Down an Unfamiliar Road

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER TEN (Lesson XXIV)

Jewish commentator David Stern interprets what Paul says in these verses from a Jew’s perspective. Paul follows a tactic used by Rabbis throughout the writing of the Talmud. They introduce an imaginary opponent who states their objections. By answering this mystical opponent, they are able to explain their case. In Paul’s example, this imagined opponent can be accepted as an unconverted Jew defending Israel and looking for flaws in Paul’s argument.¹ The opponent appears five times: First in verse 13, by implication here in verses 14–15, and explicitly in verses 18-19; and later in 11:1–2 and 11:11. Stern also sees that Paul quotes some twelve times from the First Covenant in this chapter to prove his point. So it is clear that he is directing his message to the Jewish contingent of the Church in Rome.²

This mystical opponent’s objection was that calling on the name of ADONAI should not be applied to Jews in the way Paul has done. Their point is, it isn’t our fault if we don’t call on the name of ADONAI through Yeshua; no one was ever sent to proclaim Him to us. The opponent then goes on to defend their point by using four arguments: How can they call if they haven’t believed; how can they believe if they have not heard; how can they hear if no one has told them; and how can anyone tell them if they are not sent. Even the opponent agrees that the sender must be God.

What this all adds up to is that the opponent ends up blaming God. Why didn’t God send someone to tell the Good News to the Jews? Certainly, they would have welcomed this messenger from the Almighty. In fact, they would have been thrilled to hear the sound of his feet. After all, isn’t that what Isaiah said? Stern says that a similar objection is heard today when it is claimed that the Jewish Bible (the First Covenant) does not contain Messianic prophecies fulfilled by Yeshua. In fact, the Jews have found all the prophecies accepted by Christians as relevant to the coming of Jesus of Nazareth are actually related to other historical figures in Judaism. So how can anyone blame modern Jews for not becoming believers that Jesus was the Messiah? Again, some blame God because He didn’t send anyone at the appropriate time. Such doubters need to read the Gospels in the Last Covenant.³

Verses 16-17: But not all the people accepted that good news. Isaiah said, “Lord, who believed what we told them?”⁴ So faith comes from hearing the Good News. And people hear the Good News when someone tells them about Christ.

What Paul says here in verse 17 can be somewhat unclear. Did he mean, “Hearing of the Word results in faith?” Or could it possibly be defined as “The Word brings the power to hear and through hearing, faith is born?” It would seem that the first pertains to physical hearing; the sensing of audible sound. The latter would apply to spiritual hearing; sensing of inaudible thoughts. Is it possible to hear the voice of God with the soul’s ear while the physical organ hears nothing? Yes, when it is communicated properly. But it is possible to hear the Word with the perishable ear while the imperishable one remains deaf. Unbelief and disbelief deafen the spiritual ear. No wonder Christ admonished, “He who has ears, let him hear.”⁵ Not physical reception of sound, but spiritual assimilation of life-giving words. Read it again! Oh, that people would stop listening just with their ears and start hearing with their hearts!

 What Paul says here in verse 17 can be somewhat unclear. Did he mean, “Hearing of the Word results in faith?” Or could it possibly be defined as “The Word brings the power to hear and through hearing, faith is born?” It would seem that the first pertains to physical hearing; the sensing of audible sound. The latter would apply to spiritual hearing; sensing of inaudible thoughts. Is it possible to hear the voice of God with the soul’s ear while the physical organ hears nothing? Yes, when it is communicated properly. But it is possible to hear the Word with the perishable ear while the imperishable one remains deaf. Unbelief and disbelief deafen the spiritual ear. No wonder Christ admonished, “He who has ears, let him hear.”

Jesus encountered such individuals when He visited the Temple during the Feast of the Dedication in the winter. As He walked along the Portico of Solomon, He was confronted by many Jews who wanted to know, are you the real Messiah or not? Jesus pointed at them and said: You’ve heard what I’ve told you and you’ve seen the works that I’ve done in my Father’s name to prove that I am. But here’s your problem: “You don’t believe Me because you are not part of My flock. My sheep recognize My voice, and I know who they are, and so they follow Me.”⁶ In other words, unless the Spirit of God awakens the heart and mind to hear communication on a spiritual level, it is impossible for anyone to understand the Gospel enough to see the truth and become a follower of Jesus.

The writer of Hebrews also points out that Moses had the same difficulty. He writes: “For this wonderful news – the message that God wants to save us – has been given to us just as it was to those who lived in the time of Moses. But it didn’t do them any good because they didn’t believe it. They didn’t combine what they heard with faith.”⁷ That’s why, while a minister or teacher of the Gospel may feel let down because there is no response from some in the audience to their message, they should not conclude that they have failed. But at the same time, don’t give up. In God’s time, they will hear what the Lord is trying to tell them.

Paul experienced a similar situation long after he wrote this letter when he was transferred to Rome by the military where he was put under house arrest. That’s when he called together the local Jewish leaders to explain why he had been arrested for the Gospel that he preached. They told him that in Rome the Christians had a bad reputation. So Paul opened the Torah and writings of the Prophets and began to teach them about Jesus. His lecture lasted from morning until late into the evening. When it was over, Luke tells us: “Some believed and some didn’t.”⁸ An argument broke out between those Jews who did believe and those who didn’t. As they left, Paul called out to them: “The Holy Spirit was right when he said through Isaiah the prophet, ‘Say to the Jews, “You will hear and see but not understand, for your hearts are too fat and your ears don’t listen and you have closed your eyes against understanding, for you don’t want to see and hear and understand and turn to me to heal you.”’⁹”¹⁰

So it wasn’t so much that they didn’t hear, but that they didn’t listen. Anyone who has raised children can testify to the fact that often when they told their child to do something, or stop doing something, or go somewhere, they got no response. So they would call out loudly, “Didn’t you hear me?” Of course, they heard, but they didn’t listen. Listening gives the hearer the opportunity to obey. The writer of Hebrews said that after Jesus did everything needed to prove Himself by learning obedience through His suffering, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.¹¹ Not just those who hear the Word, but those who obey by listening. Abraham heard God speaking to him, but he did more than listen, he obeyed, even though it took him places he had never been before.¹²

The prophet Isaiah knew the frustration of trying to get people to listen to what God gave him to say. Even after saying this: “See, my Servant will be successful; He shall be highly praised. Yet many will be amazed when they see Him—yes, even far-off foreign nations and their kings; they shall stand dumbfounded, speechless in His presence. For they shall see and understand what they had not been told before. They shall see my Servant beaten and bloodied, so disfigured one would scarcely know it was a person standing there. That’s how He will cleanse many nations,” He ended up by lamenting, “But who will believe my message? To whom will God reveal His saving power?”¹³ Isaiah knew they heard him, but they weren’t listening. This is also how John saw it after the Jews had seen all the miracles Jesus performed, they still didn’t believe He was the Messiah. That’s why John said: “This is exactly what Isaiah the prophet predicted.”¹⁴

So Paul concludes that faith can only come by listening. But listening to what? This is where every Christian preacher and teacher must take note, because Paul clearly says that faith blossomed because they were listening to the “Word of God.” Does that mean only the reading of the Bible? No! But it does mean that what is being said must be in complete harmony with what God said in His Word. However, listening is still not enough, it must be followed by a response.

In Jesus’ story about the rich man who found himself in Hades and saw Abraham with Lazarus in his arms on the other side of the huge gap that divided them, he pleaded with Abraham to send Lazarus back to tell his five brothers not to make the same mistake he did. But Abraham responded: “The Scriptures have warned them again and again. Your brothers can read them any time they want to. The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham, they won’t bother to read them. But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will turn from their sins.’ But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen even though someone rises from the dead.’”¹⁵ Of course, Jesus told this parable as an omen of what many unbelieving Jews would do, even after He was raised from the dead by His heavenly Father.

So when people began to question why Paul was only sent to evangelize and not to baptize and pastor those who believed, Paul said: “Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Gospel; and even my preaching sounds poor, for I do not fill my sermons with profound words and high-sounding ideas, for fear of diluting the mighty power there is in the simple message of the cross of Christ. I know very well how foolish it sounds to those who are lost, when they hear that Jesus died to save them. But we who are saved recognize this message as the very power of God.”¹⁶

Not everyone needs to emulate Paul and say they have no interest in pastoring. That was particular to his calling, every calling is unique. Nor should anyone take this to mean that their sermons should sound so simple that even 4-year-old’s can understand. Paul was making reference here to the how Greek orators used to try and astound their listeners with complicated arguments. But it is important that we keep the message at such a level that we do not purposely add to the Word that God gives us something that makes it sound more complicated than it needs to be. This only brings honor to the speaking, not the One who sent them.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER TEN (Lesson XXIII)

Scottish Bible scholar Robert Haldane believes that in the sequence of how the Gospel is to reach the ears of mankind so they can hear God’s offer of salvation, God had no intention of simply speaking directly from heaven or sending His angels to do the job. First He sent His Son Jesus to deliver the message to a few, and then through His great commission, Jesus made it clear that His followers were going to carry out that mission. Haldane notes that Paul isn’t saying that God cannot speak to us from the pages of the Scriptures, but that whatever the words in the Bible may be saying to us we still need to hear a living voice communicate that to our minds, and with the help of the Holy Spirit it is made clear for understanding. In Haldane’s opinion, people are not only saved through Christ, but they are saved through the knowledge of Christ communicated by way of the Gospel.¹

Bible scholar Albert Barnes sees what Paul is saying here as being a response to any possible objection on the part of those who heard him say that in order for someone to believe in Jesus as Savior they must call on His name. Also, their confession must include their faith in His death on the cross and resurrection in order to be justified. So what happens to those who haven’t heard the Gospel? Shouldn’t someone be responsible for sending a messenger of the Gospel to them?

It appears that this objection was coming from the premise upon which Paul said: If the world is to be saved, it cannot happen without certain factors being involved. First, how could they call on someone for salvation of who they had heard nothing? How could they be aware of His existence, ability, and willingness to help if they weren’t informed? Most Bible scholars believe that Paul was anticipating such a question involving these particulars and decided to answer ahead of time.² Paul uses Isaiah to answer the objection by saying: You have every right to ask, and I’m happy to tell you how beautiful are the feet of those who go and preach the Good News.³

Charles Spurgeon took what Paul says here to make it applicable to his generation of believers. The first thing he wants them to think about is this: “If the Word of the Lord does not get to someone either by a living voice or by the written word, how are they to believe in Christ as their Savior? So all that is being asked is: If the plan of salvation has some built-in factor that will make this happen, what are they? So their next conclusion must be that someone ought to be found to go and spread the Good News. They must share the Gospel in such a powerful way that people will want to listen to more. Then, those who are listening will be convinced by the Holy Spirit that it is true and will accept it and believe in it. Once this happens they will then be emboldened by the Spirit to call on the name of the Lord and ask Him for salvation.

So Spurgeon concludes that his audience will see what he calls the mechanism of salvation and the great engine that drives it, which is the Gospel. And when they see this force in action they will note that it is God who sends the preacher; it is God who blesses the Word; it is God who sends faith into the heart of those who hear; it is God who accepts their prayer for forgiveness and salvation. When seen this way, then the humblest of preachers of the gospel can stand as a symbol that God is present, They are speaking to those who come to hear them, and God will see to it that what the preachers say will happen. So happy are the messengers. May the messengers’ hearts rejoice, even when sometimes their soul may be heavy because they know they are doing the work of their Master, for their Master’s sake, and by their Master’s authority.

Still, in spite of the God’s efforts and the messengers’ efforts, for Spurgeon, the heart of it all must be real faith if the call for salvation has any meaning. There can never be such a thing as believing in what one has never heard. It must also be the kind of hearing that changes a person’s perspective. The words Jesus spoke were often doubted until His miracles convinced even the hardest skeptic that this Son of man was for real. No wonder Paul spoke of the power of the Gospel.

The Holy Spirit uses it like a spark that can set fire to a person’s heart. Then when they sincerely call on the name of the Lord, the heat of redemption arrives covered by the blood of the Lamb. So what is the difference between any two preachers carrying the same message? Paul says it is very simple, the one who is sent by the One who is calling will make the Word active. So when it enters the heart and mind it will wake up the spirit of mankind that has been in a coma since the Garden of Eden. Then it will come to life and a new creature will be born in Christ by the power of the Word and the Holy Spirit.⁴

Frédéric Godet sees something here that suggests Paul is making a defense of his ministry. Why was he going into all these territories and preaching first to the Jews in their synagogues, and then to the Gentiles in open spaces? Why not let the Christian faith spread like the faith of Abraham among the Israelites in which each set of parents taught their children, who then taught their children, and so on? Paul is making the case that there is not enough time for that because the Lord may be coming back soon. Also, since this message was to also be spread by the Gentiles, there was no way for them to spread a religion they know nothing about. So someone has to go, someone has to preach, someone has to inspire faith in the message of salvation so that those who hear can call on the Lord and be saved.

Furthermore, even though the Jews were first to hear, they had no such evangelistic efforts to reach the heathen masses. Yes, there were even some Jews, who took offence at the universal character of Paul’s Apostleship that included the Gentiles. So we can see Paul’s ministry doing exactly what he said those messengers would do who were sent out to announce the Good News. And he was not just any messenger, but one who was sent by the Lord Himself. This gave Paul strength, courage, and resolve to do the work for which he had been anointed. And this should translate into the same reason why any minister of the Gospel goes out today to spread the Good News of salvation.⁵

F. F. Bruce sees another facet of Paul’s ministry. He is called an Apostle. The word itself means to be sent. As such, he is a herald, an ambassador conveying a message from someone royal leader who has commissioned him to deliver it. In doing so, Paul magnifies the office of the Gospel preacher. They are more than just conveyors of a kingly message, they also have been given the authority to proclaim His amnesty to those who believe the message. Anyone who accepts the invitation to call on the Lord to be saved can be welcomed by the preacher into the Kingdom of God.

For those persons who bring such a joyful message Paul uses the words of the prophet Isaiah, who spoke centuries before: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings, who publishes peace, who brings good tidings of good, who publishes salvation.”⁶ Even though what Isaiah said referred to the messenger who announced to the desolate city of Zion, “Your God reigns!” it can now be applied to carriers of the Gospel around the world to go and tell those living in darkness and chaos, “Our God reigns!”⁷

So the question now is, how does this apply to the problem of Jewish unbelief? After all, the Gentiles were hearing the same message that the Jews first heard from Yeshua Himself. But, for the most part, the Jewish establishment paid little attention to it. Was this a surprise, or was it something that had been foreseen? The prophet Isaiah may give us a clue where he asks: “Who has believed our message? To whom has the LORD revealed His powerful arm?”⁸

These words become relevant to the Gospel when they are examined in the context of what has been called “The Song of the Suffering Servant.”⁹ In the Last Covenant, the presentation of the passion and triumph of Jesus seems anchored in this passage. But when the disappointed messenger asks, “Who has believed our message?” there should be little doubt that it was meant as a question for the Jews who first heard Jesus. Not only that but in Paul’s case, just as it was for Jesus, the message he brought rested on the direct command and commission of Christ, which is the powerful arm of the Lord reaching out to save.¹⁰

Bruce agrees with Barnes on the possible source for the question on how can they believe something they’ve never heard. The proposition is that someone expressed doubt about Paul’s claim that the Gospel had reached all of Israel so some must have been left out. As far as Paul was concerned, considering the world community as it was constituted then, he had taken this message to every place where there was a Jewish synagogue. Not only that, he was not welcomed by many of them so he was forced to turn to the Gentiles.

So the next question proposes that even if this message had reached into all the Jewish communities in the known world at that time, could Paul be sure that everyone had understood. That was easy for Paul to answer. They understood well enough that they found it hard to accept and so they refused to obey. What made things so odd, was that while the Jews were turning Paul away from their synagogues they showed great hostility that he then went to the Gentiles with the message they had just rejected. Everyone knows that when a person discovers the truth about something that proves them wrong, they are not too happy when that is spread around. But this too had already been predicted. The song that Moses wrote contains a sustained indictment of Israel’s ingratitude and disobedience throughout her history.¹¹ So what was the next question? There was none. Especially since their own Bible testified against them.¹²

John Stott sees a grammatical factor in helping the reader to understand Paul’s narrative here. He says that it begins by putting the six verbs Paul uses in reverse order: Christ sends heralds; heralds preach; people hear; hearers believe; believers call; and those who call are saved. Not only that but when these stages are stated negatively and each is seen as necessary for the other to succeed, that makes it even more powerful. In other words, if Christ did not send, if heralds did not preach, if people did not hear, if hearers did not believe, if believers did not call, then no one would be saved. We must also keep in mind that Paul began this chapter by sharing his yearning that his fellow Israelites will be saved. So we must believe he had them in mind when developing this evangelistic strategy.¹³

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER TEN (Lesson XXII)

The Apostle Paul was very much aware that when God chooses a vessel, He endows and anoints that vessel for special purposes. Here’s what Paul told the Ephesians: “Some of us have been given special ability as Apostles; to others he has given the gift of being able to preach well; some have special ability in winning people to Christ, helping them to trust him as their Savior; still others have a gift for caring for God’s people as a shepherd does his sheep, leading and teaching them in the ways of God.”¹

That’s why when we recognize a gift and ability in a fellow believer, we should encourage them to give more time and effort to God and the Spirit so they can become even better at what He called them to do. That’s why Paul goes on to say: “Why is it that He gives us these special abilities to do certain things best? It is that God’s people will be equipped to do better work for Him, building up the Church, the body of Christ, to a position of strength and maturity; until finally, we all believe alike about our salvation and about our Savior, God’s Son, and all become full-grown in the Lord – yes, to the point of being filled full with Christ.”²

To add a blessing to what he just said, Paul calls on the words in Isaiah that tell how beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring the good news announcing that salvation is available from God the King. But it’s what is said in Isaiah before this that puts it into full context: “I will reveal My name to My people, and they will know the power in that name. Then, at last, they will recognize that it is I, yes, it is I speaking to them.”³

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve finished a sermon and while shaking hands at the door have had someone tell me how happy they were because of what I said. But when they repeated what they heard, I realized that it wasn’t me they were listening to because I couldn’t remember saying what they quoted. It was the Holy Spirit speaking directly to them through the message God used me to preach.

One of the reasons why Paul chose this quote from Isaiah may have been because it was a message of peace. Not the kind of peace that ends hostilities, disputes, anger, thoughts of revenge, etc. They are meant only to keep warring parties apart so they don’t hurt one another. But the peace the Gospel brings is the inner peace that comes from knowing we are now friends with God. He is our heavenly Father who watches over us, and all is well with our soul when it comes to who we belong to and where we are going when life’s journey is over.

This won’t always be an easy task. That’s why Paul told the Ephesians: “Use every piece of God’s armor to resist the enemy whenever he attacks, and when it is all over, you will still be standing up. But to do this, you will need the strong belt of truth and the breastplate of God’s approval. Wear shoes that are able to speed you on as you preach the Good News of peace with God. In every battle, you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan. And you will need the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the Word of God.”⁴ No one ever received such armor unless they were trained and ready to go out on the battlefield.

The reason for such training and preparation is because the message we bring should shake things up and is intended to make a difference in people’s lives. That’s why God told Isaiah to be ready. He said to him: “O crier of good news, shout to Jerusalem from the mountaintops! Shout louder – don’t be afraid – tell the cities of Judah, “Your God is coming!” Yes, the Lord God is coming with mighty power; He will rule with awesome strength. See, His reward is with Him, to each as He has done. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will carry the lambs in His arms and gently lead the ewes with young.”⁵

Perhaps that is why when our Lord announced His anointing and mission He chose Isaiah as His text to confirm His calling. From Isaiah, He read: “The Spirit of Adonai Elohim is upon me because Adonai has anointed me to announce good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted; to proclaim freedom to the captives, to let out into light those bound in the dark; to proclaim the year of the favor of Adonai.”⁶

The early church Bishop of Laodicea wonders about those who have heard because someone was sent to bring them the word but still they don’t believe. For instance, many well-educated Jews instead of seeing universal grace for all mankind as good it only hardened their hearts. With closed hearts and minds it made them unable to receive the Good News. As a result, the mission and the message of universal salvation was diverted to the Gentiles. With their hearing the Gospel, the Gentiles were gifted with faith and received their calling. It’s similar to the sunshine that falls on everything in its path, but some receive the light and some hide from it. The same goes for the preaching of the Gospel. For some, it is the voice of God calling them to repentance, but for others, it just sounds like thunder. So no matter how good the messenger is who brings the Good News to them, it has little effect.⁷

Early church leader Origen sees the need for examining the words of Paul slowly and precisely. This will help eliminate misunderstanding and misinterpretation. He takes it in reverse, supposing that some may come away reading this verse to mean that nobody was able to preach because nobody is sent. So it would then appear that if no one is sent to tell them and they end up not hearing the Good News and being saved, it is the fault of the senders. But it is better for us to understand this as follows. It is as if the Apostle Paul was saying that the heralds and preachers of Christ would not be able to preach, nor would they have any power to proclaim the Good News, if He who sent them was not also present with them.⁸ In other words, you can have all the training and talent to compose and preach a sermon to those who’ve never heard the Gospel before, but there is little chance it will change their lives unless what you say is under the anointing of the One who is the subject of the Gospel.

Martin Luther gladly endorses this fourfold formula for propagating the Gospel so that even those who have never heard of Jesus can be saved. But the driving force behind any effort at evangelism must be the understanding that it is impossible for anyone to call on the name of the Lord for salvation unless they hear the Gospel. So like Origen said, the entire source and origin of salvation rests on the fact that it is God who must send out true ministers of the Word. Not only that, but Luther makes it clear that anyone who claims to preach the Gospel but has not been sent by God, what they preach is false and cannot even be called preaching. In fact, says Luther, it would be better if those who hear such a false preaching had not heard at all because what they are hearing is full of errors.

This, in turn, causes them to believe a false doctrine which is worse than not believing at all. Furthermore, when those who hear these false preachers spewing out false doctrines would be in error trying to call on the Lord because they would be crying out to a false lord. Luther ties this to what God told Solomon: “They will call Me, but I won’t answer; they will seek Me earnestly, but they won’t find Me. Because they hated knowledge and choose not to show reverence and respect for Adonai.⁹”¹⁰

Fellow Reformer John Calvin sees the importance of knowing that Paul is advancing an idea that can be put this way: If either Jews or Gentiles call on the name of the Lord they show by doing so that they believe in Him and will be saved. But how can this be possible? Just calling out His name is not enough unless you have proper knowledge of who you are calling. And in order to get to know Him, they must first hear the Word of God so it can be explained to them. Hearing of the word produces faith and faith is required to believe.

Furthermore, if they never hear the Gospel then faith is impossible. Not only that, but the preaching of the Word cannot be possible unless someone is sent. But that’s still not all, unless the one who goes is sent by God their preaching will have no effect. That means preachers must first be called before they are sent. So how do we know they have been called and sent? It will be proven in the effectiveness of the Word which will produce the faith needed to believe so that those who then call on the Lord will be saved. So Paul does two things here. He establishes the basis for the effective preaching of the Gospel and that the salvation it brings is universal – for both Jews and Gentiles.¹¹

John Bengel sees these as descending steps from the ultimate to the basic, with each one depending on the other for the goal to be achieved. It comes back to a simple principle: He who tells you what you need will also tell you how to get it. In other words, if it is God’s will that people call upon Him for their salvation, then He will make a way for that to happen. If He wills that they become believers, He will make sure they get what they need in order to believe. And if He wills that they be told the truth so they can believe, He will send someone to tell them the truth. So when we look at what God has willed, we see that He has done all that is required.¹²

Bengel also sees Paul saying all of this in a future tense because the Gospel was just beginning to be spread to places outside of Israel. Other scholars, however, feel that Paul is already speaking of God’s will for the world to hear, from the time of Abraham. Therefore, he is one of those preachers that God has sent. But, Bengel says, it can be as being meant for just that day or also for a future day.

Adam Clarke also sees the importance of understanding the steps involved in reaching the lost for Christ. But once these steps are followed, and someone does go because they are sent on a divine mission, and those who are sent do preach the Gospel as revealed through Christ, those who end up believing must then call on the name of the Lord to be saved. Why is this so important? Because it is more than their just calling out God’s name, it is also believing that when they call in faith based on that belief then they can expect salvation to come. Professing to believe in Christ, without earnest, pleading in prayer for salvation, can save no one.¹³ In other words, simply reciting a sinner’s prayer without faith is like plugging a lamp into a socket without any electricity being there to light it up.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER TEN (Lesson XXI)

British Bible scholar John Stott feels that after what Paul says here, we should ask the question: “What is critical for having salvation?” The first thing it requires is a Savior. That’s why Jesus came to earth as a man, suffered, and was crucified so that He could rise from the grave and be accessible as a Savior to all who believe. Another thing is Good News that there is such a Savior in whom we can have faith to save us and that it is made known to the whole world. Then when people hear the Good News, they can put their faith and trust in what it says and call on the name of the Lord for salvation. Once this happens, they should let the trust they have in their hearts for this Savior to be made known by confessing with their mouth that He is Lord.¹

Douglas Moo detects an important factor when taking a balanced view of the First Covenant and the Last Covenant in declaring the Gospel of Christ. This was needed because the church in Rome was lacking any direction on this matter. Jewish Christians in the congregation were apparently insisting on adding Jewish customs and celebrations to their Christian faith. Gentile Christians saw no need to burden themselves with these requirements and criticized the Jews for having too little faith. Also, Israelite Christians thought that by being Jewish and observing the Law given to Moses put them in a preferred position in the Kingdom of God. Gentile Christians, saw it differently. Since they threw away their idol and were in the majority, then they should be the ones in leadership. That’s why over the course of the letter Paul develops a balanced view between the old way and the new way of being right with God so that His blessings could flow and make the church even stronger.²

Verses 14-15: But how can they call on Him if they have not put their trust in Him? And how can they put their trust in Him if they have not heard of Him? And how can they hear of Him unless someone tells them? And how can someone tell them if they are not sent? The Holy Writings say, “The feet of those who bring the Good News are beautiful.”³

Here Paul asks four very important questions concerning the salvation of the Gentiles. He knew that for them salvation under the Law was impossible. He also knew they could not receive salvation through Abraham’s heritage of which they were not part. After all, does a father give his riches to strangers, foreigners, and enemies while leaving his own children destitute? The answer to Paul’s questions are simple, powerful and true, it must come through Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior of all mankind. So from Paul’s perspective, it was incumbent upon those who received the good news to pass it on. Otherwise, many will be left out in the cold.

What Paul says now gives us a very logical sequence in the propagation of God’s Word. Each one can be reduced to the primary cause: that is, “call,” “believed,” “heard,” “preacher,” and “sent.”⁴ But let’s reverse the order of this formula, as Paul outlines it in these two verses, and make it a commission: Someone must be sent out with the Gospel message; that preacher must tell them all about the good news of salvation; they must hear and respond to what the preacher says so they can believe in the Savior they are being told about; and then by believing in that Savior they can call on Him to save them.

This desire to get the word out to all the world about the LORD God Almighty was already a desire in the heart of Solomon. In his dedicatory prayer for the new Temple, Solomon prayed: “The foreigner who does not belong to your people Isra’el – when he comes from a distant country because of your reputation (for they will hear of your great reputation, your mighty hand and your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house; then hear in heaven where you live, and act in accordance with everything about which the foreigner is calling to you; so that all the peoples of the earth will know your name and fear you, as do your people Isra’el, and so that they will know that this house which I have built bears your name.”⁵ The difference between Solomon’s passion and that of the Apostle Paul, is that Paul knew that not everyone around the world would be able to come to the Temple in Jerusalem, so he said that we must go to them. This clearly echoes what Jesus told His disciples before His ascension about going into all the world and preach the Gospel.⁶

However, when First Covenant evangelist Jonah was sent out to take the word of God to Nineveh, initially he tried to get away from going. We all know the story of the storm and the big fish. But we may have missed what happened on the boat when he reveals who his God was and why He called had called Jonah for this mission. The sailors suspected that this stranger they had taken on board might be a bad omen and it made their gods angry. So they asked him what he did, where was he from, what was his race and nationality, Jonah was honest and told them he was a Hebrew and that he worshiped Adonai, the God of heaven, who made both the sea and the dry land. He also told them that he was trying to get away from the mission God had given him to go to Nineveh and tell them about Him.

So they wanted to know what they could do to get this God that he served to calm the storm. He told them to throw him overboard as punishment for running away and God would calm the sea. Then we read: “Finally they cried to Adonai, ‘Please, Adonai, please! Don’t let us perish for causing the death of this man, and don’t hold us to account for shedding innocent blood; because you, Adonai, have done what you saw fit.’ Then they picked up Yonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped raging. Seized with great fear of Adonai, they offered a sacrifice to Adonai and made vows.”⁷ So Jonah had two revivals, one on the boat when he was not doing God’s will, and one in Nineveh when he finally did God’s will. But it took hearing about God for it to happen.

So we can ask, “Why did Jesus spend three years teaching His disciples?” Was it to leave them behind in Jerusalem to establish a new “Jesus Center” for Him there, and, like Solomon requested, greet all those who came from around the world to learn more about this wise teacher from Galilee? Jesus may have anticipated this standard Jewish custom carried out by the followers of well-known Rabbis. Mark tells us what Jesus told His followers after His resurrection: “You are to go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere. Those who believe and are baptized will be saved. But those who refuse to believe will be condemned.”⁸ Luke remembers what Jesus told them as they ate with Him after His resurrection: “It was written long ago that the Messiah must suffer and die and rise again from the dead on the third day; and that this message of salvation should be taken from Jerusalem to all the nations: There is forgiveness of sins for all who turn to me.”⁹

Paul was not there to witness this with the disciples. But that didn’t matter, he had his own post-resurrection encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus. He shared this with King Agrippa while on trial. He shared what His Messiah told him: “You are to tell the world about this experience and about the many other occasions when I shall appear to you. And I will protect you from both your own people and the Gentiles. Yes, I am going to send you to the Gentiles to open their eyes to their true condition so that they may repent and live in the light of God instead of in Satan’s darkness, so that they may receive forgiveness for their sins and God’s inheritance along with all people everywhere whose sins are cleansed away, who are set apart by faith in me.”¹⁰ King Agrippa was so shaken by what Paul was telling him that he asked Paul if he expected him to convert to becoming a Christian. This should prove to all of us what power there is in our own testimony of God’s love, grace, and mercy.

Paul finishes this missionary call with the obvious point: How can anyone go to preach the Gospel to the hopelessly lost unless they are sent? But just saying they were sent is not enough. This was a problem that Jeremiah encountered in his day. It was hard sometimes for the people to know who was a false prophet and who was a true prophet. So God spoke to Jeremiah and told him: “If a prophet has a dream, let him tell it as a dream. But someone who has my word should speak my word faithfully. ‘What do chaff and wheat have in common?’ asks Adonai. ‘Isn’t my word like fire,’ asks Adonai, ‘like a hammer shattering rocks? So, I am against the prophets,’ says Adonai, ‘who steal my words from each other. Yes, I am against the prophets,’ says Adonai, ‘who speak their own words, then add, “He says.” ‘I am against those who concoct prophecies out of fake dreams,’ says Adonai. ‘They tell them, and by their lies and arrogance, they lead my people astray. I didn’t send them, I didn’t commission them, and they don’t do this people any good at all,’ says Adonai.”¹¹

It would have been seen as somewhat pretentious if Paul had gotten up off the ground on the road to Damascus, and started preaching immediately, telling everyone that Jesus had called him for such a mission. But that’s not what happened. While Paul was still trying to recover from the light that blinded him, God spoke to Ananias and told him to find Paul who He had chosen as an instrument to take the Gospel to the nations of the world, then lay hands on him and give him this message: “Brother Paul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you may be filled with the Holy Spirit and get your sight back.”¹² Then later on at the church in Antioch, while Paul was worshiping and fasting with the brethren the Holy Spirit gave this word of knowledge: “‘Dedicate Barnabas and Paul for a special job I have for them.’ So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them—and sent them on their way.”¹³

Paul did not take his calling and commission lightly, but at the same time he did not start to think of himself as being special, or the, “pick of the crop,” as we might say. In fact, he told the Ephesians: “Though I did nothing to deserve it, and though I am the most useless Christian there is, yet I was the one chosen for this special joy of telling the Gentiles the Glad News of the endless treasures available to them in Christ; and to explain to everyone that God is the Savior of the Gentiles too, just as he who made all things had secretly planned from the very beginning.”¹⁴ If this Apostle who spoke several languages, understood the Scriptures in depth and wrote over half of the New Testament felt that way, how could any of us understand anything other than what he says here?

Of all the events in the life of Christ, there are three which have impacted the world more than anything else He did. They are the day He was born, the day He died, and the day He rose from the dead.

Christmas – the day He was born in a manger, has been commercialized into a secular event that is celebrated around the world by even non-Christian countries. After all, their years are numbered from the time He came to earth.

Crucifixion – the day He died on the cross, is better known as Good Friday. Only in the most Christianized societies is His death imitated, some even being nailed to a cross for their own sins.

Easter – the day He rose from the dead. While this is the Sunday when most churches experience record attendance, this special day has morphed into a hunt for Easter Eggs laid by a mythical Easter Bunny. Here in the United States, from the 1880s through the 1950s, New York’s Easter parade was one of the leading cultural events for Easter.

But how important is it for Christian to stop and celebrate this most significant day in the history of Christianity. The Apostle Paul said it most emphatically: “For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ must still be dead. And 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; in that case, all Christians who have died are lost!”¹

What the Apostle didn’t say, but what he would wholeheartedly agree to is this: Think about it, if there had been no resurrection of Jesus, Easter would be gone, Sunday would be just another work day, there would be no Christmas holiday, and Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Ascension Sunday, Pentecost Sunday, and no churches, no salvation, no heaven, and no everlasting life. That’s how important Resurrection Sunday should be to all of us. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

DO YOU BELIEVE IN EASTER

This is a true story, told by Jerry Metzler

The Lady’s name was Edith Burns. She was a wonderful Christian who lived in San Antonio, Texas. She was the patient of a Will Phillips, fine Christian doctor. His favorite patient was Edith. One morning he went to his office with a heavy heart because of Edith. When he walked into that waiting room, there sat Edith with her big black Bible in her lap. She was earnestly talking to a young mother sitting beside her. Dr. Phillips knew what Edith was doing, she was on a mission.

You see, Edith had a habit of introducing herself in this way: “Hello, my name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?” Then she would explain the meaning of Easter, and many times people would be saved. Dr. Phillips walked on into his office, and there he saw the head nurse Beverly. Beverly first met Edith when taking her blood pressure. Edith began by saying, “My name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?” Beverly said, “Why yes I do.” Edith then asked, “Well, what do you believe about Easter?” Beverly said, “Well, it’s all about egg hunts, going to church, and dressing up.”

Edith kept pressing Beverly about the real meaning of Easter and finally led her to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Dr. Phillips said to Beverly, “Don’t call Edith into the office quite yet. I believe there is lab report coming in. Finally, Edith was into the doctor’s office. As she sat down and took a look at the doctor, she said, “Dr. Will, why are you so sad? Are you reading your Bible? Are you praying?”

Dr. Phillips smiled and said, “Now Edith, I’m the doctor, and you’re the patient.” With a heavy heart, he said, “Your lab report came back, and it says you have stage 4 cancer, and you’re not going to live very long.” Edith said, “Why Dr. Phillips, shame on you. Why are you so sad? Do you think God makes mistakes? You have just told me I’m going to see my precious Lord Jesus, my husband, and my friends. You have just told me that I am going to celebrate Easter forever, and here you are having difficulty giving me my passport!”

Dr. Phillips thought to himself: What a magnificent woman this Edith! Edith continued coming to Dr. Phillips every day. Christmas came, and the office was closed through January 3rd. On the day the office opened, Edith did not show up. Later that afternoon, Edith called Dr. Phillips and said she would be moving into the hospital and said, “Will, I’m very near to going home, so would you make sure that they put women in my room who need to know about Easter?” Well, they did just that, and a lot of the women were gloriously saved.

Everybody on that floor from staff to patients was so impressed with Edith that they started calling her “Edith Easter.” Everyone that is, except Phyllis Cross, the head nurse. She made it plain that she wanted nothing to do with Edith because she was a “religious nut.” She had been a nurse in an army hospital. She had seen it all and heard it all. She was the original G.I. Jane. She had been married three times, she was hard, cold, and did everything by the book.

Well, one morning the two nurses who were to attend to Edith were sick. Edith had the flu, and Phyllis Cross had to go in and give her a shot. When she walked in, Edith had a big smile on her face and said, “Phyllis, God loves you, and I love you, and I have been praying for you.” Phyllis said crossly, “Well, you can quit praying for me, it won’t work. I’m not interested.” Edith said, “Well, I will pray and ask God not to let me go home until you come into His family.” Phyllis snapped back, “Then you will never die because that will never happen.” She then walked out of the room.

Every time Phyllis Cross would walk into Edith’s room she greeted her: “God loves you Phyllis, and I love you, and I’m praying for you.” One day, Phyllis said, she was literally drawn to Edith’s room like a magnet would draw iron. She sat down on the bed and Edith said, “I’m so glad you have come, Phyllis, because God told me that today is your special day.” Phyllis then asked quietly, “Edith, you have asked everybody here the question, ‘Do you believe in Easter?’ but you have never asked me.” Edith said, “Phyllis, I wanted to many times, but God told me to wait until you asked, and now that you’ve asked, so….”

Edith Burns took her Bible and shared with Phyllis Cross the Easter Story of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. After she finished, Edith asked, “Phyllis, do you believe in Easter now? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is alive and that He wants to live in your heart?” Phyllis said, “Oh I want to believe that with all of my heart, and I do want Jesus in my life.” Right there, Phyllis prayed and invited Jesus into her heart. For the first time, Phyllis walked out of a hospital room like she was walking on air.

A few days later, Phyllis came in the room, and Edith said, “Phyllis, do you know what day it is?” “Why Edith, it’s Good Friday,” replied Phyllis. Edith said, “Oh, no, for you every day is Easter. Happy Easter Phyllis!”

Well, two days later, on Easter Sunday, Phyllis had to work. On her way in she stopped by the flower shop and got some Easter lilies because she wanted to give Edith some Easter lilies and wish her a Happy Easter.

When she walked into Edith’s room, Edith was propped up in bed. Her big black Bible was laying open on her lap. Her hands were in between some pages on the Bible. Her eyes were closed, and there was a sweet smile on her face. But when something didn’t look right. Phyllis Cross quickly went to Edith’s bedside and realized Edith was dead.

As they were removing Edith’s Bible, Phyllis noticed that her left hand was on John 14: “In my Father’s house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” Her right hand was on Revelation 21:4, “ And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Phyllis Cross took one look at Edith’s sweet face then lifted her face toward heaven, and with tears streaming down her cheeks, said, “Happy Easter, Edith – Happy Easter!”

Well, after Phyllis left Edith’s room, she saw two student nurses sitting at the front desk. She walked over, greeted them and said, “Hi, my name is Phyllis Cross. Do you believe in Easter?” Someone once said it’s not how you live that will convince people of your faith in God, but how you die. This certainly seems to be the case with Edith Burns. Will it be the same with you? – Dr. Robert R Seyda

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