that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes resulting in righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.”
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Romans 10:9-11 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Brothers, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God is for Israel, that they may be saved. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they didn’t subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the fulfillment of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. For Moses writes about the righteousness of the law, “The one who does them will live by them.” But the righteousness which is of faith says this, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down); or, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.)” But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth, and in your heart;” that is, the word of faith which we preach: that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes resulting in righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.”
Parallel Translations
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that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart, one believes resulting in righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made resulting in salvation.
For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.”
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For yf thou shalt knowledge with thy mouth that Iesus is the lorde and shalt beleve with thyn hert that God raysed him up from deeth thou shalt be safe.
For the belefe of the hert iustifieth: and to knowledge with the mouth maketh a man safe.
For the scripture sayth: whosoever beleveth on him shall not be ashamed.
Show all 3 translations
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For if thou shalt confesse with thy mouth the Lord Iesus, and shalt beleeue in thine heart, that God raised him vp from the dead, thou shalt be saued:
For with the heart man beleeueth vnto righteousnes, and with the mouth man confesseth to saluation.
For the Scripture saith, Whosoeuer beleeueth in him, shall not be ashamed.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (32)
- Luke 12:8 (v9) “I tell you, everyone who confesses me before men, the Son of Man will also confess before the angels of God;
- Acts 16:31 (v9) They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
- Philippians 2:11 (v9) and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
- Isaiah 28:16 (v11) Therefore the Lord Yahweh says, “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone of a sure…
- Matthew 10:32-33 (v9) Everyone therefore who confesses me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before…
Show all 32 cross-references
- Romans 9:33 (v11) even as it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense; and no one who believes in him will be disappointed.”
- 1 John 4:2-3 (v9) By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit who…
- 1 Peter 1:21 (v9) who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead, and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope might be in God.
- 1 Peter 2:6 (v11) Because it is contained in Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, chosen and precious: He who believes in him will not be…
- 1 John 4:15 (v10) Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God.
- Romans 8:34 (v9) Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, yes rather, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also makes…
- 1 Corinthians 15:14-18 (v9) If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith also is in vain. Yes, we are also found false witnesses of…
- Isaiah 49:23 (v11) Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and…
- Jeremiah 17:7 (v11) “Blessed is the man who trusts in Yahweh, and whose confidence is in Yahweh.
- Romans 10:9 (v10) that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
- Romans 14:11 (v9) For it is written, “ ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘to me every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess to God.’ ”
- John 12:42-43 (v9) Nevertheless even many of the rulers believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they didn’t confess it, so that they wouldn’t be put out…
- 1 Corinthians 12:3 (v9) Therefore I make known to you that no man speaking by God’s Spirit says, “Jesus is accursed.” No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” but by the…
- 2 John 1:7 (v9) For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who don’t confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the…
- Galatians 2:16 (v10) yet knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we believed in Christ Jesus, that…
- John 1:12-13 (v10) But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name: who were born not of…
- John 3:19-21 (v10) This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.…
- John 9:22 (v9) His parents said these things because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if any man would confess him as Christ, he…
- John 20:26-29 (v9) After eight days again his disciples were inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the doors being locked, and stood in the middle, and…
- Acts 2:24 (v9) whom God raised up, having freed him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it.
- Hebrews 10:22 (v10) let’s draw near with a true heart in fullness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and having our body washed…
- Acts 8:36 (v9) As they went on the way, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Behold, here is water. What is keeping me from being baptized?”
- Luke 8:15 (v10) Those in the good ground, these are those who with an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it tightly, and produce fruit with…
- Hebrews 3:12 (v10) Beware, brothers, lest perhaps there might be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God;
- John 6:69-71 (v9) We have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered them, “Didn’t I choose you, the…
- Philippians 3:9 (v10) and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the…
- Revelation 2:13 (v10) “I know your works and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. You hold firmly to my name, and didn’t deny my faith in the days of…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (23 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv9–11 9. That if thou wilt confess, etc. Here is…
9. That if thou wilt confess, etc. Here is also an allusion, rather than a proper and strict quotation: for it is very probable that Moses used the word mouth, by taking a part for the whole, instead of the word face, or sight. But it was not unsuitable for the Apostle to allude to the word mouth, in this manner: — “Since the Lord sets his word before our face, no doubt he calls upon us to confess it.” For wherever the word of the Lord is, it ought to bring forth fruit; and the fruit is the confession of the mouth.
By putting confession before faith, he changes the order, which is often the case in Scripture: for the order would have been more regular if the faith of the heart had preceded, and the confession of the mouth, which arises from it, had followed. But he rightly confesses the Lord Jesus, who adorns him with his own power, acknowledging him to be such an one as he is given by the Father, and described in the gospel.
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Express mention is made only of Christ’s resurrection; which must not be so taken, as though his death was of no moment, but because Christ, by rising again, completed the whole work of our salvation: for though redemption and satisfaction were effected by his death, through which we are reconciled to God; yet the victory over sin, death, and Satan was attained by his resurrection; and hence also came righteousness, newness of life, and the hope of a blessed immortality. And thus is resurrection alone often set before us as the assurance of our salvation, not to draw away our attention from his death, but because it bears witness to the efficacy and fruit of his death: in short, his resurrection includes his death. On this subject we have briefly touched in the sixth chapter.
It may be added, that Paul requires not merely an historical faith, but he makes the resurrection itself its end. For we must remember the purpose for which Christ rose again; — it was the Father’s design in raising him, to restore us all to life: for though Christ had power of himself to reassume his soul, yet this work is for the most part ascribed in Scripture to God the Father.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv9–11 If thou profess plainly, sincerely, and openly, that thou…
If thou profess plainly, sincerely, and openly, that thou takest Jesus only to be thy Lord and Savior.
That is indeed true faith which is settled not only in the head, but also in the heart of man, whereof also we give testimony, by our outward life, and which tendeth to Christ as to our alone and only Savior, even as he setteth forth himself in his word.
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The Father, who is said to have raised the Son from the dead: and this is not spoken to shut out the divinity of the Son, but to set forth the Father’s counsel touching our redemption in the resurrection of the Son.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv9–11 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy 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.
Ver. 9. That if thou shalt confess] That is, if thou shalt call upon the name of the Lord, as it is expounded, Rom 10:13.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv9–11 q.d. There are but these two things, which the…
q.d. There are but these two things, which the gospel principally requires in order to our salvation: the one is, the confession of Christ with our mouths, and that in spite of all persecution and danger, to own him for our Lord, and for our Jesus; and to declare, that we are and will be ruled and saved by him, and by him only. The other is, to believe in our hearts,
that God hath raised him from the dead. This article of the resurrection of Christ presupposeth all the rest, and fasteneth together, as by a link, all the antecedents and consequents of it; his ascension, session at the right hand of God, and intercession, which followed after. This article therefore, by a figure, is put for all the rest; and this is mentioned, because the death and passion of Christ had availed us nothing, unless he had risen again; for thereby he obtained a perfect victory over sin, death, and damnation, for all the elect. This is the principal ground of our justification, as hath been said, Rom 4:25.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv9, 11 Observe here, The two great and principal things which…
Observe here, The two great and principal things which the gospel requires, in order to our justification and salvation.
The first is, Confession of Christ with our mouth; that is, in all times of danger, particularly in a time of persecution, to own Christ Jesus our Lord, and to declare that we will serve him, and adhere to him, be ruled of him, and expect only to be saved by him.
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The second is, To believe in our hearts, that God hath raised Christ from the dead.
But why is the article of Christ’s resurrection only named, seeing faith respects his birth, life, and death, &c.
Answer Because this article of the resurrection presupposeth all the rest of the antecedents to it, and consequences of it; as namely, his incarnation, death, and passion, ascension and intercession.
This article therefore of the resurrection is put for all the rest, and includes all the rest: for as he could not have risen, had he not first died, so his death had availed us nothing, unless he had risen again.
Learn hence, 1. That all those who would be accepted with God unto righteousness and life, must be such as do believe in Christ with the heart, and openly confess with the mouth, that he is the Son of God, and the Saviour of the world. If thou confess and believe, thou shalt be saved.
Learn, 2. That the principal seat and subject of faith is not in the understanding barely, but in the will, called here the heart: With the heart man believeth unto righteousness: not the head.
Although knowledge is so necessary to faith, that it is sometimes put for faith, By his knowledge, or by the knowledge of him, shall my righteous servant justify many, Isa 53:11; yet there may be much light in the understanding, where there is no life in the will, much knowledge in the head, where there is no faith in the heart, nor obedience in the life. Therefore says the apostle here, With the heart man believeth, &c.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv9–11 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the…
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,.... That is, if a man shall make a good, sincere, and hearty confession to God, before the church and people of God, and before the world, that Christ is his Lord and Saviour, whom he desires to serve, and to be saved by; and this as arising from a comfortable experience of the grace of God in his soul, and from a true faith in Christ in his heart, wherefore it follows,
and shall believe in thine heart, that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved; for this article of Christ's resurrection includes the several other articles of faith: it supposes his death, and that supposes his life, and the obedience of it; and his life implies his being here on earth, and that his coming down from heaven to do the will of his Father; and this is the rather mentioned, which is here ascribed to God the Father, though not to the exclusion of the Son and Spirit, because that Christ is risen again for our justification, with which true faith is principally concerned; for such a faith is intended, not which lies in a mere assent to the truth of this, or any other article of the Christian religion; but which is concerned with Christ for righteousness, life, and glory; and with such a faith salvation is certainly and inseparably connected.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv9–11 If thou confess with thy mouth - Even in…
If thou confess with thy mouth - Even in time of persecution, when such a confession may send thee to the lions.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv9–11 Verse 9. That if thou shalt confess, c.] Acknowledge…
Verse 9. That if thou shalt confess, c.] Acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as the only Saviour. Believe in thy heart that he who died for thy offences has been raised for thy justification and depend solely on him for that justification, and thou shalt be saved.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv10–11 Rom 10:10. For with the heart — Not with…
Rom 10:10. For with the heart — Not with the understanding only; man believeth unto righteousness — So as to obtain justification, regeneration, and holiness, in all its branches; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation — So as to obtain eternal salvation. For if we so believe in Christ as to become truly righteous, and manifest that we are so by confessing him to be the Messiah, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world, when such a confession might deprive us of our property, our liberty, and our lives, we must, of course, love him better than any or all of these things; and therefore we willingly part with them for his sake. And being thus crucified to the world, and all visible and temporal things, our affections will be set on things above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God: and consequently, when he shall appear we shall appear with him in glory. “In the first ages, the spreading of the gospel depended, in a great measure, on Christ’s disciples confessing him openly before the world, and on their sealing their confession with their blood. Hence Christ required it, in the most express terms, and threatened to deny those who denied him, Mat 10:32-33; 1Jn 4:15. The confessing Christ being so necessary, and at the same time so difficult a duty, the apostle very properly connected the assurance of final salvation therewith; because it was the best evidence which the disciple of Christ could have of his own sincerity, and of his being willing to perform every other act of obedience required of him. There is a difference between the profession and the confession of our faith. To profess is to declare a thing of our own accord; but to confess is to declare a thing when asked concerning it. This distinction Cicero mentions in his oration Pro Cecinna.” — Macknight.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv9–11 That if thou shalt confess - The word here…
That if thou shalt confess - The word here rendered “confess” ὁμολογέω homologeō is often rendered “profess”; Mat 7:23, “Then will I profess to them, I never knew you;” Tit 1:16; Tit 3:14; Rom 1:22; 1Ti 2:10; 1Ti 6:12-13, 1Ti 6:21; Heb 3:1, etc. It properly means to “speak what agrees with something which others speak or maintain.” Thus, confession or profession expresses our “agreement or concord with what God holds to be true, and what he declares to be true.” It denotes a public declaration or assent to that, here expressed by the words “with thy mouth.” A profession of religion then denotes a public declaration of our agreement with what God has declared, and extends to all his declarations about our lost estate, our sin, and need of a Saviour; to his doctrines about his own nature, holiness, and law; about the Saviour and the Holy Spirit; about the necessity of a change of heart and holiness of life; and about the grave and the judgment; about heaven and hell. As the doctrine respecting a Redeemer is the main and leading doctrine, it is put here by way of eminence, as in fact involving all others; and publicly to express our assent to this, is to declare our agreement with God on all kindred truths.
With thy mouth - To profess a thing with the mouth is to speak of it; to declare it; to do it openly and publicly.
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The Lord Jesus - Shalt openly acknowledge attachment to Jesus Christ. The meaning of it may be expressed by regarding the phrase “the Lord” as the predicate; or the thing to be confessed is, that he is Lord; compare Act 2:36; Phi 2:11, “And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” Here it means to acknowledge him as Lord, that is, as having a right to rule over the soul.
Shalt believe in thy heart - Shalt sincerely and truly believe this, so that the external profession shall correspond with the real, internal feelings. Where this is not the case, it would be hypocrisy; where this is the case, there would be the highest sincerity, and this religion requires.
That God hath raised him - This fact, or article of Christian belief, is mentioned here because of its great importance, and its bearing on the Christian system. If this be true, then all is true. Then it is true that he came forth from God; that he died for sin; and that God approved and accepted his work. Then it is true that he ascended to heaven, and is exalted to dominion over the universe, and that he will return to judge the quick and the dead. For all this was professed and taught; and all this was regarded as depending on the truth of his having been raised from the dead; see Phi 2:8-11; Eph 1:21; Act 2:24, Act 2:32-33; Act 17:31; 2Co 4:14; 1Co 15:13-20. To profess this doctrine was, therefore, virtually to profess all the truths of the Christian religion. No man could believe this who did not also believe all the truths dependent on it. Hence, the apostles regarded this doctrine as so important, and made it so prominent in their preaching. See the note at Act 1:3.
Thou shalt be saved - From sin and hell. This is the doctrine of the gospel throughout; and all this shows that salvation by the gospel was easy.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v9 Thou shalt be saved. To confess the Lord Jesus,…
Thou shalt be saved. To confess the Lord Jesus, and to call upon the name of the Lord, (ver. 13.) is not barely the professing of a belief in the person of Christ: but moreover implies a belief of his whole doctrine, and an obedience to his law; without which the calling of him Lord will save no man. (St. Matthew vii. 21.) (Challoner) --- This passage must be understood like many others of this apostle, of a faith accompanied by a good-will ready to perform what faith says must be practised; as it is required in this very place, that what we believe in the heart, we should confess with our mouth. (Estius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv9–11 That if thou shalt, &c.--So understanding the words, the…
That if thou shalt, &c.--So understanding the words, the apostle is here giving the language of the true method of justification; and this sense we prefer (with CALVIN, BEZA, FERME, LOCKE, JOWETT). But able interpreters render the words, "For," or "Because if thou shalt," &c. [Vulgate, LUTHER, DE WETTE, STUART, PHILIPPI, ALFORD, Revised Version]. In this case, these are the apostle's own remarks, confirming the foregoing statements as to the simplicity of the gospel method of salvation.
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus--that is, probably, "If thou shalt confess Jesus [to be] the Lord," which is the proper manifestation or evidence of faith (Mat 10:32; Jo1 4:15). This is put first merely to correspond with the foregoing quotation--"in thy mouth and in thine heart." So in Pe1 1:10 the "calling of believers" is put before their "election," as that which is first "made sure," although in point of time it comes after it.
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and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised--"that God raised"
him from the dead, &c.--(See on Rom 4:25). In Rom 10:10 the two things are placed in their natural order.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv9–11 9. That—Rather, because, as depending upon nigh thee.
9. That—Rather, because, as depending upon nigh thee.
Mouth… heart—St. Paul follows the order of Moses in these two words; though, in the ordinary order of cause and effect, the latter is the fountain from which the stream flows through the former. And so Paul reverses the order in Rom_10:10. Moses, however, accustomed to outer confession, penetrates from the outward inwardly to the heart.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv9–11 9. that if thou shalt, &c.] Here the contents…
9. that if thou shalt, &c.] Here the contents of the “utterance” are given in more detail.
confess with thy mouth] i.e., practically, “submit to and own Him as supreme for thee.” See, for the demand of such “confession,” Mat_10:32; Luk_12:8. For all adult converts, this was an important feature of Baptism. In all cases, it is to be a test of the intelligence and reality of the faith of which it is a fruit.—“Confession” is here put before “believing,” because in Deuteronomy “the mouth” had been named before “the heart.” In the order of experience, of course, faith precedes confession.
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the Lord Jesus] Better, Jesus as Lord; i.e., as Supreme and Eternal; the all-blessed Son. Cp. 1Co_12:3; where light is thrown on the deep reality and significance of the confession meant here.—St Paul here refers back to the “who shall ascend?” of Rom_10:6 : Jesus, as Lord, is He “who is in Heaven,” (Joh_3:13,) who came thence, and is the way thither.
that God hath raised him, &c.] Cp. Heb_13:20; where the “bringing again of the Great Shepherd from the dead,” by the Father, is the full and final proof that the Father is the God of Peace; i.e. of Reconciliation, of Justification. See too above, Rom_4:24-25, Rom_5:1; and 1Th_1:10.—The belief in the Resurrection here is not merely historical belief, (which yet is indispensable to all other belief in it,) but “heart” belief; the perception and cordial embrace of what the Resurrection reveals and imports as to the Risen One and His work.—Here, obviously, the “who shall descend?” of Rom_10:7 is referred to.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv9, 11 (9) If thou shalt confess with thy mouth.—Interesting as…
(9) If thou shalt confess with thy mouth.—Interesting as containing the earliest formal confession of faith; that in Act_8:37 (see Note there) is not genuine.
There is no opposition between the outward confession and the inward act of faith. The one is regarded as the necessary consequence and expression of the other. In the next verse this takes the form of Hebrew parallelism, in which the balanced clauses are regarded as equivalent to each other.
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The Lord Jesus.—Jesus as Lord.
Hath raised him from the dead.—Comp. Rom_4:25. Though the death of Christ apprehended by faith is more especially the cause of the Christian’s salvation, still the Apostle regards the Resurrection as the cardinal point; for without the Resurrection the proof of the Messiahship of Jesus would have been incomplete, and His death would not have had its saving efficacy.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On v11 Vers. 11-21. What follows to the end of the…
Vers. 11-21. What follows to the end of the chapter is abruptly expressed, in such wise as to render difficult a clear exposition of the intended argument. It seems (as in other parts of the Epistle) as if St. Paul had dictated rapidly, and without pausing to consider whether readers would easily follow the thoughts of which his own mind was full. First, having done with his illustrations from the Pentateuch (which may be regarded as parenthetical), he resumes the line of thought expressed at the end of ver. 4, by panti tw pisteuonti . For, though ver. 11 is logically connected (in a way usual with St. Paul) with the preceding one the quotation from Isaiah being adduced in proof of pisteuetai eiv dikaiosunhn in ver. 10 yet what follows is really a continuation of the thought of ver. 4, viz. that the "righteousness of God," spoken of in ver. 3, is of faith, and also for all. In evidence of this he returns to the text from Isa_28:16, already cited in Rom_9:33, and himself supplies pav at the beginning of it, so as to bring out its universal application. It may be that, quoting from memory, he had forgotten that this word was not in the original, or he may have purposely added it in order to express more clearly what the original in which there is no limitation of o pistteuwn really implied. The latter supposition is probable, inasmuch as (according to the best-supported readings) he had previously (Rom_9:33) quoted the text without this addition, and now follows out the idea of pav by giving a reason for it, and then, in ver. 13, adds a text from Joel in which pav does occur, so as to intimate that the "calling on the Name of the Lord," spoken of by Joel, implies the "believing" spoken of by Isaiah, and hence that the two texts must be equally universal in their application.
Vers. 11, 12. For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. (see above, on Rom_9:33) For there is no difference (rather, distinction) between the Jew and the Greek: for the same is Lord of all, being rich unto all that call upon him. Here, in ver. 12, the apostle comments on the text from Isaiah, so as to show the universality of its application (see previous note). It is (he would say) in itself applicable to Jew and Gentile alike, and it must needs be so, since the one God is the same to all that call upon him, even as the Prophet Joel also testified. The thought thus expressed was one deeply fixed in St. Paul"s mind. He elsewhere speaks Of the very unity of God as implying of necessity that he is the same alike to Jews and Gentiles. (see above, on Rom_3:29)
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Vers. 11-13. Lordship and riches.
This passage exhibits the identity of the old covenant and the new. Paul quotes from the prophecies of Isaiah and Joel, in such a manner as to show, not only that he acknowledged the inspired authority of those writers, but also that he regarded words of promise uttered in the former dispensation as valid in the later. The language quoted harmonizes with the widest conceptions of the Divine benevolence, and must have been adduced with especial satisfaction by one so broad in his sympathies as was the large-hearted apostle of the Gentiles.
I THE LORDSHIP AND WEALTH OF CHRIST. In speaking of the blessings of salvation, it was very natural that Paul should be led to refer to the glory of the Saviour, in order that it might be understood how vast was his power alike to deliver and to protect his people, and to confer upon them priceless favours.
1. As Lord of all, Christ is Possessor of all power in heaven and in earth. He is of right Ruler of all; and the application of this language, referring to Jehovah, to the Son of man, is proof that he was regarded by St. Paul as Son of God. To Christians, however, it is delightful to reflect upon Christ"s authority, exercised over them, benignantly on his part, and gratefully and practically acknowledged and submitted to by themselves. A rebel and a loyal subject think very differently of their sovereign. To us Jesus is the King, because he is the Prophet and the Priest, who has come to us with the voice of God, and has bought us with his precious blood, tie is enthroned in our hearts; he gives laws to our life.
2. Jesus is rich unto all. We are assured of "the unspeakable riches of Christ," and are counselled to buy of him "gold tried in the fire, that we may be rich." If "all things are ours," it is because we are Christ"s, and Christ is God"s. He who redeems and rules, supplies the wants of his ransomed ones. He is not, like some of the wealthy of this world, rich for himself; he is rich for us, rich boundlessly and inexhaustibly, rich benevolently and for ever.
II THE CONDITIONS UPON WHICH THE LORDSHIP AND THE WEALTH OF CHRIST MAY BE ENJOYED. These are stated in two modes.
1. Believing on him is essential to participating in the blessings Christ offers to men. The apostle has previously been insisting upon faith as the means of obtaining the true and Divine righteousness, as God"s way for man to come to himself and to enjoy his favour. They who have faith shall not be put to shame, shall surely and eternally be saved.
2. Calling upon him would seem to be a natural result of faith. They who believe in the heart will give their faith utterance by the lips. By this Hebrew expression we may understand both open confession and earnest prayer. By calling upon the Lord"s Name, no vain and superstitious invocations or repetitions are to be understood, but the sincere entreaty of the soul for deliverance, guidance, or help.
III FOR WHOSE BENEFIT CHRIST"S LORDSHIP AND WEALTH ARE DESIGNED.
1. The limitations of nationality are abolished. The religions of heathenism are local; the deities of heathenism are national and tutelary. Under the older dispensation, Jehovah was revealed as the one God, the God of all the earth; yet the Hebrews too often regarded the Lord as their God, and theirs only. The distinction between Jew and Gentile was, to the Hebrew mind, deep and ineffaceable. To St. Paul largely belongs the honour of giving currency to the true doctrine of Christianity, that religion is one and universal; that God is the Father of mankind; that Christ is Saviour and Lord of all men; that the middle wall of partition is broken down; that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile.
2. The offers of Christianity are made to all, and its terms and conditions are adapted to all. He is "rich unto all," and his riches are for "whomsoever believeth," for "whomsoever calleth upon his Name." What language could be used more fitted to encourage every hearer of the gospel to submit to the Lordship and to seek the true riches of Jesus Christ, the Son of God?
Spiritual enrichment.
The experience of the apostle was sufficiently large to enable him with confidence to make this sweeping assertion. And the experience of the Church of Christ, through the many centuries which have elapsed since St. Paul thus wrote, enables Christians to make the same assertion with undiminished confidence. In fact, the actual proofs at our disposal and command are overwhelming, both in number and in appropriateness; for, whilst the bestowal of Divine and spiritual wealth has been incessantly proceeding, the resources are unexhausted and inexhaustible.
I THE RICHES OF THE LORD. In Christ is wealth adapted to the enrichment of dependent, needy men. He has in himself:
1. Riches of revelation.
2. Riches of redemption.
3. Riches of replenishment, owing to the nature and perpetuity of the spiritual dispensation of grace.
4. Riches of resurrection, inasmuch as the true riches endure unto life eternal.
II THE LIBERALITY WITH WHICH THESE SPIRITUAL RICHES ARE DISPENSED.
1. It is because Christ is Lord over all, that he is rich unto all.
2. The riches of redeeming love are conferred upon men of every nationality. In the apostolic age, the great distinction which Christianity transcended was that between Jew and Gentile; but, in subsequent times, it has been proved by experience that there is no nation, no class, and no condition incapable of this Divine enrichment.
III THE CONDITION UPON WHICH SPIRITUAL RICHES HAVE BEEN, AND STILL MAY BE, APPROPRIATED. As throughout this chapter, the apostle here insists upon that spiritual condition of receptivity and application by which all that is good may enter the nature of man. Calling upon him is an act
(1) of repentance,
(2) of faith,
(3) of prayer, and
(4) of aspiration.
As we exercise this means of communion, all things are ours.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv10–11 With the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with…
Rom_10:10
With the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
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Observe the harmonious relation between
1. The heart and the mouth.
2. Faith and confession.
3. Righteousness and salvation. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Faith, and the confession of faith
1. It was a saying of Dr. Johnson, that classical quotation was the parole of literary men, and we can understand how a sympathy similar to that existing among scholars would obtain between Paul and the Jews to whom he wrote, and they found him adapting the words of the law in his exposition of the gospel. A comparison of Rom_10:6-8 with Deu_30:11-14 will show clearly that they are adapted rather than quoted.
2. In verse 9, confession comes before believing, there being a play upon the words quoted in verse 8; but in verse 10 we have, more logically, belief coming before confession.
I. with the heart man believeth unto righteousness.
1. Nature of evangelical faith.
(1) It is not a mere intellectual faith, as when men believe in Caesar or Napoleon, for this the devils have when they believe and tremble (Jam_2:19).
(2) In belief of the heart, the mind as well as the affections is implied, for the heart, in scriptural language, is said to reason (Mar_2:6), to meditate (Luk_3:15), and to understand (Mat_13:15).
2. This faith is to be in the resurrection of Christ.
(1) Now by this the Divinity of Christs teaching was demonstrated (chap.1:4).
(2) Again, Christ was the outshining of the Fathers glory, and the express Image of His person (Heb_1:3). In Him we see incarnate the Divine perfections.
(3) True faith, therefore, in the resurrection of Christ implies a belief in the whole mediatorial scheme, and such a realising sense of God as will lead to holy service.
3. Hence it is a belief unto righteousness; i.e.,
(1) The forensic righteousness by which the objective difficulty to mans approach to his heavenly Father was taken away (context and Rom_3:22).
(2) And also the righteousness wrought in us (subjective) as we imitate Christs holy life (1Jn_2:29; 1Jn_3:7; 1Jn_3:10).
(3) Justification by faith is the article of a standing or falling Church, but the faith that justifies is the faith which worketh by love (Gal_5:6).
II. with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
1. This has been supposed to have reference to the primitive confession of faith in baptism. If so, the text will correspond to Mar_16:16.
2. We may, consistently with what has been said under I. 3, take the confession to stand for practical Christianity, since confessing Christ with the mouth is but one of the works wrought by loving faith.
(1) There is a confession with the mouth to which God calls us. If our hearts be full of Christ, we must needs confess Him (Mat_12:34; Mat_10:32; see also Joh_12:42 and 1Jn_4:15).
(2) But the Word is nigh us, that we may do it (Deu_30:14).
(a) The man of the world finds it hard to understand how professing Christians can believe while their actions remain unaffected by their belief. In commerce, a belief in the dishonesty of any one with whom he has to do, leads him to guard and protect himself against possible wrong. The mariner, again, whose charts disclose rocks and shoals, keeps his ship at a safe distance from them--he makes use of his knowledge.
(b) But the true Christian must act. His faith brings before him the things unseen (Heb_11:1), and he no longer walks under the influence of the things of sight, like the children of this world (2Co_5:7). As spiritual health increases, old ways of sin are thrown off, the heart is cleansed and purified, and the mans daily life has a heavenly fragrance which blesses his fellow-men. Conclusion: The secret of mens unbelief lies for the most part, not in the mind, but in the affections. They cannot bring themselves to forsake their worldliness and sin, and therefore come to the consideration of the gospel message, if they consider it at all, with prejudiced minds. (J. C. Pilkington, M.A.)
Faith and confession the subjective condition of salvation
I. with the heart man believeth unto righteousness.
1. Belief and faith are one. In respect to mundane matters, we receive the testimony of men; while in the matters pertaining to the unseen world, we receive the testimony of God. Faith in man sustains the whole fabric of our secular and scientific knowledge, and faith in God is the support of our spiritual and religious knowledge. If, in order to secure the salvation of our souls, we must have the latter faith, even so, in order to the preservation and comfort of our bodies, we must have the former. Without faith it is impossible to please God; and without faith, belief, it is impossible to enjoy the advantages of civilised life. And whether it has respect to man or God, faith is belief in testimony (1Jn_5:9-11).
2. The apostle clearly intends by the heart the inner, as contrasted with the external man; and not the emotional, as opposed to the intelligent man. For the contrast is not between heart and head, but between heart and mouth. The sacred authors often spoke of bodily organs as if they projected mental values into them. With them the heart did not specially denote the affections as distinguished from the understanding (Deu_29:4; 1Ki_3:9; 1Ki_3:12; Mar_7:21; Mar_2:6; Act_11:23; Pro_16:21). The heart stood for the very centre of the person, where thought had its fountain, intelligence its post of observation, and the stores of knowledge and experience were treasured up.
3. The testimony to be believed is here spoken of as a report; i.e., the thing announced by the witnesses and heard by those to whom it was spoken. It was a report concerning the Saviour, and being given by competent and faithful witnesses, and confirmed by the attesting seal of God, there was no need for any man to go out of or beyond himself for Christ. For the word was nigh him.
4. But why specially believe that God hath raised Christ from the dead? Because the testimony is that He died for our sins, and His resurrection is the proof that the sin is purged; for our Substitute has been discharged and restored to deathless life. Therefore a sure belief that God hath raised Him from the dead carries with it a sure belief that our everlasting life is made certain.
5. But though faith, considered in itself, is simply belief in testimony, it nevertheless serves to awaken various emotions of the heart in accordance with the character of the testimony believed, and the kind and amount of personal interest involved. If we have no conscious interest in that which is the subject of testimony, then no emotion will result from its belief. But if we have, then the belief will give rise to joy or sorrow, hope or fear, triumph or dread, as the case may be. Tidings come of a terrible hurricane in the mid-Atlantic, in which numbers of ships have foundered, and belief of the tidings instantly fills many a hitherto bright and happy home with the gloom of despair and death. But let them presently have the assurance that the particular ships which contained their hopes have escaped and have safely arrived in port, and, believing this, how instantly they find their sorrow and despair give place to gratitude and joy! And here is a poor guilty wanderer, who has long and grievously offended against his heavenly Father. He has come to realise the fearfulness of his danger. Can any one wonder that he should roar because of the disquietude of his spirit? But let him now hear and believe that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life, and of what a change from the terrors of despair to the joy of salvation is he at once conscious!
II. with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
1. The salvation spoken of is not already attained, but one for which, or in order to which, confession is made. It is therefore something which is yet future. Though a Christian man is saved here and now, yet this present salvation is but a thing begun, not completed (1Co_15:2; Php_2:12; 1Th_5:8; Rom_8:24; Heb_1:14; Rom_13:11; 1Pe_1:5; Heb_9:28).
2. Now it is in respect to this continued and ultimately completed redemption that confession is made with the mouth unto salvation. The righteousness obtained by faith would, forsooth, fall to the ground again, and would not be attended by salvation, if faith had not the vital force to produce confession of the mouth, which speaks out of the fulness of the heart. For the confession indicated is not that merely of the lip, but true and bold acknowledgment of Christ both in deed and word, Jesus Christ before Pontius Pilate witnessed s good confession (1Ti_6:13)--one that cost Him His life; and any union with Him which has not in it the spirit of devoted loyalty to Him, even unto death, if needful, is vain (Mat_10:28-33; Rev_21:8; Heb_11:33). (W. Tyson.)
Believing with the heart
I. The object of faith (verse 9). There are many who for many a weary month question whether they have the right sort of faith; whereas they would do better if they looked to see whether their faith rested upon a right foundation. Now, soul-saving faith rests upon Christ--
1. As incarnate.
2. In His life. Faith perceives that He is perfect in obedience, sanctified wholly to His work, and although tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin.
3. But chiefly in His death. Faith hears the expiring sin-bearer cry with a loud voice, It is finished, and adds a glad Amen, It is finished!
4. In His resurrection. Inasmuch as Christ was put into the prison of the tomb as a hostage and bail for His people, faith knows that He never could have come out again if God had not been completely satisfied with His substitutionary work. He neer had been at freedom set. Faith, therefore, perceives that if Christ is risen the soul is justified.
5. In His ascension. Faith beholds Him in His session at the right hand of God, sees Him pleading as the great High Priest, and expecting until His enemies are made His footstool. Mark, not so much as a hairs breadth of faiths foundation is to be found out of Christ. Faith does not build on its own experience, on any knowledge which it has obtained by research, or on merit which it fancies it has procured by long and ardent service.
II. The nature of faith. With the heart man believeth.
1. We generally attribute the act of faith to the mind, but our text makes it to be a work of the affections.
(1) In order merely to state that faith must be sincere we must heartily believe it. It must not be a notional faith which a man possesses, because his mother was of the same persuasion, or because he would be singular if he were to be an infidel.
(2) To make a distinction between doctrinal faith and the faith which accepts Christ. I know scores who are well read in divinity, who are orthodox to the last turn of the scale, and who fight like tigers for but one hair of the head of a creed, and yet, they will never be saved by their faith, because it is merely a belief of certain abstract propositions which never affected their nature.
2. What is this believing with the heart?
(1) The first work of the Holy Spirit in man is not to teach him doctrines, but to make him feel a great hungering and thirsting after a something, he scarcely knows what. His heart, like the needle, touched with the magnet, cannot rest, because it has not found its pole. Now, when Christ is set forth as a complete Saviour, able to give salvation now, then the heart says, Why, that is just what I have been wanting. Just as the flowers which have been shut up all night, as soon as the sun is up, open their cups as if they felt--There! that is what we were wanting! The heart stretches out its arm to Christ, and Christ comes into that heart, and the heart presses Him close to itself. Believing with the heart is the hearts own conviction that Jesus Christ is just what it wants. Many of you have a true faith in Christ and yet you have never read Paleys Evidences, nor Butlers Analogy. You hardly know upon what ground the Bible is accepted as true, and hence, cunning infidels give you a good shaking when they get hold of you upon that point. But there is one thing upon which you can never be shaken, you feel the gospel must be true, because it just suits the wants of your heart. If any man should say to you when you are thirsty, Water is not good, by a process stronger than logic, you could prove that water is good because it quenches your thirst. When you are hungry, if a philosopher should say to you, You do not understand the ground upon which bread nourishes the human frame, you would say, One thing I know, bread is good to eat if I am hungry, and I will show you. So the believing heart is hungry, therefore feeds upon Jesus; is thirsty, therefore drinks the living water.
(2) Again, is it not mans heart which is led to perceive the difficulty of reconciling the Divine attributes? Do you not remember when your heart said, God is just; it is right He should be. Yet I know He is merciful, but I cannot understand how He can be both, for if He is just, He has sworn to punish, and if He is gracious, He will forgive. You came up to the sanctuary when your heart was thus perplexed, but you heard the preacher show clearly that Christ became the substitute for man, you understood how God had all His justice satisfied in the death of His beloved Son, and your heart said, There, this is the very answer I have been wanting. Now, I see how righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Oh! the joy and gladness with which your heart laid hold upon a crucified Redeemer, saying, It is enough, my trouble is removed.
(3) Believing with the heart implies a love to the plan of salvation. As you are thinking it over, something whispers, Why, such a plan as that must be true. Then, the sweet promise flashes across your mind, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed; and your heart says, Then, I will believe on Him; that plan so magnificent in its liberality is worthy of my loving acceptance.
3. What is true of us when we commence our spiritual career is true all our lives long. Soul-saving faith is always the belief of the heart. I think I see some grey-headed man rise up and say, In my young days I gave my heart to Christ, and I had a peace and joy such as I had never known before. Since that time, this brow has been furrowed with many cares, but the Lord has been my hearts stay and confidence. When trouble has come in upon me, I have been able to sustain it.
4. This is the right way to believe in Jesus, because this is the way in which you can believe in Him when you come to die. You have heard of the renowned bishop on his dying bed. His friends said to him, Do not you know us? There was a shake of the head. Next, the children beg him to remember them. But he shakes his head. Last, came his wife, and he had forgotten her. At last, one said in his ear, Do you know Jesus? The response was instantaneous. Know Him? said he, yes, He is all my salvation and all my desire. Though the heart may know the wife and the child, yet never can the heart know the dearest earthly object as it knows Christ. He that believeth with his heart hath Christ in him, not on him, the hope of glory.
5. It is a very blessed thing that with the heart man believeth; because some of you might say, I have not head enough to be a Christian. Even fools may still believe. The wayfaring man, though a fool, shall not err therein.
III. The result of faith. Unto righteousness. The man who believes in Christ is righteous; he is righteous at once, in a moment; he is righteous in the germ. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Believing with the heart
The seat of faith, it deserves to be observed, is not in the brain, but the heart; not that I wish to enter into any dispute concerning the part of the body which is the seat of faith, but since the word heart generally means a serious, sincere, ardent affection, I am desirous to show the confidence of faith to be a firm, efficacious, and operative principle in all the emotions and feelings of the soul, not a mere naked notion of the head. (J. Calvin.)
Heart judgment
1. The popular impression is that argument produces belief, and that no justly founded belief can be entertained unless the man has had clear intellectual reasons for that belief.
2. Life contradicts this view by the wholesale. Men believe thousands of things of which they have had no demonstration, and there are multitudes of things which men can demonstrate that they do not believe. What is evidence? It is that which satisfies intellect, conscience, taste, and the emotions. Some men want evidence that touches the intellect; some evidence that touches the imagination; some evidence that touches the taste; some evidence that strikes the moral sense. The evidence that convinces one man has no effect upon another.
3. Now, in regard to evidence, belief has a wide range. In things material, a man believes upon sense-evidence. But in regard to scientific things, there are no evidences that are less reliable than the obvious operations of what are called the five senses. That Huxley and Tyndall will tell you. Here a trained intellect is the master of evidence. An impassioned investigator is carried away. Men insist upon it that you must discharge all feeling, lay aside all pre-conceived notions, and come with your mind as transparent as crystal to the investigation.
4. But the range of truth that is thus brought within the scope of our investigation is relatively small. The truths that work to manhood, to character, and conduct, are innumerable and immensely more important. The great bulk of the questions about which men are to believe or not have reference to a kind of truth that you can never judge by pure cold intellect. All social and moral truths depend upon the affections. A man who carries a purely mathematical mind to the reading of Milton is a fool. A man who should read Tennyson as a microscopist would examine an insect, how preposterous his conduct would be! In the largest department, then, belief depends upon the feelings. I do not mean that it excludes the intellect, but that the investigating intellect is obliged to be in harmony with the feelings that dominate the department where the truth lies. Truths of beauty--and that takes in the whole realm of art--cannot be conceived of by a purely speculative intellect. The intellect must be struck through and through with the elements of the beautiful in order to appreciate it. There is a great deal of mathematics in the science of music; yet music itself cannot be appreciated by the mere man of science without the sense or faculty of music in him.
5. The great religious truths which determine conduct and character cannot be understood except through the state of the heart. The baser animal passions indulged in so cloud the moral feeling and the intellect as to preclude the truth and investigation of it. The natural man cannot discern the things of the Spirit. A man in a rage cannot understand the emotions of peace. A man that is grasping and unfair is not in a state to consider justice and equity. How can a man who is puffed up with self-conceit have any adequate comparison within himself of his moral states? Selfishness so distorts and disturbs the light of the reason that it cannot form a just judgment of truths nor understand them even when they are expounded by others. Recently, at Cornell University, a professor said, I hope they will never establish an observatory here. Why? Because the locality is utterly unfit for celestial observations. Cayuga Lake every night fills the atmosphere with so much vapour that it is not until late in the day that you can get a clear view of the sky, and hardly three nights in the whole year have been fit for a critical observation of the heavens. The clouds that go up around the human observatory prevent men from seeing clearly. They cannot make observations of celestial things.
6. Notice how careful men are in forming their beliefs on scientific subjects. Although the truths of science are material, largely, yet men feel the necessity of good health, of a clear eye, and of all conditions which render them secure from various adverse interruptions. So far is this carried that men do not trust themselves; there is what is called a personal equation among them. When a star in transit passes a given line, and a man records the time exactly of its striking the line, it will happen that a dull brain did not see it for a measurable period of time after a sensitive and quick brain; and the astronomer has a personal equation of his own peculiarities of quickness or slowness, according to rules that have been established, so that in making the additions or subtractions, he always takes it into account as a part of his calculations. This is for the sake of physical observations. Whoever thought of making a personal equation in the judgment of men on great moral questions? Look at the way in which a judge feels himself bound to come to the consideration of facts, law, and reasoning. If he is a naturally obstinate man, and has the shadow of a previous idea in the case, it will take twice as much evidence and coercive logic to dislodge him from his prejudices. An honourable man would refuse to sit on any case in which he was conscious that he had a foregoing disqualification. Now, see how in regard to justice, science, and every department, men are conscious of the disturbing forces felt in one way or another; and see how they prepare themselves to arrive at right judgments and to correct them as much as possible by review and restatement. But compare the way in which men approach these tremendous themes of religion and sit in judgment upon Divine equity, and upon questions of right and questions of duty. See how young men, being somewhat unsettled from their old foundations, plunge into unbelief. They read their evidence in the newspaper, going from their house to their business. Oh, I have read on that subject; I know all about it. How little have men read, how little have they pondered, how little have they ever had the slightest idea that their judgments have been influenced by their dispositions, by their conduct, by their wishes and longings, by their self-indulgence--how little have they come to form a judgment against the pulling-down influences that act upon them!
7. Now, it is often the case that a true-hearted, simple-minded man, believing the gospels without a particle of intellectual evidence, but with a hungry heart and with a real love of things that are spiritual, is led to believe, I had almost said, without the operation of his reason at all. He is not able to give a reason for the faith that is in him any more than an artist is able to give the reason why he puts in a bit of red there, except that his eye was hungry for it. It is possible for a man pure in heart to come to a just conclusion in regard to mighty truths, that involve time and eternity, in such a way that he will be the laughing stock and the derision of eminent philosophers, or even eminent theologians. But such simple men believe with their heart. The temperature of the heart was such that it inclined them to accept these things, and, accepting them, they believed in God and felt good.
8. See how this is the doctrine of the Bible. Take, e.g., Joh_1:1-5, The light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. Turn to Joh_1:20-25. Our Saviour bears testimony again and again in St. Johns Gospel, which records His controversies with the conceited, scholarly men of the temple, when He declared to them that He made known to them the invisible truths of God, which ought to be appreciated by moral sensibility, but that they could not see them, and even denied them, on account of the condition of their hearts. This is the Scripture testimony, and it corroborates the experience of men. In secular life men have come to understand that they must prepare themselves before they come to a judgment or appreciate a thing accurately. But in religion men are still asking for intellectual proof that shall come like a mathematical demonstration. They are believing this and disbelieving that, on evidence which does not belong to the subject at all. Blessed are the pure in heart; they shall see God. Men of distempered heart, unclean and impure, shall never see Him. Beware, then, of the disturbance of your own hearts. Beware of all those judgments that are merely abstract, or factual, as in science. Accept those judgments that come to you from the heart, and report themselves to you irresistibly as true, springing from the highest moral conditions, from conscience, reason, hope, faith, love. (H. W. Beecher.)
Belief of the heart necessary for righteousness
Since the end of religion is obedience, the heart is wanted. To know what we ought to do and to do it are two very different things. For the first: perhaps, the mind is adequate; for the second we have need of the heart. I see the better and I take the worse way, said one of the ancients. Why? Because there was no force strong enough to impel him to the better way. This is what we all want. What the philosophers call the dynamic force--to constrain us to obey what we see we should. Most of us have got knowledge enough of the right way; what we lack is the impulse to walk therein. The body is like a delicate piece of machinery worked by the heart, which sends the blood pulsating through every vein and artery. Without that all would be in vain. What the heart is to the body the emotions are to the soul--the impelling force. But, it may be said, the heart is, of all parts of our complex nature, the least under our control. Faith springs up spontaneously, or not at all. To bid men believe or love is a waste of breath. God therefore makes Himself visible in His Son Jesus Christ, and when thus we really see Him, faith must spring up in our hearts, as surely as admiration does in the heart of a beholder of a glowing sunset, or the hearer of noble music, or the spectator of some heroic deed. A child is sinking in a stream; you see a man at the risk of his life leap in to save the precious life. It needs no command to make your heart glow with gratitude to such a deliverer. It leaps up at the sight. To look at Jesus Christ touches the heart so that it is constrained by the love of Christ, so as to live, not for itself but for Him. (W. G. Horder.)
The faith of the heart
We remember to have heard a preacher describe this act of faith as follows:--Look at that drowning man, hurried down the stream by the furious torrent with which he is convulsively struggling. His looks and cries bespeak the agony he feels. By and by his attention is directed to a life preserver, which his friends are placing in the most favourable position possible. He at once sees that if he is saved at all, it must be by that instrument; and here is the exercise of his understanding. But it is very questionable whether he shall be able to reach it. The current seems to carry him in another direction; yet there is hope; it is taking another turn. He is gradually approaching the instrument of his safety; and now there is hope, mingled with his agony; he comes nearer and nearer: his friends cry courage, and see with what energy he seizes the preserver of his life. There was heart in that grasp. But not more so than when the poor trembling sinner lays hold of Christ. He is pointed to the Cross, but the current of his feelings drives him past it. He weeps and mourns, he groans and prays; his friends reason and encourage; the spirit operates; hope springs up; immediately the direction of the stream is changed; he gets nearer every moment; he looks, weeps, cries, Save, for Thy names sake; and in an agony--with all his heart--and with all the affections and powers of his soul, he grasps the Saviour. (Handbook to Scripture Doctrines.)
Faith and righteousness
Look at certain doctrines, and see what they must produce when believed with the heart. It is a portion of Scripture revelation that God is omniscient and omnipotent, that He is ever at hand, to note down human actions, and register them for judgment. Can this really be believed, and yet the believer fail to be intensely earnest to approve himself in Gods sight? Rather, will not his faith produce a holy reverence of the Almighty, and make him walk circumspectly, because walking side by side with his Maker and his Judge? The Bible tells him, moreover, of an amazing scheme of rescue planned and executed by God on behalf of himself and his fellow-men. It sets God before Him as giving His own Son, and that Son as giving Himself to ignominy and shame that pardon might be placed within reach of the sinful. Can this be believed, and yet the believer not glow with intense love towards so gracious a God; yea, and towards his fellow-men, seeing that they are objects of the same mercy, and therefore equally precious in the sight of the Creator? But yet further. Along with the revelation of this scheme of mercy the Bible sets forth conditions apart from which we can have no share in the blessings of Christs death, imposing duties on the performance of which our future portion is made to depend, and annexing threatenings and promises just as though we were to be judged by our works irrespective of the blood of the Redeemer. It tells us of heaven; it tells us of hell; and, dealing with us as with accountable creatures, it conjures us by the joys of the one state and the terrors of the other to live soberly, righteously, and godly in the world. Now tell me who believes this? The man who lives as though there were no heaven, or no hell, doing the very things, obeying the very passions, neglecting the very duties, which are forbidden or commanded, to all who would escape wrath and find mercy hereafter? Impossible. These things cannot be believed by the sensual man, the covetous, the proud, or the ambitious. Faith in these things must lead to effort, to obedience, to self-denial. (H. Melvill, B.D.)
Confession of faith
I. the Divine order of salvation.
1. Faith.
2. Confession.
II. The result of this order.
1. Righteousness.
2. Salvation.
III. Inferences.
1. These requisites are a matter of present duty.
2. Unbelief and silence are sinful. (W. W. Wythe.)
Confession with the mouth
1. There must be no confession where there is not a believing. To profess what you have not, is to make yourself a deceptive trader, who pretends to be carrying on a very large business, while he has no stock and no capital. To make a profession, without having a possession, is to be a cloud without rain--a river-bed without water, a mere play-actor, a rotten tree, green on the outside, but inwardly, as Bunyan puts it, only fit to be tinder for the devils tinder-box.
2. True faith, however, produces works; and, among the rest, confession of Christ. Faith, without works, is a dead root., yielding no fruit; a well filled with deadly vapour; a tree twice dead, plucked up by the roots, like some of those forest monsters which block up the navigation of the Mississippi, upon which many a goodly vessel has been wrecked. As you are to flee from profession without faith, so equally flee from a faith which does not bring forth a good profession.
I. To confess Christ with the mouth embraces the whole life-work of the Christian. It consists in--
1. Uniting in acts of public worship. As soon almost as the two distinct seeds of the woman and of the serpent were discernible, Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord, while those who feared not God went away to their various occupations. When Jeroboam set up the calves at Bethel, the act of standing with the multitude around the courts of the temple was a distinct confession of allegiance to Jehovah. In the apostolic times, those who believed were constant in the apostles doctrine, and in breaking of bread, and in prayer. In the early Christian days, you may see a picture something like this: There is a low arch, like the opening of a sewer. Yonder comes a maiden, who stoops beneath and emerges into one of the catacombs of Rome. A torch renders darkness visible, and some watchful brother observes her; asks for her pass-word. Her being there proves her a Christian. She would not have been there to worship God among those pariahs of society if she had not loved the Lord. Very much so was it in later times. When the Lollard preached to the handful in some remote farmhouse, with a watcher outside; or in the days of the Covenant, while the dragoons of Claver-house were scenting out their prey, you might be clear that they were for the Lord of Hosts, who met at peril of their lives. To-day it is so to very few. There are some, perhaps, whose husbands last words were, If you go to church you will never enter my house again; but it is not so with nine hundred and ninety-nine out of a thousand. We mingle together saint and sinner. And if this were the only profession, it would not fulfil the intention of my text. In persecuting times it would; but now it is little or no confession to most of us to sit comfortably in our seats and listen to the preacher, and then go our way.
2. A dutiful attention to those two ordinances which are intended by Christ to be the distinctive badge of believers. Under the old Mosaic dispensation, ordinances were only for Israelites. And under the Christian dispensation there are no ordinances for aliens. The Ethiopian travelled all the way from the realm of Candace, in order that he might be present at the distinctive worship of the Jew. You remember how carefully the heads of the Jewish houses were that they and all their children were present at the passover.
(1) Baptism is the mark of distinction between the Church and the world. It is the crossing of the Rubicon.
(2) The Lords Supper sets forth the distinction of the believer from the world in his life and that by which his life is nourished.
(3) Both these ordinances bring a cross with them to some degree, especially the first.
3. An association with the Lords people. It was so in the olden times. Moses may, if he wilts, live in the court of Pharaoh, but he counts the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. What a touching illustration of this point we have in Rth_1:16-17. We find in the early Church, that as soon as a man became a Christian, he went to his own company. Paul was not content with being baptized; and wherever there were people of God, they were always formed into a Church. Those who speak lightly of Church fellowship do mischief. Suppose, instead of the compact phalanx of this one Church, we were broken into individual Christians, some of the warmest-hearted among you would grow cold; the little ones among us would be subjected to false doctrine; while even the strongest here would feel it to be a most solemn bereavement.
4. The taking up of the cross in the family. It may be you are the first one converted. You pray, and there is a ringing laugh within the walls. Persevere! for now it is that you are to make confession unto salvation. Your faith cannot save you unless you say, I cannot love father or mother more than Christ. This is hard; but remember the example of your Lord, for whom you do it.
5. Bearing witness in time of temptation. Young Josephs answer was, How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? The case of Nehemiah is equally to the point. Can such a man as I flee? Christian, some dirty trick in business comes in your way. Now, play the man, and say, I would rather starve than do it. On a Sabbath morning, when you are invited to waste its holy hours, say, No, I am a Christian.
6. Testifying whenever we are called into trial for Christs sake. Remember the three Hebrew children, Daniel, Peter, and John. I have noticed that whenever men are likely to lose anything for Christ, that the most timid generally come out at that time. You do not hear of Joseph of Arimathaea while Jesus lives. But when Christs body is on the Cross he begs His body. And who shall help to wrap Him in spices? Why, Nicodemus, that came to Jesus Christ by night. The stag flies before the hounds, but when it comes to bay, fights with the bravery of desperation. Erasmus said he was not made of the right stuff to be a martyr. So the papists picture him as hanging somewhere between heaven and hell. He had knowledge of the truth, but he had not the courage to avow it; while Luther smote the triple crown upon the Popes brow. If the Lord be God, follow Him,etc.
7. The going out of ones way at times to bear testimony. Who is on the Lords side? let him come unto me. Every now and then we shall not be able to confess Christ, unless we do something that shall seem harsh and strange. Surely, Gods Elijahs cannot be silent while thousands of Baals priests are kindling their fires. We shall find it needful to intrude upon the dainties of etiquette, and, like the prophet who came to Bethel, we shall have to cry against altars at which others pay their vows.
8. The using of our position as a method of confession. Joshua is the head of a household tie uses that position: As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Let the family altar be reared. You have influence, perhaps, where you can help Christs Church. Esther came to the kingdom for such a time as this. Some of you are large employers, or members of Parliament. All that influence is so much money given to you to put out to interest for your Lord.
9. Preaching. There are some of you who have ability to speak. You can talk upon politics and science; but if you love Jesus, are you going to give all your attention to these inferior themes? You tell me you are nervous. Never mind. If you break down half a dozen times, try again; you shall find your talents increase. This confession, then, is a life-work. The Christian man is to be something like a physician. There is a brass plate on his door and a big bell. How else does he profess to be a physician? You do not see a box of lancets hanging at his side, nor see him dress in a peculiar costume. His profession is carried on by his practice. This is how a Christians profession is to be carried on. When we went to school we drew houses, horses, and trees, and used to write house under the house, etc., for some persons might have thought the horse was a house. So there are some people who need to wear a label round their necks to show they are Christians, or else we might mistake them for sinners. Avoid that. Let your profession be manifest by your practice.
II. Do not excuse yourself from this, for no excuse will be valid. You will lose your business! Lose it, and gain your soul, and you will be unfashionable! What is it to be fashionable? You will be despised by those who love you! Do you love husband or wife more than Christ? If so, you are not worthy of Him. But you are so timid! Mind you are not so timid as to be lost at last, for the fearful and unbelieving shall have their portion in the lake that burneth. In the silence of the sick or dying hour, no excuse, however specious it may appear today, will answer your conscience: and if so answer your conscience, depend upon if it will not satisfy God, Conclusion:
1. Remember how dishonourable it is to say you believe, and yet not to make confession. You are like a rat behind the wainscot, coming out just now and then when nobody is looking, and then running behind again. What! is Christ to be treated as if His name were a thing to be avowed in holes and corners? No, in the face of the sun let it be said, I do love Jesus, who gave Himself for me. He died in the face of the sun, with mockers round about Him; and with mockers round about us let us declare our faith in Him.
2. How honourable will the confession be to you. If I had to join an army, and found for my comrades the scrapings of the street, I do not think I should like to be a soldier; but if I found my colonel a great conqueror, and that I had for compeers men who had won renown, I should feel honoured by being allowed to be a drummer-boy. So when I read the list, and find Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Daniel, Isaac, Jesus Christ Himself, the apostles, Luther, Calvin, etc., I count it an honour if my name shall be found written with theirs, as the humblest soldier in the army.
3. I urge this upon you, because it will make you useful. A secret Christian is a candle under a bushel, salt without savour.
4. Grace is sufficient. If grace put you upon a pinnacle of the temple, depend upon it, grace will keep you there.
5. The reward is splendid. He that confesseth Me before men, him will I confess before My Father which is in heaven. There was once a prince who journeyed into a distant part of the kings dominions, where he was little known and cared for. The people said, This is the heir; let us insult him. Others said he was no heir at all. And they agreed to set him in the pillory. As he stood there they said, Who dare acknowledge, and stand by him? One from the crowd, who said, I dare! they set side by side with the prince; and when they threw their filth on or spoke hard words of the prince and him, he stood there, smiling, and received it all. Years went by, the king came into those dominions and subdued them; and there came a day of triumph. The prince came to the gates, and the traitors all bound in chains stood before him trembling. He singled out from among the crowd one man only, and he said to the traitors, Know ye this man? He stood with me in that day when ye treated me with scorn. He shall stand with me in the day of my glory. Come up hither! And the poor, despised citizen of that rebellious city rode through the streets side by side with his king. This is the parable. Live it out! (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Confession of Christ indispensable
It is sometimes said that piety should be retiring, and unseen. But why? There is nothing of it in the Bible. Hypocrisy is rebuked; but I ask for a single passage where the manifestation of pure religion is rebuked. Let your light shine before men, He that is ashamed of me, etc. Religion is supposed to be manifest, if it exists at all. It is to constitute the character and to distinguish the man. I point you to the example of Christ. Religion is everything in His life. I point you to the example of Paul. You see nothing else in his life but his religion. I point you to David, and Isaiah, and John, and the holy martyrs. The men were modest men; but their religion was open and bold. And thus it is in all the works and doings of God. Does the sun hide his noontide beams under the plea that pure light should not be ostentatious? Is the moon--that, like the Christian, shines by reflected light--or the stars ashamed to send their rays on a darkened world? Light shines not indeed for display, but for use; not for its own glory, but like the light that should radiate from the Christians life, to illustrate the glory of the great Creator. The ocean that He has made is not ashamed to roll, the lightning of heaven to play, the oak to spread out its boughs, the flower to bloom. The humblest violet is not ashamed to exhibit its beauty, and display its Makers praise. And if Christian light does not shine forth in the life, we have the highest evidence that it has never been enkindled in the bosom. (A. Barnes, D.D.)
Confession of Christ indispensable
During a series of evangelistic services in Ireland a young man found peace with God, but three nights after I found him again in the inquiry room. Whats wrong? I said. I was too precipitate the other night; there is no change in me. No, sir, that is not the reason. You have not confessed Christ. He almost jumped up in amazement. How do you know? Who told you? Nobody told me, or needed to tell me. When a man goes away trusting one night, and comes back doubting the next, it is an infallible sign that he has not confessed Christ. He then said, You are quite right; I live alone with my mother, who is a Christian. I thought as I walked home that I would tell her, but my heart failed. I then said to myself, Ill tell her to-morrow morning, but the next day it seemed more difficult instead of less, and it occurred to me that she would say, Why did you not tell me last night? Then the thought arose, If you had found a five-pound note, you would have told her fast enough. Yet here you have found Christ and eternal life, and you utter not a sound: why it is all a delusion. And I said to myself, Im not saved at all. If I had been, I could not have helped confessing it. I said, Yes, my friend; instead of the devil tempting you, you tempted the devil, and he began his old game of making you distrust Gods Word. He gave his heart anew to the Saviour, and went away to tell his mother. Next night I found him in the inquiry room, pointing a soul to Christ. I touched him in passing, and said, How is it with you now? He looked up with a bright smile, and said, I told my mother! (D. L. Moody.)
Necessity of confession
Lieutenant Watson, once a gay young aristocrat, was awakened and converted by means of a few earnest words spoken by a brother officer (Captain Hawtry), when he was preparing for a ball. Growing rapidly in grace, and confessing Christ from the first and constantly, he was soon led, while serving in the Peninsula, under Wellington, to hold meetings in his own quarters for the soldiers, who were spiritually in a very destitute condition. Many of these were converted, but the officers generally mocked, calling Lieut. Watson Coachie, saying he drove the mail coach to heaven, and crying after him, Any room for passengers inside or outside to-night? One officer, however, Lieut. Whitley, a man of refined and scientific mind, behaved differently, and although he reasoned with Watson, he always behaved as a gentleman. The result of quiet conversations was that he became seriously interested in the gospel. One day, says Mr. Watson, on his repeating the question, How am I to get the Spirit? I replied, The Lord said, Ask, and ye shall receive. He said, I hope I have asked, though feebly. I remarked, Jesus said again, If a man will be My disciple, he must deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. What did He mean by that? he said. I told him, You can now have a practical proof. You know we have a public meeting. Will you take up your cross and come to-night? Anything but that, he said. But you must remember the words of Jesus, I told him, Whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and My doctrine in this sinful generation, of him will I be ashamed when I come in My glory. Oh, he exclaimed, I will go. And he went under great exercise of mind. Of course the going was greatly blessed to him, and soon after the Lord filled him with joy and peace in believing. He now became most valiant for the truth, and ceased not, wherever he was, to speak of Jesus.
Power of confession
In relating his experience during the Peninsular War, Captain Watson says, I was nominated to sit on a garrison court-martial. A number of officers of different ranks and regiments were present on the occasion, and before the proceedings commenced, some of them indulged in loose and sceptical observations. Alas, thought I, here are many not ashamed to speak openly for their master and shall I hold my peace and refrain when the honour and cause of Him who has had mercy on me are called in question? I looked for wisdom and assistance from on high, and I was enabled to speak for a quarter of an hour in a way that astonished my hearers and myself. The Lord was pleased to give what I said a favourable reception, and not another improper word was uttered by them during my stay in that room.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv9–11 9. Because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth…
9. Because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord. For the importance which Jesus attached to confession, see Matt. 10:32; Luke 12:8, and compare Acts 8:37. To openly confess Christ in those days of persecution was a trial of faith of the severest kind. Note distinctly that there is no promise here to a concealed faith. And shalt believe in thine heart. That is, with all the heart. The belief must not be only a mental assent, but a belief that brings the whole man into loving trust and obedience to Christ. Such a faith is referred to in 1:5, where the “obedience of faith” is described. Thou shalt be saved. Such a faith confessed unites its subject to Christ as his loving subject, and imparts to him the righteousness of those who have died to sin and been freed from the law. See 6:1–4.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On vv9–11 9. “That if thou mayest confess with thy mouth…
9. “That if thou mayest confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv9–11 because [the gospel (and Moses) speak of the mouth…
because [the gospel (and Moses) speak of the mouth and heart, because] if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved [Moses emphasized the nearness of the law. The Jew was to keep it near (accept it), for, as a far-off, neglected thing, it would be of no avail. As an accepted rule, loved and talked over daily, it would be effective unto righteousness. Jeremiah, foretelling the days when a new law would be more effective than the old, declared that the promise of Jehovah was: "I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their hearts will I write it." Thus it would become nearer than when written externally upon stone. When this new law came, Jesus indicated the fulfillment of Jeremiah's word by saying. "The kingdom of God is within you" ( Jer_31:33 ; Luk_17:20 ). Therefore, when Paul quotes Moses' words about that nearness of the law which makes it effective, he takes occasion to describe how the gospel or "word of faith" is made effective unto righteousness by the believer's full consent to the will of God that it be near him, making it an inward nearness by confession with the mouth and belief in the heart. In short, the gospel is not righteousness unto life until it is accepted, and the prescribed method by which it is to be accepted is faith leading to confession, followed by obedience of faith, beginning with baptism, which symbolically unites us with our Lord in his death and resurrection. But Paul makes no reference to the ordinance, laying stress on the central truth of Christianity which the ordinance shows forth; namely, God raised Jesus from the dead. The zealous lover of first principles might expect Paul to make the Christhood of Jesus the object of belief ( Mat_16:16 ). But that is already taken care of by the apostle in the brief summary: "Confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord." The truth is, the resurrection is the demonstration of that proposition: "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God." "Jesus" means "Saviour," and the resurrection proves or demonstrates his ability to save from death and the grave ( 1Co_15:12-19 ; 1Pe_1:3-5 ; 2Co_4:14 ). Jesus is Christ; that is, God's anointed Prophet, Priest and King over all men; for such is the meaning of "Christ." Now, the resurrection proves that Jesus was a teacher of truth, for God honors no liars with a resurrection like that of Jesus; it proves that lie is an acceptable High Priest, for had not his offering for sin canceled the guilt of sin, he had appeared no more in the land of the living ( Mat_5:26 ), but he was raised to complete his priestly work for our justification (see note on Rom_4:25 ; and Act_13:37-39 ); it demonstrated that he was the King, for by his resurrection he led captivity captive ( Eph_4:8 ) and received the gift of universal power ( Mat_28:18 ; Act_2:23-36 ; Act_13:34-37 ; Act_17:31 ; Phi_2:8-11 ; Eph_1:19-23 ); and, finally, it declared him to be the Son of God with power-- Rom_1:4 ; Act_13:32-33 ]:
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv9–10 (See Scofield "Rom 1:16").
saved
(See Scofield "Rom 1:16").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v11 The testimony of Scripture for the righteousness of faith:
The testimony of Scripture for the righteousness of faith:
v. 11. For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.
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v. 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.
v. 13. for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
The form or method of salvation as taught in the Gospel is not only the sole way to get to heaven, but it is also the only method which can be made applicable to Jew and Gentile alike: to be saved by faith. This St. Paul substantiates with a passage from Scripture, a name used throughout to designate the collection of Old Testament writings as in use in the midst of the Jews. It is a sweeping, all-inclusive statement: Every one that believeth on Him shall not be brought to shame, Isa 28:16. The two thoughts which the apostle has in mind are here clearly brought out. Whosoever, every one, no matter of what race or nationality he is, no matter what his antecedents have been; there is no difference. And whosoever believes: faith is the one means of securing the blessings of salvation, it is the one condition of acceptance by God. And the apostle explains: For there is no difference between the Jew on the one side and the Greek on the other. So far as their relation to salvation, to its need, and to the method of obtaining it, is concerned, God will accept either one, just as soon as he believes. For the same one, Jesus Christ, is Lord of all, a possessor of riches, of inestimable spiritual blessings and benefits to all and for all that call upon Him. Christ is the Lord and Savior of all believers, and His command of spiritual means and riches is such as to make Him able to dispense the riches of His grace to each and every one, and to all together, that call upon Him in faith, who worship Him as their Redeemer. For that the salvation of their souls is the object of their prayer is evident from the words: Every one that calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. See Joe 2:32. To call upon the name of Jehovah is identical with calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christians call upon, worship, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ as that of God. Their worshiping is a fruit, an expression of their faith. And by that faith, expressed in this confession, they take hold upon eternal salvation, they are saved by that Lord in whom they have put their trust. Thus the apostle brings out the universality of salvation, of the fact that it is intended for all men, that the Gospel, therefore, must be proclaimed in the whole world.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v11 For scripture says
For scripture says
Paul speaks of the Scripture as if it were alive and had a voice. You can make explicit who wrote the Scripture that Paul uses here. AT: "For Isaiah wrote in the Scriptures" (See: Personification and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
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Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame
This is equivalent to: "Everyone who does not believe will be shamed." The negative is used here for emphasis. You can translate this in an active form. AT: "God will honor everyone who believes in him" (See: Active or Passive)
For there is no difference between Jew and Greek
Paul implies that God will treat all people the same. You can make this explicit in your translation. AT: "In this way, God treats the Jews and the non-Jews the same" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
he is rich to all who call upon him
Here "he is rich" means that God blesses richly. You can make this explicit in your translation. AT: "he richly blesses all who trust in him" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved
Here the word "name" is a metonym for Jesus. You can translate this in an active form. AT: "The Lord will save everyone who trusts in him" (See: Metonymy and Active or Passive)
translationWords
word of God
believe
shame
Jew
Greek
lord
call
save
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.