"Righteousness" never means mercy, not even the "righteousness of God." When God gives you growth in grace and fruitfulness in good works it will be your safety to be as little as ever you were, and to trust in nothing but the work of the Lord. This was not suitable to the character of the epistle; but the glory of God he does. The rest of the chapter (7-25) is an instructive episode, in which the impotence and the misery of the renewed mind which attempts practice under law are fully argued out, till deliverance (not pardon) is found in Christ. Then he quotes Deuteronomy 30:12-13. It is true Christ is in heaven; but we may be justified and saved without going thither, to fetch him thence, or sending a special messenger to him. But they have not all obeyed the gospel. A person cannot believe unless they hear. Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. It is not the awakening of conscience, however real; neither is it the attraction of heart by the grace of Christ, however blessed this may be. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge ( Romans 10:1-2 ). Both Jew and Greek were quick to give some credit to national or ethnic origin, as if being saved were a matter of being born into the right family. All Israel shall be saved. (1.) (324) For the purpose of removing the impediments of faith, he has hitherto spoken negatively: but now in order to show the way of obtaining righteousness, he adopts an affirmative mode of speaking. All day long I have stretched out My hands the Arabic version, "what dost thou say?" Jesus did not bleed and die to be a superfluity to us: he cattle to meet a grim necessity. If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved, Believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation, calls upon the name of the LORD shall be saved. is the double prophecy. I would like to boast about what I have done, the dangers that I have braved for God, the sacrifices that I have made, the dedication that took me through those dark, smelly, dangerous swamps. You cannot hear about him unless there is someone to proclaim the good news. The wrath of God could not possibly be glad tidings. Judge ye whether any one of us has fulfilled the whole law. The meaning is not what was executed on Christ, but what is in virtue. But "justification of life" goes farther, though involved in the latter, than the end of Romans 4:1-25; for now we learn that in the gospel there is not only a dealing with the guilt of those that are addressed in it; there is also a mighty work of God in the presenting the man in a new place before God, and in fact, too, for his faith, clearing him from all the consequences in which he finds himself as a man in the flesh here below. Concerning faith: It is with the heart that man believeth, which implies more than an assent of the understanding, and takes in the consent of the will, an inward, hearty, sincere, and strong consent. He quotes also from Isaiah "Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed." Its remarkable that Paul found something good to say about these Jewish people who persecuted him so mercilessly. "But there is no place for boasting neither now or eternally when we get to heaven and when before the throne I stand in Him complete. People cannot come to Jesus without the right information about the gospel, but information alone is not enough to save anyone. That act denoted not even the washing away of our sins by the blood of Jesus, which would not apply to the case, nor in any adequate way meet the question of nature. Paul does not rejoice that they have stumbled at that stumbling stone (Romans 9:32). Now I ask you to listen to WHAT THE GOSPEL SAITH. He dwells in the heart by faith. "Whosoever believeth in him hath everlasting life." Kurios Serapis is Lord Serapis. But the righteousness which is of faith speaks like this, Don't say in your heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? The direction is "unto all;" the application is, of course, only to "them that believe;" but it is to all them that believe. How shall they hear without a preacher? And he is father of circumcision in the best sense, not to Jews, but to believing Gentiles. Outside Revelation, it only occurs here and Luke 8:31. John MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Book of Romans 2 Volume Set. Why, next, it forbids the questions of despair. Confessing the Lord Jesus--openly professing relation to him and dependence on him, as our prince and Saviour, owning Christianity in the face of all the allurements and affrightments of this world, standing by him in all weathers. But it is a word one must believe with all his hearta word he must believe enough to give up all hopes of self-righteousness and submit his whole being to it in faithful, obedience. already. He has put the two things together, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." (b.) We believe everything which the Lord Jesus has taught, but we must go a step further, and trust him. This is an important consideration because Paul specifically applies the allusions he makes to Deuteronomy 30 to "the righteousness which is of faith," whereas Moses is clearly talking about the law and obedience to it. So therefore it addressed itself to the obedience of faith; not by this meaning practice, still less according to the measure of a man's duty, but that which is at the root of all practice faith-obedience obedience of heart and will, renewed by divine grace, which accepts the truth of God. Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. But what saith it? This brings out a most emphatic truth and special side of Christianity. Nothing less, I am persuaded, than this full blessing is the line that God has given to those who have followed Christ without the camp, and who, having been set free from the contracted ways of men, desire to enter into the largeness and at the same time the profound wisdom of every word of God. And I answered him, "That is a very difficult question for me, because I do believe that your father does love God, has a zeal for God, but what is he doing about his sin? Then he knows that Jesus will blot out his transgressions, and create in him a clean heart, and restore him to himself again, though now, like David, his sin is ever before him. and how shall they preach unless they be sent? He had no uncertainty; he was as sure of his safety as it it had been a matter of calculation by the rules of arithmetic. He was Emmanuel, yea, the Jehovah, God of Israel. This might seem an exaggeration: the gospel had not been carried throughout all the earth, not even to all the lands that were known to the inhabitants of the Graeco-Roman world. He suffered agonizing pain, but his peace was as deep as the sea. But the righteousness which stems from faith speaks like this--"Do not say in your heart, 'Who shall go up into heaven?' Paul allegorizes that passage. Now, when you call upon the name of the Lord, God doesn't go down the list and say, "Let's see. There is nothing like the grace of God for producing the truest humility, the humility that not only descends to the lowest level of sinners to do them good, but which is itself the fruit of deliverance from that self-love which puffs itself or lowers others. By the preaching of the Gospel the doctrine of salvation is nigh thee, and the saving influence is at hand: it is in thy mouth, easy to be understood, easy to be professed: and in thy heart, if thou art upright before God, sincerely desiring to be saved on his own terms, not striving to establish thy own method of justification by the law, which must for ever be ineffectual, but submitting to the method of justification which God has devised. One does not have to mount a ladder to heaven in order to beseech God to send Christ down. There are several texts from which it may be gathered that believers shall not be put to shame. (Spurgeon). There is the type of confession described in Matthew 10:32. No prayers, or tears, are wanted to bring him down: he has already come and is near at hand. First, as to practical holiness, it is not merely that Christ has died for my sins, but that even in the initiatory act of baptism the truth set forth there is that I am dead. Brethren, my hearts desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. 2. I need not speak about it this morning: I believe it, and rejoice in it: but it is not at all contrary to this precious truth. Everything Paul touches in this letter he relates to God. This it was before it was his prayer. May faith be increased as you study His Word. The law is magnified and made honourable by the death of Christ; and the doctrine of faith in his death and resurrection is fully proclaimed, and amply proved to be effectual to the purpose for which it was revealed. (a) It is the normal title of respect like the English sir, the French monsieur, the German herr. "If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by [or because of] his Spirit that dwelleth in you.". Abraham is the proof of the value of faith in justification before God. But it is very plain and easy: The word is nigh thee. Let us go a little further. A disobedient and contrary people: This tells Gods assessment of disobedient, Messiah-rejecting Israel. If I am thus pitied of God, if so truly and completely a justified man, if I am really an object of God's eternal favour, how can I have such a sense of continual evil? Jesus came into the world to save real sinners, not sham sinners; for he is a real, and not a pretended Savior. Then Isaiah says, greatly daring: "I was found by those who did not seek me. It is not an esoteric message hidden in some secret place or located at some far corner of the universe. 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." But this one is a special little angel. d. Glad tidings of good things: Obviously, the salvation Isaiah prophesied about could not be salvation through works or the law. There we find Christian knowledge as to the matter introduced; but still it is the knowledge of one who is not in this state pronouncing on one who is. This is unto righteousness. The word is close to you, it is even in your mouth, and in your heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth that Jesus is Lord, and will believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved ( Romans 10:8-9 ). You already have it; all you have to do is obey it (Vol. Click to enable/disable _gid - Google Analytics Cookie. Both Jew and Greek were quick to give some credit to national or ethnic origin, as if being saved were a matter of being born into the right family. His life and death pointed in one direction. They did not know it, because they would not; they shut their eyes against the discoveries of it, and love darkness rather. The garment is woven already; put it on; Christ gives it to you. Your name is not on the list." You, up there in the gallery, however guilty you may have been, or however moral you may have been, it matters not, if your one hope is in what Christ has done, you shall never turn round on your dying bed, and cry, "I made a mistake in trusting Christ." When you and I are no longer sinners, Christ is no longer our Savior; when you and I no more need him, then we shall not have him. The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them: You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page. He says, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou may be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed." The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach: The 5th verse is a quotation from Leviticus 18:5. But I say, [Paul said,] Have they not heard? Hear this! Thus the proof was complete. There they were recorded, and Jack was a new man and a saved man. Pastor Mark Schlamann. Do some great brave wonderful marvelous thing. Nevertheless there is in this passage something of permanent value. For information about the word heart (kardia), see the commentary on verse 1. This applies to all who cast themselves upon God in faith, Jews and Gentiles alike (11-13).Before people can believe this message, they must hear it. Hence the faithful derive from this passage remarkable consolation with regard to the certainty of the word; for they may no less safely rest on it, than on what is actually present. 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 bear it, and do it? We need not here enter into the details; but on the surface we see how the apostle brings all down to that which is of the deepest interest to every soul. 1. A message of peace and of life, glad tidings of good things. Take his counsel. That is true--but no one ever has. 5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. Thy salvation rests in Jesus, rest thou in Jesus. He did not say, "Do and thou shalt live, and yet there is another way." There is a disposition continually to imagine that what is frequently spoken of must be understood; but experience will soon show that this is not the case. Listen. Even the word of faith; the gospel and the promise of it, called the word of faith because it is the object of faith about which it is conversant, the word which we believe;--because it is the precept of faith, commanding it, and making it the great condition of justification;--and because it is the ordinary means by which faith is wrought and conveyed. Sin is our not wanting the gifts of . Because this information was in the hands of the Hebrews, the Israelites did not need to go beyond the sea (verse 13) or send someone up to heaven (verse 12) to receive information about Gods will. If you were to descend there, what would you do without him whom God has anointed to save? It is exquisite the delicate love with which he singles out distinctive features in each of the saints, men and women, that come before him. There are two things that might make insuperable difficulty: the one is the obstacle of sin in the nature to practical holiness; the other is the provocation and condemnation of the law. But what does it say? And how can they proclaim it unless they be sent?So the basis for missions: having heard, having believed, having known, we are now responsible to send those to tell others of this glorious salvation and righteousness that God has offered to all men, Jew and Greek, who will just simply believe on His son Jesus Christ. This is what made the gospel to be so sweet and precious, and, what is more, absolutely necessary, if he would escape certain and eternal ruin. Oh yes very true, for their sound went out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world ( Romans 10:18 ). It was for this then that Paul describes himself as apostle. Amen, so let it be. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer. 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