This commentary is a work in progress and may be revised as study continues. If you have a question, spot an error, or want to discuss a passage, please reach out.
1Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
2For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
3For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
4For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
5For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
6But 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:)
7Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
8But 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;
9That 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.
10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Do you have to confess with your mouth in order to be saved? As Peter says in 2 Peter 3:15-16, Paul's words are hard to understand which is great to keep in mind when interpreting this passage. First, we can establish with a strong foundation that we are saved the moment we believe the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
In Acts 10:43-44 the people heard and were instantly saved, they did not call or confess: “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.”
Jesus sees the faith in the heart and they are forgiven: Mark 2:5 “When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.”
The most direct answer can be found in Acts 16:31 “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
Lastly, the gospel itself in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures”
If someone truly believes, at some point they will confess the Lord Jesus to friends, family, publicly, etc. But important to note, this doesn’t save them for they already were saved before confessing. As the verse says “with the heart man believeth unto righteousness”. If you are righteous you are no longer under God’s judgement and on your way to hell. Confession doesn’t "complete" salvation, but rather demonstrates what alredy is to the world. It shows that the person has accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord and is publicly aligning with their faith.
Paul says the same thing in 2 Corinthians 4:13 “We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak”
The Pharisees believed but didn’t confess Him in John 12:42 “Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:”
It would seem these are those Jesus will be ashamed of when He returns Luke 9:26 ”For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.”
11For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
This type of “ashamed” here is different from when John speaks of not being ashamed in 1 John 2:28, which refers to sin. Unlike John, Paul ties not being ashamed directly to the one who believes in Christ.
The lexicon notes the Greek Strong's G2617 - kataischynō as “one is said to be put to shame who suffers a repulse, or whom some hope has deceived”. We place our hope in Jesus for salvation (Titus 3:7); this is legal/judicial shame. In other words, those who trust in Jesus will never be rejected or condemned at the final judgment. God will faithfully fulfill His promises to all who believe. This truth is reinforced elsewhere:
2 Timothy 1:12 “...I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day”
Isaiah 28:16 “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded”
12For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Are we saved when we “call upon the name of Lord” or are we saved before this?
Verse 14 below shows that a man can’t call on the Lord until they first believe
Verse 11 above tells us that whosoever believeth will not be ashamed.
We can conclude we are saved the moment we believe as discussed in verse 10 above.
14How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Paul gives the order here and first they need a preacher. Once the message is delievered and the people hear they can then believe and they are instantly saved in that moment. We see this in Acts 10:44 with Cornelius’s household, as soon as the people heard, they believed and they were saved.
15And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
16But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
17So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
18But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.
19But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.
20But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.
21But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.
10
Romans 10 — Forever Word commentary
King James VersionThis commentary is a work in progress and may be revised as study continues. If you have a question, spot an error, or want to discuss a passage, please reach out.
1Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
2For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
3For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
4For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
5For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
6But 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:)
7Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
8But 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;
9That 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.
10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Do you have to confess with your mouth in order to be saved? As Peter says in 2 Peter 3:15-16, Paul's words are hard to understand which is great to keep in mind when interpreting this passage. First, we can establish with a strong foundation that we are saved the moment we believe the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
In Acts 10:43-44 the people heard and were instantly saved, they did not call or confess: “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.”
Jesus sees the faith in the heart and they are forgiven: Mark 2:5 “When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.”
The most direct answer can be found in Acts 16:31 “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
Lastly, the gospel itself in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures”
If someone truly believes, at some point they will confess the Lord Jesus to friends, family, publicly, etc. But important to note, this doesn’t save them for they already were saved before confessing. As the verse says “with the heart man believeth unto righteousness”. If you are righteous you are no longer under God’s judgement and on your way to hell. Confession doesn’t "complete" salvation, but rather demonstrates what alredy is to the world. It shows that the person has accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord and is publicly aligning with their faith.
Paul says the same thing in 2 Corinthians 4:13 “We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak”
The Pharisees believed but didn’t confess Him in John 12:42 “Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:”
It would seem these are those Jesus will be ashamed of when He returns Luke 9:26 ”For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.”
11For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
This type of “ashamed” here is different from when John speaks of not being ashamed in 1 John 2:28, which refers to sin. Unlike John, Paul ties not being ashamed directly to the one who believes in Christ.
The lexicon notes the Greek Strong's G2617 - kataischynō as “one is said to be put to shame who suffers a repulse, or whom some hope has deceived”. We place our hope in Jesus for salvation (Titus 3:7); this is legal/judicial shame. In other words, those who trust in Jesus will never be rejected or condemned at the final judgment. God will faithfully fulfill His promises to all who believe. This truth is reinforced elsewhere:
2 Timothy 1:12 “...I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day”
Isaiah 28:16 “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded”
12For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Are we saved when we “call upon the name of Lord” or are we saved before this?
Verse 14 below shows that a man can’t call on the Lord until they first believe
Verse 11 above tells us that whosoever believeth will not be ashamed.
We can conclude we are saved the moment we believe as discussed in verse 10 above.
14How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Paul gives the order here and first they need a preacher. Once the message is delievered and the people hear they can then believe and they are instantly saved in that moment. We see this in Acts 10:44 with Cornelius’s household, as soon as the people heard, they believed and they were saved.
15And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
16But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
17So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
18But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.
19But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.
20But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.
21But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.