Hence it is, as he says, herein revealed "from faith," or by faith. Righteousness can be gained by sinful men, but it can only be secured by faith and not by deeds. Hence, as God's wrath is revealed from heaven, it is against every form of impiety "against all ungodliness." First, We need not go to heaven, to search the records there, or to enquire into the secrets of the divine counsel. They have plenty of, Zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, iii. He was ordered to be beaten. The law never delivers; it condemns and kills us. And he gives his reason: "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, The just shall live by faith." It is not, as in Ephesians 2:1-22, dead in sins, which would be nothing to the purpose. The righteousness of the law is an impossibility for all who have sinned even once, and the truth is all responsible men have sinned more than one time. There seems to be more than a tinge of implied rebuke against the self-righteousness of the Jews who have rejected Christ Jesus and the gospel. In our concern to understand what the apostle is saying about righteousness, justification, and the like we ought not to overlook his tremendous concentration on God." (Morris) i. Oh, let's all get our climbing ropes and let's all climb into heaven and let's bring the Messiah down. Outside Revelation, it only occurs here and Luke 8:31. You will find that story in the first volume of my sermons. There is nothing like the grace of God for producing the truest humility, the humility that not only descends to the lowest level of sinners to do them good, but which is itself the fruit of deliverance from that self-love which puffs itself or lowers others. They cannot say God has rejected them. 2 170). (a.) And I love it. So there must be confession with the mouth. It is not meant that Paul knew nothing of this; but that the ground of inference, and the general theory built up, are alike mistaken. There is mutual confirmation. His language conveys the main idea which Paul wished to do, that the doctrine was plain and intelligible. Let us take the objections and the answering scripture texts one by one. The Text What saith the gospel? One thing remains to be said of this passage. What about the doctrine of election? (that is, to bring Christ again from among the dead)." The faith of Christ has brought divine joy into his soul; but, in point of fact, he is traversing a world of infirmity, suffering, and grief. You know what Cardinal Bellarmine said: he was a great antagonist of Luther, and thought that we might trust in our works; but, looking it all over, he admitted that inasmuch as no man could be quite sure that he had done enough good works, it was perhaps best on the whole and safest to trust altogether to the blood and merits of Jesus Christ. His life and death pointed in one direction. But the Jews did so die. How shall they hear without a preacher? ". Its remarkable that Paul found something good to say about these Jewish people who persecuted him so mercilessly. "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized unto Jesus Christ were baptized unto his death?" Just as I lean all my weight upon this rail so do I lean my soul wholly upon Christ. As no keeper of the law would have been lost on any ground whatever, so no believer in Christ shall be lost on any ground whatever; as no breaker of the law could escape punishment, so no unbeliever in Christ can he saved. No longer does the question exist of requiring an expiation. Neither was there a need to ask about Gods will. He is come up from the deep; we need not perplex ourselves how to bring him up. Christ holds it out to you: take it freely, and be rich for ever. I. Paul does not raise the possibility of the message being read. No man can say that they were not desperately in earnest about their service to God. The quickening power of God therefore was here set forth, of course historically in a way connected with this life and a posterity on earth, but nevertheless a very just and true sign of God's power for the believer the quickening energy of God after a still more blessed sort. But we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. Suppose your faith cannot work miracles; never mind about miracles. Observe again, it is not victory here; for that would give place to human pride. How far? I know that he would have said to me, Give them Christ crucified, and salvation by grace through faith, as plainly as ever you can; for when he was sore sick and in the very agony of death, he repeated as his dying creed, and in his own quaint way he added, "They may talk as much as ever they like, but the whole of it lies in Jack the Huckster's verse. Believe in him as your risen Saviour, declare him to be your Lord, and you will receive from God the righteousness that saves (9-10). The things about which we are in doubt are far fewer than we would like to think. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge ( Romans 10:1-2 ). A good witness, as a reason of his good wish (Romans 10:2; Romans 10:2): I bear them record that they have a zeal of God. Compare Romans 10:14; Romans 10:14. Israel responsible for its own loss (9:30-10:21). As positively as the law utters its promise and threat, so positively and unalterably doth the gospel deliver its decree. The believer, therefore, unwittingly though really, dishonours the Saviour, if he be content to walk short of this standard and power; he is entitled and called to walk according to his place, and in the confidence of his deliverance in Christ Jesus before God. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God.We are told in Jude that one of the ways by which we keep ourselves in that place of blessing, the blessings of God's love, is building up ourselves in the most holy faith. Nederlandstalige Bijbelstudies door Stan Marinussen. Let man be what he might, or where he might, God's good news was for man. This, he says, was his heart's desire and prayer, which intimates, (1.) There is no simple mind that can evade the plain force of this last expression. Check to enable permanent hiding of message bar and refuse all cookies if you do not opt in. You may now believe in Christ and live eternally. May God bless you and may God work in your life this week in a very special way. First of all, the groundwork of it is laid in the first four verses, the last of them leading into every-day walk. The apostle has come now to the nature. Now the one who plants and the one who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. He demands perfect and entire obedience, if life is to come of it. No, you see, this opens the door to every man no matter who you are, predestined or not, elected or not, chosen or not. What have you to say to that?" Never lose the balance. This it was before it was his prayer. he was Lord of heaven and earth, and yet they called him Beelzebub, and talked of him as a drunken man and a wine-bibber. This Huckster Jack was a poor, wicked fellow, who had gone about from village to village, swearing, drinking, huckstering and perhaps pilfering. As Cottrell says, "The word of faith is another shorthand expression for the entire way of grace" (Vol. If ever we are to bring men to the Christian faith, our attitude must be the same. Jewish religion was based on meticulous obedience to the law. This is where so many religious people even sincere Christians go astray. Both Jew and Greek were quick to give some credit to national or ethnic origin, as if being saved were a matter of being born into the right family. In Romans 10:1-21 Paul made this same point. This would not have been just. Thus the second man looks to excitements and feelings just as the first looked to works and self-denials. It seems to mean that his truth was in their mind, and a subject of meditation and reflection. What canst thou need more than to rely upon the Anointed of the Lord? We cannot speak of the state of things before the flood as a dispensation. Not only is God's righteousness revealed, but also His wrath. They already possessed them, and talked and thought about them: so that there was no need of going to distant places to learn them. The man who does those things shall live by them, ascend into heaven or descend into the abyss, But what does it say? The inner man is dealt with, and searched through and through. A person cannot believe unless they hear. Though Paul preached against them, yet he prayed for them. The second plea is not that the rejection of Israel is only partial, however extensive, but that it is also temporary, and not definitive. We have all that we need to find salvation and be blessed by God. He says, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou may be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed." The doing supposed must be perfect and sinless, without the least breach or violation. Justification by faith has always been the way for people to come to God. He speaks of the sovereignty of God having elected that it might stand by election. Sin was in the world between Adam and Moses, when the law was not. Please see our Privacy Policy for cookie usage details. This is what made the gospel to be so sweet and precious, and, what is more, absolutely necessary, if he would escape certain and eternal ruin. He cared nothing for oratory, which I have heard him call "a flash in the pan"; he delighted in the plain, solid gospel of Jesus Christ. Say not in thine heart that thou must be educated, trained, and made into a scholar. You cannot believe in him unless you hear about him. A wondrous way, but most blessed! And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? This he shows further, Romans 10:3; Romans 10:3, where we may observe. Psalms 19:1-14 is used in the most beautiful manner to insinuate that the limits are the world. The first of these phrases, "from faith," excludes the law; the second, "to faith," includes every one that has faith within the scope of God's righteousness. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. What about His word passed and sworn to the fathers? Now it was manifested, and not promised or predicted merely. And the message they proclaim is the good news concerning Jesus Christ (16-17). Do some great brave wonderful marvelous thing. And he says to Israel: "All the day I have stretched out my hands to a people who are disobedient and contrary.". The causes of their unbelief, and these are two:-- (1.) That is not Christ's way. This phrase, , "the word of faith", may be seen in the Jewish writings z; and this shows what word is here meant, even the Gospel so called, because it contains doctrines which are to be believed upon the testimony of God, and particularly the doctrine of justification by the righteousness of Christ received by faith; and because it proposes Christ as the object of faith, and encourages souls to believe in him for life and salvation; and is also the means of begetting and implanting faith in the heart, and without it the preaching of it is of no avail: and it is further described by the ministration of it. God has done all that is necessary, and we receive His gift of righteousness by faith" (Vol. of He told me how that they now feel that their good works will make them acceptable to God. This brings in the contrast with the other Head, the Lord Jesus Christ, whom we have here not as One bearing our sins in His own body on the tree, but as the spring and chief of a new family. faith comes by hearing [ the thing heard], It was for her he cared, and for those about him as for himself, all was rest. He was debtor both to the Greeks and the barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise; he was ready, as far as he was concerned, to preach the gospel to those that were at Rome also (ver. The word abyss (abussos) is usually found in the book of Revelation (Revelation 9:1-2; Revelation 9:11; Revelation 11:7; Revelation 17:8; Revelation 20:1; Revelation 20:3). (that is, to bring Christ down), or, 'Who shall go down into the deep abyss?' The discovery is made that the source of the internal misery was that the mind, though renewed, was occupied with the law as a means of dealing with, flesh. By proceeding, you consent to our cookie usage. And this was powerfully corroborated by the testimony of another great name in Israel (David), in Psalms 32:1-11. If in Isaac only, it is a question of the seed, not that was born, but that was called. For his sake let me tell it again. "For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. 7). I have the deep satisfaction of saying that when our dear brethren and sisters fall asleep they reflect honor upon the gospel which we have preached. 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. How blessed it is when a child of God has actually fallen into sin, God keep us so that we never may, but if guilt is on the soul, what is a poor creature to do? The profession of faith with the mouth, if there be not the power of it in the heart, is but a mockery; the root of it must be laid in an unfeigned assent to the revelation of the gospel concerning Christ, especially concerning his resurrection, which is the fundamental article of the Christian faith, for thereby he was declared to be the Son of God with power, and full evidence was given that God accepted his satisfaction. He lays down such a summary as no Jew ever gave since they were a nation. 15:18-24). a. Click to enable/disable _gid - Google Analytics Cookie. It might be more or less any man's lot to learn. Our Lord Jesus lays a great stress upon this confessing of him before men; see Matthew 10:32; Matthew 10:33. Being Pure, blazing, glorious Godhead, "Light of lights, very God of very God," on a sudden they found him in a stable hanging on a woman's breast. They're both true. (James 2:10-11). Did they fall back on Abraham? To this day there are strict orthodox Jews in this country who will not poke or mend a fire on the Sabbath or switch on a light. It is the same form of expression exactly as in the beginning of Romans 5:1-21 "being justified by faith" ( ). There is really no other hope, for if you get a little bit of your own works put into the building, of your hope, you have just so much rotten timber in the fabric, and that rot will plague the whole house, and turn it into dust at the last. This clearly takes in man, it will be observed; and this is his grand point now. Hence it is essentially founded on the gift not only of a Saviour who would interpose, in the mercy of God, to bear our sins, but of One who is already revealed, and the work done and accepted, and this known in the fact that God Himself has interposed to raise Him from among the dead a bright and momentous thing to press on souls, as indeed we find the apostles insisting on it throughout the Acts. Ah, my Lord, what should I do then if I could not as "a poor sinner, and nothing at all" find Christ to be my "all in all." He shall come, says one Testament, out of Zion. This word of faith is our message, that, if you acknowledge with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Him who came in humiliation, according to their prophets, they might despise; but it was vain to deny that the same prophets bore witness to His divine glory. This is all perfectly true true of a Jew as of a pagan true of any unrenewed man that never heard of a Saviour. But for the time it is held fast, though in unrighteousness. But even if it were not already broken, should we get through to-morrow with its temptations, bearing such a heart as we have within us, without breaking that perfect and spotless law? Read this verse, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Here is your answer. But he meets their proud exclusiveness in another way. The word of faith - The doctrine which requires faith, that is, the gospel; compare 1 Timothy 4:6. So also the gospel by no means involves itself in obscurity, but says, Believe and live, quite as distinctly as Moses said, "Do and live." One is from Deuteronomy 32:21 where God says that, because of Israel's disobedience and rebellion, he will transfer his favour to another people, and they will be forced to become jealous of a nation which has no nation. It is for the saints to learn, of course; but it is that which goes out in its own force and necessary aim to the need of man a divine righteousness, which justifies instead of condemning him who believes. "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. It is not said to be revealed in the gospel. Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. How are they to believe in him of whom they have not heard? There is the righteousness of justification and the righteousness of sanctification. There. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.". But this does not content the apostle, or rather the Spirit of God; for he goes on to point out that Isaiah "is very bold" in a similar way; that is, there is no concealing the truth of the matter. Further, he would have real difficulty in believing that the way to God was open to everybody. In this chapter are contained an account of the two righteousnesses of faith and works, a summary of the Gospel of Christ, a description of the grace of faith, in the nature, use, and means of it, and several testimonies concerning the calling of the Gentiles; and whereas the apostle knew that this, as well as what he had said in the latter part of the preceding chapter, that the Jews had not attained to the law of righteousness, but stumbled at the stumbling stone, would be offensive to his countrymen the Jews; wherefore that it might appear that he said this not out of disaffection and ill will to them, he declares his sincere regard unto them, and the great respect he had for them, by calling them "brethren", by expressing his good will to them, by praying for the salvation of them, Ro 10:1, by bearing testimony of their zeal for God, Ro 10:2, though he faithfully observes to them, that it was an ignorant zeal, of which ignorance he gives an instance, Ro 10:3, particularly in the attribute of God's righteousness; from which ignorance arose all their misconduct in religious things, especially in the article of justification; hence they sought to be justified by their own righteousness, and rejected the righteousness of Christ, and then points out to them the true end of the law, for righteousness which is Christ, Ro 10:4, which if they had known would have set them right, and which is another instance of their ignorant and misguided zeal: this leads him on to what he had in view, which was to give an account of the two righteousnesses he had suggested in the latter part of the former chapter, the righteousness of the law, which the Jews sought for and found not, and the righteousness of faith, which the Gentiles without seeking for enjoyed; and this account he gives in the words of Moses, for whom they had the greatest regard: the description of the former is given in his words, in Ro 10:5, which suggest the impossibility of keeping the law, and obtaining life by it, and therefore it is a vain thing to seek for righteousness by the works of it; the latter is described, Ro 10:6,7, by the certainty of it, being wrought out by Christ, who came down from heaven, fulfilled the law, and died, and rose again from the dead; and by the plainness and evidence of it, as revealed in the Gospel, Ro 10:8, the sum of which Gospel is, that whoever believes in Christ and confesses him shall be saved, Ro 10:9, which faith and confession, when genuine, are with the heart and mouth agreeing together; the consequences of which are righteousness and salvation, comfortably apprehended and enjoyed, Ro 10:10, and that the above is the sum of the Gospel, and that there is such a connection between faith and righteousness, and between confession and salvation, is confirmed, Ro 10:11, by a testimony from the prophet, Isa 28:16, which being expressed in such a general manner, as to extend to every believer, whether Jew or Gentile, reasons are given, Ro 10:12, in support of such an explanation of that passage, taken from the equal condition of all, there being no difference between them naturally, from the universal dominion of God over them, and from his liberal communication of grace and goodness to all that call upon him; which last reason is confirmed, Ro 10:13, by a passage of Scripture in Joe 2:32, on occasion of which, the apostle proceeds to treat of the calling of the Gentiles, and of the means of it, the preaching of the Gospel, which was necessary to it, which is made out by a train of reasoning after this manner; that seeing salvation is only of such that call upon the name of the Lord, and there could be no calling upon him without believing in him, and no believing without hearing, and no hearing without preaching, and no preaching without mission, which is proved by a citation out of Isa 52:7, and no success in preaching, when sent, without the exertions of efficacious grace, as appears from the case of the Jews, who had the ministration of the Gospel to them by Isaiah, and yet all did not believe it; as is evident from Isa 53:1, and seeing the conclusion of which is, that faith comes by preaching, and preaching by the order and command of God, Ro 10:14-17, it follows, that it was proper that ministers should be sent, and the Gospel preached to the Gentiles, and that attended with power, in order that they should believe in the Lord, and call upon his name and be saved; and which method God had taken, and which he had foretold he would take, in the prophecies of the Old Testament, and which were now fulfilling: that the Gospel was preached to them, and they heard it, were matters of fact, and were no other than what should be, or might be concluded, from Ps 19:4, cited, Ro 10:18, and that the Jews could not be ignorant of the calling of the Gentiles is clear, first from the words of Moses, De 32:21, which the apostle produces, Ro 10:19, and from a passage in the prophecy of Isa 65:1. 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