Eph 662ff 10/18/87; 4/12/75; 1/10/77

DOCTRINE OF THE GOSPEL

A. Etymology and Description.

1. The Greek noun, EUAGGELION, is a compound substative. EU means good; AGGELOS means a messenger, an envoy, one who brings the news. It is also used for angels as messengers of God, but not here. So the word “Gospel” actually means “good news.”

2. God’s good news to mankind, to unbelievers, is called the Gospel.

3. The Greek verb EUAGGELIZO means to announce good news. It is translated in the Scripture to proclaim, to announce good news; to communicate. It means to bring good news of victory, to declare good news of victory in a battle or war. But it finally came to mean to announce God’s good news of salvation.

4. The Hebrew verb BASAR has the same meaning: to proclaim good news. The Hebrew noun BESORAH is equivalent to EUAGGELION.

5. In the context of Rom 1:16, EUAGGELION means the declaration of good news of our Lord’s victory on the cross, where He was judged for the sins of the world.

6. The Greek noun EUAGGELOS is used for a messenger in the ancient world bringing good news from a battlefield.

7. The noun EUAGGELISTES is the Greek word for the gift of evangelist.

8. The Gospel is the communication of doctrine pertaining to salvation. The doctrines of salvation are the best news humanity could receive. The Gospel is the doctrines pertaining to the work of Christ on the cross. The Gospel has always been available, so that in every generation of every dispensation those who were positive responded. The pattern is Abraham, Gen 15:6 cf Rom 4.

9. The context indicates what the good news is. It doesn’t always refer to salvation.

B. The Boundaries of the Gospel.

1. The boundaries of the Gospel are stated in 1 Cor 15:1-4. Verses 1-2, “Now I communicate to you, brethren, the Gospel which I preached to you, which also you received in which also you stand, through which you are also saved, which doctrine I preached to you — if you hold fast [first class condition], unless you have believed to no purpose.”

a. Paul was teaching a Greek audience in Corinth. He had to explain the boundaries of the Gospel to them because some of the Greeks who had accepted Christ as Savior were having trouble with a literal, physical, bodily resurrection. It was a cultural problem, the idea being contrary to Greek culture. There was a conflict between their culture and what the Bible teaches.

b. Verse 2 means they were saved but not fulfilling God’s plan. The debater’s first class condition is one in which Paul, for the moment, assumes that the Corinthians response to the Gospel excluded resurrection, which it did.

c. While faith in Christ is the only way of salvation, and the Corinthians had believed in Christ for eternal life and now possess that eternal life, these Corinthians as Greeks were not able to accept the physical, literal resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was contrary to their culture.

d. This does not mean that the Corinthians were unsaved, but it implies that part of the benefit of their faith in Christ is eliminated during the time that they reject any doctrine, in this case the doctrine of resurrection, a part of the Gospel.

e. Whatever parts of the Gospel the believer rejects after salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, indicates that his faith is empty of content, fulfilling no purpose. In other words, you’re saved but not going anywhere as a believer; you’re a loser.

f. As Greeks, the Corinthian believers have a background problem. They actually find a physical resurrection abhorrent. Hence, the Corinthians are tempted to reject or deny that part of the Gospel.

g. These Corinthian believers are possessors of eternal life. By rejecting resurrection as a part of the Gospel, they are missing the fantastic blessing of their own future, when they will be resurrected at the rapture of the Church. This will be quite a shock.

h. Furthermore, they are missing a point of grace, that resurrection is God’s victory. We can do nothing to earn or deserve resurrection. The greatest illustration of grace is that the manner and time of both our physical death and resurrection are strictly a matter of God’s sovereignty, and therefore are solely His victory.

i. Salvation is not their problem, but their post-salvation understanding of doctrine.

j. After salvation through faith in Christ, rejection or neglect of Bible doctrine, failure to enter into post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation means failure to execute the protocol plan of God. Such failure means a miserable and frustrating life, characterized by all sorts of things such as guilt and all the forms of arrogance.

k. Failure to execute the protocol plan of God is always due to ignorance of doctrine. Ignorance breeds arrogance. Such believers become losers and are miserable all their lives.

l. Note that you do not have to believe in resurrection for salvation, but in the person and the work of Christ on the cross. The cross is the issue. Nevertheless, resurrection is a part of the Gospel.

m. Hence, the boundaries of the Gospel help the believer to understand and appreciate salvation, and give assurance to the principle of eternal security. 2. The boundaries of the Gospel are therefore stated by Paul to the believer, not to the unbeliever, in 1 Cor 15:3-4. “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins on the basis of the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was resurrected on the third day on the basis of the Scriptures.”

a. The Greek preposition HUPER plus the genitive of advantage of EGO and HAMARTIA is translated “for our sins.” HUPER plus the genitive of advantage always expresses substitution. In this case, it teaches the substitutionary spiritual death of Jesus Christ on the cross being judged for our sins.

b. HUPER plus the genitive of advantage of EGO is found in three great passages. One is Rom 5:8, “God commended His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died instead of us [in place of us, as a substitute for us].”

c. “According to the Scriptures” should be translated “on the basis of the Scriptures” (KATA plus the accusative of reference from GRAPHE).

d. The salvation work of Christ on the cross is the issue to the unbeliever. He will often learn about resurrection later because resurrection is generally not explained in the communication of the Gospel.

e. Being buried refers to our Lord’s unique, trichotomous physical death which followed His work of salvation. The omnipotence of the Father and of the Spirit were the agents of His resurrection. That same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is the power now available to you for the execution of the protocol plan of God.

f. “He was resurrected” is why Jesus Christ did not resurrect Himself. The present passive indicative of the Greek verb EGAIRO means that Jesus Christ received the action of the verb. Therefore, He did not raise Himself with His own omnipotence. He could have done so, and He stated that in Jn 10:17-18. But this passive voice says He did not, but instead received resurrection.

(1) Jesus Christ received the restoration of His human spirit to His body in the grave from the omnipotence of God the Father, an agent in the resurrection according to Acts 2:24; Rom 6:4; Eph 1:20; Col 2:12; 1 Thes 1:10; 1 Pet 1:21.

(2) The omnipotence of the Holy Spirit who restored our Lord’s human soul to His body in the grave was also an agent in His resurrection according Rom 1:4, 8:11; 1 Pet 3:18.

g. As an extension of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union into the Church Age, the power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is now available to us.

3. Note that the Gospel boundaries start with the saving work of Jesus Christ and they terminate with His physical resurrection. The Gospel means good news.

4. The fact that we are born spiritually dead and commit sins, though true and factual, is not good news, so it is not a part of the Gospel. In other words, preaching sin does not result in salvation. The Gospel is preaching the solution to sin. The Gospel begins with Christ being judged on behalf of our sins. He took our place and was judged instead of us.

5. Preaching sin is not preaching the Gospel. Sin is a fact, and we need to realize that we are spiritually dead from birth and that we do sin, but it is not the Gospel. Preaching the Gospel is the explanation of salvation in terms of reconciliation, unlimited atonement, redemption, propitiation.

6. The unbeliever cannot make a decision for eternal life until he hears that Jesus Christ took his place on the cross and became a substitute for his sins. That is where sin is brought in. Sin is not to be emphasized independently of our Lord’s work, but is to be related to it.

7. Jesus Christ was our substitute and was judged for all of our sins. Because He “despised the shame of our sins” (Heb 12:2), we have no right to shame or to guilt; that’s arrogance on our part.

8. Resurrection is a part of the Gospel which is sometimes understood before salvation but more frequently is not understood.

C. What is necessary to know to be saved?

1. The information that you need to know to be saved is something about the substitutionary spiritual death of Christ on the cross so that, as an unregenerate person, you can respond to the pattern of Eph 2:8-9. “For by grace are you saved by faith, and that not from yourselves; it is a gift of God, not from works lest any man should boast.”

2. This means that most of the Gospel, including resurrection, is not understood until the person becomes a believer and possesses eternal life.

3. Obviously, the more information the better. But most people are eternally saved on practically no information.

4. This emphasizes the importance of believing in Jesus Christ.

5. How much faith does it take to be saved? Just a little bit more than no faith at all.

6. No one can be saved by faith plus anything. This is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. This includes faith plus commitment, baptism, or making Christ Lord of all. Christ is Lord of all because of the baptism of the Spirit. But the believer doesn’t know that until after he is saved and learns that doctrine. Some people never know this, and so try to make it an experiential activity which becomes salvation by works.

7. Instead of faith, some propose substitutes like inviting Christ into your heart. But inviting Christ into your heart is not a Biblical metaphor and so is wrong. It’s based on a Revelation passage which is misinterpreted. “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man will open, I will come in and have fellowship with him.” But that is a passage for rebound, for restoration to fellowship for the believer! It has nothing to do with salvation. You can’t invite Christ into a sewer, and the “heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.” So that is arrogance and salvation by works.

8. There are some legitimate metaphors, like eating, drinking, and following. “My sheep hear My voice and they follow Me.” These are all non-meritorious functions and so analogous to faith.

9. No works can be added, for the only issue is Christ, not what you do. Jesus Christ alone on the cross was judged for sins!

10. Others add to salvation repentance from sin. Repentance means a change of mind and indicates what happens when you understand the Gospel through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Repentance is the ministry of the Holy Spirit in common and efficacious grace.

11. The Bible only emphasizes believe - and add nothing to it!

12. You can’t be saved by water baptism, by renouncing sin, by joining a church, by psychological gimmicks like raising your hand and walking an aisle. These cannot save you because they are things you are doing! You can be in any physical position and believe in Christ.

13. When you add anything to faith in Christ for salvation, that is salvation by works which is not salvation at all.

D. The Enemy of the Gospel.

1. 2 Cor 4:3-4, “But even if our Gospel has been veiled, it is veiled from those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world [Satan] has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, that they might not see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the exact image of God.”

2. Note that it’s in the mind that you believe!

3. It is Jesus Christ who is the issue in salvation. The issue is not your sins because He was judged for our sins. The issue is not something you do because Christ finished ALL the work on the cross, as indicated when He said, “TETELESTAI,” the Greek word meaning finished in the past with the result that it stands finished forever.

4. Satan blinds the thoughts of the unbeliever. Unbelievers are hurt when false issues are brought into witnessing. Satan uses believers with no Bible doctrine in the soul to confuse the unbeliever.

E. Descriptive Words for the Gospel.

1. Throughout the New Testament are different words used with EUAGGELION.

2. In Rom 1:16-17, it is called the “gospel of Christ” in the King James Version. Though “of Christ” is not in the original manuscript, the fact that someone added it indicates that they understood that the Gospel refers to one Person only, our Lord Jesus Christ, and His work on the cross.

3. Eph 6:15 mentions the “gospel of peace.” This emphasizes the doctrine of Reconciliation, whereby Jesus Christ removed the barrier between God and man. We step over that barrier by personal faith in Jesus Christ.

4. Rom 14:6 declares the “everlasting Gospel,” which emphasizes the Gospel as the only information by which we can possess eternal life.

5. Matt 24:14 states,"the Gospel of the kingdom,” which emphasizes the fact that the unconditional covenants to Israel can only be fulfilled to those Jews who personally believe in Jesus Christ.

6. 2 Tim 2:8 has the phrase “my Gospel;” 2 Cor 4:3-4 says “our Gospel,” and these emphasize the fact that every believer possesses the Gospel and has a personal responsibility to not only understand it but to present it to others in witnessing for Jesus Christ.

7. 1 Tim 1:11 calls it the “glorious Gospel,” which emphasizes the fact that only the Gospel can save the unbeliever.

F. The Emphasis of the Gospel.

In 1 Cor 1:17, the apostle Paul makes a very dogmatic statement, when he says, “For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the Gospel, not in cleverness of speech, in order that the cross of Christ should not be made void.”

1. In the early church prior to the completion of the Canon of Scripture, water baptism was a legitimate way of teaching the baptism of the Holy Spirit. That was the only purpose of water baptism. It was designed to teach the importance of a new dispensation.

2. Water is used three times in the New Testament for identification.

a. Water baptism was first practiced in the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, never in Old Testament dispensations. When John the Baptist practiced it, the water represented the kingdom in the Person of Jesus Christ. When they believed in Christ as Messiah, they were put under the water, being identified with Christ, and they were lifted up out of the water into the air, representing eternal life.

b. When Jesus was baptized, the water represented God"s plan for the Hypostatic Union. So under the water, Jesus was identified with the purpose for the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. Coming up out of the water was a picture of resurrection, meaning that the purpose of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union would be extended to the resurrection of the humanity of Christ.

c. To teach the baptism of the Holy Spirit to believers in the first century of the Church Age, water represented retroactive positional truth; i.e., that when anyone believes in Christ he is identified with Christ in His deaths. This symbolically represents rejection of human good. Coming up out of the water was a picture of current positional truth, i.e., being identified with Christ now at the right hand of the Father.

3. So water baptism was a ritual. All ritual is designed for teaching and application. The only ritual for us today is the communion service, designed for us to remember Christ, which is application of our Lord"s ministry.

4. Water baptism was divisive among believers even during the pre-Canon period of the Church Age, 30-96 A.D. Even then people used water baptism as a source of their arrogance.

5. With the completion of the Canon, it is totally unnecessary to teach the baptism of the Holy Spirit by the ritual of water baptism. Yet water baptism today is misused for salvation, spirituality, and arrogant superiority.

6. So Paul made it very clear in this verse that his ministry was not a ministry of baptism.

7. A lot of clever evangelists obscure the cross. The issue of the Gospel is the cross of Christ, not sin, and not clever psychological approaches. The emphasis of the Gospel is not baptism and not sin, but it is Christ being judged for our sins. The issue in salvation is “what think ye of Christ?” - not how many sins will you give up? What commitment will you make? How will you change your life from now on?

G. The Gospel is Without Charge.

2 Cor 11:7-8, “Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted [no I didn’t], because I preached the Gospel to you without charge? I robbed other churches, taking wages from them to serve you.”

1. Money must never be an issue in the Gospel.

2. Paul did not go to the Corinthians and take up an offering. He came and preached the Gospel, making no issue out of money.

3. When Paul went to Corinth as a missionary, he did not take up an offering. An evangelist who takes up an offering is taking money mostly from unbelievers, and he is also making an issue out of money. Only “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” is the issue.

4. The Gospel is free of charge. It must not be related to giving money.

5. Giving is an individual matter with every believer-priest, dependent upon his attitude toward God and his understanding of worship. Giving is a mental attitude. What you give or if you give is strictly your own business. Giving is a legitimate function by the believer, but it should never be an issue in the presentation of the Gospel to an unbeliever.

6. In saying that he “robbed” other churches, Paul was being sarcastic, but also saying he was a missionary. Other churches supported him so he could go to Corinth and present the Gospel.

H. The Curse of the False Gospel. Gal 1:8 mentions the curse of the false Gospel. “Even though we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a Gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.”

1. Today there is a tremendous curse on many believers for adding something to faith in Christ. Many believers who are very moral, self-righteous, and living good clean lives are under a terrible curse related to their self-righteous arrogance. They are the ones teaching a false Gospel.

2. An example of a false Gospel is that you must not only believe in Christ but also make a commitment to Him. If you do not, your faith is merely academic. That is wrong and evil! So there is a special curse on such people.

3. Another example: “If Christ is not Lord of all He is not Lord at all.” Yet the baptism of the Holy Spirit at salvation is union with Christ, so that He is your Lord whether you know it or not, or whether you accept it or not. Most believers do not know this at salvation but learn the baptism of the Holy Spirit after salvation. When you master gate #4 of the divine dynasphere with problem solving devices, you experientially understand that Jesus Christ is the Prince-Ruler of the Church and the Lord of your life. So it’s a matter of spiritual growth, not a matter of commitment.

4. The false Gospel is an evil stench abroad in our land today, because everyone is trying to help God, adding to the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, and making issues out of sins, behavior patterns, and psychological gimmicks.

5. Many misinterpret Rom 10:10 by saying that unless you acknowledge openly your faith in Christ, you aren’t really saved. But the passage really says “For with the mouth acknowledgement is made because of salvation;” it is not the means of salvation.

I. The Gospel is revealed in the Old Testament.

1. 1 Pet 1:10-12, “As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glory to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you in these things, which now have been announced to you through those who preached the Gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels have an insatiable desire to bend down and concentrate on.”

a. Many of the messages of the prophets taught salvation through faith in Christ, as illustrated by Isaiah 53.

b. Prophets of the Old Testament, like Isaiah, were always trying to determine exactly when Christ was coming.

c. So the Gospel which was preached when Peter was alive on the earth was the same Gospel that was preached by the prophets during Old Testament times.

d. Angels are interested in the Gospel, because response to the Gospel is the first part of the solution to the angelic conflict.

2. Gal 3:8, “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the Gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying [Gen 12:3], `All the nations [Gentiles] will be blessed in you.’” The Scripture refers to the Old Testament; the New Testament wasn’t yet in existence.

J. The Attitude of the Believer Toward the Gospel. Rom 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile.”

1. “To be ashamed” means to be affected by shame. Shame is defined as painful emotion excited by the consciousness of guilt, shortcoming, sinfulness, or impropriety.

2. Shame is guilt. Guilt destroys the Christian life. You are to “forget those things which are behind.” You cannot do that without using rebound.

3. According to 1 Jn 1:9, “If we name [cite] our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Then you must forget those sins! You must move on! If you’re alive, you must pick yourself up and move on. Do not let people in your periphery try to control you through guilt. Parents and spouses are especially guilty of this, using the phrase “after all I’ve done for you!” People are constantly trying to control others through guilt.

4. Ministers use guilt to control their congregations. Even if you come to Bible class out of guilt, your motivation is wrong and chances are you won’t get much out of that class. You must determine for yourself what is #1 in your life. You cannot be motivated by guilt, even in coming to Bible class.

5. Guilt is arrogance! Guilt is a sin to be confessed and from which to move on. People feel guilty about sins, failures, and improprieties instead of naming those things, forgetting them, and moving on!

6. So in this passage, Paul says he is not ashamed; therefore his motivation is true.

7. Shame is a painful emotion, and emotion has no ability to rationalize. Guilt or shame is a part of the arrogance complex of sins which include jealousy, bitterness, vindictiveness, self-pity, inordinate ambition, inordinate competition, hatred, and implacability. All these are related to self-centeredness.

8. There is no place for shame or guilt in the protocol plan of God. When you find you have shame or guilt, your spiritual life has been set back until you rebound, get up and move on! You must be filled with the Spirit, and no one is ever filled with the Spirit while in a state of shame of guilt. You are grieving the Holy Spirit when you harbor shame or guilt in your life.

9. This doesn’t imply that you aren’t guilty; however, guilt is a part of arrogance.

10. The rebound technique of 1 Jn 1:9 plus residence in the divine dynasphere is designed, under correct and accurate Bible teaching, to orient you to God’s grace policy in the protocol plan of God for the Church Age. Orientation to God’s grace policy includes forgetting those things which are behind. Therefore, it is designed to eliminate guilt and shame in your life.

11. Many believers are ashamed of the Gospel. Yet only the Gospel is “the power of God for salvation.” Evangelists who are ashamed of the Gospel talk about sin, giving up things, and reforming, a part of reconstruction theology.

K. The Place of the Gospel. Rom 15:20. It is to be preached to those who have never heard. Therefore, it is a part of missionary activity.

L. Salvation Passages.

1. It was our Lord who, in Jn 14:6, said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh to the Father but by Me.”

2. Acts 4:12, “There is no salvation in no one else, for there is no other person under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

3. Therefore, Acts 16:31, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”

4. Rom 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to anyone who believes in Jesus Christ.” For the person who rejects Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, there is no salvation, and therefore no function of the power of God for salvation.

a. While Jesus Christ was judged for the sins of the entire world, only those who believe in Christ, who respond to the Gospel, actually receive eternal life.

b. Since faith is non-meritorious, it is the power of God which provides salvation, making that faith efficacious. This is the doctrine of Efficacious Grace.

c. At the very moment we believe in Christ, the power of God provides forty things for us, including such things as: the perfect righteousness of God, eternal life, regeneration, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, entrance into the operational-type Divine Dynasphere, becoming a new spiritual species, given our very own portfolio of invisible assets including escrow blessings, recipients of election and predestination, given your very own spiritual gift, have the protocol plan of God, become members of the royal family of God, become a royal priest, a royal ambassador, being indwelt by all three Members of the Trinity, etc., etc., etc. These things are provided for us - they are not a result of commitment!

5. Jn 3:15-18, “That everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His uniquely born Son, in order that anyone who believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world but that the world should be saved through Him.” (The plan of God for the Hypostatic Union is salvation, not judgment.) “He who believes in Him is not judged; but he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the person of the uniquely born Son of God.”

6. Jn 3:36b, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not believe [does not obey] the Son shall not see Him, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

a. The Greed preposition EIS plus adverbial accusative of respect from HUIS, “in the Son,” answers the question: to what does the action of the verb relate? The action of the verb, to believe, relates to the Son. But this is why some Christians can never orient to grace; they want to add something to believe in Christ. The action of the verb, to believe, relates to one person only: Jesus Christ!

b. “Does not believe” is the Greek verb PEITHO plus the negative. PEITHO is a word for obedience, one of the ways salvation was presented in the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. How do you obey Him? By believing in Him, Jn 6:47.

7. To not obey Christ is to not believe in Him, Jn 6:47. This was what our Lord demanded by way of obedience: “Truly, truly, I say to you [I am giving you an absolute truth]: he who believes in Me has eternal life.”

8. Jn 11:25-26, “Jesus said to her [Martha], `I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me shall live even if he dies. And everyone who lives [on earth] and believes in Me shall never die.’” Death doesn’t stop anyone from having eternal life and resurrection.

9. Jn 20:30-31, “Many other attesting miracles, therefore, Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book; but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ [Messiah], the Son of God, and that believing you may have life through His name.”

a. John only wrote about twelve miracles in his book, for those twelve indicated the Messiahship of Jesus Christ as well as His being the only Savior. Verse 31 explains why he wrote about miracles at all, “That you may believe that Jesus is the Christ.”

b. The Greek preposition EN plus the instrumental of the dative TOI and ONOMA could be translated, “through His unique person.”

10. Rom 3:22, “Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. For there is no distinction between Jew or Gentile.” Salvation is for any and every race.

11. Rom 3:28, “For we maintain that man is justified by faith apart from the works of the Law.”

12. Rom 4:1-4, “What shall we say then, that Abraham, our ancestor, according to the flesh has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to brag about, but not before God. What does the Scripture say? [Gen 15:6] `Abraham believed God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness.’ Now to the one who works [for salvation], his compensation is not credited on the basis of grace but on the basis of debt.”

13. Rom 5:1, “Therefore, having been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

14. The moment you believe, the very first second when you acknowledged in your soul that you believed in Jesus Christ, that was when the forty things were given to you! There’s no such thing as commitment and works for salvation.

15. Anyone and everyone can believe in Jesus Christ.

a. Time in history or dispensation has nothing to do with it.

b. No matter how great or evil a person may be, no matter how great the accumulation of sins or deeds of self-righteousness, no matter what false doctrine of the Gospel is being taught, (like faith plus commitment today), all members of the human race are saved exactly the same way: faith in Jesus Christ as He is revealed at that time, in that dispensation and generation.

c. No one is excluded because he is too evil, sinful, or too guilt-ridden.

d. No one is accepted because he is too good. In God’s sight, “our righteousnesses are as filthy rags,” Isa 63:6.

e. So being good has no advantage over being evil when it comes to salvation. What you are when you hear the Gospel is not an issue; it is what Jesus Christ did for you on the cross that is the issue!

f. Evangelism today has a tendency to make an issue out of what you are rather than out of what Jesus Christ is, and what He did for us on the cross. For the evil person, no system of reform is necessary for salvation. Only personal faith in Jesus Christ, the only Savior, is required.

M. What is faith?

1. Faith is a non-meritorious state of mind. It is a system of perception in which the subject has no merit; only the object of faith has any merit. This is the way most of us learn things in life. We are told something and we believe it.

2. In salvation, the subject is anyone, “whosoever,” totally without any human merit. The object of faith is our Lord Jesus Christ who is the quintessence of divine and human merit, Acts 16:31.

3. Therefore, faith is a non-meritorious system of perception based on the confidence, the authority, the veracity of another, in contrast to perception based on one’s knowledge or reason.

4. Faith is a non-meritorious system of perception in contrast to rationalism or empiricism which are systems of human I.Q. Rationalism and empiricism emphasize the ability of the subject to understand the object.

a. Rationalism says that reason is the source of knowledge superior to and independent of observation or a sense of perception. Descartes used rationalism and started with himself rather than with God, saying “I think; therefore I exist.”

b. Empiricism is perception by experience and observation rather than theory. All ideas are derived from the perceptive use of one’s senses with no innate or a priori conceptions. This also glorifies the subject.

5. But faith glorifies the object or makes an authority out of the object.

6. The Greek word for faith is PISTIS, which has three meanings.

a. Active meaning: faith.

(1) Salvation is by faith, as taught in Eph 2:8-9. “For by grace you have been saved by faith, and that not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.”

(2) Faith-perception is the faith-rest drill, Heb 4:1-3; 1 Pet 1:7-8. This drill has three stages.

(a) In stage one, you mix your faith with promises of the Word of God, claiming those promises.

(b) In the second stage, faith claims doctrine. As you begin to grow spiritually under post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation, the doctrine you learn form rationales, like the Essence of God Rationale, the Escrow-Election Rationale, the Logistical Grace Rationale, and the A Fortiori Rationale.

(3) There is also faith perception in metabolism of doctrine.

b. Passive meaning refers to what is believed, the body of belief, or doctrine, as in Gal 1:23; 1 Tim 1:19, 4:1,6, 6:10; 2 Tim 2:18, 4:7.

c. Sometimes faith is used as an attribute, when it is translated “faithfulness” or “reliability,” as in Tit 2:10 and 2 Thes 1:4.

7. Gal 3:26, “For you are the sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” The moment you believe in Christ, you enter into a relationship with Him! You become a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ. You cannot lose that relationship.

N. Romans 10:9-10.

1. Introduction.

a. This is commonly regarded as a “problem” passage, but it’s really not a problem. You just need to understand that Paul wrote Romans 9-11 to explain what happened to the Jews in previous dispensations and related it to evangelism of the Jews in the Church Age.

b. This passage is erroneously interpreted to mean we must make a public confession of our faith in Christ.

c. To properly study this passage, we will note the background, the context, the passage, and finally the sequel.

2. Background, Rom 9:30-33.

a. Paul has been discussing the problem of the Jews in Romans 9. He has expressed the fact that he has a great burden for them because by race he is a Jew, but by birth and citizenship Paul is a Roman.

b. Being the apostle to the Gentiles did not keep Paul and his fantastic genius, under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit, from expressing his concern and love for the Jews. In doing so, he gave one of the greatest dissertations on salvation in every dispensation.

c. Rom 9:30, “Therefore, to what conclusion are we forced? The Gentiles who did not strive for righteousness [the perfect righteousness of God] have attained righteousness; moreover, the righteousness which is by faith.”

(1) The Jews were using the Mosaic Law to try to be saved.

(2) Both during the Old Testament and during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, people rejected Christ as Savior because they were trying to be saved by keeping the Law.

(3) The Greek preposition EK plus the ablative of means of PISTIS means “by means of faith.” This phrase alone indicates that salvation throughout all human history occurred only through personal faith in Jesus Christ as He was revealed in each dispensation.

d. Rom 9:31, “But Israel, who strived for a righteousness with reference to the Law, has not attained that Law.”

(1) The Jews were trying to get salvation by EIS plus the accusative of reference of NOMOS, “with reference to the Law.”

(2) In other words, Israel did not accomplish the true purpose of the Mosaic Law, which was to be a pedagogue or school bus to bring us to Christ, as per Galatians.

e. Rom 9:32, “Why ?Because they did not pursue it by means of faith, but by means of works. [Isa 8:14] `They stumbled over the Stumbling Stone.’”

(1) The Greek preposition EK plus the ablative from PISTIS is contrasted with EK plus the ablative from ERGON.

(2) Salvation is always by faith, never by means of works. This is true in every dispensation in history.

(3) The stumbling stone is Jesus Christ, and specifically in this passage, Jesus Christ as He presented Himself in the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

f. Rom 9:33, “Just as it stands written [Isa 28:16], `Behold I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling, a rock of offense [Christ in Hypostatic Union]; nevertheless, he who believes in Him will not be humiliated [disappointed].’” The possession of eternal life is neither humiliation nor disappointment. There may be ridicule in time from those who do not understand the grace of God and there may be persecution, but there will never be humiliation or disappointment.

3. The Context, Rom 10:1-8.

a. You cannot interpret any passage in the Word of God apart from its context.

b. The Old Testament quotations in this passage again demonstrate that salvation in every dispensation is always the same, for God is consistent. God’s immutability demands consistency.

c. Rom 10:1, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to [face to face with] God on behalf of them [Israel] is for their salvation.”

(1) Paul’s “heart’s desire” refers to his motivation from the right lobe of his soul. The right lobe circulates doctrine.

(2) The Greek preposition HUPER plus the genitive of advantage of AUTOS is substitutionary.

(3) Notice that Paul prays for the unsaved! Just because he was the apostle to the Gentiles didn’t mean that Paul stopped praying for Israel. He never lost his burden for Israel.

d. Rom 10:2, “For I testify about them [Jews], that they have a zeal for God, but not on the basis of epignosis knowledge [metabolized doctrine].” In other words, the Jews are inaccurate in their doctrine.

e. Rom 10:3, “For not knowing about the righteousness of God and by seeking to establish their own righteousness, they have not been obedient to the righteousness of God.”

(1) Every person who adds something to faith in Jesus Christ is arrogant, trying to help God. Salvation is a gift from God, and we do not earn or deserve it; it’s grace.

(2) The quintessence of human arrogance is rejecting God’s righteousness and setting up your own righteousness as the way of salvation. The Jews were producing a morality, a righteousness from keeping the Law, which was salvation by works.

(3) Not being “obedient to the righteousness of God” means they had not believed in Christ.

f. Rom 10:4, “For Christ is the end of the Law for the purpose of righteousness to anyone who believes.”

(1) Christ is the “end of the Law” for two reasons:

(a) He fulfilled the Law inside the prototype divine dynasphere, remaining impeccable even while bearing our sins on the cross. The Law was never a way of salvation except in the sense that Codex 2 presented the Gospel which the Jews had to believe for salvation. Christ fulfilled all the principles in Codex 2. For example, in reference to the feasts, “Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.”

(b) Christ abrogated the Law as a way of salvation.

(2) Rather than realizing that Christ fulfilled Codex 2, the Jews chose Codices 1 and 3, the establishment and morality codes, as the means of their salvation. So they tried to be saved by their self-righteousness.

(3) The Law was never a means of salvation, although Codex 2 was a means of revealing the Gospel. Keeping the Law did not provide salvation for the Jews or anyone else.

(4) Keeping the Law produces moral self-righteousness which is often parlayed into a system of arrogant legalism.

(5) Rom 3:20, “Therefore, by the works of the Law no flesh shall be justified in His sight, for by the Law is the knowledge of sin.”

(6) Rom 3:28, “We conclude, therefore, that a man is justified by faith totally apart from the works of the Law.”

(7) In Matt 5:17, our Lord Jesus Christ said that He came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it.

(8) Gal 3:24, “The Law has become a school bus [pedagogue] to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”

(9) We can learn about our sinfulness from the Law. We can also learn the Gospel and how Christ was judged for our sins from the Law. But we cannot keep the Law, become moral, and be saved from morality.

(10) So as far as righteousness is concerned, Christ is the termination of any system of human self-righteousness because faith in Jesus Christ results in the imputation of divine righteousness at the moment of salvation.

(11) No system of human self-righteousness can compete with God’s perfect righteousness. This is why, in Matt 6:33, we “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

(12) Law righteousness is no substitute for faith righteousness. Law righteousness is salvation by keeping the Law. Faith righteousness is believing in Jesus Christ for eternal salvation.

(13) Gal 2:16, “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law. For by the works of the Law no human being will be justified.”

(14) Only human arrogance can conclude erroneously that righteousness by keeping the Law will provide salvation.

(15) In the Theocentric dispensations of the Old Testament, no one was saved by works righteousness or by keeping the Law. That means that God’s policy of grace excludes, in every dispensation, human self- righteousness for salvation.

(16) While God’s grace plan provides His own perfect righteousness for anyone who will believe in Christ, human self- righteousness is always out and is never the way of salvation in any dispensation. Salvation is always the same: faith in Jesus Christ as He is revealed in any given dispensation.

(17) The unbelievers in the dispensation of Israel were blinded by their arrogance of self-achievement and self-righteousness by keeping the Law. To this day this is a problem with many Jews. They are great in self-achievement and keeping the Law. But this does not save them. It actually blinds their minds under scar tissue of the soul.

(18) But God is not impressed with any human righteousness, as Isaiah taught in Isa 64:6, “Our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in His sight.”

(19) God is impressed only with the salvation work of Jesus Christ on the cross. This is the doctrine of Propitiation. God the Father is satisfied with the work of Christ on the cross and imputes His own righteousness to anyone who simply believes in Jesus Christ.

(20) Faith in Jesus Christ is the end of self-righteousness. For human self-righteousness cannot improve on the perfect imputed righteousness of God which we receive at the moment we believe in Jesus Christ.

(21) After salvation, only God the Holy Spirit controlling the life of the believer can produce the virtue-righteousness of the protocol plan of God. Therefore, the mandates of spirituality: “Be filled with the Spirit,” Eph 5:18; “Walk by means of the Spirit,” Gal 5:16. After salvation, it is the ministry of the Spirit to produce a virtue-righteousness far superior to any human righteousness

. (22) The imputation of divine righteousness at the moment of salvation through faith in Christ replaces any system of human self- righteousness, pseudo-spirituality, or the arrogance of legalism. The imputed righteousness of God is the foundation for building a system of virtue based on grace which is far different from self-righteousness. Self-righteous people are always stuck on themselves. Virtuous people are always in a relationship with God, always relaxed about all the failure, sinfulness, and evil around them, but it does not in any way jeopardize their relationship with God.

(23) No unbeliever can establish two conflicting systems of righteousness in his life. Either he will accept his own self-righteousness and morality for salvation, or he will accept the righteousness of Christ, i.e., by believing in Him whereby God’s righteousness is imputed.

(24) After salvation, the conflict is between the legalism of spirituality by works versus spirituality by grace.

(25) Confusion as to what constitutes the Christian way of life is based upon taking precedence from the Church Age from the Age of Israel and the Mosaic Law instead of taking precedence from the dispensation of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

(26) At this point, the context begins to distinguish between works righteousness and faith righteousness.

g. Rom 10:5, “For Moses wrote about the righteousness by means of the Law [Lev 18:5], `The man who does it shall live by it.’”

(1) This is an idiom which means man takes his chances in living by the Law. He will end up in hell since the only way of salvation in any dispensation is by faith in Jesus Christ.

(2) In other words, this verse says, “If you try to be saved by keeping the Law, you must accept the consequences.” The consequences are a life of great misery as a self-righteous person. The most difficult people to live with are self-righteous people, who are always blind to their own sins and failures, always finding excuses for them, but constantly critical of everyone else.

(3) This quote is a reference to the post-salvation plan of God for Israel, classified as the lifestyle of the Jews. This is in contrast to the lifestyle of works-righteousness being propagated by the Judaizers. Lifestyle is not the basis for salvation; only instant faith in Jesus Christ is the basis for salvation. (4) Arrogance distorts lifestyle into a way of salvation. But Eph 2:8-9 corrects the impression. “For by grace are you saved through faith, and that [salvation] not from yourselves; it is a gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.”

(5) No lifestyle, including semi-perfection in morality, can open the gates of heaven for eternal life nor provide any form of happiness in this life. Only the salvation work of Jesus Christ on the cross can do that.

(6) Self-righteous people are never satisfied with anyone else. Therefore, no one else is every satisfied with them, and the result is a disaster. (7) Doing is a lifestyle, but faith in Jesus Christ is eternal life. So do not confuse the morality of lifestyle with salvation.

(8) The failure of Israel is the failure of all arrogant, self-righteous, legalistic people: it’s the failure of choosing the wrong righteousness. In arrogance you choose your own righteousness. In salvation, you choose the righteousness of God by believing in Christ.

(9) The wrong righteousness is any form of works righteousness. When we believe in Jesus Christ for salvation, we receive the perfect righteousness of God which can only be classified as faith righteousness.

h. Before studying Rom 10:6-8, we will study Deut 30:10-14. Paul used the language of Moses and translated it into Greek in order to present to the Jews their problem.

i. Deut 30:10, “If you will listen to the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in the book of the law; if you will turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.”

(1) “Turning” is a metaphor for faith in Jesus Christ (ADONAI ELOHEKA, the Lord your God), resulting in salvation.

(2) “Your heart and soul” can be translated “your heart, even your soul,” because the heart is the thinking part of the soul, the right lobe. Only heart, not mouth, is mentioned here because “with the heart man believes resulting in righteousness.”

(3) So there are two “ifs” in verse 10. The first “if” refers to keeping the ritual plan of God as a believer. The second “if” refers to becoming a believer, which is what you must do first. This Hebrew reverse order is perfectly normal Hebrew syntax to show that one thing is predicated on another. In those days, you could not execute the Mosaic Law as God’s plan until you first became a believer.

j. Deut 30:11, “For this commandment [turn to the Lord for salvation] which I command you today is not too difficult for you [not unattainable], nor is it too far away [not unavailable].”

(1) Salvation is not unattainable, so you don’t have to depend on your own righteousness. Salvation is not unavailable, so that you do not have to cross an ocean or go to Hades to receive it

. (2) Salvation is as close to you as your heart and your mouth. The mouth is the way you express your salvation to God, since the mouth is used for the enucleation of words or thought.

k. Deut 30:12, “It [salvation by faith] is not in heaven, so that you will say, `Who will go up to heaven and get it [salvation by faith] for us and make us hear it, so that we may do it [believe in Christ]?’” Rom 10:6 quotes this verse.

l. Deut 30:13, “Neither is it [salvation through faith in Jesus Christ] over the sea [Mediterranean], so that you will say, `Who will cross the sea that he might bring it [salvation to us] and cause us to hear it so that we might do it [believe in Jesus Christ]?”

(1) The Mediterranean Sea is a reference to the Greeks living in that entire area; and they certainly didn’t have the Gospel to give out to the Jews.

(2) This verse would have been quoted in Rom 10:7, but is not for a very definite reason. Crossing the sea was easy in Paul’s day, and therefore not an illustration for unavailability (see point 15a).

m. Deut 30:14, “But the word [doctrine] is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it [believe in Jesus Christ].”

(1) “The word” is the fact that the “Lord your God” is very near you. It’s not unattainable in heaven, and it’s not unavailable across the sea in Greece. It’s closer to you than heaven and Greece.

(2) Moses is saying that salvation is as close to you as your mouth and heart, which is a lot closer than heaven or Greece.

(3) So in Rom 10:6 and 8, Paul quotes Moses. Most Jews had memorized Deuteronomy, a favorite among them. Paul uses the phraseology of Moses to explain to them how they could be saved in the Church Age.

n. Rom 10:6, “But the righteousness which is by faith communicates in this manner [Deut 30:12], `Do not say or think in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?” (that is, to bring Christ down from heaven),’”

(1) The Jews in Paul’s day were saying that Christ was not the savior; and His work on the Cross was not efficacious. So they were returning to the Mosaic Law. But Jesus Christ accomplished salvation already on the cross, and He doesn’t have to come back again to do it.

(2) “Righteousness by faith” refers to the righteousness of God imputed at salvation to anyone who believes in Christ.

(3) Paul is saying that in the previous dispensation of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, Jesus Christ has already come down from heaven. He repeatedly presented the Gospel, and then fulfilled it by being judged for our sins on the cross, dying physically, and then being resurrected. The dispensation of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union has already been concluded.

(4) Beginning in Rom 10:6, we see the emergence of faith righteousness in contrast to works righteousness. Faith righteousness is defined as the pattern of Abraham in Gen 15:6 quoted in Rom 4:3: “Abraham believed God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness.”

(5) Works righteousness is defined as keeping the Law for salvation; therefore, dependence on human righteousness for eternal life. That is impossible and blasphemous.

(6) Works righteousness and faith righteousness are mutually exclusive; you can only have one or the other. Only faith righteousness can provide eternal life. o. Rom 10:7, “or [Amos 9:2], `Who will descend into the Abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”

(1) Paul should have quoted Deut 30:13 here. But crossing the sea in Paul’s day was very common. Paul crossed the sea himself at least five times on his way to Greece. Yet Paul must still communicate the same concept: that salvation is not unavailable. Salvation is available now in Greece. So Paul quotes Amos 9:2, which also lines up with the resurrection of Christ.

(2) Amos 9:2, “Though they dig into Sheol, from there My hand shall take them, and though they ascend into heaven, from there I will bring them down.”

(3) So Paul updates the concept of unavailability to match the times of the first century, and so uses Sheol or Hades, which you can’t reach until you die.

(4) By replacing “across the sea” of Deut 30:13 with the Sheol phrase of Amos 9:2, Paul makes reference to our Lord’s physical death on the cross.

(5) After finishing the salvation work, our Lord dismissed His human spirit to the Father in heaven, and His soul went to Hades. First His soul went to the compartment of Paradise, and later to the compartment containing fallen angels, the abyss. The Holy Spirit accompanied our Lord’s human soul in Hades.

(6) Jesus Christ has already been resurrected as the Divine guarantee that salvation was accomplished on the cross when our Lord said, “TETELESTAI” or “Finished!”

(7) So Paul puts together the heaven of Deut 30:12 in Rom 10:6. The unavailability of “across the Sea” in Deut 30:13 equals Sheol or Hades of Amos 9:2; and is quoted in Rom 10:7 to maintain the concept of unavailability for the Jews of Paul’s day. Just as Moses had indicated, Paul taught that salvation is closer to the Jew than heaven or Hades.

(8) In other words salvation is not unattainable or unavailable. But the Jews are acting like it is, trying to keep the Law for salvation. Salvation is nearer to the Jew than heaven, and closer to the Jew than Sheol (Hades).

p. Rom 10:8, “But what does it [faith righteousness] say? [Deut 30:14] `The message [salvation through faith in Christ] is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart.’ That is the message of faith which we are communicating [preaching, announcing].”

(1) Faith only exists in one place; it comes from the heart. Faith is expressed to God with the mouth. The mouth represents the enunciation of words. Your mouth doesn’t save you; faith does, but you express it to God. You admit or acknowledge to God that you are believing in Christ. So heart and mouth are used to illustrate the point here, because this is where the intellect is involved!

(2) The failure of the Jews in Paul’s day was to ignore or reject the implications of the dispensation of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. The Jew should have understood the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, because much of the Old Testament prophesied the First Advent, beginning with the virgin birth.

(3) The great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union was the dispensation that separated Israel from the Church. Paul had to go back to Old Testament quotes to show the Jews that what they used to look forward to had already occurred. The Messiah had come, and was officially rejected by Israel as the Son of David. Christ went to the cross where God the Father rejected Him because He bore our sins and their judgment. (4) In the past, the Jews had rejected or accepted Moses’ message. Now they had the chance to accept or reject Paul’s message, which is essentially the same message: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

(5) In Paul’s time, the dispensation of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union was history. Jesus Christ had already been judged for the sins of the world, died, was buried, resurrected, ascended, and was seated at the right hand of the Father.

(6) Moses talked about salvation not being in heaven in Deut 30:12, which Paul quotes in Rom 10:6. Jesus Christ does not have to leave heaven and come back to earth or send someone with a message to provide salvation, because it was already provided on earth only a generation earlier.

(7) Amos talked about salvation not being in Sheol or Hades in Amos 9:2, which Paul quotes in Rom 10:7. The soul of Jesus Christ does not have to return from Hades because salvation was completed with the resurrection of our Lord’s human soul from Hades during the dispensation of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

(8) Salvation is now closer than heaven or Hades; it is as close as your mouth and your heart. The mouth belongs to the human body; the heart belongs to the human soul. Paul proves all this by quoting Deut 30:14 in Rom 10:8.

(9) In the heart (or right lobe of the soul) is a non- meritorious system of perception, called faith. Paul now comes to the subject of faith righteousness.

4. The Text.

a. Rom 10:9, “that `if you acknowledge with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe with your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.’”

(1) The Greek conjunction HOTI introduces indirect discourse, the equivalent of quotation marks.

(2) Rom 10:9 is the acknowledgement of “the Lord our God” [ADONAI ELOHENU]. “Believe” and “acknowledge” are two sides of the same coin. For when you believe in Jesus Christ, you then tell God the Father you have believed. Therefore, believing and acknowledging or confessing are the same thing. “Confession” is acknowledgment to God the Father that you believe in Christ. The expression of faith goes to the Father, not to other people! (3) If salvation was in heaven, it would be unattainable on earth. If salvation was in Sheol or Hades, it would be unavailable on earth. But salvation is on earth, closer to you than the Law or anything else, because salvation is in you soul, the heart, and salvation is in you mouth, the acknowledgement of faith in Christ.

(4) Salvation is a transaction between you and God the Father, and therefore, must be expressed to Him. Faith in Christ originates from the right lobe of the soul or the heart. Faith must be expressed in words to God, so the mouth is used for the expression of thought. The mouth enunciates in words the thoughts of the right lobe of the soul.

(5) Salvation is a private matter between the individual and God. God the Father sent the Son; God the Son executed salvation on the cross; God the Holy Spirit makes the Gospel clear to you under the doctrine of common grace. Therefore, in response to understanding the issue of the Gospel, you simply believe in Jesus Christ.

(6) The expression of faith in Jesus Christ in the privacy of your soul is directed toward God. The mouth is used to express the concept of the enunciation of words.

(7) Public announcement and overt declaration to people is not the way of salvation; that would be works, and that is not the meaning of this verse. After salvation, a person may witness for Jesus Christ, but such witnessing is not the way of salvation; it is the result of salvation.

(8) Various functions such as the altar call become salvation by works, salvation by jumping through a psychological hoop; and so it is no salvation at all. The object of faith is Jesus Christ, and belief in the object is expressed by faith, directed toward God the Father. We confess to God the Father that we have just believed in Jesus Christ.

(9) Paul is teaching the Jews that the Hebrew phrase from Deut 6:4, ADONAI ELOHENU ADONAI ECHAD, is Jesus Christ. The word KURIOS or Lord is tantamount to the confession of Israel in Deut 6:4. So salvation is as close to you as your mouth, which acknowledges to God the Father that Jesus Christ is ADONAI ELOHEKU, ADONAI ECHAD.

(10) So the Jews of the Church Age must look back to the dispensation of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union rather than going back to the Law. The Jews are going back to the wrong dispensation and distorting it.

(11) The Jews in Paul’s generation wanted to use the Mosaic Law as an instrument of salvation and depend upon their works righteousness. Paul challenges them to believe in Jesus Christ for salvation and depend upon the imputed righteousness of God.

(12) In other words, works righteousness and faith righteousness are mutually exclusive. Only faith in Jesus Christ as He is revealed in any dispensation and language will save.

(13) All faith comes from the right lobe of the soul. The Jews’ right lobes were closer to them than the Mosaic Law by which they were seeking justification. Faith righteousness is much closer to any individual, than any system of works by which he tries to gain the approbation of God.

(14) So Paul’s point to the Jews is that the mouth and the mind are closer to them than the Mosaic Law. No one is saved by keeping the Law or any other system of works, but through faith in Jesus Christ, a faith that originates from the right lobe or heart, and expressed or enunciated by the mouth. Confession is simply faith turned from its obverse to its reverse side.

(15) Eternal salvation always occurs the very first time anyone believes in Jesus Christ. The moment we believe in Christ, He becomes our Lord through the baptism of the Spirit, which enters us into union with Christ.

b. Rom 10:10, “For with the right lobe it is believed, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth it is acknowledged resulting in salvation.”

(1) Rom 10:10 gives the chronological order of salvation. Paul now restates the concept in its chronological order. First comes faith in Christ, then its acknowledgement to God in thought or words. The order is now reversed to give the true sequence of cause and effect.

(2) The function of the heart or right lobe in believing is a non-meritorious type of thinking. In faith, the object has the merit, not the subject. The imputation of God’s righteousness occurs as a result of believing in Jesus Christ. It is one of the forty things God does for us at the moment of salvation.

(3) The mouth’s confession of Jesus Christ as Jehovah or Lord refers simply to the enunciation of words. This is compatible with Eph 2:8-9 and with Jn 3:15,16,18, and 36.

(4) Faith comes from the heart, which is not an emotion or commitment, but a mental process related to the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in common and efficacious grace.

(5) Faith or believing in Christ is always a non-meritorious function of the mentality of the soul.

(6) Public announcement of your faith in Christ to people is not a requirement for salvation. Do not confuse means and result, cause and effect.

(7) This passage was specifically addressed to the Jews who were trying to be saved by keeping the Law. Paul’s point was that faith in Christ and eternal salvation is nearer than the Mosaic Law.

(8) The Greek verb HOMOLOGEO is always used in a non-meritorious way. It is used for salvation and for confession of sins to God.

(a) HOMOLOGEO is used for the mechanics of salvation in Rom 10:9-10, where you acknowledge to God the Father that you have believed in Christ.

(b) HOMOLOGEO is used in 1 Jn 1:9 for acknowledging your sins to God. “Confession” (HOMOLOGEO) is always directed toward God. It is God the Father who actually imputed our sins to Christ on the cross and judged them. So when we believe in Christ, we express that faith to God the Father who judged our sins. When we commit sins after salvation, we simply acknowledge those sins to God the Father, who already judged them. That’s why He’s faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We confess our sins to God because He is the one who already judged them, and therefore He forgives us. For the same reason, we confess our faith in Jesus Christ to God the Father.

(9) Paul’s point in context is that the Jews cannot be saved by keeping the Law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation is not in heaven; therefore, it is not unattainable. Salvation is not across the sea or in Hades; therefore, it is not unavailable. Salvation is not by keeping the Mosaic Law, but by personal faith in our Lord.

(10) Therefore, salvation is closer to the Jews than the Mosaic Law. This is because the body of the Jew, represented by his mouth, and the mentality of the Jew, represented by his right lobe, are closer to him than the Law. Therefore, the Jew does not have to go to the Law for salvation, but to something much closer: his right lobe where he can think in terms of faith, and his mouth where he expresses that faith.

5. Sequel: The Metaphor of Faith, Rom 10:11-13. “For the Scripture says [Isa 28:16], `Everyone who believes in Him will not be disappointed [ashamed].’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile; for He, the Lord of all, abounds in wealth for all who will call upon Him; for [Joel 2:32] `Everyone who will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.’” “Calling upon Him” is a metaphor for faith, since all metaphors for faith are non-meritorious. Other metaphors for faith are eating, drinking, walking through a door, following as sheep.

6. Conclusion.

a. Rom 3:27, “Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By the law of works? No, but by the law of faith.” Boasting would be making Christ Lord of your life, or making some kind of commitment, or inviting Christ into your heart, or raising your hand, or walking an aisle, or being baptized for salvation, or joining a church for salvation.

b. Rom 3:28-30, “For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the Law. Or is God the God of the Jews only? Is He not the God of the Gentiles also? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since God is unique, who will justify the circumcision [Jews] because of their faith, and the uncircumcision [Gentiles] through that [same] faith.”

(1) In other words, because the Jews believe in Jesus Christ they will be saved.

(2) Verse 30 tells us that Jews in the Old Testament were saved because they believed in Jesus Christ, and that today we Gentiles are saved through exactly the same faith.

c. Rom 3:20, “Therefore, by the works of the Law no flesh shall be justified; for by the Law is the knowledge of sin.”

d. Gal 2:16, “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law, but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law, for by the works of the Law no human being will be justified.”

e. Salvation by keeping the Law represents all systems of salvation by works. No system of salvation by works is acceptable to God; only the efficacious saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross is.

f. Either excluding faith in Christ or adding to faith in Christ becomes a system of blasphemy known as salvation by works. That’s why Eph 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved [in the past with the result that you are saved forever] through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.”

g. God gives us salvation! We do not work for it, commit for it, make Christ Lord of all for it, raise our hand for it, walk down an aisle for it, be baptized for it, invite Christ into our heart for it; we believe in Christ for salvation!

h. The Jews must look back to the dispensation of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union rather than to the dispensation of Israel for salvation. As unbelievers, they confess to God ADONAI ELOHENU, ADONAI ECHAD. But as unbelievers, they do not realize that ADONAI (the Lord in Deut 6:4) is the Lord Jesus Christ. Until they have faith in Jesus Christ, their confession is ritual without reality. It is worship without doctrine, one of the greatest disasters of all.

i. As believers, the Jews will fulfill Rom 10:9-10. Salvation is closer to the Jew than the Mosaic Law. Salvation is closer to you than any system of works that you have tried to gain eternal life.

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R. B. Thieme, Jr., Bible Ministries 5139 West Alabama, Houston, Texas 77056 (713) 621-3740