Chapter # 10 Paragraph # 2 Study # 4
August 5, 2018
Humble, Texas
(064)
1769 Translation:
9 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.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
1901 ASV Translation:
9 because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus [as] Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved:
10 for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be put to shame.
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek: for the same [Lord] is Lord of all, and is rich unto all that call upon him:
13 for, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
- I. The Word of The Faith Which We Are Preaching.
- A. This "word" is about, and inclusive of, the concepts behind "ascending to bring Christ down" and "descending to bring Christ up".
- B. This "word" is "in your mouth".
- 1. The "in your mouth" reality means that one who "says" Lord Jesus has been given a grasp of Jesus as having been "sent down" and "raised from the dead" with the most prominent parts of those two realities.
- 2. Then, Paul's explanation is that "If" you should "confess" with your mouth "Lord Jesus...".
- a. The issue of "confession" with the mouth is directly related to the production of the "word" "in the mouth" by the gracious God Who attends the proclamation of "this word of faith".
- b. The most direct implication is that "salvation" is as close as letting the words be expressed by the mouth that is holding them.
- c. Thus, the only thing that keeps those who hear from "being saved" is their reluctance to "say the words".
- 1) A relatively large issue here is the question of "to whom?" the "confession" is made.
- a) Many immediately run to Matthew 10:32 and conclude that Paul was referring to a "confession before men to men" regarding their "faith" in the "Lord Jesus".
- b) But Paul's context argues strongly that this is not the proper understanding: immediately upon the heels of this verse we read "...whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (10:13).
- i. The issue is the same: "being saved" (compare 10:9 and 10 with 10:13).
- ii. The instrument is the same: the "mouth".
- iii. The straightforward implication is that God is waiting for the person in whose mouth He has created the words to allow that mouth to address Him with the words of "faith" regarding Who/What Jesus is. Peter declared that God has made Him both "Lord" and "Christ" (Acts 2:36) as a fundamental aspect of his evangelism and Paul is simply following in his train by declaring that the issue of salvation is whether or not a "hearer" will utter the words of "confession" (which fundamentally means "agreement") to God (not men).
- 2) This puts the issue of "salvation" a matter of agreeing with God as to Who/What Jesus is and overcoming the reluctance to let the words of that confession be spoken by the mouth.
- a) This is basic, but not simple: Paul wrote that "...no man can say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:3).
- i. At issue is the presence of an illumination that causes a person to grasp what it means for anyone to be "Lord", and particularly what it means for Jesus to be "Lord". Apparently, only by the Holy Spirit does a person come to grips with this reality: Jesus of Nazareth is Lord.
- ii. The word "Lord" is used by Paul 39 times in Romans. It is used by him in the context of a Co-supplier of grace and peace along with "God", the Father (1:7). It is used in 4:8 to refer to the Person Who determines whether, or not, He will "impute" sin to someone's account with vast eternal consequences. The followup in 4:24 is that such "imputation" is given to those who "believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead". He is the Instrument of "peace with God" in 5:1 and the Instrument of reconciliation, the atonement, and "joy" in 5:10-11. The references to the "Lord" are relatively spare in Romans 1-9, but are manifold in 10-16.
- b) In other words, there is a matter involved that distinguishes between mere vocalization of the words and giving utterance to something "believed in the heart". Anyone with normal speech ability can "say" Jesus is Lord, but only those in whose heart God has generated a sure knowledge of that truth can really "say" them.
- c) And, in regard to the debate between those who believe in "free grace" (there isn't any other kind) and "lordship salvation" (there isn't any other kind), we must grasp many factors simultaneously. On the one hand, it is impossible to be "saved" while denying that "Jesus is Lord"; but on the other hand it is impossible for a person to perceive what that Lordship means prior to salvation and the inner ministry of the Holy Spirit so as to have any ability at all to "submit all to the Lordship of Jesus Christ". Believing that Jesus is "Lord" in respect to whether, or not, He will "impute" one's sins to him/her is significantly distinct from believing that Jesus is "Lord" in respect to whether, or not, He should be consulted on each of the issues of life that a person faces as one who has "presented his/her body to the Lord as a sacrifice upon an altar". The one is the issue of justification, which results in Jesus being unwilling to "impute" one's sins to him/her; the other is the issue of salvation as an on-going development of the relationship initiated at the point of forgiveness (sanctification, which results in Jesus providing the direction and guidance in the choices of life as the days go by).
- i. The most fundamental issue in "Lord Jesus" is not the issue of "Lord"; it is the issue of Jesus of Nazareth being "Lord". This is and was the point of all of the historical records contained in the Gospel.
- ii. Thus, the issue is not whether a person makes a decision to turn all things over to the "Lord" as a matter of consecration; it is whether, or not, a person acknowledges Jesus of Nazareth as the "Lord" established by God.
- iii. Regardless of all of the rhetoric about "Lord Jesus" meaning that He sits upon the throne of glory deserving of unmitigated allegiance by all of creation, no one doubts that there is a "Lord" Whose position makes disloyalty sinful. And, regardless of all of the rhetoric about "Lord Jesus" meaning that His extension of "free grace" is what the title is all about, no one actually believes that he/she is/can be a possessor of unmitigated allegiance. The facts are: no one can "confess Lord Jesus" while actively denying Him the authority of His position; nor can anyone "confess Lord Jesus" while actively deceiving him/her self regarding one's own "loyalty abilities". The entire point of "salvation" is that we are without the abilities that enable godly living and in need of a Savior Who will save us from our disabilities. And, the entire point of "confession with the mouth Lord Jesus" is that Jesus of Nazareth is the anointed "Lord and Christ" of the One Who raised Him from the dead.
- d. And, the entire issue of "reluctance" is the unwillingness to permit the "mouth" to "confess" what the heart knows is true.
- i. There is no explanation available for why anyone, in whose mouth are the words 'Jesus is Lord', would be reluctant to "say" them except one: the reluctance is rooted in the universal recognition that Whoever is "Lord" will be making some changes in those who acknowledge that lordship. It is the inherent depravity of resistance to those changes that creates the reluctance.
- ii. No person is "reluctant" to embrace "free grace" when it is presented as "the grace of God" when, in fact, it is a complete distortion of that grace. "Free grace" as it exists in debate against "lordship salvation" is the false claim that "faith" in Jesus means only that one will obtain Eternal Life by that "faith". This is patently untrue. Eternal Life, by its very definition (given by Jesus in John 17:3), consists of the reconciled relationship between God and men that God seeks. This means that any "faith" in Jesus that does not include reconciliation is false "faith". And, by definition, reconciliation is not God adjusting Himself to man's sinfulness, but, rather, man being adjusted to God's holiness.
- iii. But, by the same token, no one can embrace "lordship salvation" when it is presented as a "dedication to unmitigated consecration to the Lord". No one, not even the presenters of Jesus' "lordship", possesses unmitigated consecration. That is a goal too high for man in this fleshly reality.