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Romans 10:13-Paul Cites 2:32 To Support His Teaching In Romans 10:12 That The Offer Of Salvation Is For Both Jew And Gentile

Paul in Romans 10:13 cites Joel 2:32 to support his teaching in Romans 10:12 that the offer of salvation is for both Jew and Gentile. Romans 10:13, “For ‘WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’” In Romans 10:13, Paul is quoting Joel 2:32 to support his teaching in Romans 10:12 that the offer of salvation is for both Jew and Gentile. Joel 2:32, “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD will be delivered.” Paul is quoting the exact wording from the translation of Joel 2:32. In context, the statement in Joel 2:32 is a in relation to the prophetic subject known as the “Day of the Lord.” The term “ Day of the Lord ” occurs in the following passages: Isa. 2:12; 13:6, 9; Ezek. 13:5; 30:3; :15; 2:1, 11, 31; 3:14; Amos 5:18 (twice), 20; Obadiah 15; Zeph. 1:7, 14 (twice); Zech. 14:1; Mal. 4:5; :20; 1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Thess. 2:2; 2 Pet. 3:10. The phrases “ that day ” or “ the day ” or “ the great day ” also refer to and appear more than 75 times in the . The term “Day of the Lord” and the phrases “that day” or “the day” or the “great day” are used with reference to Daniel’s Seventieth Week (Isaiah 13:5-6; Ezekiel 30:3; Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11, 29, 31; 38:10-19; 39:11, 22; Obadiah 14-15; Zephaniah 1:14, 18; 2:2-3; Zechariah 12:3-4, 6, 8-9; :5), the Second Advent of Christ (Zechariah 12:11; 14:4, 6, 8), millennium (Ezekiel 45:22; 48:35; :18; Zechariah 14:9; Zephaniah 3:11), and the creation of the new heavens and earth (2 Peter 2:10). Therefore, a comparison of these passages indicates that the “day of the Lord” is “not” a literal twenty-four period but rather, it is an extended period of time. It begins with God’s dealing with Israel after the rapture of the church that takes place prior to Daniel’s Seventieth Week and extends through the Second Advent of Christ and His millennial reign, culminating with the creation of the new heavens and the new earth. The statement in Joel 2:32 is addressed to the citizens of the nation of Israel during the last three and a half years of Daniel’s Seventieth Week, which is also known by students of prophecy as the “Great Tribulation.” This statement promises them not only deliverance from the Tribulational armies, Antichrist and Satan during the last three and a half years of Daniel’s Seventieth Week through faith alone in Christ alone but it also promises eternal salvation.

2009 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Ministries 1

Romans 10:13, “For ‘WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’” “For ” is the “emphatic” or “intensifying” use of the post-positive conjunction gar ( gavr ), which introduces a statement that advances upon Paul’s statement in Romans 10:12 and intensifies it. Romans 10:12, “Because, there is, as an eternal spiritual truth, absolutely no distinction between Jew and Greek because the same Lord is, as an eternal spiritual truth, Lord over each and every person, who is infinitely generous for the benefit of each and every person, who, at any time, does for himself call on Him.” In this verse, Paul teaches that anyone whether Jew or Gentile who places their faith in Jesus Christ will never be disappointed because there are no racial distinctions since Christ is Lord of both racial groups, who is infinitely generous on behalf of those who call on Him. This passage teaches that the reason why anyone who does exercise faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior will never be disappointed is that there is no distinction between Jew and Gentiles since the same Lord is Lord of both racial groups, who is infinitely generous on behalf of those who call on Him. This verb appears in the Septuagint translation of Joel 2:32, which Paul quotes in Romans 10:13. The conjunction gar is used to link the usage of epikaleo in Joel 2:32 with Paul’s use of the word in Romans 10:12. In both instances, the verb epikaleo is used the adjective pas as its subject indicating the universal availability of salvation through faith alone in Christ alone. Now, in Romans 10:13, Paul employs the conjunction gar to introduce a statement from Joel 2:32 that advances upon his statement in Romans 10:12. In Romans 10:12, Paul teaches that anyone whether Jew or Gentile who places their faith in Jesus Christ will never be disappointed because there are no racial distinctions since Christ is Lord of both racial groups, who is infinitely generous on behalf of those who call on Him. The advancement upon this statement in Romans 10:12 is that anyone who calls on the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved. Not only is the Lord Jesus Christ infinitely generous to all those who call on Him but He will also save those who do so. Therefore, we will translate gar, “ indeed .” Romans 10:13, “For ‘WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’” “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 2 teaching of the Pharisees, from whom originated the Judaizers, excluded the Gentiles from salvation. In Romans 10:13, the adjective pas functions as a substantive and as a nominative subject meaning that it is performing the action of the verb epikaleo , “WILL CALL ON .” We will translate the word, “ anyone .” Romans 10:13, “For ‘WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’” Not translated and proceeding after the conjunction gar is the nominative masculine singular form of the relative pronoun hos ( o^$ ) (hos), which agrees in gender (masculine) and number (singular) with its antecedent, which is the nominative masculine singular form of the adjective pas , “ anyone .” The word functions as a “nominative in simple apposition” meaning that it stands in apposition to the nominative subject pas , “ anyone ” indicating that it further “describes” or “identifies” who will be saved by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, since both words speak of the entire human race, the relative pronoun hos is used here by Paul to emphasize the universal availability of salvation through faith alone in Christ alone. We will translate hos , “ whoever .” Also, not translated is the particle an (a&n ), which is employed after the relative pronoun hos , “ whoever ” and with the subjunctive mood of the verb epikaleo in order to form an indefinite relative clause. This type of construction normally indicates a generic or sometimes an uncertain subject. Thus, the particle of contingency and the need for a subjunctive. It is similar to a third class or fifth class condition. However, the difference is that in indefinite relative clauses the element of contingency is not that of time but of person. Thus, the subjunctive mood is often translated like an indicative since the potential element belongs to the subject rather than the verb. Therefore, in Romans 10:13, the particle an is employed with the subjunctive mood of the verb epikaleo to form an indefinite relative clause emphasizing the universal availability of salvation through faith alone in Christ alone. The particle an need not be translated in these instances. Romans 10:13, “For ‘WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’” “WILL CALL ON ” is the third person singular aorist middle subjunctive form of the verb epikaleo ( e)pikalevw ) (ep-ee-kal-eh-o), which is a synonym for exercising faith in Jesus Christ as Savior as indicated through a comparison of Paul’s statements in Romans 10:9-11 and 10:13-14. Paul is writing rhetorically in Romans 10:9-10 indicating that when he speaks of righteousness and salvation, he is speaking of the justified sinner’s new relationship with God and not two different ideas that are not connected. That Paul is writing rhetorically is indicated in that Romans 10:10 he is following the same word order of Romans 10:9 in that in both verses he speaks of believing with one’s

2009 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 3 heart and acknowledging with one’s mouth. However, in verse 10 he believing with one’s heart precedes acknowledging with one’s mouth whereas in verse nine acknowledging with one’s mouth precedes believing with one’s heart. That Paul is writing rhetorically not only suggests that righteousness and salvation are both speaking of the justified sinner’s new relationship with God and not different ideas that are not related but also it indicates that acknowledging with one’s mouth and believing with one’s heart are one in the same. Believing in one’s heart that the Father raised Jesus from the dead is the same as acknowledging that Jesus is God since the resurrection demonstrated that Jesus is God and faith alone in Christ alone is the only way to receive eternal salvation. 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.” 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.” As we noted in our studies of verses 9-10, it appears that Paul is presenting two conditions for a Jew to be saved but this is not the case. In these two verses, Paul is not presenting two conditions for salvation or teaching that there must be a public affirmation of Christ’s deity as well as faith that the Father raised Jesus from the dead. Rather, he is speaking of salvation from two different perspectives: (1) The sinner must acknowledge that Jesus is God. (2) The sinner must believe that the Father raised Him from the dead. The two are inextricably tied to each other. Without the resurrection, Jesus is not God and His spiritual and physical deaths on the Cross did not resolve the problem of personal sins and the sin nature. Now, in Romans 10:10, Paul teaches that with the heart a person believes resulting in righteousness and with his mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. Notice that both confessing with one’s mouth and believing with one’s heart have the same results since both righteousness and salvation speak of the justified sinner’s new relationship from different perspectives. This also indicates that to acknowledge is to believe and vice versa.

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Therefore, in Romans 10:9 when Paul teaches that if the Jew confesses with his mouth Jesus is Lord and believes in his heart that the Father raised Jesus from the dead he is referring back to what he taught in Romans 1:4, which teaches that the resurrection of Christ demonstrated the deity of Christ. Thus, when Paul teaches in Romans 10:9 that if the Jew confesses with his mouth Jesus is Lord and believes in his heart that the Father raised Jesus from the dead he means that to believe in one’s heart that the Father raised Jesus from the dead is in fact, an acknowledgment to the Father that Jesus is Lord, i.e. God. To acknowledge to the Father that Jesus is Lord is to believe that the Father raised Him from the dead since by raising Him from the dead, the Father was demonstrating that Jesus was His Son and thus God. Therefore, in Romans 10:9, Paul is giving only one condition for salvation when he teaches that the sinner must acknowledge with his mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in his heart that the Father raised Jesus from the dead. 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. Romans 10:11, “Because, the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who at any time does exercise absolute confidence in Him will never be disappointed.’” Paul’s statement in Romans 10:13 makes clear that calling on the name of the Lord is synonymous with faith in Christ since he says to do so results in salvation and the Scriptures teach that salvation is only through faith alone in Christ alone. In Romans 10:12, the verb epikaleo is synonymous with exercising faith in Christ in the sense of calling Him Lord, i.e. God, which is an acknowledgement of His deity, as a result of believing that the Father raised Him from the dead, which demonstrates that He is God. Romans 10:12, “Because, there is, as an eternal spiritual truth, absolutely no distinction between Jew and Greek because the same Lord is, as an eternal spiritual truth, Lord over each and every person, who is infinitely generous for the benefit of each and every person, who, at any time, does for himself call on Him.” So, we can see that in Romans 10:12-13, the verb epikaleo is synonymous with exercising faith in Christ in the sense of calling Him Lord, i.e. God, which is an acknowledgement of His deity, as a result of believing that the Father raised Him from the dead, which demonstrates that He is God. Therefore, in Romans 10:13, the verb retains the same meaning. The aorist tense is a “constative aorist” describing in summary fashion the moment a Jew or a Gentile calls on the Lord Jesus Christ in the sense of acknowledging that He is Lord, i.e. God as a result of believing that the Father raised Him from the dead, will be saved.

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The middle voice is an “indirect” middle meaning that the subject acts for himself or herself. The subject shows a special interest in the action of the verb. This indicates that the Jew or Gentile, as the subject acts for himself by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ since it results in salvation. The subjunctive mood of the verb is employed with the particle an to form an indefinite relative clause emphasizing the universal availability of salvation through faith alone in Christ alone. We will translate epikaleo , “ for himself calls on .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 10:13: “Indeed, ‘anyone, whoever, for himself calls on…” Romans 10:13, “For ‘WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’” “NAME ” is the articular accusative neuter singular form of the noun onoma (o*noma ) (on-om-ah). We have studied this word already in detail in our study of the book of Romans since it appeared in Romans 1:5, 2:24 and 9:17. Therefore, we will only note its usage here in Romans 10:13. In Romans 10:13, the noun onoma refers to the unique person of the Lord Jesus Christ in that He is undiminished deity and true humanity in Person forever and thus the unique theanthropic Person of history and creation. This is indicated in that the verb by the usage of the verb epikaleo , which is synonymous with exercising faith in Christ in the sense of calling Him Lord, i.e. God, which is an acknowledgement of His deity, as a result of believing that the Father raised Him from the dead, which demonstrates that He is God. The articular construction of onoma is “monadic” emphasizing the “uniqueness” of the Person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We will translate the expression to onoma , “ the unique person .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 10:13: “Indeed, ‘anyone, whoever, for himself calls on the unique person…’” Romans 10:13, “For ‘WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’” “OF THE LORD ” is the genitive masculine singular form of the noun kurios (kuvrio$ ), which is a reference to the second member of the Trinity, Jesus Christ since up to this point in the book of Romans, it is used of Him and there is nothing in the present context, which indicates otherwise. In fact, in the book of Romans, kurios is always used of Jesus Christ. 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.

2009 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 6

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.” 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.” 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. Romans 10:11, “Because, the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who at any time does exercise absolute confidence in Him will never be disappointed.’” So as we can see in Romans 10:9, kurios , “ Lord ” is applied to Jesus Christ and is the implicit antecedent of autos , “ Him ” in Romans 10:11. Therefore, when kurios is used again in Romans 10:12-13, it is a reference to Jesus Christ again. When the noun kurios is applied to Jesus Christ it indicates the following: (1) His equality with the Father and the Spirit. (2) His joint-rulership with the Father over the entire cosmos. (3) His highest ranking position as Chief Administrator in the divine government. (4) His absolute sovereign authority as Ruler over all creation and every creature. (5) His strategic victory over Satan and the kingdom of darkness in the angelic conflict. In His deity, Jesus Christ is “ Lord ” (See Luke 20:42), however in His human nature He received this title as a result of His obedience to the Father’s will, which called for Him to suffer a spiritual and physical death on the cross as a substitute for every member of the human race-past, present and future (See Philippians 2:5- 11). In Romans 10:9, Paul employs kurios , “ Lord ” to emphasize that Jesus of Nazareth is God. In Romans 10:12-13, the word is used again to emphasize the deity of Jesus of Nazareth. The noun kurios functions as a “genitive of possession” indicating that this unique person belongs to the Lord. To call on the Lord’s unique person is to acknowledge that He is God, which is the same as believing that the Father raised Him from the dead since the resurrection demonstrated that He is God. We will translate the word, “ the Lord’s .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 10:13: “Indeed, ‘anyone, whoever, for himself calls on the Lord’s unique person…”

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Romans 10:13, “For ‘WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’” “Will Be Saved ” is the third person singular future passive indicative form of the verb sozo ( swv|zw ) (sode-zo), which means, “to deliver.” In Romans 10:13, the verb refers to being delivered by God from eternal condemnation as well as the sin nature, personal sins, Satan and his cosmic system since Paul is speaking with reference to unsaved Israel in our present context. The future tense is a “predictive” future tense indicating that something will take place or come to pass. Therefore, it indicates that if anyone, whether Jew or Gentile calls on the Lord’s unique person, i.e. trusts in Him as Savior, then “it will come to pass” that he will be delivered from eternal condemnation. It emphasizes the certainty of this taking place once the Jew fulfills the condition of believing in Jesus of Nazareth as his or her Savior, which in effect is an acknowledgement that Jesus is Lord and that the Father raised Him from the dead. The passive voice means that the subject receives the action of the verb from either an expressed or unexpressed agency. The subject is the unsaved Jew in Paul’s day. The agency is unexpressed since God is the obvious agent in the Christian’s salvation since it is taught throughout the Scriptures. The indicative mood is “declarative” presenting the assertion as an unqualified statement of fact or Bible doctrine that if the unsaved Jew calls on the name of the Lord, i.e. acknowledges He is God, then they will be delivered from eternal condemnation. We will translate the verb sozo , “ will be delivered .” Completed corrected translation of Romans 10:13: “Indeed, ‘anyone, whoever, for himself calls on the Lord’s unique person will be delivered.’”

2009 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 8

Romans 10:14-Paul Presents Three Rhetorical Questions That Demonstrate Israel’s Culpability

We now come to Romans 10:14 in which Paul poses three rhetorical questions that demonstrate Israel’s culpability. They also emphasize the importance of the communicators of the gospel in order that the unsaved Jew might have an opportunity to exercise faith in Jesus Christ as Savior so as to be saved and declared justified by God. By way of review, we have noted the following thus far in our study of Romans chapter ten: First of all, Paul teaches in Romans 10:1 that he desires and prays to the Father for Israel’s salvation. Romans 10:1, “Spiritual brothers, indeed, the desire produced by my own heart and in addition my specific detailed request on behalf of them is always for their deliverance.” As was the case in Romans 9:1, here in Romans 10:1, the apostle Paul is employing the figure of “asyndeton” in order to make a solemn affirmation regarding his attitude toward the nation of Israel, thus refuting the Judaizers who accused Paul of being an enemy and a traitor to the nation. Paul prayed for the nation of Israel even though they hated him and considered him a traitor. When praying for unbelievers, we should pray that God would bring in people and circumstances, which would expose them to the Gospel and cause them to have the humility to give the Gospel a hearing and make a decision to either accept or reject Jesus Christ as Savior. Nowhere do the Scriptures sanction or command believers to pray that God save the unbeliever, since God, because He is just and righteous, cannot coerce or make the unbeliever do anything against his will. Although God’s will is that all men be saved, God cannot force any human being to believe in His Son Jesus Christ against his will; thus, people go to the Lake of Fire, not because God desires it, because they choose to. The Scriptures do not sanction or command believers to pray that God deliver the unbeliever from eternal condemnation, since God’s justice and righteousness cannot coerce or make the unbeliever do anything against his will. Since God cannot save the unbeliever unless the unbeliever makes a decision to accept Christ as Savior, there is no need for us to pray He deliver him or her from condemnation. Rather, we should pray that God would bring in whatever circumstances and people necessary to cause the unbeliever to have the humility to give the Gospel a hearing. Then, it is up to the person as to whether or not they make the decision to believe in Christ in order to be saved. Therefore, Paul offered up to the Father specific detailed requests on behalf of the citizens of the nation of Israel that the Father would bring in circumstances and people that would cause

2009 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 9 them to see their need for the Savior, Jesus Christ. The fact that Paul interceded in prayer for his fellow Israelites was an expression of the love of God in his life. Then, in Romans 10:2, he testifies to Israel’s zeal for God, though he says it is not according to an experiential knowledge of Him in the sense that they did not personally encounter God through faith as He is revealed in the person and works of Jesus of Nazareth. Romans 10:2, “Because I testify concerning them that they possess a zeal for God, however by no means according to an experiential knowledge.” Next, the apostle Paul in Romans 10:3 teaches that the reason why unsaved Israel did not have an experiential knowledge of God is that they rejected God’s righteousness, which is offered in the gospel. He also teaches in this passage that because the Jews zealously sought to establish their own righteousness, they never submitted to God’s righteousness, which is offered in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Romans 10:3, “Because they have in the past rejected the righteousness originating from God the Father and continue to do so up to the present moment. In fact, because they have in the past zealously sought to establish their own and continue to do so up to the present moment, they never submitted to the righteousness originating from God the Father.” In Romans 10:4, Paul presents the reason for what is implied in Romans 10:3, namely, that the Jews were wrong for not submitting to God’s righteousness because they zealously sought to establish their own righteousness. They were wrong “because” faith in Christ is the goal or purpose of the Mosaic Law resulting in the imputation of divine righteousness to everyone who believes in Christ as Savior. Romans 10:4, “Because (faith in) Christ is, as an eternal spiritual truth, the purpose of the Law resulting in righteousness for the benefit of each and every member of the human race to those who at any time do exercise absolute confidence (in Christ).” Then, in Romans 10:5, Paul cites Leviticus 18:5 to support his teaching in Romans 10:4 that the purpose of the Law was to lead Israel to faith in Christ. Romans 10:5, “Because Moses writes concerning this particular righteousness, which is based upon obedience to the Law (as constituting a source of justification): ‘The person who obeys them will cause himself to live by means of them.’” The apostle in Romans 10:5 presents the reason why faith in Christ resulting in the imputation of divine righteousness and justification has always been the ultimate purpose of the Law rather than obedience to the Law and to support this he begins to cite a series of Old Testament passages. In Leviticus 18:5, Moses writes concerning the righteousness that is based on obedience to the Law that the Jew who obeys the commandments of the Law perfectly will live by them or in

2009 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 10 other words, obtain eternal life. Of course, every person born into the world is spiritually dead and possesses a sin nature, making it impossible to render the perfect obedience that the Law requires. In Romans 10:6-8, Paul is personifying the righteousness originating from and based on faith in Christ. In Romans 10:6, the apostle quotes from Deuteronomy 9:4 and 30:12 to teach that the righteousness that originates from and is based on faith in Christ is non-meritorious and attainable unlike perfect obedience to the Law. Romans 10:6, “However, the righteousness originating from and based on faith speaks in the following manner: ‘Do not think in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ This does imply bringing Christ down.” Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 9:4 to teach that the righteousness originating from and based on faith in Christ is non-meritorious since in the context of this passage the Lord emphasizes with Israel that He would bring them into the land of Canaan not on the basis of their own righteousness. Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 30:12 to teach that the righteousness that originates from and is based on faith in Christ does not ask the question “ Who will ascend into heaven ?” which is an implicit denial of the incarnation. This question also implies that the righteousness that originates from and is based on faith in Christ is not an impossibility and is attainable unlike attempting to obey the Law perfectly, which he mentions in Romans 10:5. Next in Romans 10:7, Paul does not quote exactly from Deuteronomy 30:13 but rather only the principle taught in this passage to further emphasize that the righteousness that originates from and is based on faith in Christ is not an impossibility and is attainable unlike attempting to obey the Law perfectly. Romans 10:7, “Or, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ This does imply bringing Christ up from the dead ones.” In this passage, Paul cites the principle taught in Deuteronomy 30:13 to teach that the righteousness that originates from and is based on faith in Christ does not deny the resurrection has taken place in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Just as he used the question “ Who will ascend into heaven ?” in Romans 10:6 as an implicit denial of the incarnation, so he uses the question “ Who will descend into the abyss ?” in Romans 10:7 as an implicit denial of the resurrection. Just as Paul taught in Romans 10:6 that it is impossible for someone to ascend into heaven since that would imply that Christ did not come in the flesh so in the same way he teaches in Romans 10:7 that it is impossible for someone to descend into the abyss since that would imply that Christ did not rise from the dead. Just as Paul taught in Romans 10:6 that the righteousness that originates from and is based on faith does not reject the incarnation, so in Romans 10:7, he describes this righteousness as not reject the resurrection as well.

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In Romans 10:8, Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 30:14, “ THE WORD IS NEAR YOU ” to indicate what the righteousness originating from and based on faith in Christ does think. Romans 10:8, “But in contrast what does it say? ‘The word is always readily accessible and available with respect to you,’ in your mouth as well as in your heart, namely, the word, which brings about faith, which we make it a habit to publicly proclaim as heralds in a dignified and authoritative manner.” This passage teaches that the gospel message that Paul and his fellow communicators were proclaiming everywhere throughout the Roman Empire to the unsaved taught that acquiring God’s righteousness originates from and is based on faith in Christ and not by means of obedience to the Law. Paul is writing rhetorically in Romans 10:9-10 indicating that when he speaks of righteousness and salvation, he is speaking of the justified sinner’s new relationship with God and not two different ideas that are not connected. Thus, in these two verses, Paul is not presenting two conditions for salvation or teaching that there must be a public affirmation of Christ’s deity as well as faith that the Father raised Jesus from the dead. Rather, he is speaking of salvation from two different perspectives: (1) The sinner must acknowledge that Jesus is God. (2) The sinner must believe that the Father raised Him from the dead. The two are inextricably tied to each other since the resurrection demonstrated the deity of Christ. That Paul is writing rhetorically is indicated in that Romans 10:10 he is following the same word order of Romans 10:9 in that in both verses he speaks of believing with one’s heart and acknowledging with one’s mouth. However, in verse 10, believing with one’s heart precedes acknowledging with one’s mouth whereas in verse nine acknowledging with one’s mouth precedes believing with one’s heart. That Paul is writing rhetorically not only suggests that righteousness and salvation are both speaking of the justified sinner’s new relationship with God and not different ideas that are not related but also it indicates that acknowledging with one’s mouth and believing with one’s heart are one in the same. Believing in one’s heart that the Father raised Jesus from the dead is the same as acknowledging that Jesus is God since the resurrection demonstrated that Jesus is God and faith alone in Christ alone is the only way to receive eternal salvation. Therefore, 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.

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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.” Paul’s statement in Romans 10:9 is not presenting the content of the gospel since Christ Himself and His death and resurrection are the content of the gospel according to 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. Paul’s statement in Romans 10:9 is not presenting the content of the gospel but rather it is explaining “how” the gospel is readily accessible and available to the Jew. Namely, if the Jew acknowledges with his mouth to the Father Jesus is Lord, which is to believe in his heart that the Father raised Him from the dead, then he will be saved. 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.” Notice that both confessing with one’s mouth and believing with one’s heart have the same results since both righteousness and salvation speak of the justified sinner’s new relationship from different perspectives. Therefore, in Romans 10:9 when Paul teaches that if the Jew confesses with his mouth Jesus is Lord and believes in his heart that the Father raised Jesus from the dead he is referring back to what he taught in Romans 1:4, which teaches that the resurrection of Christ demonstrated the deity of Christ. Romans 1:1-4, “Paul, a slave owned by Christ who is Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel originating from God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning His Son, who was born as a descendant of David with respect to His human nature. The One demonstrated as the Son of God by means of divine power with respect to a nature characterized by holiness because of the resurrection from the dead ones, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Thus, when Paul teaches in Romans 10:9 that if the Jew confesses with his mouth Jesus is Lord and believes in his heart that the Father raised Jesus from the dead he means that to believe in one’s heart that the Father raised Jesus from the dead is in fact, an acknowledgment to the Father that Jesus is Lord, i.e. God. To acknowledge to the Father that Jesus is Lord is to believe that the Father raised Him from the dead since by raising Him from the dead, the Father was demonstrating that Jesus was His Son and thus God. Therefore, in Romans 10:9,

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Paul is giving only one condition for salvation when he teaches that the sinner must acknowledge with his mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in his heart that the Father raised Jesus from the dead. 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. Romans 10:11, “Because, the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who at any time does exercise absolute confidence in Him will never be disappointed.’” Paul’s statement in Romans 10:13 makes clear that calling on the name of the Lord is synonymous with faith in Christ since he says to do so results in salvation and the Scriptures teach that salvation is only through faith alone in Christ alone. Romans 10:13, “Indeed, ‘anyone, whoever, for himself calls on the Lord’s unique person will be delivered.’” In Romans 10:12, Paul teaches that anyone whether Jew or Gentile who places their faith in Jesus Christ will never be disappointed because there are no racial distinctions since Christ is Lord of both racial groups, who is infinitely generous on behalf of those who call on Him. Romans 10:12, “Because, there is, as an eternal spiritual truth, absolutely no distinction between Jew and Greek because the same Lord is, as an eternal spiritual truth, Lord over each and every person, who is infinitely generous for the benefit of each and every person, who, at any time, does for himself call on Him.” This passage teaches that the reason why anyone who does exercise faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior will never be disappointed is that there is no distinction between Jew and Gentiles since the same Lord is Lord of both racial groups, who is infinitely generous on behalf of those who call on Him. Paul in Romans 10:13 cites Joel 2:32 to support his teaching in Romans 10:12 that the offer of salvation is for both Jew and Gentile. Romans 10:13, “Indeed, ‘anyone, whoever, for himself calls on the Lord’s unique person will be delivered.’” Now, Paul in Romans 10:14 poses three rhetorical questions that demonstrate Israel’s culpability and emphasize the importance of the communicators of the gospel in order that the unsaved Jew might have an opportunity to exercise faith in Jesus Christ as Savior so as to be saved and declared justified by God. Romans 10:14, “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?” “Then ” is the “inferential” use of the post-positive conjunction oun ( ou@n ) (oon), which denotes that the first rhetorical question is the result of an inference from Paul’s teaching contained in Romans 10:13.

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Paul in Romans 10:13 cites Joel 2:32 to support his teaching in Romans 10:12 that the offer of salvation is for both Jew and Gentile. Romans 10:13, “Indeed, ‘anyone, whoever, for himself calls on the Lord’s unique person will be delivered.’” Paul’s statement in Romans 10:13 from Joel 2:32 advances upon his statement in Romans 10:12. Romans 10:12, “Because, there is, as an eternal spiritual truth, absolutely no distinction between Jew and Greek because the same Lord is, as an eternal spiritual truth, Lord over each and every person, who is infinitely generous for the benefit of each and every person, who, at any time, does for himself call on Him.” The advancement upon this statement in Romans 10:12 is that anyone who calls on the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved. Not only is the Lord Jesus Christ infinitely generous to all those who call on Him but He will also saved those who do so. Therefore, in Romans 10:13, Paul quotes Joel 2:32 to support his teaching in Romans 10:12 that the offer of salvation is for both Jew and Gentile. Now, in Romans 10:14, Paul employs the inferential use of the conjunction oun to denote that the three rhetorical questions are the result of an inference from his teaching contained in Romans 10:13. The three rhetorical questions in Romans 10:14 and the one in 10:15 infer that no one can be saved from eternal condemnation by calling on the name of the Lord, which is synonymous with believing in Him, if there is no one to communicate the gospel. They also help to demonstrate that Israel has no excuse for Jesus of Nazareth as their Savior and that they are culpable. Therefore, these two verses contain a series of parallel rhetorical questions. As Moo states, “By repeating the verb from the end of one question at the beginning of the next, Paul creates a connected chain of steps that must be followed if a person is to be saved.” (Douglas J. Moo, The New International Commentary on the New Testament, The Epistle to the Romans , page 663; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan/Cambridge, U.K., 1988. We will translate oun , “ Therefore .” Romans 10:14, “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?” “How ” is the interrogative particle pos ( pw~$ ) (poce), which is used to ask a rhetorical question, which infers that no one can call on Christ if they have not believed in Him. Again, Paul raises this point since he wants to emphasize with his readers that Israel is culpable because they did hear the gospel through Jesus Christ Himself,

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His apostles, pastor-teachers, evangelists and believers operating in their royal ambassadorship but rejected Jesus Christ. We will translate pos , “ how .” Romans 10:14, “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?” “Will they call ” is the third person plural aorist middle subjunctive form of the verb epikaleo ( e)pikalevw ) (ep-ee-kal-eh-o), which is a synonym for exercising faith in Jesus Christ as Savior as indicated through a comparison of Paul’s statements in Romans 10:9-11 and 10:13-14. In Romans 10:12, 13 and 14, the verb epikaleo is synonymous with exercising faith in Christ in the sense of calling Him Lord, i.e. God, which is an acknowledgement of His deity, as a result of believing that the Father raised Him from the dead, which demonstrates that He is God. Paul’s statement in Romans 10:13 makes clear that calling on the name of the Lord is synonymous with faith in Christ since he says to do so results in salvation and the Scriptures teach that salvation is through faith alone in Christ alone. Romans 10:13, “Indeed, ‘anyone, whoever, for himself calls on the Lord’s unique person will be delivered.’” Furthermore, in Romans 10:9, he teaches that if one acknowledges with one’s mouth that Jesus is Lord, which is the same as believing that the Father raised Him from the dead, then that person will be saved. To acknowledge that Jesus is Lord is equivalent to believing that the Father raised Him from the dead since the resurrection demonstrated that Jesus was God and the Scriptures teach that salvation is only through faith alone in Christ alone. Therefore, calling on the name of the Lord is synonymous with exercising faith in the Lord Jesus since both yield the same results and the Scriptures teach that salvation is only through faith alone in Christ alone. Now, in Romans 10:14, the verb epikaleo is used in a rhetorical question, which asks, “ How will they call on Him in whom they have not believed ?” A sinner cannot call on Christ if they have not believed in Him since calling on Him is an acknowledgement of His deity and to acknowledge His deity is to believe that the Father raised Him from the dead since the resurrection demonstrated that Jesus of Nazareth is Lord, i.e. God. The third person plural form of the verb is a reference to the unsaved Jews in Israel as indicated by Paul’s statements in Romans 10:16-21 where he teaches that Israel rejected Jesus of Nazareth as their Savior, which was anticipated by God in the prophets of the Old Testament. Romans 10:16-21, “However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, ‘LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?’ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. But I say, surely they have

2009 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 16 never heard, have they? Indeed they have; ‘THEIR VOICE HAS GONE OUT INTO ALL THE EARTH, AND THEIR WORDS TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD.’ But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? First Moses says, ‘I WILL MAKE YOU JEALOUS BY THAT WHICH IS NOT A NATION, BY A NATION WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING WILL I ANGER YOU.’ And Isaiah is very bold and says, ‘I WAS FOUND BY THOSE WHO DID NOT SEEK ME, I BECAME MANIFEST TO THOSE WHO DID NOT ASK FOR ME.’ But as for Israel He says, ‘ALL THE DAY LONG I HAVE STRETCHED OUT MY HANDS TO A DISOBEDIENT AND OBSTINATE PEOPLE.’” In Romans 10:14, the aorist tense of the verb epikaleo is a “constative aorist” describing in summary fashion the moment a Jew calls on the Lord Jesus Christ. The middle voice is an “indirect” middle meaning that the subject acts for himself or herself. The subject shows a special interest in the action of the verb. This indicates that the unsaved Jew, as the subject acts for himself by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ since it results in his own salvation. The subjunctive mood is a “deliberative rhetorical subjunctive,” which asks either a “real” or “rhetorical” question. In Romans 10:14, the subjunctive mood of the verb epikaleo is a “deliberative rhetorical subjunctive” implying that there is no way a person can get saved without someone to communicate the gospel to them. We will translate epikaleo , “ will they, themselves call on .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 10:14: “Therefore, how will they, themselves call on…?” Romans 10:14, “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?” “Him ” does not translate a word in the original Greek text but is correctly added by the translators since Paul is using the figure of ellipsis meaning that he deliberately omits the accusative masculine singular form of the intensive personal pronoun autos ( au)tov$ ) (ow-tos), though it is implied. The intensive personal pronoun autos refers to the Lord Jesus Christ since He is the object of salvation (John 3:16-18; Acts 16:31; Romans 3:22-26; 10:9-12). It functions as an accusative direct object meaning that it is receiving the action of the verb epikaleo indicating that the Lord Jesus Christ is the object of faith for salvation. We will translate autos , “ Him .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 10:14: “Therefore, how will they, themselves call on Him…?”

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Romans 10:14, “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?” “In whom ” is composed of the preposition epi ( e)piv), “ in ” and the accusative masculine singular form of the relative pronoun hos ( o^$ ) (hos), “ whom .” The relative pronoun hos agrees in gender (masculine) and number (singular) with its antecedent, which appears in Romans 10:13 and is the genitive masculine singular form of the kurios ( kuvrio$ ), “ the Lord .” It functions as the object of the preposition epi , which marks the Lord Jesus Christ as the object in which the sinner’s faith or absolute confidence must rest. We will translate the prepositional phrase epi hon , “ in whom .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 10:14: “Therefore, how will they, themselves call on Him in whom…?” Romans 10:14, “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?” “They have not believed ” is composed of the emphatic negative adverb ou (ou)) (oo), “ not ” and the third person plural aorist active indicative form of the verb pisteuo ( pisteuvw ) (pist-yoo-o), “ they have believed .” This verb refers “to trusting” or “placing one’s absolute confidence” in the fact that the Father raised Jesus from the dead, which demonstrated that He is Lord and leads to the acknowledgement of this fact. The emphatic negative adverb ou emphatically negates the idea of a sinner of the Jew getting saved without someone to communicate the gospel to them. We will translate ou , “ never .” The aorist tense is a “constative aorist” describing in summary fashion the moment a Jew exercises absolute confidence or trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. The active voice indicates that the subject, an unsaved Jew, performs the action of the making the non-meritorious decision to trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior. The indicative mood is an ‘interrogative” indicative where an “assertion is expected” indicating that Paul is presenting a rhetorical question that demands a negative response. We will translate pisteuo , “ they exercise absolute confidence in .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 10:14: “Therefore, how will they, themselves, call on Him in whom they never exercised absolute confidence in?” Romans 10:14, “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?”

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Not translated is the “sequential” use of the conjunction de ( deV) (deh), which means that the word introduces a second rhetorical question that follows logically the first one posed by Paul. That the word is sequential in meaning is indicated by the fact that Paul repeats the verb from the end of one question at the beginning of the next, thus creating a connected chain of steps that must be followed if a person is to receive eternal salvation. Therefore, we will translate the word, “consequently .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 10:14: “Therefore, how will they, themselves, call on Him in whom they never exercised absolute confidence in? Consequently…” Romans 10:14, “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?” “How ” is once again the interrogative particle pos ( pw~$ ) (poce), which is used to ask a second rhetorical question, which infers that no one can believe in Christ as Savior if no one has heard about Him. Again, Paul raises this point since he wants to emphasize with his readers that Israel is culpable because they did hear of Jesus Christ through the communication of the gospel through the Lord Himself, His apostles, pastor-teachers, evangelists and believers operating in their royal ambassadorship but rejected Jesus Christ. We will translate pos , “ how .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 10:14: “Therefore, how will they, themselves, call on Him in whom they never exercised absolute confidence in? Consequently, how…?” Romans 10:14, “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?” “Will they believe in ” is the third person plural aorist active subjunctive form of the verb pisteuo ( pisteuvw ) (pist-yoo-o), which refers once again of making the non-meritorious decision “to trust” or “place one’s absolute confidence in” the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ in order to receive eternal salvation. Once, again, the third person plural form of the verb is a reference to the unsaved Jews in Israel as indicated by Paul’s statements in Romans 10:16-21 where he teaches that Israel rejected Jesus of Nazareth as their Savior, which was anticipated by God in the prophets of the Old Testament. The aorist tense is a “constative aorist” describing in summary fashion the moment a Jew exercises absolute confidence or trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. The active indicates that the subject, an unsaved Jew, performs the action of the making the non-meritorious decision to trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior.

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The subjunctive mood is again a “deliberative rhetorical subjunctive,” which asks either a “real” or “rhetorical” question. Here, the subjunctive mood of the verb pisteuo is a “deliberative rhetorical subjunctive” implying that there is no way a person can believe in Jesus Christ as Savior without first hearing about Him. We will translate pisteuo , “ will they exercise absolute confidence in .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 10:14: “Therefore, how will they, themselves, call on Him in whom they never exercised absolute confidence in? Consequently, how will they exercise absolute confidence in…?” Romans 10:14, “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?” The second “ Him ” that appears in this passage like the first does not translate a word in the original Greek text as was the case with the first. Like the first, the second “ Him ” is correctly added by the translators since Paul is using the figure of ellipsis meaning that he deliberately omits the accusative masculine singular form of the intensive personal pronoun autos ( au)tov$ ) (ow-tos), though it is implied. The intensive personal pronoun autos refers once again to the Lord Jesus Christ since He is the object of salvation (John 3:16-18; Acts 16:31; Romans 3:22-26; 10:9-12). It functions as an accusative direct object meaning that it is receiving the action of the verb pisteuo indicating that the Lord Jesus Christ is the object of faith for salvation. We will translate autos , “ Him .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 10:14: “Therefore, how will they, themselves, call on Him in whom they never exercised absolute confidence in? Consequently, how will they exercise absolute confidence in Him…?” Romans 10:14, “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?” “Whom ” is the genitive masculine singular form of the relative pronoun hos (o^$ ) (hos), which refers to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is indicated by the fact that the word agrees in gender (masculine) and number (singular) with its antecedent, which is the accusative masculine singular form of this same word, which appeared in the first rhetorical question in the verb and referred to the Lord Jesus Christ. The word functions as a “genitive direct object” meaning that it is receiving the action of the verb pisteuo indicating that Christ is the object of faith. A verb of hearing characteristically takes a genitive direct object. Here genitive form of the relative pronoun hos functions as the direct object of the verb akouo . It is significant that Paul puts hos in the genitive with the verb akouo since the verb normally takes the genitive to denote the person who is heard as opposed to the thing that is heard, which is usually denoted by the accusative. Therefore, by putting hos in the genitive with the verb akouo , Paul is emphasizing with his

2009 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 20 readers that Israel explicitly heard of Jesus Christ when the gospel was communicated to them since the gospel speaks of Him. We will translate hos , “whom .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 10:14: “Therefore, how will they, themselves, call on Him in whom they never exercised absolute confidence in? Consequently, how will they exercise absolute confidence in Him whom…?” Romans 10:14, “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?” “They have not heard ” is composed of the emphatic negative adverb ou ( ou)) (oo), “ not ” and the third person plural aorist active indicative form of the verb akouo ( a)kouvw ) (ak-oo-o), “ they have heard .” The verb akouo occurs extensively in classical Greek, nonliterary papyri, the Septuagint and the Greek New Testament. It can denote “to hear the sound of something or someone,” thus physical hearing. But it also can indicate hearing in the sense of “understanding” or in a fuller sense, “obedience.” Akouo from Homer on means to hear and refers primarily to the perception of sounds by the sense of hearing. The person or thing heard is in the accusative. The person from whom something is heard is in the genitive or else is indicated by the prepositions apo , para or ek . An impersonal object can also be in the genitive. Hearing, however, covers not only sense perception but also the apprehension and acceptance by the mind of the content of what is heard. In the Greek mysteries and oriental Gnosticism great stress is laid on the fact that man apprehends God by seeing. It is not as though there were no religious hearing, but the phenomena of sight are the more essential. For Philo the interrelation of hearing and seeing is strikingly determined by the fact that the former can lead astray and deceive as distinct from the latter. In Apuleius many revelations of God are imparted which must be received by hearing. At the point, however, where the true mystery is achieved, the reference is to vision, access and worship, with no reference to the fact that the devotee has heard a verbal revelation. The content of revelation consists in seeing rather than hearing. Liddell and Scott (Greek-English Lexicon, New Edition, pages 53-54): (1) Hear (2) Hear of, hear tell of (3) Hear of a thing from a person (4) Should he hear (5) What one actually hears (6) Know by hearsay (7) Hearken, give ear, especially in proclamations (8) Listen to, give ear to (9) Obey (10) Hear and understand (11) To be a pupil of (12) Hear oneself called, be called (13) Were said (14) Have evil spoken of one (15) Hear it so said, i.e., at first hearing (16) Understand, take in a certain sense (17) Astrologically, aspect mutually of signs equidistant from an equinoctial sign.

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The verb akouo is employed in the Septuagint to translate the following Hebrew terms: (1) ‘avah ( hb*a*) (verb), “surrender, deliver up” (Jgs. 20:13). (2) ‘azan ( oz^a*) (verb), “listen, hear” (2 Chr. 24:19; Ps. 135:17 [134:17] ). (3) ‘ozen ( wz#a)) (noun), “hearing, ear” (Gn. 23:10; Jb. 13:17). (4) Yadha ( ud^y ) (verb), “know, discern” (Is. 32:4; 44:9). (5) Yachal ( lj^y*) (verb), Hiphil: “wait” (Jb. 32:11). (6) Yatsa ( ax*y ) (verb), “spread” (2 Chr. 26:15). (7) Leqach ( tq^y*) (noun), “learning” (Prv. 16:21). (8) `anah ( hn*u*) (verb), “cry out” (Jb. 30:20; Is. 46:7). (9) Pathach ( jtP*) (verb), “to open” (Is. 35:5). (10) Qashav ( bv^q*) (verb), “listen, give attention to” (2 Chr. 20:15; 33:10). (11) Ra’ah ( ha*r*) (verb), “consider, heed” (Jer. 2:31). (12) Shemu `ah ( hu*Wm+v ) (noun), “message, report” (Is. 28:19). (13) Shama ` ( um^v*) (verb), Qal: “hear” (Gn. 3:8; Ru. 1:6); niphal: “be heard, obeyed” (Dt. 4:32; 1 Sm. 1:13); hiphil: “cause to hear” (Dt. 4:10, 36). (14) Shema ` ( um^v+) (verb), “hear” (Dn. 3:5, 15-Aramaic). (15) Shamar ( rm^v*) (verb), “keep” (Dt. 11:22; 19:9). Akouo is stands consistently for the Hebrew shama ( umv ). It shares the shades of meaning of the Hebrew verb. The primary meaning is that of the sense perception of hearing. In biblical revelation hearing has a much greater significance than in the Greek or Hellenistic worlds. For God meets man in His Word, and man therefore is charged with hearing God’s Word. This does not exclude God’s revelation in the visible sphere. The mental process is not to be separated from the sense perception. This prevalence of hearing points to an essential feature Biblical , namely, that it is centered upon the Word. Biblical Christianity is based upon action in obedience to the Word that has been heard by the prophet or Levitical priest. The Word of God demands obedience and fulfillment. Man is not righteous as he seeks to apprehend or perceive God by way of thought and vision, but as he hears the command of God and studies to observe it. Just as man hears God, God hears men. It is in this way that the living God, the God of the Bible differs from idols which have ears but do not hear (Ps. 115; 135:17). God is said not only to hear prayer but He answers it (Ps. 29:10 LXX). The verb akouo appears nearly 430 times in the New Testament and appears most frequently in the Gospels. The New Testament use of akouo follows the Septuagint. The revelation and proclamation of Jesus Christ in the New Testament comprise the Word of God which must “be heard.” The Gospel for salvation is to be heard and obeyed by exercising faith alone in Christ alone (Acts 16:31). The parable of the seed and the sower in Matthew 13:9, Mark 4:33 and Luke 8:8 are parables of hearing. The Gospel writers recorded what they heard and saw or witness concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.

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The verb akouo appears frequently in the New Testament as would be expected since the use of the word and its derivatives in the New Testament reflects something of the significance of the Word as it is spoken and as it is to be heard in the reciprocal New Testament relationship between God and man. The hearing of man represents correspondence to the revelation of the Word, and in biblical Christianity it is thus the essential form in which this divine revelation is appropriated. In the New Testament, akouo can referred literally of sense perception. The content of hearing is determined by the content of the message. In the New Testament this is always the offering of salvation. Hearing is always the perception both of grace and of the call to a change of mind regarding Christ. This means that the only marks to distinguish true hearing from purely physical hearing are faith (Mt. 8:10; 9:2; 17:20) and action (Mt. 7:16; 24:26; R. 2:13). The New Testament hearing as reception of the declared will of God always implies affirmation of this will as the willing of salvation and a change of mind by the person who believes and acts. There thus arises, as the crowning concept of the obedience which consists in faith and the faith which consists in obedience. Mundle lists the following New Testament meanings (The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, volume 2, page 175): (1) The sense of hearing (2) The act of hearing (3) The ear, especially in the plural (4) The news (about Jesus). Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament (volume 1, pages 52-54): (1) Hear (2) Come to know (3) Listen to (4) Interrogate (5) Obey (6) The ear (7) Account (8) Reputation (9) Rumor. The Analytical Greek Lexicon Revised (page 13): (1) To hear; to hearken, listen to (2) To heed, obey (3) To understand (4) To take in or admit to mental acceptance. The New Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon (pages 22-23): (1) “to be endowed with the faculty of hearing.” (2) “to attend to, consider what is or has been said.” (3) “to understand, to perceive the sense of what is said.” (4) “to hear something.” (5) “to get by hearing, learn from the mouth of the teacher or narrator.” (6) “a thing comes to one’s ears, to find out (by hearsay), learn.” (7) “to give ear to teaching or teacher.” (8) “to comprehend, understand.” (9) “to perceive any one’s voice.” (10) “to give ear to one, listen, hearken.” (11) “to yield to, hear and obey, hear to one.” (12) “to listen to, to have regard to.” (13) “to perceive the distinct words of a voice.” (14) “to perceive in the soul the inward communication of God.” (15) “to be taught by God’s inward communication.” A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (pages 31-33): (1) literally of sense perception. (2) legally, “to give someone a hearing.” (3) “to learn or be informed about something.” (4) “to listen

2009 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 23 to someone, to follow someone.” (5) “to listen to someone or something.” (6) “to be called.” (7) “to understand.” Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains (volume 2): (1) ‘to hear’ (pages 282-283) (2) To have the faculty of hearing in contrast with being deaf – ‘to be able to hear’ (page 283) (3) To receive information about something, normally by word of mouth – ‘to receive news, to hear’ (page 412) (4) To believe something and to respond to it on the basis of having heard – ‘to accept, to listen to, to listen to and respond, to pay attention and respond, to heed’ (page 373) (5) To listen or pay attention to a person, with resulting conformity to what is advised or commanded – ‘to pay attention to and obey’ (page 467). (6) To hear and understand a message – ‘to understand, to comprehend’ (page 380). (7) To give a judicial hearing in a legal matter – ‘to hear a case, to provide a legal hearing, to hear a case in court’ (page 554). (8) (a Semitic idiom, literally ‘to hear with hearing’) to listen intently and with presumed continuity- ‘to listen carefully, to listen and listen’ (page 284). (9) (an idiom, literally ‘to hear into the ear’) to hear something in a secret setting – ‘to hear in secret’ (page 284). (10) (an idiom, literally ‘to hear heavily with the ears’) to be mentally slow or dull in comprehending – ‘to be slow to understand, to be mentally dull’ (page 386). In Romans 10:14, the verb akouo refers to learning about or being informed about Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection through the proclamation of the gospel as indicated by the verb kerusso that appears in the third rhetorical question. The emphatic negative adverb ou emphatically negates the idea of the Jew believing in Jesus Christ as Savior without hearing the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We will translate ou , “ never .” Once, again, the third person plural form of the verb is a reference to the unsaved Jews in Israel as indicated by Paul’s statements in Romans 10:16-21 where he teaches that Israel rejected Jesus of Nazareth as their Savior, which was anticipated by God in the prophets of the Old Testament. The aorist tense of the verb akouo is a “constative aorist” describing in summary fashion the moment a Jew exercises absolute confidence or trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, which this rhetorical question implies can’t take place without hearing the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The active voice indicates that the subject, an unsaved Jew, performs the action of the making the non-meritorious decision to trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior, which this rhetorical question implies can’t take place without hearing the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The indicative mood is an ‘interrogative” indicative where an “assertion is expected” indicating that Paul is presenting a rhetorical question that demands a negative response. The unsaved Jew can not believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior

2009 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 24 if they have not heard the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We will translate the verb akouo , “ they heard of .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 10:14: “Therefore, how will they, themselves, call on Him in whom they never exercised absolute confidence in? Consequently, how will they exercise absolute confidence in Him whom they never heard of?” Romans 10:14, “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?” Not translated is the “sequential” use of the conjunction de ( deV) (deh), which means that the word introduces a third rhetorical question that follows logically the first second posed by Paul. That the word is sequential in meaning is indicated by the fact that Paul repeats the verb from the end of one question at the beginning of the next, thus creating a connected chain of steps that must be followed if a person is to receive eternal salvation. Therefore, we will translate the word, “consequently .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 10:14: “Therefore, how will they, themselves, call on Him in whom they never exercised absolute confidence in? Consequently, how will they exercise absolute confidence in Him whom they never heard of? Consequently…” Romans 10:14, “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?” “How ” is once again the interrogative particle pos ( pw~$ ) (poce), which is used to ask a third rhetorical question, which infers that no one can hear about Jesus Christ without someone proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to them. Again, Paul raises this point since he wants to emphasize with his readers that Israel is culpable because they did hear of Jesus Christ through the communication of the gospel through the Lord Himself, His apostles, pastor-teachers, evangelists and believers operating in their royal ambassadorship but rejected Jesus Christ. We will translate pos , “ how .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 10:14: “Therefore, how will they, themselves, call on Him in whom they never exercised absolute confidence in? Consequently, how will they exercise absolute confidence in Him whom they never heard of? Consequently, how…?” Romans 10:14, “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?” “Will they hear ” is the third person plural aorist active subjunctive form of the verb akouo ( a)kouvw ) (ak-oo-o), which refers once again to learning about or being

2009 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 25 informed about Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection through the proclamation of the gospel as indicated by the verb kerusso that appears in the third rhetorical question. Once, again, the third person plural form of the verb is a reference to the unsaved Jews in Israel as indicated by Paul’s statements in Romans 10:16-21 where he teaches that Israel rejected Jesus of Nazareth as their Savior, which was anticipated by God in the prophets of the Old Testament. The aorist tense is a “constative aorist” describing in summary fashion the moment a Jew hears the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The active indicates that the subject, an unsaved Jew, performs the action of hearing the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The subjunctive mood is again a “deliberative rhetorical subjunctive,” which asks either a “real” or “rhetorical” question. Here, the subjunctive mood of the verb akouo is a “deliberative rhetorical subjunctive” implying that there is no way a person can hear about Jesus Christ without someone proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to them. We will translate the verb “ will they hear .” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 10:14: “Therefore, how will they, themselves, call on Him in whom they never exercised absolute confidence in? Consequently, how will they exercise absolute confidence in Him whom they never heard of? Consequently, how will they hear…?” Romans 10:14, “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?” “Without a preacher ” is composed of the improper preposition choris ( xwriv$ ) (kho-rece), “ without ” and the genitive masculine singular present active participle form of the verb kerusso ( khruvssw ) (kay-roos-so), “ a preacher .” This is the third time that the verb kerusso has appeared in the Roman text (2:21; 10:8). In each instance, and now here in Romans 10:14 the verb means, “to publicly proclaim something as a herald in a dignified and authoritative manner which commands the respect and attention of those who hear it.” Kerusso emphasizes the manner in which the proclamation or announcement is given and the formal, official and authoritative manner in which the proclamation is given. Usually it is used transitively and describes the activity of the herald in the discharge of his office. Kerusso was the formal official announcement or proclamation of religious festivals, judicial decisions, athletic games, and honors, and of victors. It is employed 30 times in the Septuagint and is used to translate the Hebrew verb qara (arq ), which has many different meanings such as “to proclaim, to invite, to call, to appeal to, name.”

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It referred to shouts of command (Gen. 41:43; Ex. 36:6), public announcements (Ex. 32:5), or official decrees (2 Chron. 20:3; 24:9; Joel 1:14). Kerusso included a call to assemble (4 Kings 10:20) or a proclamation of award and honor (Esther 6:9, 11). It can be used of a call to battle (Hosea 5:8; Joel 2:1), a warning of the Day of the Lord. Kerusso appears 61 times in the Greek New Testament and occurs 19 times in the Pauline epistles, 9 times in Matthew, 14 times in Mark, 9 times in Luke, 8 times in Acts, once in 1 st Peter and Revelation. It was the formal, official and authoritative manner in which the Gospel was proclaimed or announced. In Romans 10:14, the verb refers to Paul and his fellow Christians who “publicly proclaimed” the gospel of Jesus Christ “as heralds in a dignified and authoritative manner, which commanded the respect and attention of” the unsaved Jew who was exposed to it. The active voice of the verb signifies that Paul and his fellow Christians perform this action. The present tense is a “gnomic present,” which is used for a general timeless fact or spiritual axiom, or an eternal spiritual truth and says something “does” happen. Therefore, Paul is saying with the “gnomic” present, “How will they hear (of Jesus Christ) apart from someone, “as an eternal spiritual truth” proclaiming it to them. The verb functions as a “substantive” participle. We will translate the verb kerusso , “ someone, as an eternal spiritual truth, publicly proclaiming as a herald in a dignified and authoritative manner .” Choris is an “improper” preposition meaning that it does not form compound words with verbs as does epi and sun . When the word is used as a preposition it governs the genitive case and serves to specify the use of the “genitive of separation” or some grammarians identify as the “ablative” case. In Romans 10:14, the improper preposition choris indicates that the unsaved Jew can never learn about Jesus Christ “independently of” or “without any connection to” someone proclamation the gospel of Jesus Christ to them. Therefore, the participle form of the verb kerusso functions as a “genitive of separation” indicating that the unsaved Jew can never learn about Jesus “independently” or “apart from” someone proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to them. We will translate choris , “ apart from .” Due to his use of the figure of ellipsis, Paul deliberately omits the dative masculine third person plural form of the intensive personal pronoun autos (au)tov$ ) (ow-tos), “ to them ,” though it is implied. The intensive personal pronoun autos refers to the unsaved Israelites in Paul’s day. The word functions as a “dative of indirect object” indicating that the unsaved Jew hears or learns of Jesus Christ

2009 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 27 through the proclamation of the gospel. We will translate the personal pronoun autos , “ to them .” Completed corrected translation of Romans 10:14: “Therefore, how will they, themselves, call on Him in whom they never exercised absolute confidence in? Consequently, how will they exercise absolute confidence in Him whom they never heard of? Consequently, how will they hear apart from someone, as an eternal spiritual truth, publicly proclaiming as a herald in a dignified and authoritative manner to them?” So Paul in Romans 10:14 poses three rhetorical questions that emphasize the importance of the communicators of the gospel in order that the unsaved Jew might have an opportunity to exercise faith in Jesus Christ as Savior so as to be saved and declared justified by God. The purpose of these three rhetorical questions and the one in Romans 10:15 is to demonstrate to Paul’s readers that Israel is culpable because they did hear the gospel through Jesus Christ Himself, His apostles, pastor-teachers, evangelists and believers operating in their royal ambassadorship but rejected Jesus Christ. These three rhetorical questions are the result of an inference from Paul’s teaching contained in Romans 10:13 where he cites Joel 2:32 to support his teaching in Romans 10:12 that the offer of salvation is for both Jew and Gentile. These rhetorical questions are employed with reference to the unsaved Jews in Israel as indicated by Paul’s statements in Romans 10:16-21 where he teaches that Israel rejected Jesus of Nazareth as their Savior, which was anticipated by God in the prophets of the Old Testament. The first rhetorical question infers that no one can call on Christ if they have not believed in Him. The unsaved Jew cannot call on Christ if they have not believed in Him since calling on Him is an acknowledgement of His deity and to acknowledge His deity is to believe that the Father raised Him from the dead since the resurrection demonstrated that Jesus of Nazareth is Lord, i.e. God. Paul’s statement in Romans 10:13 makes clear that calling on the name of the Lord is synonymous with faith in Christ since he says to do so results in salvation and the Scriptures teach that salvation is through faith alone in Christ alone. Furthermore, in Romans 10:9, he teaches that if one acknowledges with one’s mouth that Jesus is Lord, which is the same as believing that the Father raised Him from the dead, then that person will be saved. To acknowledge that Jesus is Lord is equivalent to believing that the Father raised Him from the dead since the resurrection demonstrated that Jesus was God and the Scriptures teach that salvation is only through faith alone in Christ alone. Therefore, calling on the name of the Lord is synonymous with exercising faith in the Lord Jesus since both yield the same results and the Scriptures teach that salvation is only through faith alone in Christ alone.

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The second rhetorical question infers that no one can believe in Christ as Savior if no one has heard about Him. The third rhetorical question infers that no one can hear about Jesus Christ without someone proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to them. These three rhetorical questions in Romans 10:14 and the one in 10:15 infer that no one can be saved from eternal condemnation unless they call on the name of the Lord, which is synonymous with believing in Him, if there is no one to communicate the gospel to them. In these three rhetorical questions, Paul repeats the verb from the end of one question at the beginning of the next, thus creating a connected chain of steps that must be followed if a person is to receive eternal salvation. In the first rhetorical question, Paul infers that if the unsaved Jew is to be saved, they must acknowledge Jesus is Lord and this won’t take place unless they believed that the Father raised Jesus from the dead since the resurrection demonstrated Jesus is God and faith alone in Christ alone is the only way to be saved. In the second, he infers that they cannot believe that the Father raised Jesus from the dead unless they have first heard the gospel since the gospel speaks of the Christ. In the third, he infers that the unsaved Jew cannot hear or learn about the resurrection of Jesus Christ through the communication of the gospel unless there is someone to communicate the gospel. Lastly, in the fourth rhetorical question in Romans 10:15, Paul infers that no one can proclaim the gospel to the Jews unless God sends them. Therefore, in Romans 10:14-15, Paul teaches through inference that the following progression must take place for a person to be saved: (1) God must send a person to communicate the gospel (2) The unsaved Jew must hear or learn of the resurrection of Christ through a person who communicates the gospel (3) They must believe that Jesus was raised from the dead after hearing the resurrection of Christ proclaimed in the gospel (4) They must believe that Jesus was raised from the dead in order that they can acknowledge that Jesus is Lord. Paul’s statements about Israel’s culpability in rejecting the incarnate Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth as their Savior in Romans 10:18-21 is demonstrated by these four rhetorical questions in Romans 10:14-15.

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