10:1-13 Brothers, the desire of my heart for the Jews and my prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. It is "the power of God unto salvation." There the truth is held, and apparently with firmness too. There is nothing now to be done, but a work in us; this must be our care, to look to our heart and mouth. That is true--but no one ever has. For what remains unsolved by and in Christ? They beat up on him the other day. If slurred over, as it too often is in souls, it invariably leaves practical obedience lame, and halt, and blind. c. How beautiful are the feet: No wonder those who preach have beautiful feet they partner with God for the salvation of men. Romans 8:1-39 displays this comforting truth in its fulness. In short, it is what the words say "the righteousness of God," and this "by faith of Jesus Christ.". But besides this he adds "to faith." It is in our mouth--we are reading it daily; it is in our heart--we are, or should be, thinking of it daily. The appeal to their own inspired account of Abraham turned into a proof of the consistency of God's ways in justifying by faith, and hence in justifying the uncircumcised no less than the circumcision. Have done with doings, and feelings, and trust yourself with Christ. They ought to have known better: they had every chance to know better; but they rejected the appeal of God. But this may be comparatively a light question. What blindness! Verse 21. Hereupon he enters upon the direct proofs, and first cites Hosea as a witness. If you wish to be saved by the law you must do its commands and you shall live. 2. God established that they had to bring an animal and kill the animal in their stead, that their sins must be transferred onto the animal and the animal slain. Unbelief is a non-submission to the righteousness of God, standing it out against the gospel proclamation of indemnity. Ah, my Lord, what should I do then if I could not as "a poor sinner, and nothing at all" find Christ to be my "all in all." Paul was well aware of that; at this very time he was planning the evangelization of Spain, a province where the name of Christ was not yet known (c.f. d. But what does it say? But that wasnt their only problem. The information in verse 6 may be contrasted with many modern religious claims. This is not something to smile at, but to admire. Some thought him half-witted, but the story would show his wind to be sound enough. The "word of faith" is the message of justification by the system of "faith" as opposed to the Law. in your mouth -- --when you confess Him. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary 10:12-17 There is not one God to the Jews, more kind, and another to the Gentiles, who is less kind; the Lord is a Father to all men. The gospel replies, if you did ascend to heaven what would you do there, without Christ, the anointed Savior? The faith of Christ has brought divine joy into his soul; but, in point of fact, he is traversing a world of infirmity, suffering, and grief. In doing so, he personifies righteousness based on faith. The meaning of verse 6 is a little more difficult. The man who does those things shall live by them: The Law of Moses makes the path to righteousness through the law plain. And the ceremonies shadowed forth Christ as fulfilling the righteousness, and bearing the curse of the law. The believer, therefore, unwittingly though really, dishonours the Saviour, if he be content to walk short of this standard and power; he is entitled and called to walk according to his place, and in the confidence of his deliverance in Christ Jesus before God. Having descended all that length he went lower still. He does not, however, exclude other parts of the word, no, not even the precepts of the law; but his design is, to show that remission of sins stands for righteousness, even apart from that strict obedience which the law demands. The apostle allows this privilege to be great, specially in having the Scriptures, but turns the argument against the boasters. But Paul makes it clear: There is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. The Scripture; so some copies, and the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic version read, "what saith the Scripture?" The apostle refers to Isaiah to show that God would "lay in Zion a stumbling-stone." If you will go around and knock on a hundred doors a day and peddle the magazines and wake people up, continue this faithfully, and you will be saved. This was true even before Moses time (see Romans 4:13 and the example of Abraham). To whom, then, did the law address itself? Romans is a book about God. And so you will see them at the wailing wall, you will see them as they tie to them a little box, the phylacteries as they bind them to their foreheads and as they put on their prayer shawl and they go up to the wall and they begin to bob up and down and they go through their prayers and all, a zeal for God but not according to knowledge. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek" (ver. As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, But there was far more in Jesus. So faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. There was a most important trial of man in the person of Adam; but after this, what dispensation was there? Thither He shall come, and thence, go forth. Salvation supposes not this only, but a great deal more. And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? 2 Corinthians 2:14-16, 3:4-5, 5:18-21, Exodus 19:6 Hebrews 4:14-16, Psalm 32:8 Romans 5:10-11, James 2:14-17 Proverbs 4:1-9, John 14:26 Romans 10: . But what saith it? Its remarkable that Paul found something good to say about these Jewish people who persecuted him so mercilessly. He quotes also from Isaiah "Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed." And how shall they preach unless they are sent? From the very first we have these characteristics of the epistle disclosing themselves. They are merely persons who plume themselves on their orthodoxy, but in a wholly unrenewed condition. The problem is that none is able to keep the law perfectly. He still loves the Jews, independent as far as God's way of righteousness and all, but God still loves them, and thus, He blesses you, and says, "Oh, come and receive the kingdom and into the joys and the blessings and all." . why am I still under bondage and misery from the constant evil of my nature, over which I seem to have no power whatever? Their problem is not that they have not heard or understood it, but that they have refused to believe it (see v. 16). The law which was given upon Mount Sinai, though it was not a pure covenant of works (for who then could be saved under that dispensation?) Once, again, though your faith should only be strong enough to lead you to pray, yet it shall save you, for "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (James 2:10-11). Then, in Romans 10:8b-13, Paul reinforces faith by talking about its content and benefit. This brings out a most emphatic truth and special side of Christianity. Consequently the door is as open to the Gentile as to the Jew. So also the gospel by no means involves itself in obscurity, but says, Believe and live, quite as distinctly as Moses said, "Do and live." Seventh day adventist Bible Commentary reference series volumes 1-10. For the scripture says, Whosoever believes on him shall not be ashamed. Now, your hope lies wholly in what this Son of God did in his descent and ascent. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer. StudyLght.org. "Christ's Prayer for his People.". It was the Lord giving us the profit of sorrow, and ourselves bowing to the way and end of God in it, so that the result of tribulation should be rich and fruitful experience. Proud as you may be of that which distinguishes you, it is hard to make sin and death peculiar to you, nor can you connect them even with the law particularly: the race of man is in question, and not Israel alone. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. Retrieve. Then he quotes Deuteronomy 30:12-13. Men have an infinite and fatal capacity for shutting their minds to what they do not wish to see, and stopping their ears to what they do not wish to hear. Observe again, it is not victory here; for that would give place to human pride. It is exquisite the delicate love with which he singles out distinctive features in each of the saints, men and women, that come before him. He cared nothing for oratory, which I have heard him call "a flash in the pan"; he delighted in the plain, solid gospel of Jesus Christ. Man became the object, first, of general dealings of God under Noah; next, of His special ways in the calling of Abraham and of his family. They get so extreme in the election predestination and all, they get so extreme that there are some churches that will not put a scripture on the board out in front, lest some sinner who has not been elected might walk by and believe in Jesus Christ and get saved when he wasn't predestined to do so.Don't get extreme. The application of this was more evident to the Gentile than to the Jew. Believe in Christ as you would believe in your friend: believe that he died for sinners, and trust in him for salvation. He can meet the sinner, but He justifies the believer; and in this, instead of trenching on His glory, there is a deeper revelation and maintenance of it than if there never had been sin or a sinner. i. Cottrell cites Leon Morris in summary: "The righteousness of faith does not demand that we be supermen; it does not set some impossible task before us. But what does it say? In point of fact, as he had hinted before, their true tenure was the call of God, who was free, if He pleased, to bring in other people. He has been telling them truths which were difficult for them to hear and bear. Paul wants the Jews to be saved, but they cannot be saved while trying to create their own righteousness through law-keeping. Yet, how many times we take the promises of God and say, "Oh, God, just help me to believe. Thus the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against (not only the open ungodliness of men, but) the orthodox unrighteousness of those that hold the truth in unrighteousness. Confess with your mouth: Confession has the idea of agreeing with. The circumstances under which the epistle to the Romans was written gave occasion to the most thorough and comprehensive unfolding, not of the church, but of Christianity. To this he refers likewise, Galatians 3:12, The man that doeth them, shall live in them. Believe in him as your risen Saviour, declare him to be your Lord, and you will receive from God the righteousness that saves (9-10). This is what Moses saith: hear it and be humbled. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. The solution is given elsewhere in the Bible: Get back to what brought us together in the first placethe combination of the word of Christ and devotion to Him, to the love . Consequently all turned, not on what man should be for God, but what God can be and is, as revealed in the gospel, to man. * I scarcely knew what to preach from this morning; but at last I settled in my mind that I would raise a memorial to my departed friend by preaching a sermon which should be connected with himself. Here is an instance of what is so reprehensible. If you were to descend there, what would you do without him whom God has anointed to save? To a disobedient and contrary people.. (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? Jesus did not bleed and die to be a superfluity to us: he cattle to meet a grim necessity. The things about which we are in doubt are far fewer than we would like to think. Calling for mischief or injury to fall upon a person. The righteousness of God flows from His mercy, of course; but its character and basis is righteousness. Perhaps thou wouldst be ashamed to say it with thy lips; but do not say it at all; do not say that the way to heaven is hard, or mysterious, or in any degree apart from the simple act of believing. Zeal for God, but not according to knowledge: This is a perfect description of Paul himself before his conversion. In thy mouth - This is taken from the Septuagint. The 14th verse in Deuteronomy 30:1-20 completes the thought by saying that the Jews could do what God wanted them to do - that thou mayest do it. This might seem an exaggeration: the gospel had not been carried throughout all the earth, not even to all the lands that were known to the inhabitants of the Graeco-Roman world. And by the foolish nation I will anger you.". For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. An Italian gentleman, who has known me since I have been at Mentone, was asked, "Are you a Catholic?" No man among us doubts that if he had performed the law of God the Lord would give him life; but it is equally certain that if we have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ we have eternal lire. What is to be done according to Gods word? Here you have it, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Man seeks to complicate it. But it is very plain and easy: The word is nigh thee. When the substance comes, the shadow is gone. Did this seem to treat the law that condemned as an evil thing? Christ is nigh thee, for the word is nigh thee: nigh thee indeed: it is in thy mouth, and in thy heart; there is no difficulty in understanding, believing, and owning it. That there is none righteous, none that doeth good, none that understandeth. We have God and man in presence, so to speak. Now Paul here very adroitly takes these words out of the mouth of Moses, alters them somewhat, and as good as says, "It was the boast of the law that it was clear, known, and accessible to the people; but much more is this the glory of the gospel." (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) I want to preach that same gospel this morning, in the hope that in after days this word may be scattered far and wide, and some Jack the Huckster, or some other like him, may find himself to be utterly empty and undone, and may then know that Christ is ordained to be his salvation. There are some that find a difficulty here, because the expression "to hold" means holding firmly. Sin is our operating outside of God's grace. Look to him and salvation is thine. He says rema is "the word of faith" that is proclaimed by the followers of Jesus. "But there is no place for boasting neither now or eternally when we get to heaven and when before the throne I stand in Him complete. He is not coming according to the covenant that God established by Moses for sins to be forgiven. He was God over all blessed for ever, as well as their Messiah. There is no hope for man otherwise; for the gospel is not all that is now made known. The believing and the confession of that believing in God's own way are never to be separated, for "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Moses saith, "I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people," etc. There can be no one to proclaim the good news unless God commissions someone to do so." Romans 10:17; Hebrews 6:5; Hebrews 11:3. There is no need to bring Christ down to find out what God wants. Proud member who would defraud God of that which He delights in the blessedness of bringing in deliverance by that One man, of whom Adam was the image? You cannot believe in him unless you hear about him. He "will render to every man according to his deeds: to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: to them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first and also of the Gentile.". ( Romans 10:5-8 ). faith comes by hearing [ the thing heard], Righteousness can be gained by sinful men, but it can only be secured by faith and not by deeds. Consequently the call of God, and not the birth simply makes the real difference. If you get out on the extreme and, unfortunately, some people do. Although there is undoubtedly that profoundness which must accompany every revelation of God, and especially in connection with Christ as now manifested, still we have God adapting Himself to the very first wants of a renewed soul nay, even to the wretchedness of souls without God, without any real knowledge either of themselves or of Him. "But unto Israel he saith, All day long have I stretched out my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.". Some of those zealous ones beat up the mayor in Jerusalem just a day or so ago because of some of his rulings that they felt did not coincide with their desires. Man complicates the issues. (that is, to bring Christ again from the dead.) Even where the law was, not by it but by faith the just lived. The same was true of the gospel. But such thoughts altogether vanish now, because, as the Gentile was unquestionably wicked and abominable, so from the law's express denunciation the Jew was universally guilty before God. When a person comes up to me and says, "Oh, I have the hardest time trusting God," what they are really saying is, "I really don't know God very well." Talk not thus. "The man has not got anything like settled peace with God; perhaps he hardly knows his sins forgiven; but at least he is a saved soul." He was in the end killed. Just say it, "Jesus is my Lord," and believe in your heart that God did raise Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. It may be helpful to read Deuteronomy 30:10. So then faith must come by hearing, and hearing by the word of God ( Romans 10:16-17 ). You say, "Who shall descend into the deep?" Its simplicity and plainness he proceeds immediately to state. Jezreel, Lo-ruhamah, and Lo-ammi were of awful import for Israel; but, in presence of circumstances so disastrous, there should be not merely a people but sons of the living God, and then should Judah and Israel be gathered as one people under one head. 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