Treasures New and Old

Romans: Preach the Word of Faith

This month we will begin looking into Romans, Chapter 10. As a summary of what we’ve done in that last two and a half years, I have listed a title for each chapter that we have covered so far. If you’re interested in going back and checking any particular chapter, you can find them in our Article Archives.

• Chapter 1: Paul’s Call to Preach the Gospel and the Corrupted Heart of Man
• Chapter 2: Man Is without Excuse
• The Seven Ways God Justly Judges:
• Chapter 3: Paul’s False Arguments Debunked
• Chapter 4: Faith of Abraham
• Chapter 5: Being Justified by Faith
• Chapter 6: Newness of Life
• Chapter 7: New Law for us
• Chapter 8: Walk in the Spirit
• Chapter 9: Those Who Are Called & God’s Sovereignty

In January, we picked up Romans, Chapter 9, and finished it in May. This month we will start digging into Chapter 10, and over the next additional three months, we will cover the four topics listed below. All of them have to do in one aspect or another with preaching the word of faith as explained by Paul.

• Chapter 10: Preaching the Word of Faith
  

1. • Is your Heart Heavy unto Prayer?
   • Whosoever Will
   • Faith Cometh by Hearing
   • Who Is Listening? What Do They Actually Hear?

If you have been in Christian circles for any length of time, you would have heard the phrase, “by faith alone, by Scripture alone, by grace alone, in Christ alone”.

Grace Alone and Faith Alone: What is Wrong with the First Two Solas? by David Servant

“Perhaps you’ve heard a pastor or preacher say, “We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, as revealed by Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone.” Those are known as the “five solas” (or “solae”) because in Latin they are: Sola gratia, sola fida, solus Christus, sola scriptura, and soli Deo gloria. Although all five were not articulated together until the 20th century, the first two, grace alone and faith alone, were mentioned by some of the 16th century Protestant Reformers to summarize what they felt was most wrong with Roman Catholicism. It isn’t easy, however, to summarize all that God has revealed about salvation in Scripture with four Latin words.” . . . “Many modern Evangelicals (“born-again” Christians) who quote the five solas seem to be unaware that they were all coined by Calvinist/Reformed theologians, and so their intended meanings were originally Calvinistic/Reformed. When a Reformer declared, for example, that “we are saved by grace alone,” he was speaking of Calvinism’s “irresistible grace . . . .'”

Paul never had, when you look at his various epistles and all of their content, such as extreme view of the two ends on the spectrum as did Jacobus Arminius and John Calvin. As we dig into this tenth chapter of Romans, we will see Paul’s understanding of God’s sovereignty balanced against man’s free will. Neither position at their absolute is correct as both extreme positions deny the truths found in the opposite beliefs.

Know this, that I adhere to the solas whole heartily, Christ alone, Scripture alone, God’s glory alone, but with faith and grace alone as described in the whole of Scripture and not captured in a simple summary statement.

Is Your Heart Heavy unto Prayer?

Romans 10:1-9:

Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 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. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. 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🙂 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) 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; 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.

Verse 1 Notes: “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.”

• This is yet another time that Paul expresses his desire to see Israel saved. Look at the first three verses of Chapter 9. But Paul knows that every person, and that includes the nation of Israel of his day as well as ours, must make a decision from Christ. Note that in Verse 4 this will be better explained.
  

• So, once again, how do we stack up with Paul in this area? Do we have a heart’s desire to see folks saved? Is our heart’s desire lined up with God’s heart’s desire?
  

John 3:15-17: “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but have all should come to repentance.”

Verse 2 Notes: “For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.”

• “According to knowledge” – knowledge is a Greek word epignosis (Strong’s G1922) that implies more than just knowledge, but an understanding, full recognition, full discernment. Israel did not understand the concept of the true calling of the Messiah – what He had to do for the sins of mankind because mankind could not pay for his own sins.
  

• Yet, they clearly had a zeal for God, and many sincerely attempted to reach and satisfy God with every effort of their soul and will. The trouble is that they did so under their own effort to reach God and not by faith, but by man-designed works, thus creating the Mishnah and Midrash systems. Consider Paul’s own testimony:

Philippians 3:4-6: “Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.”

Verse 3 Notes: “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.”

• God’s plan for righteousness was not to obtain it by works (which for Israel meant the perfect keeping of the law) but by faith. We can easily, because of hindsight, see the truth that all along it was a issue of by faith because of the references to Abraham and the patriarchs after him before Israel became a nation and the Law Moses was given to Israel.

• They chose rather to establish their own path to righteousness by declaring that they would do so by keeping the law. They did so despite clear teaching that they could not keep all the law perfectly and by ignoring the by faith examples they were presented. The just shall live by faith!

Verse 4 Notes: “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”

• Israel had many prophetic declarations that God was preparing and sending a Messiah: a suffering Messiah and a King Messiah. I guess it may have been easy without the New Testament to confuse these two descriptions as two different messiahs, but they chose to focus on the kingship and ignore the work of the suffering Messiah.

• Paul says that Christ is “the end of the law.” What does that mean? Christ is the only one to fulfill the law with works accomplished. He came to do the will of the Father, and, by faith, obeyed the Father, and trusted the Father to raise Him from the dead. Jesus is also the one who makes it clear that the law does not save, He does. He is the law giver, the law keeper, the law completer, the end of the law.

• Christ, therefore, becomes a law of righteousness unto Himself and shares that righteousness with all who believe. How many? Everyone who believes. Who will believe? Whosoever will . . .

Verse 5 Notes: “For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.”

• Back to a Jewish mindset for a moment, Paul is building his arguments for thy Israel and, frankly, most men and women don’t accept Christ as their Savior even when they firmly believe in God or a divine creator/presence.

• Moses gave the law. He and Joshua after him made it clear that God gave the law so that man can see how God measures righteousness.

• But Israel interpreted the law with the expectation that Israel would keep it. In keeping of it, they would obtain self-righteousness. Somewhere along the way faith got dropped and forgotten. The just shall live by faith became the just shall live by the law and, therefore, become righteous before God by man’s many good works. Mental balance sheets were kept because deep down they knew they were sinners and fell way short of the righteousness needed to satisfy God.

Verse 6-8 Notes (emphasis added): “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🙂 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is night thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach:”

• Paul is again quoting Scripture that the Roman Jews would know about and understand, at least on the surface. So, Paul inserts Christ into the quote clarifying that it is Christ alone who brings about righteousness.

Deuteronomy 30:11-14: “For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.”

• “This commandment” is referring to the repeating of the law of Moses.

Deuteronomy 30: 1-3:

And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, which all thine heart, and with all thy soul; That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.

• They were not obliged to send a messenger to heaven to learn how they were to serve God, nor to search out wisdom by their own understanding. Nor had they to send over the sea to distant countries, like the heathens.

• What is the world of faith? While the language of the law is “do and live”, the actual righteousness which it demands, and which man is unable to perform, is revealed in the gospel, graciously explained through faith. This righteousness is in Christ and not at some distance so that we must scale the heavens or descend below the earth to obtain it, but obtained by faith.

Verse 9 Notes: “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.”

• And how do I execute that belief? Be believing in my heart and confessing with my mouth.

• By grace alone and faith alone – but I must participate by believing that grace freely given and paid for by Christ, and have faith in His promise to save me, and then confess with my mouth that I now have faith to Jesus Christ and Him alone.

• Remember that the word of faith must proceed from your mouth as per Romans 10:8. What is that word of faith? The verbal confession of what is in your heart: none other than Christ was raised from the dead and is alive today to intercede for us. To be more complete, that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again defeating death and Hell, and paying for our sins.

May God Bless you!

Maranatha!

Bro. Joe

References

Strong, J. Strong’s Talking Greek_Hebrew Dictionary. Wordsearch. (2020). Wordsearch Bible. [computer software] . Nashville, TN: LifeWay Christian Resources. (Original work published 1890).

Servant, D. (Feburuary 15, 2023). Alone and Faith Alone: What is Wrong with the First Two Solas?. David Servant Sowing God’s Word. (2020). Retreived from: https://www.davidservant.com/grace-alone-and-faith-alone-what-is-wrong-with-the-first-two-solas/

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