Romans 10:8-15

8: But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,
9: that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
10: for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
11: For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”
12: For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him;
13: for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”

14: How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?
15: How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!”

*** 

Paul had just said that the righteousness God desired for mankind was not unattainable or out of reach. It’s close by. Where? To answer, Paul completed the quote in Deuteronomy 30:14 which said it’s in your mouth and heart. He then explained specifically how to access, by faith, this salvation he had been talking about throughout this letter.

If you will confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. In other words, if you speak in agreement with the truth that Jesus is Lord, if you publicly profess that you accept this truth, and Him as Lord over your life; and you believe that God raised Him from the dead—meaning you believe that your sin is paid for, forgiven, because the fact that God raised Jesus from the dead is evidence that the price is paid in full, no more debt for sin is due—you will be saved. You will be saved from the wrath of God over sin and enter into the blessing of righteousness with Him when those two things are done. Believe and confess. Inner belief and outer expression.

Paul then quoted Isaiah 28:11 again, as he did in Romans 9:33, to say that whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed. He’s referring to the cornerstone—Jesus Christ—who is the foundation of what God is building. He is the cornerstone which we can now build our lives upon and not have it crumble. It doesn’t matter if the person calling on the Lord for salvation is Jewish or not. He is Lord of all. To make that point Paul quoted Joel 2:32, which says whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Paul then asked how people could come to believe in Jesus? How will they hear about Him? How can they call on Him if they haven’t heard or believed? The answer is through a preacher sent to bring the good news. As Isaiah said in Isaiah 52:7, the feet of those who go and tell this good news are beautiful.


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