Romans 10

I'm writing a series of articles on the book of Romans, which, as you know, is one of the more difficult and controversial books of the New Testament. This is not going to be a verse-by-verse analysis by any means, but I will write a lengthy article on each chapter of this sixteen-chapter book. I hope that you find this helpful.

In Romans the tenth chapter, Paul gets right to the point. The way to salvation is clearly articulated in the word of God and even though this gospel had been extended to the Jews, they had rejected it. Did Paul rejoice in this fact? Not at all! In fact, it caused him a tremendous amount of grief. "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge." In other words, the Jews were religious people, but they were unsaved religious people. Likewise, it is possible today for a person to be religious yet unsaved. When our "religious zeal" is not according to knowledge--when it is not in harmony with the word of God--it does absolutely no good.

But the Jews were not only lagging way behind in the area of obedience, they also were self-righteous and self-reliant. That is the point of verses 4-5. They ignored the righteousness of God while simultaneously establishing their own righteousness. Their zeal wasn't directed towards God; it was directed towards their own system of meritorious works. Like the Pharisees of Jesus' day, they were outwardly pious, but inwardly they were full of dead men's bones.

And the thing is, God had made it easy for them to be saved. The truth of the gospel was not unattainable...it was not in some far off place (vv. 6-7), but rather was near to them--to every man for that matter (vv. 8). The Jews had access to the gospel; it had been openly offered to them time and time again.

Not only was the gospel easily accessible, but the conditions of salvation found therein were not overly-demanding. Paul tells us in the following segment of the chapter what a man must do to be saved: "That 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. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (vv. 9-10), and then in verse 13, "For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Many religious people today like to quote this passage in their attempt to justify the "faith-only" doctrine. Others like to turn here for authority for what is called the "sinner's prayer." Just believe. Just call on the Lord in prayer, and He will save you. But that is not Paul's point. First of all, He does not say that we are saved by faith only. Confession is also listed as a condition of salvation. This is not a confession of our sins, but a confession of the Lord Jesus (see Ac. 8:37). So it is faith AND confession. Let me ask you this: if a person does not confess Christ openly, can they be saved...even though they believe in Him? The answer is NO! Both faith and confession are necessary, according to the apostle Paul.

But let's not forget verse 13. We must CALL on the name of the Lord to be saved. To many, this is a prayer that the sinner recites in order to be saved. "God, save me from my sins." That kind of thing. But once again, the average denominational person is wrong in this position. Paul is not advocating the sinner's prayer here. According to God's word, "calling on the name of the Lord" is a metaphorical expression that is tied to obedience, namely water baptism. Let me explain...

In Acts 2, Peter quoted this same passage in verse 21 as he spoke to the Jews on the day of Pentecost. "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Later, as he concluded his sermon, the Jews asked Peter, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Did Peter tell them to pray or to believe only? No! He told them in verse 38 to "Repent, and be baptized...for the remission of sins" In Acts 22:16, Ananias told Saul of Tarsus, "And now why are you waiting? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord." You see, we call on the Lord when we submit to His command to be baptized. When we humbly obey the Lord, we are, in essence, calling on Him to save us as He told us He would. That is the point in Romans 10:13.

I might also point out that while Romans 10 says much about the conditions of salvation, we cannot look to Romans 10 as the ONLY "salvation passage." After all, Romans 10 says nothing of repentance, yet the Bible repeatedly affirms that repentance is necessary for salvation (Lk. 13:3; Ac. 2:38; 3:19). Romans 10 is just one passage that addresses the topic of salvation, and all of these passages must be considered together in order for us to have a firm grasp of the conditions of salvation.

Okay, back to our examination of Romans 10.

In verses 14-17, Paul basically says that if we must call on the name of the Lord, then it is obvious that we must first HEAR about the Lord. In order for one to hear, someone must teach them about the Lord...and that's where preachers and evangelists come into play...and all Christians for that matter. We are to share the gospel with others that they may hear about the Lord and call upon Him. This is why Paul affirms in verse 17, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Faith is not derived from some special feeling, but from the tangible word of God!

In the last segment of the chapter (vv. 18-21), Paul cites several Old Testament passages in an effort to highlight the Jews' foretold stubborness. The Jews HAD heard (vv. 18). They DID known (vv. 19). But they were not interested in the truth (vv. 20). Israel could not blame God, however, for He had reached out to them despite their disobedience (vv. 21).

Questions? Thoughts? Disagreements? Please comment below.