment. But one thing for sure, he would not be able to live with such piece of mind if it wasn’t for the Lord’s help.² So the next time you want to thank God for His blessings in your life, just tell Him you’re happy with what you have. Then watch out, He just may give you something you’ve wanted for a long time.³ – Dr. Robert R Seyda

HE GAVE HIS LIFE, WHAT MORE COULD HE DO?

While I was living and teaching in the Philippines, a lady’s trio from the USA came over to help us. That’s when I heard for the first time these lyrics: “We were the reason that He gave His life, We were the reason that He suffered and died, To a world that was lost, He gave all He could give, to show us the reason to live.” It remains one of my favorites to this day.

So when I read this fictional story written by Matthew Kelly, it touched my heart in a special way. So I wanted to share it with you.

Imagine this …

You’re driving home from work after a long day. You turn on your radio. You hear a blurb about a little village in India where some villagers have died suddenly, strangely, of a flu virus that has never been seen before. It’s not influenza, but three or four people are dead, and it’s kind of interesting, and they are sending some doctors over there to investigate it. You don’t think much about it, but coming home from church on Sunday you hear another radio spot. Only they say it’s not three villagers, it’s 30,000 villagers in the back hills of this particular area of India, and it’s on TV that night. FOX News runs a Special Report: people are heading there from the disease center in Atlanta because this disease might quickly turn into an epidemic.

By Monday morning when you get up, it’s the lead story. It’s not just India; it’s Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and before you know it, you’re hearing this story everywhere, and they have now coined it as “the mystery flu.” The President made the comment that he and his family are praying and hoping that all will go well over there. But everyone is wondering, “How are we going to contain it?”

That’s when the President of France makes an announcement that shocks Europe. He is closing their borders. No flights from India, Pakistan, or any of the countries where this thing has been seen. And that’s why that night you are watching a little bit of FOX News before going to bed. Your jaw hits your chest when a weeping woman is translated into English from a French news program. There are several people now lying in a hospital in Paris, dying of the mystery flu. It has come to Europe.

Panic strikes. As best they can tell, after contracting the disease, you have it for a week before you even know it. Then you have four days of unbelievable symptoms. And then you die. Britain closes its borders, but it’s too late. South Hampton, Liverpool, North Hampton, and it’s Tuesday morning when the President of the United States makes the following announcement: “Due to a national-security risk, all flights to and from Europe and Asia have been canceled. If your loved ones are overseas, I’m sorry. They cannot come back until we find a cure for this thing.”

Within four days our nation has been plunged into an unbelievable fear. People are wondering, “What if it comes to this country?” And preachers on Sunday are saying it’s the scourge of God. It’s Wednesday night, and you are at a church prayer meeting when somebody runs in from the parking lot and yells, “Turn on a radio, turn on a radio!” And while everyone in church listens to a little transistor radio being picked up by a microphone, the chilling news is heard. Two women are lying in a Long Island hospital, dying from the mystery flu. Within hours it seems, this disease envelops the country.

People are working around the clock, trying to find an antidote. Nothing is working. California, Oregon, Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts. It’s as though it’s just sweeping in from the borders. And then all of a sudden the news comes out. The code has been broken. A cure can be found. A vaccine can be made. It’s going to take the blood of somebody who hasn’t been infected. So through all the channels of emergency broadcasting, everyone is asked to do one simple thing: Go to your nearest hospital and have your blood analyzed. That’s all you’re asked to you. Even though this is an emergency, please make your way quickly, quietly, and safely to the hospitals.

Sure enough, when you and your family get to the nearest hospital, there is a long line, and they’ve got nurses and doctors coming out and pricking fingers and taking blood and putting labels on it. Then they tell the people, “Wait here in the parking lot, and if we call your name, you can be dismissed and go home.” You stand around, along with strangers and neighbors, scared, wondering what on earth is going on, and if this is the end of the world.

Suddenly, a young man comes running out of the hospital waving a clipboard yelling. What he yells makes chills run down your spine. You are standing there in disbelief as your young son tugs on your jacket and says, “Daddy, that’s me.” As soon as you raise your hand to get their attention, they take hold of your son. “Wait a minute, hold on!” you say, “It’s okay, his blood is clean. His blood is pure. We want to make sure he doesn’t have the disease. We think he has the right blood type,” they reply. Then they tell everyone standing around you they can go home.

A short time later, out come the doctors and nurses are crying and hugging one another – some are even laughing. It’s the first time you have seen anybody laugh in a week. An older doctor walks up to you and says, “Thank you, sir. Your son’s blood is a perfect match. It’s clean, it is pure, and we can use it to make the new vaccine.” But then the gray-haired physician looks you and your wife in the eyes says, “May we see you inside for a moment?” After you are seated, he continues, “We didn’t realize that the donor would be a minor and we need you to sign a consent form.”

You begin to sign and then you see that the box for the number of pints of blood to be taken is empty. “H-h-h-how many pints?” you stutter. The elderly doctor’s smile fades, and he says, “We had no idea it would be this difficult. We weren’t prepared for this, but we will need all of it! Even though he’s only one person, his blood is just enough.” “But… but… I don’t understand. He’s my only son!” you plead. “We are talking about the world here,” the doctor says, “Please sign. We… we… need to hurry!” “But once you take his blood, can’t you give him a transfusion?” “It wouldn’t matter,” the physician replies, “we have no uninfected blood so he would die anyway. Please, please, sign the consent.”

In numb silence you do. Then they say, “Would you like to have a moment with him before we begin?” It wasn’t easy, but the parents get up and hurriedly walk back to that room where their son is stretched out on a table. When he sees them he asks, “Daddy? Mommy? What’s going on?” Could you take his hands and say, “Son, your mommy and daddy love you, and we would never ever let anything like this happen to you that wasn’t an emergency. Do you understand that?” The elderly doctor comes back in and says, “I’m sorry, we’ve got to get started. People all over the world are dying,” you can leave now. Could you walk out while your son is pleading with you, “Dad? Mom? Why are you forsaking me like this?”

A few days later the city has a ceremony to honor your son. Everyone is invited, but some folks sleep through it, and some folks don’t even bother to come because they have other things to do, and some folks come with a pretentious smile and just pretend to care. You can’t take it. You want to jump up and yell, “EXCUSE ME! MY SON DIED FOR YOU! DON’T YOU CARE? DOES IT MEAN NOTHING TO YOU?”

I wonder, is that what God wants to say every Sunday? “MY SON DIED FOR YOU. DOESN’T THAT MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU? DON’T YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I CARE FOR YOU BY LETTING HIM DIE LIKE THAT?”¹ Some people do care. They gather every Sunday to thank God for His gift. So when His Son comes back to gather all those He saved, who have accepted His blood for their salvation, who do you think will go with Him, and who will He leave behind? – Dr. Robert R Seyda

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER TEN (Lesson XV)

Dr. Hodge now moves on to the second requisite for salvation which is, “faith.” This faith must include the truth that God raised Jesus from the dead. The reason, this was God’s way of publicly acknowledging Him to be all that He claimed to be and verified everything He came to perform in His name. God wanted the world to know that this was His Son and the chosen Savior of the world. That is why He accepted His death and blood as the only sacrifice for sin.¹

Having “faith” is a long way from simply guessing or speculating. It involves a commitment so strong that giving one’s life defending it is never out of the question. Such a commitment will always be accompanied by strong affections. That’s the foundation of why confession is considered an outward oath confirming an inward loyalty. With faith being more than an emotional act of the mind, it includes understanding such dedication. Saving faith is more than thinking you are saved by something you said you would do out of submission, commitment, and faithfulness. It is knowing you are saved by something God said He would do through His love, grace, and mercy.²

In Charles Spurgeon’s way of thinking, the Gospel’s command, “Be and live,” is just as clear, plain, and positive as the Law’s command, “Do and live.”³ From his perspective, there never was, and never will be, a person who confessed with their mouth Jesus Christ as Lord, and with their heart believed that God raised Him from the dead, that was not saved. When all the multitudes that end up in hell are examined, there will not be one confessing believer or one believing confessor among them. The same thing Jesus about the pairing of man and woman in marriage can be said of marrying confession and faith: “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”⁴

It goes without saying, that the mouth and the heart are equally necessary to be a functioning, breathing body, and a living soul. Since one’s faith harbored in the heart cannot be seen on the outside, it must be attested to by spoken words and good deeds. What Paul says here is like taking these two and tying them with a rope to an anchor which is the work of Jesus Christ. Storms may come and the tempest may rage but the ship that is anchored to Christ will not be moved. By seeing Christ die on the cross, many thought He sank like a ship and our salvation sank with Him into the depths of the grave. But because He was raised out of the depths of the grave, then we will be raised as He was to be with Him forever.

As Spurgeon said, and I concur, if you throw yourself, sink or swim, on what Jesus has done, then you need not fear because you are saved. To say otherwise would make anyone who did so a liar. But even worse, this would make the Bible a Book of Lies as well. Not only that, but the Spirit of God would have perjured Himself by saying something that was not true. Spurgeon gives his own confession: “With my mouth, I do again confess the Lord Jesus, for I believe Him to be very God of very God, my Master, my all. Moreover, in my heart, I do verily and assuredly believe that God raised Him from the dead, and I am glad of it.”⁵

Frédéric Godet believes that what Paul says in this verse can be better understood in the light of what he says in verse 8. The Word is in your mouth and heart, that then becomes the message of faith you proclaim. This points out two conditions of salvation. First, faith is all that’s needed to take hold of our completed atonement in Christ. And, secondly, when this faith becomes a living lifestyle, that will then serve as an open profession. It reminds us that profession would be nothing without faith, and faith would be of no use without profession.⁶

F. F. Bruce agrees with many of the older commentators that if on your lips is the confession “Jesus is Lord,” while believing in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, then salvation is yours. I like the way Bruce puts it: “Saving faith is resurrection faith.” This certainly echoes what the Apostle Paul told the Corinthians: “If the Messiah has not been raised, your trust is useless, and you are still in your sins.”⁷

David Stern approaches the need for confession from a Jewish point of view. He talks about “secret believers” in Judaism. In using that term Stern identifies them as Jews who have come to believe that Yeshua is the Messiah but do not tell their family and friends, and have little fellowship with other Messianic believers. This stems from the fact that trusting in Yeshua is a process rather than an instantaneous event. During this period a person may not yet be ready to go public with their belief. But this raises the question of whether or not such a person would pass the test given by Peter?⁸ Stern admits that if that person is in touch with other Messianic believers and is receiving the proper instructions, this incubation period should last no longer than a few days or weeks. This seems to be a repeat of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus.⁹ However, those who ultimately fail to acknowledge their faith for all to know face a reprisal from the Lord Himself.¹⁰ What Stern says here about Messianic believers among their fellow Jews, can easily be said of Christian believers among their non-believing friends and family.¹¹

Verses 10-11: When we believe in our hearts, we are made right with God. We tell with our mouth how we were saved from the punishment of sin. Yes, the Scriptures say, “Anyone who trusts in Him will never be sorry they did.”

Paul is not about to leave the understanding of what he is saying here up to personal interpretations by his readers. He wants to make it crystal clear that a right standing with God is based upon true belief in the heart, and salvation is joined to that belief by a sincere confession of the mouth. Jesus illustrated this in his parable about seed sown in the ground; some falling on a hard path, some on stony ground, and some among weeds. But Jesus said that when the seed falls on good ground, “The good soil represents honest, good-hearted people. They listen to God’s words and cling to them and steadily spread them to others who also soon believe.”¹²

In the opening chapter of his Gospel, the Apostle John makes the same point: “Even in His own land and among His own people, the Jews, He was not accepted. Only a few would welcome and receive Him. But to all who received Him, He gave the right to become children of God. All they needed to do was to trust Him to save them. All those who believe this are reborn!—not a physical rebirth resulting from human passion or plan—but from the will of God.”¹³ Today, we would rephrase this to say that when Jesus came to the Jews He was preaching to the choir. But even among those who sang the songs of praise and worship, there were many who did not believe what they were singing.

And the writer of Hebrews puts it this way: “So, brothers, we have confidence to use the way into the Holiest Place opened by the blood of Yeshua. He inaugurated it for us as a new and living way through the parokhet [veil], by means of His flesh. We also have a great cohen [priest] over God’s household. Therefore, let us approach the Holiest Place with a sincere heart, in the full assurance that comes from trusting – with our hearts sprinkled clean from a bad conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.¹⁴ Let us continue holding fast to the hope we acknowledge, without wavering; for the One who made the promise is trustworthy.”¹⁵ So true conversion that comes from confessing faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Savior is more than a prayer, it is a life-changing experience.

No wonder Paul told the Galatians: “You and I are Jews by birth, not mere Gentile sinners, and yet we Jewish Christians know very well that we cannot become right with God by obeying our Jewish Laws but only by faith in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And so we, too, have trusted Jesus Christ, that we might be accepted by God because of faith – and not because we have obeyed the Jewish Laws.”¹⁶ And Paul shared this personal experience with the Philippians: “I have put aside everything else, assessing it as being worth less than nothing, in order that I can be joined to Christ, and become one with Him, no longer counting on being saved by being good enough or by obeying God’s Laws, but by trusting Christ to save me; for God’s way of making us right with Himself depends on faith—depending on Christ alone.”¹⁷ The Apostle John said Amen to what Paul says here. He told his readers: “Anyone who believes and says that Jesus is the Son of God has God living in him, and he is living with God.”¹⁸

So the doctrine of belief and confession became an important part of the early church, especially as it relates to converts. Ignatius, a disciple of the Apostle John, stated: “It is better for a man to be silent and be a Christian than to talk and not be one.” For Ignatius, people must believe with their heart and confess with their mouth for a reason. The first, to declare their right standing before God, and the second, to proclaim their salvation through Christ. He points out that it is good to teach, but only if the teacher does what he or she tells others to do.¹⁹ Usually, such statements are made in trying to straighten out a case of people who have become victims of misbelief. It appears that some were going around saying they were Christians but the lifestyle did not support their claim. This is an early example of the saying: Practice what you preach.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER TEN (Lesson XIV)

The Apostle Peter reached the conclusion after Jesus told them that the Father in heaven is unreachable, that unless they go through Christ they cannot have fellowship with Him. So Peter says: “Master, to whom shall we go? You alone have the words that give eternal life, and we believe them and know you are the holy Son of God.”¹ And Paul adds that we must have complete confidence and faith in Christ’s resurrection. He told the Corinthians: “If He is still dead, then all our preaching is useless and your trust in God is empty, worthless, hopeless; and we apostles are all liars because we have said that God raised Christ from the grave, and of course that isn’t true if the dead do not come back to life again. If they don’t, then Christ is still dead, and you are very foolish to keep on trusting God to save you, and you are still under condemnation for your sins.”²

So when the Apostle Peter sent his letter to the scattered Jewish believers around the Roman empire, he wrote: “God chose Him [Christ] for this purpose long before the world began, but only recently was He brought into public view, in these last days, as a blessing to you. Because of this, your trust can be in God who raised Christ from the dead and gave Him great glory. Now your faith and hope can rest in Him alone.”³ Have you ever heard a minister lead people in a sinner’s prayer by saying: “And I believe with all my heart that God raised Jesus from the dead to be my Lord and Savior?”

When examining what early church scholars have to say on this confession of faith, we look at what Augustine and Pelagius had in mind. Augustine recommends that when asked about your salvation, memorize what Paul says here as a Creed that you then repeat as your answer.⁴ Pelagius seems to oppose the very idea, that later on in the Roman Catholic church, became known as “indulgences.” For him, what you confess with your mouth is the testimony of what’s in your heart. When you follow what Paul said, you will be saved from past transgressions, but not sins in advance.⁵ In other words, no matter what one says in confessing their faith in God and in Christ, what comes out of the mouth must be coming from a pure and honest heart at that moment.

Mike Aquilina, a writer for Our Sunday Visitor, in his work on the writings of the early church fathers, makes a point about how salvation was determined at the beginning of the church era. He discovered that there were many sects claiming the name “Christian,” who practiced doctrines contradictory to one another. So it had to be made clear very early in the Church exactly what a person meant when they claimed to be a follower of the “Christian faith.” So Church leaders and scholars had to come up with concise statements of belief that mirrored the teachings of Christ and the Apostles.⁶ He points out what Paul wrote to the Corinthians,⁷ here to the Romans, and in the Acts of the Apostles were major points in their consideration.⁸

Aquilina then shares the explanation of creeds by St. Cyril of Jerusalem: That the reasoning behind describing faith was not made to agree with human opinions. Rather, what was found to be of the greatest importance when gathered from all the Scriptures. This was necessary to present the one teaching of faith in its entirety. And just as the mustard seed contains a great number of branches in a tiny grain, so too this summary of faith, made up of a few words, contained the whole knowledge of true faith contained in the both Covenants.⁹

Reformer Martin Luther sees another factor in this confession, and that is the recognition that Jesus was crucified for our sins and raised again for our justification.¹⁰ Without that, there would have been no reason for Him to die or be resurrected. Luther then points back to verses 6-7 where Paul explains that our righteousness does not come through the Law but from the death and resurrection of Christ. So when put together, whoever believes both of these facts will be saved, according to what Paul says in verse 10. So the actual act of salvation is not based on what we say, but that we believe what we say.

John Calvin takes issue with Paul for putting confession before faith. Calvin feels that the order would have been more convincing if faith of the heart had preceded confession of the mouth. That’s because confession comes after faith, as long as the person rightly confesses the Lord Jesus. And this confession is an acknowledgment that He is the one given by the Father, and described in the Gospel. Another thing Calvin emphasizes is that the mention of Christ’s resurrection should not be taken as something that diminished the momentous importance of His death on the cross. The work of salvation did not start until Christ hung on the cross, and His rising again completed the whole work of our salvation.

There was nothing before, such as the Law, and nothing has been added since, such as the sacraments of the church that change this principle of faith. Our redemption, calling, and justification were put into effect by Christ’s death, through which we are reconciled to God. He then won the victory over sin, death, the grave, hell, and Satan by His resurrection. That then put us on the path of righteousness, newness of life, and the blessed hope of immortality. So Paul had no intention of drawing attention away from Christ’s death by only mentioning His resurrection here. Paul was standing by what he told the Corinthians: “If Christ did not rise from the grave, then your faith is futile and you are still in your sins”¹¹.¹²

John Bengel sees the thought expressed here by Paul as copying the Hebrew parallel form. It reads as follows: “Confession by the mouth must be added to faith of the heart, in order to secure salvation.”¹³ Albert Barnes takes the Greek word homologeō rendered “confess,” as meaning the same when it is rendered “profess.”¹⁴ So while it means “declare” in one instance it means “profess” in another. In fact, Thayer states that in this case, it means, “to declare openly, to speak out freely.” But there is more when that declaration is a confession, then what is said agrees with something else. It is exemplified by what the person is saying: They not only talk the talk but walk the walk. Furthermore, what a believer says for themselves must be in agreement, or accord, with what God says about them.

I like the way Jonathan Edwards speaks about how a sinner must make an open confession of their faith in Christ. It may be referred to as the “sinner’s prayer,” or “public testimony” of their acceptance of Christ as Lord and Savior. For him, when the Apostle Paul speaks of the necessity of a profession of one’s faith in Christ as they seek salvation, he is actually speaking of a saving faith. And this “saving faith” is a combination of what one says with their mouth and what one believes in their heart.¹⁵

Barnes suggests that it could be formed as a creed that would imply the following: A profession of faith that stands as a public declaration of our agreement with what God has declared, and includes in all His extends to all His proclamations about our lost condition, our sin, and our need of a Savior. Also to His teachings about His own nature, holiness, and the Law; about the Savior and the Holy Spirit; about the necessity of a change of heart and holiness of life; about the grave and the judgment; and about heaven and hell.

When it comes to any doctrine of salvation, the role of the Redeemer must be front and center. It is put here by Paul as a way of making a distinction between all other facts. This is publicly expressed by the believer as their assent to that fact. So it is a declaration of agreement with everything else said in Scripture on this subject.¹⁶

Robert Haldane focuses in on why and how confessing Jesus Christ as Lord results in salvation. First, any confession made must imply that the truth confessed must be known and agreed to in the heart. That way, the belief of the heart is in sync with the confession of the lips. Neither one is genuine without the other. Unless that is the case, then neither the belief in the heart and the confession with the mouth result in salvation. If a person says, “I believe in Christ,” yet denies Him when challenged, or if a person does believe in Christ as Savior yet refuses to confess such belief openly, such conflict between heart and mouth causes one to cancel out the other. It is not enough to believe what we say without believing what God says. Christ did not die to be our Savior only at the beginning of lifting us up from being dead in trespasses and sin, but to be our Savior at the end when He raises us up from the grave to everlasting life. Anything less than this can neither save nor sanctify.¹⁷

Charles Hodge disagrees with John Calvin on putting faith before confession. For him, the two requisites for salvation mentioned in this verse – confession and faith, are stated in their natural order. First, our outer “confession” is the evidence of our inner “faith.” The Apostle Peter puts them in the same order by telling his readers to “confirm their calling and election.”¹⁸ Since calling is placed before election, then “calling” is the evidence of “election.” To make this clearer, let’s look at the thing to be confessed or confirmed. It is that Jesus Christ is Lord.¹⁹

That openly recognizes His authority to the full extent in which He is Lord. It also acknowledges that He is exalted above all principalities and powers.²⁰ Even angels are subject to His authority.²¹ Furthermore, all power in heaven and earth are committed to Him because He is Lord.²² This confession, therefore, includes in it an acknowledgment of Christ’s universal sovereignty, and a sincere recognition of His authority over us. So to confess Christ as Lord is to acknowledge faith in Him as the Messiah. This is how God sees Him and as a result made Him our Mediator. So it is clear that faith is necessary in such a confession.²³

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER TEN (Lesson XIII)

When our thoughts, words, and deeds use the Word of God as a guide and motivator, our obedience then becomes one of principle, not obligation. As Paul told the Philippians: “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.”¹ Paul then goes on to tell how Christ, even though He was on the same level as the Father, did not regard that as being something to cling to, but, as God’s Son, gave up His exalted privileges in exchange for a humble position in becoming Mary’s son. Not only did He take on human form, but in doing so had to deal with all the limitations and needs of the flesh. He even went to the cross in obedience to His Father’s will and died as a criminal. But after doing so, God raised Him from the dead and elevated Him again to His divine position in heaven.

So how does this relate to us? It becomes a matter of principle by which our attitude and motivation are affected. Jesus was willing to give up one thing in order to receive another thing that His heavenly Father ordained for Him. Our Lord subjected Himself to a status much lower than what He previously possessed for the sake of others. Not only that, but He freely consented to enduring hardships and trials in order to carry out His Father’s will. As a result, He was despised by the world, made fun of for His faith and the audacity of calling Himself the Son of God. It ended up costing Him His life. But in doing so, He was able to save others and God rewarded Him by raising Him from the dead to have with everlasting life up in heaven. Since Jesus did that for us, can we do any less for Him?

John Calvin sees Paul’s statement concerning the “message of faith” being interpreted as a “word of promise.” That is, the Gospel itself because it must be understood in its relationship to faith. For we are told that faith is the substance of things hoped for but as yet unseen.² And these things hoped for are the promises of God coming true. In this, we can see the distinction between the Law and the Gospel. And from this differentiation, we learn that while the Law demands works, the Gospel requires nothing more than faith. And when faith is brought to God, His grace is received. And that grace allows for the forgiveness of sins. And once those sins are forgiven, then justification is given to stand before God in as being right with Him. But not by the self-righteousness of works, but by the righteousness available through the work of Christ on the cross and resurrection. So the big difference between what Paul was preaching and what Moses told the children of Israel is that salvation has a different source. It is no longer the Law, but Christ.³

John Bengel has an interesting way of internalizing what Paul is saying here. As a believer, there is no reason why you should go looking for Christ in a church building or up in the sky. As soon as you believed, the Spirit of Christ took up residence in your heart. So don’t seek the Lord at a distance, but look within you. You will find Him there. This is true not only during the beginning phase of your faith but during your whole journey.⁴ This is reflective of what the Psalmist said: “Search for the LORD and for His strength, and keep on searching! Remember the wonders He has done, His miracles, and the decisions He has made.”⁵ And just remember, as a new creation in Christ Jesus, you are one of His miracles. Because once this happens then you are eligible for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to exercise His gifts.

Adam Clarke sees Paul answering his own question about where to find the blessed assurance of salvation. There is no need to travel the world in search of the source of God’s saving power. It’s as close as saying by faith, “Father forgive me.” God never intended to make the way to salvation difficult or complicated. It was as simple as Christ’s death on the cross. And having faith in His death and resurrection is clear for all to know, and there are thousands who have answered the call and found that what it says it does and what it says it will do.

This is why Jesus commanded His disciples and all who followed Him to go and proclaim the Good News. He did not want the lost sheep to go in search of Him, He wanted them to know that He was willing to go in search of them.⁶ Paul also made it clear when he said in the next verse: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” But such a confession is useless if it is not done sincerely by faith with a strong desire to be saved. By submitting to this method of justification which God has devised, there is nothing a person can do to augment it or make it better.⁷

Robert Haldane questions whether or not the Apostle Paul is looking for a way to show that when it comes to righteousness, the Law of Moses and the Gospel of Christ must agree on some mutual point since both come from God. It appears that Paul found such a coincidental point of view when he quotes from Deuteronomy 30:11-14. Or could it be that Paul saw the clear manner in which the knowledge of what God required given to the children of Israel, and compared it to the clear language of the Gospel required to be given to those who would become the children of God?

As Paul explains it, under the Law they had to reach out for righteousness through works. But in the Gospel, righteousness reaches out to the sinner because the work is already done by Christ. Furthermore, under the Law the sinners were encouraged to search in order to find the way to God. But in the Gospel we see that God found a way to the sinner by sending His Son. So since the door of truth, as contained in the Law, was staring the people of Israel in the face, all they had to do was knock so they could go in. But in the Gospel is it Christ who stands at the door and knocks, and whoever opens up, He will come in⁸.⁹

Albert Barnes notes that Paul’s quote of Deuteronomy 30:14 was to signify that the doctrine was already so familiar, and so well understood, that it was already part of their language; their common conversation. Moses had so often instilled it in their minds that it was understood and talked about by the people. That way, there was no need for them to go in search of it in some distant land among a foreign people in order to obtain it. So Paul’s point is that the same is true of the Gospel. The facts were so well-known by the preaching of the Apostles, that they might be said to be “in every man‘s mouth.” So there was no need to go looking for it, it was already in front of them. This simplicity and plainness of the Gospel will now be explained by Paul in the next verse.¹⁰

Swiss theologian Frédéric Godet does not hesitate to consider the writings of Moses from ancient times being considered relative truth, but in Christ it becomes absolute truth. There is, therefore, in this passage neither an attempt to merely quote the words of Moses, nor, as a Rabbi, for Paul to pretend to interpret it correctly. In fact, what Paul does here ought to be done in every sermon. First, point out in the strict sense of the text the fundamental and universal principle it contains. Then, in the broad spirit of the text freely apply that fundamental and universal principle to the circumstances in which the people hearing are living. But there is one critical part of this process. Whatever is taken from the wisdom of Moses, must be delivered to the current audience through the wisdom of Christ.¹¹

But British scholar John Stott has a warning when such a process is used. He feels that many try to read into what Paul was thinking or saying things coming from their imagination but not a real part of the text. So, first the question is asked: “How does Paul use this passage from Deuteronomy?” Could we suppose that under the anointing, Moses was foretelling the death and resurrection of Jesus? Or could we assume that Moses was preaching the Gospel under the guise of the Law? The answer is emphatically, No!

Where we find the similarity between what Moses was teaching and what Paul was teaching lies in their easy accessibility. Paul knew that Moses began this part of his speech by telling the Israelites that his teaching was neither too difficult for them to understand, nor too far beyond their comprehension. Moses used dramatic imagery. He said it was neither up in heaven nor beyond the sea – remote and unknown. That’s why they did not need to have someone ascend into heaven or cross the sea in order to bring it back to them. On the contrary, what he taught was closer to them than he was. It was a part of them already. It was actually inside them, in their hearts and in their mouths. So the same can be said of the Gospel.¹²

Jewish scholar David Stern finds Paul telling the Israelites that what needed to be done was found in the Word given to them. It was not about following religious rules, but trusting in the message being brought to them. So the question needs to be asked: “What is this ‘trust’?” According to Paul, it consists of two components: privately trusting and publicly acknowledging. To do this, it requires using the heart and the mouth. On the basis of such trust alone can our efforts to obey God’s directives (Romans 1:5) lead to being made righteous (1:16–17). And that, in turn, will bring deliverance (or “salvation”) from the death penalty which sinners (that is, all people, 3:23) have earned (6:23).¹³

Verse 9: If you openly declare, “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from death, you will be saved.

This scripture has been so misunderstood and misapplied that many who have heard it quoted to them as part of the sinner’s prayer are still not sure if salvation is theirs. Confessing that Jesus is ADONAI and believing that God raised Him from the dead, is only the first step toward salvation. In other words, there is no reason to go on confessing one’s sins and expressing that Christ is now Lord, Savior, and advocate before God the Father in order to receive forgiveness and eternal life. Unless you believe with all your heart that it is true, whatever else you may say will have no effect. It would be like a Jew reciting the Ten Commandments without believing they really came from God and are binding. Or, for someone to repeat John 3:16 without being convinced that it really happened and that by believing in Him they need not fear dying in their sins and facing everlasting punishment.