Bro. Tony,
here is an article about Romans Chapter 10 that you might find rebutts what you probably believe concerning verses 14-16, as well as the other verses in the chapter. It is by Elder Mark Thomas.
All of the comments, etc below belong to Elder Thomas.
Enjoy,
Bro. James
Comments on Romans 10
1Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Notice that immediately Paul makes a distinction between the Brethren and those whom he wishes to discuss. Those who are the subject of discussion are named Israel and they have a zeal of God, but it is not a proper one. It is a zeal which manifests willful ignorance of the imputed righteousness of Christ, Who is the end of the law to the Brethren who are knowledgeable of Him and believe in Him. But those named Israel, who have a zeal of God, are zealously seeking to establish their own righteousness by following Mosaic law.
5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above
7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
The righteousness of the law speaks on this manner, that the man which does the things prescribed by the law shall live by the things of the law. Or if spoken in the negative, the righteousness of the law speaks on this wise, that the man which keeps not the law shall die by the law. By the righteousness which is by the law the heart says I shall keep the law and my righteousness shall cause my ascendance to heaven. Or it says in the heart I by my righteous keeping of the law shall transcend death.
8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
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.
But the righteousness of faith says not in the heart that it shall transcend death or ascend to heaven by the righteousness of the law. The saying of the righteousness of faith is nigh to us, it is even in our mouths and in our hearts. The saying of the righteousness of faith is the same saying as the preached word. And that saying is a confession. What is a confession? It is an owning up to the truth. It is to say truly that which has already occurred. For who has ever heard of someone truthfully confessing to that which has not yet occurred? A confession is always about that which is already an accomplished fact. When the word confess is broken down to its elements, the prefix con carries the meaning `with'. The root of the word, `fess' carries the meaning of truth. The idea conveyed by the word is `to say the truth in agreement with or along with that which is already a true fact'. The Apostle is telling us that the word to be spoken by the righteousness of faith is near us. It is preached to us. In fact it is already in the heart and in the mouth. It is not to speak as the righteousness which is by the law of its own doing. The word spoken by the righteousness of faith is to speak along with that which is spoken by the gospel. The word spoken by the righteousness of faith is to speak along with what is known in the heart and is already in the mouth ready to be spoken. That word is Christ. We are to confess that He is my righteousness, for I have none of my own. We are to confess that our works could not attain righteousness but that His work did. We are to confess that faith in my own ability to ascend to heaven or transcend death is in vain. My faith is in Him Whom God raised from the dead and has elevated to heaven. He has done for me what I could not do for myself. My heart believes it, and confessing it with my mouth, saves me. What does confession save me from? From the error of those named Israel in this discussion. What was their error? Willful ignorance of the truth. Why were they ignorant? Because they refused to confess the truth. They would not submit to the truth of God's righteousness. What does confession save me to? To the joys and peace of mind that comes from telling and believing the truth. Such sweet relief it is to put my faith in Him Who is able to save to the uttermost and drop my vain faith in my own abilities to procure righteousness by my works. What peace of mind is mine when I can say along with the glad tidings of the gospel: All of Christ, all of grace. And behold beloved, when we say these things it is confession. We do not say it to get it to be so. We say it because it is already so. We say it with what is already in the heart and in the mouth. We say it along with the preached word.
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.
When the heart believes, submits, owns up to, confesses to the truth it carries, our sense of shame vanishes being washed away with the joy and peace that floods the soul with relief. And this is true for all whom the Lord has graciously dealt with and written His truth upon their hearts whether Jew or Greek. And who else can call upon Him but those whom He has quickened and given living spiritual hearts? And how else could it be confession when they call upon him if the righteousness of faith were not already imparted to them by new birth? And whosoever calls upon him with the saying of the righteousness of faith shall be saved from the error of self- righteousness, and the shame of perpetual failure to measure up to the righteousness which is by the law, and the shame felt from not confessing to the truth.
14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
Obviously if one does not believe in Christ they will not call upon Him in belief. Who is being discussed here? All along the Apostle has been contrasting two groups. Those who speak by the righteousness which is by faith and those who speak according to the righteousness which is by the keeping of the law. The Apostle has demonstrated the response of those who speak from the righteousness which is by faith and call upon the name of the Lord and are saved from the errors of self-righteousness, self-deception, and a host of other error as well as receiving numerous gospel benefits. Now he proceeds to show us the reactions of the other group that speak from the righteousness which is by the keeping of the law. The issue here is not who has heard or not heard the gospel. For the context will establish that all of those under discussion by Apostle have heard. The issue is who has obeyed and believed the report they have heard. Obviously, all under consideration have heard the preached gospel and cannot make the claim that they did not get the report. Verse 18 will clearly state that all have heard. The Master’s repeatedly stated the task of going first to the lost sheep of the house of Israel should be recalled. He pointedly directed his disciples to minister in that fashion. Paul clearly states that this point was reached and that the gospel had reached them all. See vs. 18 below. The results are indicated in verse 16 "But they have not all obeyed the gospel". A day of timely judgment was coming to Israel and when it arrived, none will have the excuse that they did not know. For verily all of Israel heard the good news of the gospel and those who did not believe the report would be left without excuse and fall under the judgment. The particulars of this judgment will be brought to light in the 11th chapter. Be sure to remember here the statements of Paul at the beginning of this 10th chapter: "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved." Paul is interested in saving them from being self-righteous "works mongers". He is interested in seeing them drop their works righteousness and put their faith in the righteousness of Christ. The salvation under consideration is the gospel aspect of salvation not their eternal salvation to heaven. Paul is making this case in vss. 14 and 15a and presents the list of "excuses" for disobedience that might be made by the Jews. They might say it is not fair to bring judgment against us for we did not know and no one told us. We had no report (gospel) we were sent none to tell us of this, and therefore we did not hear so that we might obey. Verses 15b and following destroy their arguments and prove that they did know, they did hear, and have no excuse for their disobedience. They chose to put their faith in the works of the law instead of the works of the Lord Jesus Christ. They chose not to confess from their hearts to the preached word and thus we find in chapter 11 that they are cut off from the joys and privileges of gospel kingdom.
17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world
The word "cometh" in verse 17 is a supplied word to aid in our understanding and was not in the original language. But I have no problem with the word and think when it is properly understood that it does help in the understanding of this passage. The key question that I would like to ask is where is it that faith "cometh" from? It is said to come WHEN the gospel is preached and heard. But WHERE is the faith coming FROM? Is it coming from the gospel? Does the gospel convey faith to the hearer? No. Faith is a fruit of the spirit and spiritual life is not conveyed by the gospel. The gospel is a spiritual message. If one truly hears the gospel then that one must have spiritual ears to hear it with. Therefore none can truly hear the gospel unless they have been already born of the spirit. The dead do not hear. If they have been born of the spirit, then faith already resides in the heart of the one that hears. It is from within the child of God from which faith must come. When the gospel is preached, the message is heard with spiritual ears and the heart recognizes that message as what it believes and what it knows. In faith, the child of God compares what is already within him and then confesses to the true gospel that is saying the same thing. Faith is not created in this process. Faith is brought to confession by this process. You cannot confess to that which is not already a truth. This confession is also a profession. The child of God that hears the gospel confesses that it is the same truth that he carries within his heart and then professes that truth openly by faith. In verse 18 the Apostle continues his arguments to show that those who do not confess to the truth that Christ is the end of the law of righteousness to those that believe are completely without excuse. They have heard the true report but have remained willfully ignorant of the truth and refused to confess it preferring to stay under the bondage of the law and to establish their own righteousness by their works. Beloved friends, how many in this world today do just the same. They are taught a system of works righteousness and prefer it to the truth that abides in their heart that Christ alone could establish and be the righteousness of His people. Those who refuse to look upon their own sinfulness and inabilities never acknowledge their true need of the Saviour but instead remain willfully ignorant of the righteousness which is by faith and continue to try and establish their own righteousness by works. The sad truth is that much that is published today under the name of the gospel is no more than the promulgating of "do this and live". And, like the Jews who chose self-righteousness of old, these today are cut off from the true joys of the gospel kingdom also. I would not try to suggest that they get ‘nothing’ from their church, their beliefs and their labors. But, I do not believe that they enjoy what the child of God does who confesses and professes that Christ alone is His righteousness and enters into the promised rest of the true Church of the Lord Jesus Christ It would appear to me that much of their joy is in their programs, entertainments, and various additions that are nowhere taught in Scripture.
19 But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.
20 But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.
21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.
Verse 19 states a rhetorical question to which the answer is of course "yes". They all knew. The Apostle then proceeds to describe the bringing in of the Gentiles to the gospel kingdom. He shows that one design in this was to provoke Israel to jealousy and to emulation of the Gentiles that they also might in the end be brought back into the receipt of the gospel kingdom. Paul throughout these final verses of chapter 10 makes reference back to the prophecies from the Old Testament that foretold the very things that were then occurring. Vs 20 Then, lest some might try to say that these who were trusting in establishing their own righteousness were not elect, we ask the question "Why would God be portrayed as one in-gathering them in verse 21 if they were non-elect and could not possibly respond?" The truth is that even though we are given the abilities in the new birth to be obedient, to confess in faith to the truth, and profess the finished work of Christ, many still do not. Many today still fall under the category of being a disobedient and gainsaying people. Yes, and sometimes even we are caught in this way too are we not? And, at such times we have great need to look again at our inabilities and renew the confession of our faith and make a true profession of the righteousness of Christ as our only hope of glory.
