Israel Still Needs the Gospel (cont’d from 10:1-8).
Having affirmed the availability of the saving word of faith, Paul continues: “because, if you 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 and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame’” (Rom. 10:9-10, ESV).
Scriptural Confirmation
The “Scripture” quoted in v. 11 (also 9:33) is Isaiah 28:16 from the LXX, a messianic prophecy addressed to the old-covenant people of God concerning those who would be under the new covenant of Christ. Paul adds the adj. πᾶς (“every”) in anticipation of vv. 12-13, reasserting the universal character of the divine plan. Rather than saying “Everyone who believes in him” (ESV), Paul uses the participial phrase “every believing one upon [the ground or supporting basis of] him” [πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων ἐπ' αὐτῷ] (cf. v. 4), who “will not be put to shame.” On avoiding “shame,” see also 5:5; 9:33. The apostle seems to understand the passage “in a typological manner. The word of hope concerning faith in the Lord in the past, which came in the face of the judgment on Israel, is echoed in the present call to faith in Christ, in the face of the judgment coming on the world.”19
Conclusion
Paul is not instructing non-Christians about what to do to get saved. He is writing to penitent, baptized, sanctified believers (1:7; 6:3-5), who have already accepted and acknowledge the lordship of the resurrected Christ, anticipating the future salvific reward. In order for the people of Israel to be saved, they must follow the same course.
--Kevin L. Moore
Endnotes:
1 J. Murray, Romans 2:55; cf. NASB, N/KJV, WEB.
2 This follows the second person singulars of Deut. 9:4 and 30:12-14, quoted above.
3 “No distinction is to be drawn between the confession and the faith; the confession is believed and the faith confessed” (C. K. Barrett, Romans 200). “Confession without faith would be vain (cf. Matt. 7:22, 23; Tit. 1:16). But likewise faith without confession would be shown to be spurious… (cf. Matt. 10:22; Luke 12:8; John 9:22; 12:42; I Tim. 6:12; I John 2:23; 4:15; II John 7). Confession with the mouth is the evidence of the genuineness of faith and sustains to the same the relation which good works sustain (cf. 12:1, 2; 14:17; Eph. 2:8-10; 4:1,2; James 2:17-22)” (J. Murray, Romans 2:56).
4 Cf. 2 Cor. 6:11; 2 Cor. 13:1; Eph. 4:29; 6:19.
5 Note the heavy concentration of καρδία in chap. 10: vv. 1, 6, 8, 9, 10; cf. also 2:15, 29; 5:5; 6:17; 8:27.
6 Cf. John 9:22; 12:42; Heb. 13:15; 1 John 2:23; 4:2, 15; 2 John 7. A person of faith “cannot truly serve without loyalty to his Lord. He cannot be truly loyal while he hides his relation to Him” (H. C. G. Moule, Romans 272). “By making confession a condition of salvation, God put the Gospel into the lips as well as the hearts of His people” (J. A. Beet, Romans 303).
7 C. K. Barrett, Romans 200; F. F. Bruce, Romans 192; E. F. Harrison, “Romans” 112; R. Mohrlang, Romans 161; W. Sanday and A. C. Headlam, Romans 290. “This formula is an adaptation of Israel’s Shema (Deut 6:4–5), which proclaims the oneness of God as the heart of Israel’s faith” (R. B. Hays, Reading with the Grain 217).
8 D. J. Moo, Romans 658 n.58.
9 Applied to Jesus forty-four times in Romans, equivalent to the master of slaves and the messianic king (1:1-4). Κύριος is consistently employed in the LXX to translate the divine name (TDNT 3:1058-59).
10 The Priene Inscription refers to Augustus as “god” and “savior.” Before his execution as a Christ follower, Polycarp (69-155) was reportedly asked, “What harm is there in saying, ‘Lord [κύριος] Caesar,’ and in sacrificing, with the other ceremonies observed on such occasions …?” (chap. 8 of The Martyrdom of Polycarp).
11 N. T. Wright, “Paul’s Gospel and Caesar’s Empire,” Reflections 2 (1998), <Web>.
12 Equivalent to “sir” (Matt. 13:27; 27:63; Luke 13:8; John 4:11-19, 49; 5:7; 12:21; 1 Pet. 3:6; et al.) or descriptive of a “master” of slaves or property “owner” (Matt. 6:24; 10:24-25; 15:27; 18:25-34; 20:8; 21:40; 24:45-50; 25:18-26; Mark 12:9; 13:35; Luke 12:36-37, 42-47; 14:21-23; 16:3-13; 19:33; 20:13-15; John 13:16; 15:15, 20; 20:15; Col. 3:22a; et al.).
13 N. T. Wright, “Paul’s Gospel and Caesar’s Empire,” Reflections 2 (1998), <Web>.
15 1 Tim. 1:19-20; 4:1; 6:21; 2 Tim. 1:8, 12, 16; 2:12-13; 4:10; cf. Matt. 10:32-33; Heb. 3:1; 13:15.
16 2 Cor. 9:13; 1 Tim. 6:12, 13; Heb. 3:1; 4:14; 10:23.
17 F. F. Bruce, Romans 192; J. A. T. Robinson, Wrestling with Romans 124; ESV Scripture Journal Study Edition: Romans 78. The confession of Jesus as “Lord” in itself “presupposes the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Christ and consists in his investiture with universal dominion” (J. Murray, Romans 2:55).
18 “This development of the wordplay makes it clear that Paul does not have different acts or results of actions in view; rather, he speaks perspectivally. ‘Confessing’ and ‘believing’ are inward and outward expressions of the one reality of the presence of the ‘word’ …. ‘Righteousness’ and ‘salvation’ likewise refer to the same event” (M. A. Seifrid, “Romans,” in NT Use of the OT 659).
19 Ibid.
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