Romans 10:12-21 (Encouragement Video)

[MatthewG]

Romans 10:12-21

“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; for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 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 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!” 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 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.””
‭‭Romans‬ ‭10:12-21‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

 

[Matthias]

Concerning Romans 10:14, the translation you quoted - my “workhorse” translation, NASB - has the good but slightly vague “How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard?”.

The GW translation captures and conveys the right idea when it renders the passage “How can they believe in him if they have not heard his message?”

In order to believe in Jesus we must hear the message which Jesus delivered, the gospel / good news which he preached. We must hear his voice. We must hear him speak. We must listen to his words - “the words that I have spoken to you are spirit, and are life” (John 6:63).

“This is My Son, My Chosen One; Listen to Him!” (Luke 9:35).

What does it look like when we leave that out? Something like the following:

“2. It’s simple

You will be quick to notice that the Gospel is composed of two parts: First, Christ died for our sins; second, Christ rose from the dead.”

(“The Gospel,” Basics of Christianity, Going Farther, A Ministry of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association) link provided.

What Is the Gospel?

He’s taken his eyes and ears off of Jesus.

“If you will read the epistles of Paul, you will notice the message centers in three things: the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ. As far as Paul was concerned, Christ Jesus came to do three days’ work: that work was commenced when he was nailed on the cross and was ended when God raised him from among the dead. Paul never discussed the earthly life of our Lord - his baptism, his temptation, his miracles his teachings, or even his sufferings in the Garden of Gethsemane. This is quite in keeping with the rest of the New Testament, for we must remember that that Christ came not primarily to preach the gospel (though he did herald deliverance to the prisoner), but he came rather that there might be a gospel to preach. This gospel was won and brought into being by his work on the cross. We should remember that Jesus Christ had lived the Sermon on the Mount for 30 years before he ever preached it. His teachings and sinless life never changed a life nor delivered one person from the life of sin. Only his death on the cross could do that.”

(Roy Gustafson, “What Is the Gospel?”, Billy Graham Evangelical Association, 1980)

That’s a truncated gospel; he’s pitting Paul against Jesus.

 

[Matthias]

As was Gustafson and the Billy Graham Association, so too was D. James Kennedy.

“Many people today think that the essence of Christianity is the teachings of Jesus. That isn’t so. The teachings of Jesus are somewhat secondary to Christianity. If you read the epistles of the apostle Paul, which make up about half of the New Testament, you’ll see almost nothing whatsoever said about the teachings of Jesus. Not one of his parables is mentioned. In fact, throughout the rest of the New Testament there’s little reference to the teachings of Jesus. In the Apostles’ creed, the most universally held Christian creed, there is no reference to the teachings of Jesus or to the example of Jesus. In fact, in recounting Christ’s earthly life, the creed states simply that He was ‘born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and was buried.’ It mentions only two days in Jesus’s life - that of His birth and that of His death. Christianity centers not in the teachings of Jesus but in the person of Jesus as the Incarnate God who came into the world to take upon himself our guilt and to die in our place.”

(D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe, The Presence of a Hidden God, chapter “How I Know Jesus Is God, p. 82)

Bold is mine.

Hand in hand with the truncated gospel of Gustafson, “Jesus came to do three days’ work”.

I’ve quoted frequently from Dr. Harold O.J. Brown. Let’s hear what he has to say.

“Christianity takes its name from its founder, or rather from what he was called, the Christ. Buddhism is also named for its founder. And non-Moslems often call Islam Mohammedanism. But while Buddhism and Islam are based primarily on the teaching of the Buddha and Mohammad, respectively, Christianity is based primarily on the person of Christ. The Christian faith is not belief in his teaching, but in what is taught about him. The appeal of Protestant liberals to ‘believe as Jesus believed,’ rather than to believe in Jesus, is a dramatic transformation of the fundamental nature of Christianity.”

(Heresies: Heresy And Orthodoxy In The History Of The Church, p. 13)

Bold and underlining is mine.

He’s in lockstep Gustafson / the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Kennedy.

“The Christian faith is not belief in his teaching”? You urged your readers not to listen to Jesus, Dr. Brown. That’s disastrous.

“The Christian faith is … what is taught about Jesus”? I agree, Dr. Brown.

Believing what Jesus believed and and believing what is taught about Jesus is believing in Jesus.

To “believe as Jesus believed” is to believe what Jesus taught and preached; to have our spirit, our minds, conformed to his spirit, his mind. It’s to have the mind of Christ in us.

*

An excursus.

To believe what a despot believes (insert the despot of your choice) is to believe in the despot. It is believing what the despot teaches and preaches. It is to have our spirit, our mind, conformed to the spirit of, to the mind of, the despot. It’s to obey the teaching of the despot; to do as the despot instructs us to do, to have our will be the will of the despot, to be one with the despot.

Not believing in the despot is not believing what the despot believes, to not believe the despot’s teaching and preaching, to not have our mind, to not have our spirit conformed to that of the despot, to reject the teaching of the despot, to refuse to obey the despot’s instruction.

*

To “believe what is taught about Jesus” is to believe not only what Jesus believed but also what is taught about Jesus in scripture, for that is the truth about Jesus. That is the Christian faith. It’s that simple.

No, says Dr. Brown. It’s not that simple. It’s false. We must believe what is taught about Jesus at Nicaea (325 AD) and Chalcedon (451 AD), for only that is the Christian faith.

It’s not Jesus who instructs us to go to Nicaea and Chalcedon to understand what is said about him in scripture; it’s not Jesus who says only that is the Christian faith.

 

[Matthias]

Nearly everyone knows who C.S. Lewis is. Do they know what he says?

He says, for instance,

“The Gospels are not ‘the gospel,’ the statement of the Christian belief.”

(Introduction to J.B. Phillips’ Letters to Young Churches, p. 8-9)

Where do we find the gospel then, “the statement of the Christian belief,” if not in the Gospels?

Circle back to Gustafson, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Kennedy and Brown.

Against them I say, Jesus himself preached the gospel. We find “the statement of the Christian belief” in his teaching and preaching as preserved in the Gospels, and elsewhere in the New Testament. I urge readers not to pit Paul and the rest of the New Testament against Jesus and the Gospels.

The entirety of the New Testament presents the statement of the Christian belief.

 

[MatthewG]

Did you know the New Testament is not the New Testament? It is the apostolic record. The New Testament is actually where God writes his laws on our hearts and minds and he indwells us by his Holy Spirit.

 

[Matthias]

“Simon Peter replied, ‘Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life.’”

(John 6:68, NLT)

“Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.’”

(John 6:68, NASB)

“Simon Peter spoke up. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘who can we go to? You’re the one who’s got the words of the life of the coming age!’”

(John 6:68, NTE)

 

[Robert Gwin]

Romans 10:12-21

“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; for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 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 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!” 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 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.””
‭‭Romans‬ ‭10:12-21‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

Why do you suppose the translators of your Bible version chose to use Lord instead of Jehovah which was in Joel 2:32 the quoted verse Matt? Who is it verse 14 and 15 is referring to, among all the different faiths, who is making God's name available to call upon?

One of the saddest alterations found in God's word sir, who do you think is responsible for that?

 

[MatthewG]

@Robert Gwin I understand you are much older than me many people on this website are, some possibly younger. (I don’t care how old people are or young they are).

Why do you focus about bible translations? Do you believe the Jehovah witness Bible is the only Bible a person needs to learn from, all the while it has a incorrect text in John 1:1?

https://www.jw.org/en/search/?q=John+1:1&link=/results/E/all?q=

It is assumed by me that you believe your organization would be the only chosen one of God or something that you and your group of people are possibly better than everyone else on earth because of supposing to “having the right doctrine” just like the group of the “Mormons.”

Isn’t it the Lord Jesus who makes us right with God and that because of him by faith we can be children of God?

You also talk about obey rules and you must do this and do that?

Isn’t it Jesus who gives us rest for our soul, and leads us to having love for God and love for mankind?

or is God angry just because someone doesn’t Go to church or they that are not doing what “other people” may believe they “must” do aside from have faith and love, makes God angry?

Would be curious to know your answer, I love you either way but I get tired of the age old assertions about your “concern” about bible translations.

 

[MatthewG]

@Robert Gwin sorry brother I’ll have to just leave you be and do your own thing. Don’t mind communicating with you at all if you may need anything but to argue translations or that one needs to be part of an organization and stuff is stupid to me Sir. Especially if you see the “translation” you use to be the superior one above all others… when it had a mistranslation in John 1:1. The Mormons do the same thing with their translation… it is cult-like, this is not judging your salvation because you believe in Jesus who came down from heaven born, died in the cross and rose again.

I love you for who you are and may God reward you when you leave this life greatly, and Gods grace and peace be with you through the Lord Yeshua.

 

[Jane_Doe22]

@Robert Gwin sorry brother I’ll have to just leave you be and do your own thing. Don’t mind communicating with you at all if you may need anything but to argue translations or that one needs to be part of an organization and stuff is stupid to me Sir. Especially if you see the “translation” you use to be the superior one above all others… when it had a mistranslation in John 1:1. The Mormons do the same thing with their translation… it is cult-like, this is not judging your salvation because you believe in Jesus who came down from heaven born, died in the cross and rose again.

I love you for who you are and may God reward you when you leave this life greatly, and Gods grace and peace be with you through the Lord Yeshua.

The “Mormon” Bible is the KJV. And also 100% agree that arguing translations is not productive, and that salvation comes from faith in Christ.

 

[ChristisGod]

Romans 10:12-21

“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; for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 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 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!” 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 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.””
‭‭Romans‬ ‭10:12-21‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

shawn has no clue about who the Lord is in Romans 10- he claims the name of the Lord is whatever you want it to be , a higher power and not Jesus ( 15 minutes into the video ).

Scripture says there is NO OTHER NAME( Jesus ) by which men are saved. Acts of the Apostles 4:12.

And Romans 10:8-13 is specifically referring to Jesus as the One Lord a person must confess to be saved.

shawn is a false teacher its that plain and simple. he leads his followers astray from the real Jesus, who is the Lord of all- the Only Lord Jude 1:4.

hope this helps !!!

 

[MatthewG]

Hello Jane this is a book they use to give out on the Mormon side of things.

anyway I’ll have to let @Robert Gwin decide for himself.

The thing that got me so riled up this morning that I hate is “Religious manipulation” it really really hurts to see people who have been manipulated however I’m not here to judge them… it just really makes me sick that this does happen but God is the judge and thank God he sent his son who when we believe on Him and to learn and grow and know Him and God is life eternal.

John 17:3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

 

[Jane_Doe22]

Hello Jane this is a book they use to give out on the Mormon side of things.

The Book of Mormon is not the Bible nor a replacement for it. Rather it’s viewed as a sister. The Bible “Mormons” use is the KJV. This week’s study is on Esther.

 

[MatthewG]

Okay, @Jane_Doe22 . I’m not here defend Jehovah witnesses or Mormons just to point out that “Religious manipulation is a thing”, there are Christian’s in these places too, who don’t follow after everything perhaps an organization teaches.

 

[MatthewG]

shawn has no clue about who the Lord is in Romans 10- he claims the name of the Lord is whatever you want it to be , a higher power and not Jesus ( 15 minutes into the video ).

Scripture says there is NO OTHER NAME( Jesus ) by which men are saved. Acts of the Apostles 4:12.

And Romans 10:8-13 is specifically referring to Jesus as the One Lord a person must confess to be saved.

shawn is a false teacher its that plain and simple. he leads his followers astray from the real Jesus, who is the Lord of all- the Only Lord Jude 1:4.

hope this helps !!!

It is a very good lesson, but perhaps you wouldn’t want to finish the lesson.

Either way, everyone is responsible for themselves in their relationship with God.

Not sure what your deal is with Shawn, but it would be cool to see you do your own verse by verse on video that would be interesting @Christophany.

 

[Michiah-Imla]

shawn has no clue about who the Lord is in Romans 10- he claims the name of the Lord is whatever you want it to be , a higher power and not Jesus ( 15 minutes into the video ).

Good catch!

I confirmed that grave error.

 

[MatthewG]

Good catch!

I confirmed that grave error.

@Michiah-Imla
It would also be interesting to see you to do your own Bible verse by verse. It is one of the most useful and productive and difficult things to do in the world, I think.

 

[Michiah-Imla]

…do your own Bible verse by verse.
It is one of the most useful and productive and difficult things to do in the world, I think.

I disagree with you Matthew.

The most useful and productive thing to do is just read your Bible every day as frequently as possible.

Yet this seems to be the most difficult thing for men to do. We often get bored with the “same ‘ol same ‘ol”.

This mindset is easy to succumb to and is constantly harassing. And there’s plenty of study “helps” (leaven) out there to scratch that itch.

Stay focused on the word and tell that voice to take a hike (works for me).

 

[ChristisGod]

@Michiah-Imla
It would also be interesting to see you to do your own Bible verse by verse. It is one of the most useful and productive and difficult things to do in the world, I think.

I've done it with Romans 10 and I have with Psalms 22 but you refused to read it because it was to long.

 

[MatthewG]

I've done it with Romans 10 and I have with Psalms 22 but you refused to read it because it was to long.

I’m not just talking about Romans 10, or Psalm 22 my friend. I’m talking about the gospels and all the letters all together, also @Michiah-Imla.

I’ve only got half way done with Mark and did the book of James personally.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2YYjMIklIRE-ETN-hHDP_yYWCGLLtluN

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2YYjMIklIREIxixdSB0YQfQChekhuJVM


This stuff is tough.