Romans 10:9-10

With This Series, We Are Studying Verses and Passages That are Often Twisted and Misinterpretted

Many Times, a Verse is Ripped Out of its Context and Twisted When We are Trying to Prove Others Wrong and Prove Ourselves Right

We Often Use Bible Verses Like Bullets in a Gun

When Someone Believes Something Different Than We Do…

They May Shoot a Verse or 2 at Us That Seem to Support Their Belief

And Then We Load Our Gun With Our Own Verses and Fire Back

That’s How Too Many of Us Have Bible Studies and Discussions With Our Family, Friends, and Neighbors

The Goal of Both Sides is to Prove Themselves Right and the Other Wrong

Sometimes One Side is Right and the Other is Wrong

Sometimes Both Sides are Partly Right and Partly Wrong

And Sometimes Both Sides are Wrong

Our Mission Should Never Be to Prove Ourselves Right…

Our Mission in Studying the Bible Should Be to Find What is Right

Our Text For Tonight is:

Romans 10:9–10 (NASB)

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

Many People Throughout Christendom Use This Verse to Prove the Non-Essentiality of Baptism

The Argument Goes:

“Paul Says That if We Believe and Confess Then We Will Be Saved.”

But So Many Times, We Fire Back With:

“No, Belief and Confession Aren’t the Only Steps to Salvation…”

“They are Just 2 Steps That Lead to Salvation.”

Those Who Use Romans 10 to Say Baptism Isn’t Necessary For Salvation…

Are Either Doing So Out of Ignorance

Or Are Being Intellectually Dishonest

Because Romans 6 Talks a Great Deal About the Importance of Baptism

But Whenever We Say Romans 10 is Just Mentioning 2 of the 5 Steps of Salvation…

We are Also Misusing the Passage and Twisting What Paul is Trying to Teach the Romans in This Letter

We Need to Get Back to the Context

In Romans, Paul is Telling the Roman Christians About the Gospel…

And How the Gospel is For Everyone, Both Jew and Gentile

We’ll Start Reading in Romans 9:30-31

Romans 9:30–31 (NASB)

What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law.

Paul Starts Off By Saying That the Gentiles Attained Righteousness By Faith

The Gentiles Were the People Who Did Not Follow the Old Testament

They Were Not Seeking to Become Righteous

But They Received Righteousness Through Faith in Jesus

The Jews, On the Other Hand, Were Trying With All Their Might to Attain Righteousness

But They Never Received it

Why Did They Not Receive it?

How Could the Gentiles Receive Something They Weren’t Looking For, But the Jews Couldn’t Receive What They Were Pursuing?

That Was Paul’s Next Question, and He Gives the Answer

Romans 9:32 (NASB)

Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,

So Many of the Jews Would Not Experience Righteousness Because They Were Seeking to Attain it By Works

They Believed That if They Tried Hard Enough, They Would Be Able to Obey the Old Law in its Entirety

Instead of Trusting and Relying On God to Be the Source of Their Forgiveness and Righteousness…

They Continued to Strive for Righteousness Through Perfect Obedience to the Law

They Sought to Earn Their Righteousness, But it was Never Possible

Many Gentiles, Who Historically Never Pursued Righteousness, Placed Their Trust in Jesus to Be the Source of Their Righteousness

Many Jews, Who Historically Always Pursued Righteousness, Relied Upon Themselves to Attain Righteousness Through Law-Keeping

Those Gentiles Who Trusted in Christ Received Righteousness

But Those Jews Who Trusted in Their Own Law-Keeping Did Not

To Clarify, Law-Keeping Was Not the Problem

God Has Always Wanted His People to Keep His Law

The Problem Was Seeking Perfection and Righteousness Through Keeping the Law

Righteousness Could Only Be Achieved Through Keeping the Law Perfectly

Something That Only One Man Was Ever Capable of Achieving

Those Jews Who Refused to Place Their Trust/Faith in Jesus Stumbled Over the Stumbling Stone

What Does This Mean?

Paul Explains By Quoting 2 OT Texts

Romans 9:33 (NASB)

just as it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.”

Paul Combines 2 Verse From Isaiah (28:16 & 8:14) to Make This Sort of Hybrid Verse

God is Referred to as a Stone of Rescue and Stumbling For the Israelite People

To Those Who Trust in Him, He is a Stone of Rescue

To Those Who Don’t Place Their Trust in Him, He is a Stone of Stumbling

They Will Fail in Their Efforts

Paul Calls Jesus This Stone

Many of the Gentiles Trusted Him and Thus Found Salvation and Rescue

Many of the Jews Chose to Trust in Their Ability to Keep the Law and Thus Would Fail in Their Efforts

Romans 10:1–2 (NASB)

Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.

Paul Desperately Wanted His Jewish Brethren to Be Saved

There was No Doubt in His Mind That They Were Zealous in Their Works Toward God

Paul Himself Knew Firsthand (Galatians 1:14 - Paul Was Extremely Zealous For the Traditions of His Ancestors)

But Their Zeal Was Misguided

Romans 10:3 (NASB)

For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

NLT - “For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law.”

They Didn’t Know or Understand God’s Plan For Providing Righteousness

They Rejected God’s Son, the Anointed King of Heaven

They Refused to Accept the Grace of God Through Faith in Jesus

They Continually Strove to Establish Their Own Righteousness By Obedience to the Law

Romans 10:4 (NASB)

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

NIV - “Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.”

NLT - “For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God.”

After Jesus’ Death, Burial, and Resurrection, Righteousness Could Be Achieved Through Faith in Him

Righteousness is Not Something That Can Be Earned

It Can Only Be Obtained By Receiving it as a Free Gift From God

Romans 10:5 (NASB)

For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness.

That is to Say, if a Person is Able to Perform All That the Law Requires, it Will Lead to Life

The Problem is No One is Able to Live Up to the Requirements of the Law

The Law Points Us Toward Righteousness and Shows Us the Character of its Righteous Author (God)

But it Never Provided Us the Means or Power to Perfectly Obey it

So, We Can’t Find Righteousness and Life in the Law Because We Can’t Perfectly Practice it

Romans 10:6–7 (NASB)

But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”

Paul Quotes From Deuteronomy 30:12-13

There Moses Was Telling the People That They Didn’t Have to Perform Superhuman Duties Like Going Up to Heaven or Crossing the Sea (Descend to the Realm of the Dead) to Receive the Will of God

Paul Takes This Passage Referring to the Law and Then Reinterprets it to Be Talking About Faith in Christ

We Don’t Have to Perform Super Human Feats to Receive the Righteousness That Comes Through Faith in the Gospel of Christ

We Don’t Have to Bring Jesus Down From Heaven

God Already Did That For Us

And We Don’t Have to Resurrect Him From the Dead

God Already Did That Too

It’s Not About the Incredible Works We Must Do to Receive Righteousness

It’s About the Incredible Works God Has Already Done Through Jesus That Grants Us Righteousness

Romans 10:8 (NASB)

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,

Paul Then Quotes the Very Next Verse in Deuteronomy 30:14

The Word of Faith is Already Near and Easily Accessible to Us

If One Has Heard the Gospel, Then All They Have to Do is Respond in Faith/Trust to Jesus in Order to Attain Righteousness

Romans 10:9–10 (NASB)

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

Salvation Doesn’t Come Through Obedience/Works of the Law…

It Comes Through Confessing With Our Mouths Jesus is Our Master and Believing in Our Hearts That God Raised Him From the Dead

“But Jon, Doesn’t That Negate the Necessity of Baptism?”

No, Not at All!

“Confess” and “Believe” are Both in the Aorist Tense

I’m Not a Greek Scholar, But From How I Understand it…

The Aorist Tense is Not Like Past, Present, or Future Tense, Which All Reveal When Confessing and Believing Happen

Aorist Captures the Totality of a Time

“If You Love Your Spouse, You Will Have a Happy Marriage”

“If You Work Hard, You Will Graduate”

You Don’t Ask “When Should I Love My Spouse and Work Hard?”

When Should You Love Your Spouse to Have a Happy Marriage?

The Entire Time!

When Should You Work Hard to Graduate?

The Entire Time!

When Paul Tells Us That Those Who Confess and Believe Will Be Saved…

He is Referring to the Entirety of Their Life in Christ

It’s Not About a Step One Must Take to Become a Christian

It’s Describing the Life of a Person in Christ

Verse 10 Proves This to Us as Well

“Believes” and “Confesses” are Both in the Present Tense

That Means They are Continual Actions

Not Something You Do Once, But Something You Continue to Do

The Life of a Christian Should Be Described Like This:

They Believe in Their Heart That Jesus is Alive From the Dead

They Confess That Jesus is Their Master

It’s Our Way of Life

We are a Believing and Confessing People

I’ve Heard it Put Like This:

Continual Belief and Confession Toward Jesus is a Declaration of Dependence

Not a Declaration of Independence

That’s What the Jews Were Doing

They Wanted to Establish Their Own Righteousness Toward God Through Obedience to the Law

But Christians Declare Our Total Dependence On Jesus to Give Us Righteousness

That is Paul’s Main Point in this Context

It’s All About Depending On Jesus to Make Us Righteous Before God

Romans 10:11–13 (NASB95)

For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

To Call On the Name of God is to Call Out For Him to Save/Rescue Us

Christianity is Not About Saving Ourselves

It’s Not About Getting Everything Right

It’s Not About Perfectly Obeying the Law

Christianity is About Calling Out to God For Mercy and Compassion Because We are Absolutely Hopeless Without His Free Gift of Grace

Romans 10:9-10 Twisted

Believing and Confessing are Steps a Person Must Do in Order to Be Saved

Romans 10:9-10 UnTwisted

There’s Nothing We Can Do in Order to Earn or Attain Righteousness For Ourselves

In Order to Attain Righteousness We Must Simply Place Our Trust in Jesus Christ

That Means Believing Him to Be the Resurrected King of Heaven and Confessing Him as Our Lord and Master

Those Aren’t Steps We Take, But a Lifestyle We Choose to Live

We Don’t Have to Do Superhuman Acts of Obedience in Order For God to Save Us

We Just Have to Trust in His Saving Grace

This Doesn’t Negate Baptism, Because Baptism is the First Act of Belief and Confession in Christ

Baptism Isn’t a Work of Obedience

It’s an Act of Submission, Belief, and Trust in the Savior

When Paul Was Baptized, He Was Told:

Acts 22:16 (NASB)

‘Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.’

Being Baptized Was Not a Work of Obedience But an Act of Submission

Baptism is How We Call Out to God For Mercy, Compassion, and Grace

What Paul Wanted the Romans and Us to Learn From This is:

Stop Trying to Do Enough to Attain Righteousness and Salvation

You’ll Never Achieve it

If it Were Possible to Achieve Righteousness Through Obedience to God’s Law, the Jews Would Have Accomplished it

The Only Way to Attain Righteousness and Salvation is By Surrendering to God…

Fully Trusting in the Gospel of Jesus Christ