Romans 10:1-13
Misguided Sincerity (vv. 1-4)
Paul’s prayer
Israel’s problem
- Eagerness
- Ignorance
Misunderstood Simplicity (vv. 5-10)
Inability of the Law
Availability of the Lord
Accessibilty of Life
Manifest Universality (vv. 11-13)
Whoever believes (Is. 28:16)
Whoever calls (Joel 2:32)
More to Consider
In these verses Paul stated the content of that message concerning faith. Confessing with the mouth that Jesus is Lord is mentioned first to conform to the order of the quotation from Deuteronomy 30:14 in Romans 10:8. The confession is an acknowledgement that God has been incarnated in Jesus (cf. v. 6), that Jesus Christ is God. Also essential is heart-faith that God raised Him from the dead (cf. v. 7). The result is salvation. The true order is given in verse 10: For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified (lit., “it is believed unto righteousness”), and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved (lit., “it is confessed unto salvation”). Yet these are not two separate steps to salvation. They are chronologically together. Salvation comes through acknowledging to God that Christ is God and believing in Him.
John A. Witmer, “Romans,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 481.
Salvation comes when sinners confess that “Jesus is Lord [Almighty God]” and believe in their hearts that Christ is alive from the dead. What is believed in the heart is confessed openly with the mouth. Some of the Jews in Jesus’ day would not openly confess Him (John 12:42–43). When the sinner receives Christ by faith and confesses Him openly, thus proving his faith, he receives the gift of righteousness.
Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1992), 394.
A.B. Simpson is reported to have said that the gospel "Tells rebellious men that God is reconciled, that justice is satisfied, that sin has been atoned for, that the judgment of the guilty may be revoked, the condemnation of the sinner cancelled, the curse of the Law blotted out, the gates of hell closed, the portals of heaven opened wide, the power of sin subdued, the guilty conscience healed, the broken heart comforted, the sorrow and misery of the Fall undone.”
Cocoris, Evangelism, A Biblical Approach, Moody, 1984, p. 29.
