Romans 10:11-12 Romans 10:11-Paul Quotes Isaiah 28:16 To
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Romans 10:11-12 Romans 10:11-Paul Quotes Isaiah 28:16 To Support His Teaching In Romans 10:9-10 That Justification Is By Faith In Christ The apostle Paul in Romans 10:11 cites Isaiah 28:16 again to support his teaching in Romans 10:9-10 that justification is by faith in Christ. Romans 10:11, “For the Scripture says, ‘WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.’” In Romans 10:11, Paul is citing Isaiah 28:16 again to support his teaching in Romans 10:9-10 that justification is by faith in Christ. Isaiah 28:16, “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.’” I say that Paul is quoting Isaiah 28:16 again since Paul used this passage in Romans 9:33 to validate his assertion that the nation of Israel stumbled in a spiritual sense by means of the stone, which causes stumbling, the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 9:30-33, “Therefore, what is the conclusion that we are forced to? That the Gentiles who, customarily and characteristically do not zealously pursue righteousness obtained righteousness, in fact a righteousness, which is by means of faith as a source. However, even though Israel customarily and characteristically zealously pursues a legal righteousness, they never measured up to the Law. For what reason? Because they, as an eternal spiritual truth, never zealously pursue it on the basis of faith (as constituting the source of justification) but rather as if it were possible on the basis of meritorious actions (as constituting the source of justification). They stumbled by means of the stone which causes stumbling. As it stands written for all of eternity, ‘I solemnly charge you to consider now for yourselves, I will most certainly lay a foundation among the citizens of Zion, a stone, which causes stumbling and in addition a rock, which causes offense. However, those who at any time do exercise absolute confidence in Him will never, as an eternal spiritual truth, be disappointed .’” Romans 10:11, “For the Scripture says, ‘WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.’” “For ” is the “causal” use of the post-positive conjunction gar ( gavr ), which introduces the “reason” or the “basis” for Paul’s statements in Romans 10:9-10 that eternal salvation is received through faith alone in Christ alone. 2009 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 1 In Romans 10:9, Paul teaches that if the Jew acknowledges with his mouth to the Father that Jesus is Lord, which is equivalent to believing in his heart that the Father raised him from the dead, then the Jew will receive eternal salvation. Romans 10:9, “Because, if you acknowledge with your mouth Jesus is Lord in other words, exercising absolute confidence with your heart that God the Father raised Him from the dead ones, then you will be delivered.” It appears that Paul is presenting two conditions for a Jew to be saved but this is not the case. However, Paul is teaching that to acknowledge with one’s mouth to the Father that Jesus is Lord is the same as believing in one’s heart that the Father raised Jesus from the dead since the resurrection demonstrated the deity of Christ and faith alone in Christ alone is the only way to receive eternal life. So Paul is teaching in Romans 10:9 that to believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior is an affirmation of His deity and a belief in His resurrection and that both are essential in order to receive eternal salvation. Paul in Romans 10:10 continues his thought from verse 9 by teaching that a person believes with his heart that the Father raised Jesus from the dead resulting in righteousness while on the other hand with his mouth he acknowledges to the Father Jesus is Lord resulting in salvation. Romans 10:10, “For you see, with the heart, one, as an eternal spiritual truth, does exercise absolute confidence resulting in righteousness on other hand with the mouth, one, as an eternal spiritual truth, does acknowledge resulting in deliverance.” Now, in Romans 10:11, the apostle Paul employs the conjunction gar to introduce a statement that serves as “the basis” or support for his teaching in Romans 10:9-10. In Romans 10:11, he quotes the Septuagint translation of Isaiah 28:16 to support his teaching in Romans 10:9-10 that salvation and justification is through faith alone in Christ alone who is the subject of the gospel. Therefore, we will translate gar , “ because .” Romans 10:11, “For the Scripture says, ‘WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.’” “The Scripture ” is the articular nominative feminine singular form of the noun graphe ( grafhv) (graf-ay), which refers to Isaiah 28:16. Paul employs the Old Testament Scriptures, quoting Isaiah 28:16 in order to validate his teaching that salvation and justification is through faith alone in Christ alone. He is utilizing the “ sword of the Spirit ” by employing Isaiah 28:16 to support his teaching that salvation and justification are through faith alone in Christ alone. Ephesians 6:17, “Also, I solemnly charge all of you to take hold of your helmet, which is your salvation as well as your sword that originates from the Spirit, which is, as an eternal spiritual truth, God’s Word.” 2009 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 2 In a sense Paul is personifying the Old Testament Scriptures in the sense that he is appealing to Isaiah 28:16 to testify as a witness that salvation and justification are through faith alone in Christ alone. Paul introduces the quotation from Isaiah 28:16 with the statement that the “Scripture says” rather than “God said” simply because he is quoting the Old Testament. The definite article preceding the noun graphe , “ Scripture ” is “kataphoric” meaning that it points to the quotation from Isaiah 28:16 that immediately follows. The article is anticipatory and is followed a quotation from Isaiah 28:16 that identifies for the reader the exact passage of Scripture that Paul is using to support his teaching that in Romans 10:9-10 that salvation and justification is through faith alone in Christ alone. The noun graphe functions as a “nominative subject” meaning that it is performing the action of the verb lego . We will translate the articular form of graphe , “ the Scripture .” Romans 10:11, “For the Scripture says, ‘WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.’” “Says ” is the third person singular present active indicative form of the verb lego ( levgw ), which refers to the “content” of what the Lord communicated through the prophet Isaiah that is recorded in Isaiah 28:16. The third person singular form refers to Isaiah 28:16. This is a “perfective” present, which is used to emphasize the results of a past action. Therefore, the “perfective present” of the verb lego emphasizes that even though Isaiah 28:16 was written in the past, it still speaks today and is binding on the hearers. The active voice indicates that the Lord as the subject produced the action of the verb in communicating through the prophet Isaiah what is recorded in Isaiah 28:16. The indicative mood is “declarative” presenting this assertion as an unqualified statement of fact. We will translate lego , “ says .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 10:11: “Because, the Scripture says…” Romans 10:11, “For the Scripture says, ‘WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.’” “WHOEVER ” is the nominative masculine singular form of the adjective pas (pa~$ ), which is used in a distributive sense referring to “each and every” member of the human race without exception, both Jew and Gentile. This word is a reminder to Paul’s Jewish audience that salvation and the righteousness of God are available to the Gentile and not just the Jews since the 2009 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 3 teaching of the Pharisees, from whom originated the Judaizers, excluded the Gentiles from salvation. The Old Testament is filled with allusions to the Gentiles being included in God's plan of salvation. The promises made to Abram that are recorded in Genesis 12:3 reveal God’s plan of salvation involves the Gentiles. Genesis 12:1-3, “Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father's house, to the land which I will show you. And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing. And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” The promise “ in you all the families of the earth will be blessed ” refers to the fact that through Jesus Christ, the Promised Seed of Genesis 3:15, Abraham would be a blessing to all mankind (Dt. 28:8-14; Is. 60:3-5, 11, 16) since it is only through the Lord Jesus Christ that one becomes Abraham’s seed and heirs of the promise (Gal. 3:29; Eph. 2:13, 19). This promise was the Gospel of salvation proclaimed to Abraham (Gal. 3:8) and reaches back to the divided “ families ” (10:5, 20, 31) of the earth at the Tower of Babel who were alienated from God due to sin and rebellion and the deception of Satan but who would be blessed through faith alone in Christ alone.