Commentary Romans Chapter 10:1-17

The blog post is longer than usual. Instead of being 500 - 750 words it is almost 1700 words, but it is important to read.

It is important to understand that Romans chapters nine, ten, and eleven are a parenthetical explanation of why Israel, who had been given the Law and the Prophets, had missed out on the gospel and Jesus, and further, why the gentiles, were now experiencing the grace of God and were receiving the benefit of the gospel when they had not served God at all in the past.

Even though the explanation is for the Jews, those of us who are Gentiles can benefit greatly from an understanding of these three chapter passages. For my purposes, I want to focus on chapter ten, verses one through seventeen at this time and will perhaps deal with chapters nine and eleven later on.

Rom 10:1-21 KJV  Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.  (2)  For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. First we see that being zealous for God is not enough. The zeal has to be accompanied by knowledge.What was it that they lacked knowledge of? Paul answers in the next verse. 

(3)  For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. Paul has spent the first eight chapters telling about the difference between law righteousness, righteousness that comes from obeying the law, and the righteousness of God which is a righteousness imputed for having faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. He says above that they have been so focused on establishing righteousness by legal means that they have ignored and not submitted to the righteousness of God which is righteousness from faith apart from the law and law obedience.

 (4)  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Christ Jesus is the goal/end of the Law for righteousness. In other words, since the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus the only way to establish righteousness is to believe the gospel. Paul had proved in the first eight chapters that even in the Old Covenant, all who were righteous were righteous because of their faith, and for no other reason. No one is righteous because of adherence to a legal code.

(5)  For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. Here Paul is quoting Lev 18:5. He is acknowledging the reason that the Jews would believe that they could attain to righteousness from obeying the law. There is another passage that would lead the Jews to believe that they could attain to righteousness from obeying the law. Deu 6:25 KJV  “And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.”

(6)  But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)  (7)  Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)  (8)  But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; Now Paul shifts gears. He quotes the passage of Deut 30 that speaks of the days of the New Covenant when Israel will have their heart circumcised by the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. The passage that he refers to is Deu 30:1-6. Deu 30:1 explains that there will be a future time when Israel will have experienced both the blessings and the cursing’s of Deu 28 and makes reference to circumcising the heart. It is prophesied in Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26. Paul is saying that Deu 30:1-6 finds it fulfillment in the word of faith that they are preaching… in other words, the gospel. 

(9)  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  (10)  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  (11)  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.  (12)  For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.  (13)  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. In verse 9-13 Paul explains explicitly what the word they preach is. The contents of the word of faith is stated in Romans 10:9-13; Confess with the mouth and believe in the heart; that is the condition set by Paul. Written above then, is a concise statement of the gospel. One must confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in their heart that God raised him from the dead. This is a redemptive decree. It states unequivocally that if one confesses with the mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believes in one’s heart that God has raised him from the dead, one SHALL be saved. 

(14)  How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?  (15)  And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! In this well-known passage it is obvious that Paul’s complete focus is the gospel of Christ. He only mentions preaching in conjunction with the gospel. Preach, preaching, or preached is found in 127 verses in the New Testament and it is mentioned 134 times in those verses and it is ONLY and ALWAYS referenced with the gospel. It is used no other way. According to the New Testament writings there is no other purpose for preaching except to preach the gospel. 

(16)  But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?  (17)  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Here Paul quotes Isaiah 53:1. He wants his readership to understand that he is solely speaking of the gospel. It is very important to see Romans 10:17 is saying that faith cometh by hearing the gospel. It is definitely not saying what so many popularly teach. Faith does not come from just any ole preaching of the scripture. Faith only comes from preaching the gospel. Jesus and his first century followers changed the meaning of the phrase word of God from Torah to gospel. Jesus taught a uniquely redemptive purpose to the scripture. This is plainly proclaimed in John 5:39-40 and Luke 24:27; 43-45. In the past, I have issued a challenge, to take all of the verses in the New Testament with the phrase word of God in them, and to substitute either scripture or gospel in place of the phrase. When one does that it is easy to see that their meaning in using the phrase was gospel or Jesus the living gospel and not scripture. Again, please do not think that I am downplaying the scripture or its inspired status. I am not. I am rather showing the extent that Jesus taught his followers to go to in emphasizing and underscoring the redemptive purpose of the scripture.

With this in mind let’s turn our attention to Romans 10:17. In the KJV it reads, “faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” So then, let me ask the question; did Paul mean that faith cometh by hearing scripture or gospel? Well, when you look at it in context it becomes rather obvious that he meant the gospel. The sentence could easily be stated that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the gospel of Christ.

Let’s take a look at this verse in some of the new versions of the scripture.

NASB “Rom 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

HCSB “So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.”

ESV “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

Why is that so? The answer is that there are a number of original Greek texts from which the translations are made, and further there are many variations within those texts. Some say word of God and some say word of Christ. The Byzantine Text or Textus Receptus which the KJV was translated from says word of God, but the Westcott Hort and the Nestle-Aland say word of Christ. The Greek is as follows: It is the rhematos christou (word of Christ) or the (rhematos theou) the word of God.

When one realizes that the first century apostles meant the gospel or the word of Christ when they wrote word of God it becomes less of a problem. The newer versions call it the word of Christ because the translating scholars believe that it is far more likely that the original scripture had the word of Christ in Romans 10:17. I believe that the original text could have had the word of God there but I have proven beyond doubt that in most cases in the New Testament, and in ALL cases from the book of Acts forward they meant gospel or Jesus the living gospel when they wrote the phrase word of God.

It does have interesting implications that go against the common explanation of this verse. Faith does not come from hearing just any ole scripture passage. Faith comes by hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Since rhematos (a variation of rhema) more rightly means spoken word, it would suggest that faith cometh by hearing the spoken word of Christ.

The Law of Love

John 13:34-35 KJV “ A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.  (35)  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

Rom 13:8 KJV  “Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

Jas 2:8 KJV  “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:”

I get a daily prophecy in my inbox from Prophet Russ Walden over at Father’s Heart Ministries. Today’s prophecy was: “The Father says today that I am raising up a people to radically walk in the law of love. The only way to master the law of sowing and reaping is to ascend into the higher law, the law of love. As you ascend into the law of love you become a lord of the harvest. You will sow into a barren land and reap a bountiful harvest. You will sow in a time of famine and bring back a hundred fold return in the same season. You will see in your life the plowman overtake the reaper and the seed sown produce a harvest before it hits the ground.

This isn't fantasy says the Father. It is the no-fail zone of the love that NEVER fails. If love never fails then why would you ever step out of love. The wisdom of the world rejects this fact. This is the LOVE-FACT says the Father. It is not possible to fail when you live your life according to the law of love. So let love's sowing bring love's reaping and mount up with those wings of favor I have overshadowed you with into the new territory I have annexed you into - even the territory that lords over all small minded selfishness and causes you to think with My mind and love with My heart this day!”  ABOVE QUOTE FROM FATHERS HEART MINISTRIES PROPHET RUSS WALDEN.

This is why Romans 5:1 is so important. This is why the gospel is so important. The gospel alone is the only thing that will bring REAL LOVE for God into the heart of an individual. This is why it must be rehearsed over and over again. This is why no one can ever outgrow their need for hearing the gospel daily. This is why God has given us imputed righteousness. This is why God has separated our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. Yes, it is to produce in us supernatural love… agape love.

This highlights the importance of Deu 28:1. This is the condition for all of the blessings following in Deu 28. One has to somehow fulfill Deu 28: 1. This is where the gospel comes into play. Jesus did fulfill Deu 28:1-2. If I rest in him alone and not any of my works, I will love him… I can’t help but love him, and when I love him as I rest in all that he accomplished on the cross, all that his blood purchased on my behalf. That alone, and NOTHING ELSE, will make me the recipient of the blessings. That is how the Amos prophecy of the plowman overtaking the reaper will come to pass.

Believe the gospel!

Abel a picture of Christ; Cain a picture of religion

Gen 4:1-5 KJV “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, "I have acquired a man from the LORD."  (2)  Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.  (3)  And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD.  (4)  Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering,  (5)  but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.”

We know from John 5:39-40 and Luke 24:27, 44-45 that the scripture is all about Jesus. Seeing Jesus in the scripture becomes our joy because it reinforces the gospel of God’s mercy, love and grace.  Look at this familiar story from Genesis. Adam and Eve have two sons, Cain and Able, it is important to see the order in which they came. Cain came first and Abel came second. What does the Apostle Paul tell us? 1Co 15:46 KJV  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. Here we see a principle. The natural comes first and the spiritual comes after. Therefore, it is easy to see that Cain was a picture of the natural and Abel is a picture of the Spiritual. This is important in our seeing Jesus in ALL the scripture. This is a New Covenant way of looking at the scripture. It is not Old Covenant thinking. One of the problems that we face today is we have New Covenant prophecy and Old Covenant theology…. Let me repeat this for effect, “we have New Covenant prophecy and Old Covenant theology.”

Abel simply brought the first born lamb without spot and blemish. It was not from his effort at all. He had nothing to do with it. He simply offered what God had perfected. Cain however, was a tiller of the soil. He worked and toiled and sweat with his hands. He cultivated and watered and no doubt worked long hours. Abel tended the sheep and likely sat in the shade watching them. God grew the grass that fed them and provided the stream that watered them. I’m going somewhere here, pay attention.

Cain had the fruit and vegetables looking good, and all polished as he brought forth to the Lord the work of his hands. He wanted God to accept his good works. Abel on the other hand, simply chose what God had done and offered it to Him. This is really a picture of us. We want to bring to God the fruit of our hands instead of relying on the sacrifice that God made on our behalf. We want to add something to the finished work of Jesus. We refuse to allow our hearts and minds to be cleansed by faith and insist that we bring something of ours. This ends up being an affront to God… a slight to God. When we demand that we bring something to him so that he will reward our performance, no matter what it is, we in a sense are saying that we do not believe that Jesus blood was sufficient.

We need to go back and read the entire chapter of Isaiah 53. Let me pull out some of it. Isaiah 53 is a sovereign decree of God. Isa 53:12 KJV  “Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” God says that he will divide Him a portion with the great and that Jesus shall divide the spoil with the strong… strong what? those strong in faith in the finished work of Jesus… those who do not try to add anything, including old covenant obedience to the Law. Our obedience, our giving, our sacrifice, our praise all stems from the finished work of Jesus. He has spoiled the Devil and he will divide the spoils… will we believe???

Isn't it interesting that Cain (religious people) continue to KILL Abel (those trusting in Christ)... how?... they kill their spirits and cast them into bondage of religion.

prosperity from properly understanding the gospel

There is no doubt that there are many lessons in the parable of the sower. There is one however that can greatly affect how we view the scripture. In the parable of the sower Jesus defines the phrase the word of God. It comes from looking at two parallel accounts of the explanation of the seed in Matthew and Luke.  Let’s look at the explanation from both passages.

Matt 13:18-19 KJV  "Hear then the parable of the sower:  (19)  When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path

Luke 8:11 KJV  “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.”

In the Matthew passage, Jesus explains to his disciples that the seed is the word of the kingdom or in other words, the gospel. Luke records him saying that the seed is the word of God. It follows then that in Jesus vocabulary, the gospel of the kingdom and the word of God are synonymous. Actually, we have established this in many other posts in this blog, however, it is instructive to see that the redefining of the phrase word of God came from Jesus himself. Luke’s understanding is that one can substitute the phrase word of God for the gospel of the kingdom. This means that when he thought of the gospel or word of the kingdom, he automatically thought of the word of God. The two phrases become interchangeable.

This becomes very important in defining how the phrase word of God was used in the New Testament writings. For example, when Paul writes: Eph 5:25-27 KJV “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;  (26)  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,  (27)  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” The gospel is the washing water. Jesus has cleansed the church with the washing of the water of the gospel. This is why the gospel is so important.

It sounds like this should be an ongoing process from the Ephesians five passage. It is the way that we look continually to the cross. The cross is God’s answer for everything. It is his answer for justification, it is his answer sanctification, it is his answer for health, it is his answer for prosperity, and it is his answer for the washing process. When you add anything to the work of the cross you offend God.

So then, if one looks at this passage from Deuteronomy and believes that it is for all the seed of Abraham, both Jew, and Gentile, then one must simply look to the cross for all of the promises that follow because the cross of Christ handled these two passages once for all:

Deu 28:1-2  KJV And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:  (2)  And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.

All of the blessings that follow in Deu 28 will overtake the one who trusts the cross and nothing else. There is nothing else to do. The passage has been handled by the cross. Perhaps one of the reasons that we don’t see more of these blessings is that we are still trying to add to the cross with our effort. That immediately offends God. When will we stop trying to do and just begin to trust?

The person trusting in the cross will give from the love for God just for knowing that Jesus did it all. Real prosperity is found only in the cross.

 

The critical importance of context; both historical context and textual consistency

Proof texting is a method of preparing sermons where a text of scripture is pulled out to make a point. In and of itself there is nothing wrong with this. However, proof texting can be misused and often is by those preaching today. If you remove the historical context and the textual consistency then you can make the bible say anything you desire.
 
Here is an example; 1Co 1:21 KJV  “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” There is a specific context to this passage of scripture. It is the foolishness of preaching the gospel that Paul is talking about. So then, if you make the statement that God uses the foolishness of preaching, meaning any preaching one may do about any subject one may choose to quote part of 1Co 1:21 is taking the passage out of its context. First, it is taking it out of its historical context, that is the context within where Paul used it and it is divorcing it from textual consistency.

The greater context of the passage goes from 1Co 1:17 all the way through 1 Co 2:16. It is a passage that explains that the gospel is foolishness to the world and it is the wisdom of God.  Perhaps the most telling of this passage is 1 Co 2:2. Paul states there unequivocally, that during his sojourn as an apostle in Corinth, he determined… purposed… made it a point to know NOTHING among the Corinthian believers than Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  I think that it is safe to assume that he meant the same for his entire ministry to all the Gentiles, and any Jews that he ministered too. One cannot justify the preaching of “just anything” to people by using 1 Co 1:21.

For Paul, it was the preaching of the gospel that was foolishness, and the gospel to Paul was the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus (1 Co 15:1-4.) Therefore, any message delivered around the foolishness of preaching must have at its foundation, and heart the gospel of Jesus Christ. It must have a New Covenant understanding at its base.

But further than this, Jesus gave a redemptive context to all the scripture. He said this in John’s gospel. John 5:39-40 KJV  “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.  (40) And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” He then reinforced it in Luke 24:27, 44-45. We are  taking the scripture out of context every time we do not find a redemptive theme for what we preach and teach. If it doesn’t point to Jesus and his kingdom… notice I wrote Jesus and His kingdom, then we have no business preaching or teaching it.

We cannot present the New Covenant promises with a strictly Old Covenant mentality and theology. That is what is happening all too often in Christianity today, and quite frankly preachers should sit down sometimes, and learn.  James said it this way; Jas 1:19-20 KJV  Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:  (20)  For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

Our understanding of the message is tainted by two thousand years of theology. We think we have it figured out but, actually just an open minded reading of the scripture will show us that we have much to learn.

 

The yoke that neither we nor our fathers could bear

Act 15:8-11 KJV “ And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;  (9)  And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.  (10)  Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?  (11) But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.”

What was the yoke Peter was speaking of in this passage? Was it circumcision or the Ten Commandments? Was it the dietary laws, the sacrifices? No, it was the sin consciousness that comes from trying to gain righteousness by the law.  Deu 6:25 KJV And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us. Inherent from our first parents, humanity has a sin consciousness that allows us to know that we are separated from God and in need of redemption. It may not be articulated as such but it is at the core of all of our problems. The fact is that no matter how we try, we cannot act good enough to cleans or purify our hearts.  That is what Peter is positing in this speech at the Jerusalem council. He was speaking of those at Cornelius house who received the Holy Spirit by believing what he had preached. When they believed their consciences were cleansed, and that is the same as saying that their hearts were purified. Demanding that circumcision and obedience to the law was necessary for salvation, i.e., reconciliation to God was the yoke.

Why did Paul say that Christ was the end of the law for righteousness in Romans 10:4? It was for this purpose; to ensure that the person, who was saved, was saved by faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross, in the grave, and at the resurrection, and nothing else. Yes it is important to list all three aspects of the cross event. It is not just the death, but equally important is the burial and resurrection.  Justification comes to the individual that places trust and hope in the blood of Jesus… trust and hope in the entire cross event. If we would ever, once and for all, take the new covenant view of the law and righteousness, realize that Jesus took away the curses, Jesus made the promises yes, and amen; none of the blessings are commensurate on performance; people would be free to allow the Law to instruct them. It is interesting to me that the word Torah, Hebrew for Law means instruction. Instruction does not mean that it has to be a legal constitutional document. Quite frankly it is not for New Covenant believers.

Yes, the yoke is the sin conscience that is exacerbated by the Law. Verse nine of the above Acts 15 text explains, that by the message Peter preached, the Holy Ghost purified their hearts by faith. That is the same as cleansing the conscience. The writer of Hebrews put it this way: Heb 9:13-15 KJV  “For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:  (14)  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?  (15)  And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”

I want to note here that the word used in cleanse in Hebrews 9:14 and purifying in Acts 15:9 is the exact same word. It is KARTHARIZO. Therefore, it seems obvious that the yoke that Peter was referring to was the yoke that comes from a legal-constitutional reading of the Law.

This is why Jesus said my yoke is easy and my burden is light and why John could say that his commandments were not grievous/burdensome. Jesus took the burden of the yoke upon himself on the cross to purify our conscience, and to rid us of sin consciousness, but the mixture of old covenant-new covenant theology will not allow that to happen. There are so many things that need to be re-examined and rethought.