He would not therefore have them ignorant how they had lain on his heart for a visit (ver. It happens when the written word becomes real to us in our heart. Are the thoughts of the Gentiles conflicting in Romans 2:15? Hence the depravity of the heathen found little or no cheek from conscience, because it was bound up with all that took the shape of God before their mind. It is insisted the fault must somehow lie with God. Surely if equal birth-tie could ensure community of blessing if a charter from God depended on being sprung from the same father and mother, there was no case so strong, no claim so evident, as that of Esau to take the same rights as Jacob. It is hard to trust somebody you don't know. His proposal commends itself to your best judgment, and you are already a stage nearer submission to his mode of operation. We accordingly are dead, says he, to the law; not (as no doubt almost all of us know) that the law dies, but that we are dead to the law in the death of Christ. Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! O fools and slow of heart, is this your end in hearing the life-giving gospel of the bleeding Lamb? May God bless you and may God work in your life this week in a very special way. He lays down such a summary as no Jew ever gave since they were a nation. the spiritual fool of Psalms 14:1; Psalms 53:1; Pro 17:21 ) will I anger you. If one may so say, He thus holds the man, instead of letting the man presume that he is holding fast the truth. 11 For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame." 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him . Was he not himself, says Paul, a proof to the contrary? So belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. There are words that God spoke that are recorded, and there are Words of Christ that were spoken by him and recorded. At other times, faith has come not so much through hearing the statement of the gospel as from hearing of its authority. That is the first necessity for the sinner with God. They might have known it from Moses and Isaiah. Accordingly he tells them now what reason he had to speak thus strongly, not of the more advanced truths, but of the good news. I can well understand their singing, "I do believe, I must believe in such a friend as this." Faith comes through faith in Christ Jesus. The word of God is therefore called the word of faith: it begets and nourishes faith. Right on! Notify me of follow-up comments by email. In the same way the apostle disposes of all pretence on the score of ordinances, especially circumcision. Only the study of Christ. Would that the Lord would give us hearts to remember, as well as eyes to see, according to His own grace! The story of Jesus Christ passed through all of the Jewish communities around the world. By hearing - Our translation has varied the expression here, which is the same in two places in the Greek: Isaiah said, Who hath believed our report te akoe? to deal with the whole posterity of Adam as involved in death because of one, their common father, who could deny the consistency of one man's saving? Paul wants the Jews to be saved, but they cannot be saved while trying to create their own righteousness through law-keeping. Romans 10 is the tenth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans in the New Testament of the Christian Bible.It is authored by Paul the Apostle, while he was in Corinth in the mid-50s AD, with the help of an amanuensis (secretary), Tertius, who adds his own greeting in Romans 16:22. Your father is not offering sacrifices. What is the first husband in Romans 7:1-6? For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. This was correctly translated in the KJV the word of God. (that is, to bring Christ again from the dead.) Nothing can be more simple and essential. There are some that find a difficulty here, because the expression "to hold" means holding firmly. In the light of these facts, Paul now considers the possible excuses Israelites might make: (l) they did not hear and (2) they did not know. When the heart rebels against the word: when it says, "If this be true I am living a bad life, and I shall have to give up my pleasures, therefore will not accept it." Our text is the ready answer, practically a complete answer; not doctrinally or theologically complete, but practically perfect. I am not saying that you should not read the Bible. These are superstitions, you tell me, and scarcely need to be mentioned here; very well then, we will have done with them, and treat of superstitions which linger in our own congregations. The past history of Israel was sketched inRomans 9:1-33; Romans 9:1-33; the present more immediately is before us inRomans 10:1-21; Romans 10:1-21. Did the Jew fancy that the gospel makes very light of Abraham, and of the then dealings of God? How can I control PNP and NPN transistors together from one pin? So faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. That those who would not believe the report of the gospel, yet, having heard it, were thereby left inexcusable, and may thank themselves for their own ruin, Romans 10:18; Romans 10:18, to the end. It is not merely a call then; but as we have by our Lord Jesus Christ our access into the favour wherein we stand, so there is positive boasting in the hope of the glory of God. They are both true, so you can't reconcile. Is there a weapon that has the heavy property and the finesse property (or could this be obtained)? So Paul concludes his argument by citing two Old Testament texts to prove his case. Thus the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against (not only the open ungodliness of men, but) the orthodox unrighteousness of those that hold the truth in unrighteousness. A passage like this may seem strange to us and unconvincing; and it may seem that some at least of the texts Paul quotes have been wrenched out of their context and made to mean what they were never intended to mean. Thus the proof was complete. Barbara Aland et al., eds., The Greek New Testament (4th ed. They have not all obeyed the gospel. Accordingly, then, he confronts the unquestionable truth, admitted by every Israelite, of the universal havoc by one man everywhere with the One man who has brought in (not pardon only, but, as we shall find) eternal life and liberty liberty now in the free gift of life, but a liberty that will never cease for the soul's enjoyment until it has embraced the very body that still groans, and this because of the Holy Ghost who dwells in it. "By whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith." ASV translators chose glad tidings while the KJV says gospel. In most other places, the original term (euangelion) has the sense of gospel. Hence the action of the Spirit of God in a double point of view comes before us. Their sound went into all the earth; not only a confused sound, but their words (more distinct and intelligible notices of these things) are gone unto the ends of the world. Now, what Paul declared of the Jew then is still true today. But besides this he adds "to faith." "Ho, every one that thirsteth," etc. It will be observed therefore, that in this connection the apostle shows the place both of conscience and of the law, that God in judging will take into full consideration the circumstances and condition of every soul of man. What the apostle had given him in fulness was the great truth, however fundamental it may be, that I am entitled, and even called on in the name of the Lord Jesus, to know that I am dead to sin; not that I must die, but that I am dead that my baptism means nothing less than this, and is shorn of its most emphatic point if limited merely to Christ's dying for my sins. Knowing God we come to believe and trust in God. And as that little remnant is ever sustained by the grace of God, it is the standing pledge of their final blessedness through His mercy, whereon the apostle breaks out into raptures of thanksgiving to God. Take the Sabbath law. For if the law could give a man a righteous standing before God, then it was not necessary for Christ to die. Such are saved souls. Many a hearer watches for pretty speeches and flowery metaphors, and cries, "How well he puts it! Although written in Greek, Paul clearly has the Hebrew verb shama in mind. Here, then, it is not a question at all of pardon or remission. Though you should see all the angels in heaven, it would not prove that you would go to heaven, any more than my having seen the Pope's body guard would be a proof that I shall be made a Cardinal. There is no magic about it; it comes by hearing the word of God, and by that way only. The gospel is about Christ (Mark 1:1); is something to be believed (Mark 1:15); is so important it is worth our life (Mark 8:35); is a message to be preached to the entire world (Mark 16:15); is something Christians serve (Romans 1:9); is a standard to be used at the final judgment (Romans 2:16); is the beginning point for Christians and something we must steadfastly adhere to (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Some, also, have supposed that true faith will come to men by dreams and visions. KJV So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. And this leads us to see not only where there was an analogy with those who believe in a promised Saviour, but also to a weighty difference. Even where the law was, not by it but by faith the just lived. What he meant was: "Christ is the end of legalism." and when we assure them that it is a simple trust or confidence in the finished work of Christ, then straightway they say, "How can we get this faith? The soul is brought into peace with God, as it finds its standing in the grace of God, and, more than that, rejoices in hope of the glory of God. Does anyone care? Not just saving faithbut throughout our walk with God, the totality of Gods Word becomes real in our lives as we appropriate it. It is important to know this to understand the true meaning so you can have a relaitionship with Jesus. and how can they believe in him in whom they have not heard? The extent is what God Himself, so to speak, possesses the universe of God, whatever will be under Christ: and what will not? NOT the total written general message (Bible)of God in which you say. The things of the gospel are good things indeed, the best things; tidings concerning them are the most joyful tidings, the best news that ever came from heaven to earth. It is a wonder of mercy in God that his goodness is not overcome by man's badness; and it is a wonder of wickedness in man that his badness is not overcome by God's goodness. and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? If they do, they will obey the gospel and be saved. We have Paul informing us that he transfers sometimes in a figure to himself that which was in no wise necessarily his own experience, and perhaps had not been so at any time. It may help to set the truth out more clearly, if we say, negatively, that it does not come by any other process than by hearing; not by any mysterious and strange method, but in the most simple and natural mode conceivable, namely, by the hearing of the word. Not only was Abraham justified without law, but apart from that great sign of mortification of the flesh. 14, 15). English Standard Version. Things which are seen of the eye save not, for the things which are seen are temporal, and cannot work eternal salvation. The Jews have heard it too, Romans 10:19-21; Romans 10:19-21. Here it is not merely the negation of law and of circumcision, but we have the positive side. The righteousness of God means that God is just, while at the same time He justifies the believer in Christ Jesus. Moses saith, "I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people," etc. This is to fall back on a principle he had already used. First, he cites Isaiah 28:16: "Every one who believes in him will not be put to shame." (i) A man must say Jesus Christ is Lord. This is why so few ancient Greek bronze originals survive, and why we often have to look at ancient Roman copies in marble (of varying quality) to try to understand what the Greeks achieved. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? The circumstances under which the epistle to the Romans was written gave occasion to the most thorough and comprehensive unfolding, not of the church, but of Christianity. Compare verse 6 (where the margin, not the text, is substantially correct) with verse 4. Then he enlarges, and points out that there is a remnant of grace in the worst of times. That is, it is not merely pardon of past sins, but deliverance from sin, and in due time from all its consequences. When he proclaimed his name, The Lord, the Lord god, gracious and merciful, he thereby signified not only what he was to the Jews, but what he is and will be to all his creatures that seek unto him: not only good, but rich, plenteous in goodness: he hath wherewith to supply them all, and he is free and ready to give out to them; he is both able and willing: not only rich, but rich unto us, liberal and bountiful in dispensing his favours to all that call upon him. The law never delivers; it condemns and kills us. In some cases, too, faith has come when the word has possessed a peculiar soul-revealing pointedness in it to the hearer's particular case. If you crawl on your knees for five miles to kiss the statue you can be spared several days of purgatory. The direction is "unto all;" the application is, of course, only to "them that believe;" but it is to all them that believe. With some, how ever, hearing does not bring faith, because they hear without any after meditation. It is not God seeking, or man bringing righteousness. Some did not hearken. In fact, so many did not listen that Isaiah said, Who has believed our report? Paul wanted to see obedience of faith among all the nations (1:5), but this didnt happen. What about His word passed and sworn to the fathers? Not only is God's righteousness revealed, but also His wrath. Christians must defend the gospel (Philippians 1:16-17) because it is linked with our salvation (Ephesians 1:13). What does Romans 10:17 mean? There is water as well as blood, and to that, not to this, the washing here refers. and believing comes from hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). How are they to hear without someone to proclaim the good news to them? God, therefore, having not the least hindrance to the manifestation of what He can be and is in merciful intervention on behalf of the worst of sinners, manifests it is His righteousness "by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe" (ver. 10:17 Greek NT: RP Byzantine Majority Text 2005 , . Commentary on the discrepancy is found in Latin at the bottom of the page for the interested Latin reader.