I realize that
Romans 10 is addressed to Israel but do verses 9 – 13 say that it is still
possible for Jews to get into the Kingdom program by confessing their sins, or
is that how they could be saved only before the revelation of the mystery?
As
we know from rightly dividing the word Romans, chapters 9, 10 and 11, are a
parenthetical interruption of what Paul is telling the Gentiles about the
cross. Romans 9 is a summary of Israel’s
past and how God dealt with them under their Kingdom program. Romans 10 describes their present situation
in the dispensation of grace. Romans 11
is their future situation when God will deal with them again as a nation.
Many
Lordship Salvation proponents use Romans 9 and 10 to say that you must "confess
with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord for
salvation." Paul wrote that in context,
and it is not how Paul desires for
you and me as Gentiles today to share the Gospel. We use:
1 Corinthians 15:3-4
For I
delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried,
and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
So
what is Paul saying in Romans 10:9-13?
Notice verse 9 begins with ‘that’ which shows that this is part of a
thought that he is already dealing with—the thought that he’s dealing with in
chapter 10
Romans 10
1 Brethren,
my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
So chapter 10 is dealing with the
nation of Israel. Paul is dealing with
Jews in Rome (we know that from Acts).
There are lost Jews and saved Jews in the Body of Christ in Rome. And as Paul writes Romans, there are also
saved Jews under the Kingdom program – the Little Flock.
Paul is dealing with any objections
from Jews, particularly lost Jews, regarding the word of Christ.
4 For
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
So Paul is particularly speaking to
Jews. Notice that he refers to Moses
because the Jews respected Moses’ authority.
5 For
Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which
doeth those things shall live by them.
This is in Time Past when God was
dealing with Israel under a performance-based acceptance system—the Law. They could live eternally by doing the Law.
6 But
the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine
heart [the inner man], Who
shall ascend into heaven? [that is, to bring Christ down from above:]
The Jews would say ‘Who will ascend
to Heaven to bring Messiah down?” Paul is telling them they don’t have to ask
that.
7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep?
[that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.]
If they believed that he came and
he died; they don’t have to ask who will descend and bring him up because he is
resurrected—he’s alive.
8
But what saith it? [What did Moses say?] The word is nigh thee, even in thy
mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
Every time the Jews read the Law of
Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms, they were reading about the Lord Jesus,
the Messiah. That is the context for
verses 9-13. They were looking for Christ; they were confessing the
Messiah. They understood that Messiah
was to come, so they should confess with
their mouth.
9
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in
thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For
with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation.
11 For
the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
12 For
there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over
all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13 For
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
So this is directed at the
Jews. This is Jewish terminology. To ‘call upon the name of the Lord’ is to
‘confess with their mouth the Lord Jesus.’
Notice that he is not saying ‘confess your sins.’ I think a lot of people interpret that as
saying we must confess our sins or confess that Jesus is Lord. They change the meaning.
Paul is just telling them to call
upon him. That is Jewish
terminology. Jews would call upon the
Lord. In other words, they would accept him;
they would be saying ‘Jesus we know that you are our Messiah, and we know that
you are raised from the dead.’ That is
how the Jewish reader would understand this.
Paul doesn’t use this terminology for Gentiles.
+++
Regarding your questions about the
Kingdom – no, God is not offering them the Kingdom in this passage. When Paul wrote Romans it was almost 30 years
into the Dispensation of Grace and it was too late for Jews to be saved under
the Kingdom program. Paul is saying that
they could have made that confession before the revelation of the Mystery if they had believed the Gospel of the
Kingdom. But even now if they do as Paul
did and say ‘Who art thou Lord?’ and call
upon the name of the Lord (again, Jewish terminology), they will not get
into the Kingdom, but they will enter the church, the body of Christ by
faith.
Romans 10
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13 For
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
If you read the rest of the
passage, it shows that Moses and the prophets had offered them the kingdom but
they didn’t believe it. Paul tells them
in Romans 9 how they could have received the kingdom before the Mystery was
revealed. But now since the revelation
of the Mystery in the Dispensation of Grace, those Jews who call upon the name
of the Lord would get saved into the church the body of Christ.
Romans was written during the
transition period of the book of Acts; therefore there are many Jewish things
going on. We wouldn’t use Romans 10:9-13
to show Gentiles how to get saved today.
But when Paul wrote this, he could use those passages to show them how
they could have received the Kingdom; and also to show them how they could be right
with God in the heavenly kingdom as members of the body of Christ.
Hopefully this
helps...Maranatha!
†††
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
P.S. I thank God that he
has given us understanding simply because we BELIEVE his word, and the method
that he gave us to study it…right division. Also, as we grow in Pauline truth,
we start to understand even the more “subtle” things of scripture, such as how
God was dealing with those Jews in the early part of this dispensation.
When it comes to those Jews, they operated, as Paul quotes from
Psalms in 2 Corinthians…
2 Corinthians 4:13
We having
the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore
have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;
The Jews were very familiar with this principle from the Psalms
Psalm 116:10
I believed,
therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted:
It was in this spirit that Paul and the Jews did what they did.
Romans 10:8-13
But what
saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart:
that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved. For
with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation. For
the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For
there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all
is rich unto all that call upon him. For
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
No comments:
Post a Comment