From Commentary
on The Epistles of Paul to The Romans by Cornelius Stam pages
213-215,
Copyright,
1984 BEREAN LITERATURE FOUNDATION 7609
W. Belmont Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60635
"That
if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt
believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved.
"For
with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation. "For the Scripture saith,
Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.
"For
there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same
Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him.
"For
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
-Rom.
10:9-13
In
these sublime words the Apostle Paul sets forth God's simple plan of
salvation in this "dispensation of the grace of God." This,
he says, is "the word of faith, which we preach." How
grateful we should be that both Jews and Gentiles are included in
this program while God's blessings to Israel as a nation
are
being held in abeyance!
The
alarming extent to which the Church has departed from Paul's "gospel
of the grace of God," however, is evidenced by the fact that
today even many Fundamentalists, who claim to preach "the word
of faith," have introduced into the very words of Paul in Vers.
9-11 the element of meritorious works.
How
often babes in Christ are urged to get to their feet in public
testimony on the basis of these words! They are reminded that, in
addition to believing, "if thou shalt confess with thy mouth...
thou shalt be saved" (Rom. 10:9).
Frequently
Christian workers, not rightly dividing the Word of truth, support
this argument by an appeal to the words of our Lord in Matt.
10:32,33:
“Whosoever
therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before
My Father which is in heaven. "But whosoever shall deny Me
before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in
heaven."
And
thus the element of meritorious works is injected into "the word
of faith, which we preach." Newborn babes in Christ are given to
feel that a heart faith is not enough to make them secure; that not
until they have risen in public testimony is their salvation fully
confirmed.
While
few of our leading Fundamentalists would stand by any explicit
statement to that effect, we dare say that most of them in their
comments on these verses give the impression that this is so.
But
what, then, does the Apostle mean by these words? Does he not plainly
say, "If thou shalt confess... thou shalt be saved"? Yes,
but here again, as with so many other passages of Scripture, a
traditional meaning has been super-imposed upon the actual words of
God.
What
does the English word "confess" mean? Simply to
"acknowledge," to"admit." And this is exactly
what the original Greek word means too, nor does Rom. 10:9,10 say
anything about confessing before men.
The
trouble is that the idea of confession has been changed to
profession-even public profession-and multitudes have followed the
tradition of the fathers instead of examining the Word to see what it
actually says. Thus "the word of faith" has been perverted.
But,
it may be argued, does not the Apostle clearly say, "If thou
shalt confess with thy mouth... thou shalt be saved"? Indeed he
does, and he adds, "and shalt believe in thine heart."
Let
us consider this thoughtfully. Is it with the physical organ which
pumps blood into our veins that we believe in Christ as our Savior?
No! All admit that this is merely a figure of speech; that somehow
the heart is associated with believing. Yet some would insist that it
is with the physical mouth that we must confess in order to be saved.
Can mutes then not be saved? And what does the Apostle mean in Acts
28:27, where he quotes Isaiah's words: "And their eyes have they
closed."
Must
we not see that the heart and mouth in Romans 10 are both used
symbolically? While believing is naturally associated with the heart,
confessing is naturally associated with the mouth.
If
indeed the Apostle meant that with the physical mouth public
"profession" must be made for salvation, then salvation is
not by faith alone after all, but by faith plus works. If, not only
before men, but before God as well, a question mark is placed after
the name of the believer who has not testified before men, then most
assuredly, salvation is not "the word of faith, which we
preach."
The
Apostle says that we must confess and believe to be saved. This is
different, and here quite naturally the heart and mouth become
symbolically significant.
As
if anticipating the misinterpretation of his words, the
Spirit-inspired Apostle continues:
"For
the Scripture saith, Whosoever BELIEVETH on Him shall note ashamed"
(Ver. 11).
"For
whosoever shall CALL upon the name of the Lord shall be saved"
(Ver. 13).
This
is "the word of faith, which we preach."
It
is when the sinner comes to the end of himself and confesses,
acknowledges that Jesus is Lord, and believes in Him as the risen,
living Savior, that he is saved. Any work of righteousness he might
add for salvation would be useless, for salvation is "by
grace... through faith... not of works" (Eph. 2:8,9). And so:
“With
the heart man BELIEVETH" (Ver. 10).
"With
the mouth CONFESSION is made" (Ver. 10).
"For
whosoever BELIEVETH on Him shall not be ashamed" (Ver. 11).
"For
... whosoever shall CALL upon the name of the Lord shall be saved"
(Ver. 13).
Years
ago a Christian woman kept urging her unsaved husband to attend large
Saturday night evangelistic services. He went, week after week, to
please her. It seemed to her, after a time, however, that he was
under deep conviction, so as they walked home together she asked him,
"Dear, why didn't you go forward tonight?" He replied, "I
guess I'm just a coward. I didn't have the courage to get up out of
my seat and go forward. Maybe next week." But is salvation,
then, by courage or by faith? by some human effort, or by trusting in
the finished work of Christ? Yet this man and his wife had associated
being saved with going forward in a gospel meeting, and there are
multitudes like them.
We
do not for a moment mean to minimize the importance of Christian
testimony. Only, we would not frighten God's dear children into
witnessing for Him. We would not cast doubt upon their salvation just
because they have not had the courage to bear public testimony, nor
give them to feet that salvation is incomplete without human works.
Some of the finest people-and the best Christians-are very retiring,
and find it difficult to ever express themselves publicly. Above all,
we would not adulterate the message of grace, or alter the written
Word of God.”
Commentary
on The Epistles of Paul to The Romans by Cornelius Stam pages
213-215,
Copyright,
1984 BEREAN LITERATURE FOUNDATION
7609
W. Belmont Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60635
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