Tuesday, June 14, 2022

Romans Chapter Ten Does Not Refer To The Salvation Of Physical Israel

Romans 10:9-11, “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.

There is a horrible false teaching circulating on the internet and in many churches today, which errantly teaches that Romans chapter 10 has nothing to do with the spiritual salvation of the Jews (and the Gentiles too for that matter). This Zionist heresy claims that Romans chapter 10 only refers to the future physical salvation of the nation of Israel, and not to individual Jews. I couldn't disagree more, for several reason:
  1. Paul was not writing to Israel, but to believers. The Epistle of Romans according to Romans 1:7 was written "To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ." Paul was not writing to Israel, but to believers. Paul makes his appeal to them to preach the Gospel to the unsaved Jews:
    Romans 10:14-15, "How then shall they [the Jews] call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!"
    Clearly, Paul is recruiting soulwinners from Rome to preach the Gospel to Israel. Certainly, Romans 10 is about eternal salvation. The only salvation which God offers to blind Israel today is to be graffed back into to their olive tree by faith. Romans 11:23, "And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again." But all Jews who refuse to believe on Jesus Christ will go to burn in Hell forever, without hope. There has always been only ONE plan of salvation, which is through faith in Christ. Acts 10:43, "To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins." People in the Old Testament (both Jews and Gentiles) were saved by faith alone (Genesis 15:6; Habakkuk 2:4).
  2. The entire chapter of Romans 10 is definitely about spiritual salvation. I strongly disagree with those who think Romans 10 has nothing to do with being born-again. The first few verses of Romans 10 plainly reveal that the author is absolutely talking about salvation. Romans 10:1-4, "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." The apostle Paul is saying that Judaism (keeping the Mosaic law) is a false plan of salvation. Paul addresses this same falsehood of Judaism in the Epistle of Galatians (Galatians 3:1-3; 5:4). Paul asserts in Romans 10:4, "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." Romans 4:5, "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Paul's earnest desire was for those Jews who were trying to merit Heaven through works (keeping the Mosaic law), to repent (change their mind) and come to Christ by faith alone to be saved. This is very clearly the message of Romans 10. Paul's desire was for Judaizers to get saved. Romans 10:5-10 contrasts the righteousness which comes from keeping the law (which no man has ever achieved because NO ONE can perfectly keep the law), versus the righteousness of God which is by faith alone in Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:9). Salvation is a matter of the heart, to "BELIEVE ON HIM" (John 6:28-29, 40). John 6:47, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life."
  3. Those who claim that Romans 10 only applies to the physical salvation of the nation of Israel are basing an entire doctrine on a single passage of Scripture. I like what Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) said: "A good rule to follow when interpreting the Bible is to never use an obscure passage to contradict a clear one." Romans 10:9-10 is an obscure passage. That is, it raises questions and can be interpreted different ways. The Gospel of John according to John 20:31 is God's Gospel tract, "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." Nowhere in the Gospel of John is the reader taught to confess, call, pray, repent of sins, invite Christ into our life, get water baptized, run the race, follow Christ as "Lord," nor anything else, except to "BELIEVE ON HIM" (Jesus Christ). In chapter's 19 and 20 we read about Christ's death on the cross, burial and bodily resurrection, which is "the Gospel" according to 1st Corinthians 15:1-4, by which all who believe are saved. Thus, we can logically conclude that in Romans 10:9-10 Paul was simply saying that a believer confesses with their mouth as a result of having believed in their heart. Jesus said in Luke 6:45, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” Out of the heart the mouth speaketh. That is all that I believe Paul is simply saying in Romans 10:9-10. We must be careful not to add words to what the Bible plainly says (Proverbs 30:5-6). Romans 10:4 and Romans 10:10 are clear and plain that a person is saved by BELIEVING IN THEIR HEART on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:30-31). The proponents of the heresy that Romans 10 only refers to the future salvation of the NATION of Israel, claim that since confession is required to be saved here, that this passage cannot refer to spiritual salvation by faith alone in Christ. However, as I have just shown you from the Bible, Paul wasn't requiring confession with your mouth to be saved; but rather, he was simply saying that we confess Christ audibly as saints because of the faith in our heart. Not one verse in Romans chapter 10, nor anywhere else in the Bible that I can find, teaches that Jews will need to publicly confess Christ in the future for their physical nation to be saved. That is a strange doctrine!!! Jesus said that out of the abundance of a man's heart the mouth speaketh. Again, a good rule to follow when interpreting the Bible is to never use an obscure passage to contradict a clear one.
  4. God is not a respecter of person. In my humble opinion, it is a mistake to say that Romans 10 only applies to Israel. Romans 10:12-13, "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." Clearly, God is no respecter of persons and does not differentiate between Jews and Gentiles (Galatians 3:28-29). God desires for all men to be saved, and will save WHOSOEVER believes (relies upon) the "Good News" (Gospel) of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, the Apostle Paul didn't write his epistle of Romans to Israel, but to all the saints in Rome (Romans 1:7). In Romans 10:1 Paul said, “Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved." Notice that Paul didn't use the pronoun “ye,” but “they.” He is grammatically writing in the third person here, speaking about the Jews, not to the Jews. Paul desires for Israel to be spiritually saved.
  5. God will restore the physical nation of Israel when Jesus Christ returns after the 7-year Tribulation. God raised up Babylon to destroy Jerusalem in 586 BC, ending the kingdom of Israel. We learn in Hosea 3:4-5 that God will someday in the future restore the physical nation of Israel, when a remnant of Jews turn toward God through faith in Jesus Christ. God destroyed the physical nation of Israel because of His people's spiritual harlotry with idols. First with the destruction of the northern kingdom by Assyria in 722 BC; and then in 586 BC by Babylon. But God is not done with the nation of Israel, He will restore the physical nation someday. However, only born-again Jews and Gentile (who are all ONE in Christ the Bible says in Galatians 3:28-29) will inhabit the rebuilt nation of Israel. No Christ-rejecting Jew will ever enter into God's Kingdom, nor enter into Heaven, nor enter into the Promised Land in the future; but rather, they will be cast by the angels into the Lake of Fire forever (Revelation 20:11-15; 21:8). Jews do NOT have a separate or different plan of salvation than do the Gentiles. Acts 10:43, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through  his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” ALL the prophets testified of salvation through faith in the coming Messiah.
  6. To say that Romans 10 only applies to the future salvation of Israel is to say that there are two Gospels. This doctrine is strange indeed. Proponents of the lie that Romans 10 has nothing to do with spiritual salvation, believe that future Jews will be required by God to audibly and publicly CONFESS with their mouth Jesus Christ to facilitate the salvation of the NATION of Israel. But the Bible does NOT teach that at all. Hosea 3:4-5, “For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.” God will restore the true nation of Israel when the Jews repent of their unbelief and BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ. They will not have a different plan of salvation than Gentiles or Jews do presently. There has always been only one plan of salvation, which is through faith in Christ (Acts 10:43; Romans 4:4-7).
Romans 10 makes it clear that a man is saved by believing the Gospel in his heart. We know that public confession is not necessary to be saved, because among the chief rulers "many believed on Him" to be saved in John 12:42-43, "but they did not confess Him" for fear of persecution from the religious Pharisees. The Bible says they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God, but they were still saved, because they believed on Christ. One proponent of the Romans 10 Israel heresy, insisted to me that those chief rulers didn't really get saved in John 12:42-43. Dear reader, that is preposterous! The Bible says many believed on Him. If you don't think they got saved, then what would be the purpose of John telling us they BELIEVED? Yes, they most certainly did get saved. And if you don't believe they got saved, maybe you're not saved, because the only thing which God requires to get to Heaven is simple childlike faith in the Good News of Christ crucified, buried and risen the third day. Dear friend, one big thing that I have learned in my 42 years of being a born-again believer is that the Bible is very simple. Anytime that someone starts complicating the Word of God, you know that they have got it WRONG!!!

We can only logically conclude that "confess with thy mouth" in Romans 10:9-10 refers to confessing Jesus because we have believed in our heart. In other words, we don't confess Christ audibly to be saved; but rather, because we are saved. This is NOT required to be saved; but rather, it is simply a natural thing that many people choose to do. What if a person was mute, and couldn't speak? Does that mean they cannot be saved? Does that mean God makes an exception for them? That would be silly. There is and always has been, and always will be, only ONE GOSPEL. Galatians 1:6, “ I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.” As we just read, there is only ONE GOSPEL. If people had been saved differently in the Old Testament, then the Bible would have said so, but it doesn't. If people will be saved differently in the future, then the Bible would have said so, but it doesn't. It is ridiculous to separate the future physical restoration of Israel, from the saving Gospel of grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ. God will not save any unbelieving Jews! They will be utterly destroyed and cast into Hell forever. Romans 2:28-29 is very clear that only born-again Jews are true Jews in God's sight:
Romans 2:28-29, “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.”
Unbelieving Jews are mere sinners bound for Hell. Saved Jews are of the spiritual seed of Abraham, and so are ALL Gentiles of the Spiritual seed of Abraham. Galatians 3:29, “And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Beware of Zionist heresy (both political and theological) that idolizes manmade Israel since 1948. God promised to restore the nation of future Israel when the Jews repent toward God, which hasn't happened yet, and won't happen until Christ's Second Coming (Hosea 3:4-5).
No unsaved Jew will ever go to Heaven, nor see the Promised Land in the future. Romans 10:9-10 refers to being born-again, by simply trusting Jesus Christ as one's Savior, believing that He died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and then miraculously resurrected three days later. This is the Gospel, the Good News, or Glad Tidings, by which all who BELIEVE IT are immediately, irrevocably and permanently saved (1st Corinthians 15:1-4).

Just because the Apostle Paul mentions, that those who believe on Christ to be saved make a public declaration of their faith with their mouth, doesn't in any way contradict or change God's simple plan of salvation. I agree with Pastor Max Younce's interpretation of this passage. The Jews had been warned by the wicked unsaved religious Pharisees, that anyone who confessed Christ would be kicked out of the synagogue (John 12:42-43). So Paul in Romans 10:9-10 is countering that evil rule, simply saying that it is normal for a person to confess with their mouth, their faith in Christ after they've been saved, and Paul encourages them TO DO SO. Every child of God should confess publicly our faith in Jesus Christ. But if we don't, we are still secure and safe in God's promise of eternal life, which is a free gift (Romans 5:15-18).

Paul wasn't adding a new requirement to the Gospel just for the Jews, nor was he referring to the physical salvation of the future nation of Israel, which is absurd. It is very clear from Romans 10:1-4 that Paul is absolutely speaking about getting saved here, individually. It is bizarre to me, that anyone would totally ignore this beautiful passage of Scripture in Romans 10:1-4, to say that verses 9 and 10 have nothing to do with being born-again.

The apostle goes on in versus 10 through 15 to say that a lost sinner ultimately cannot be saved unless they have a preacher. Lost sinners need THE GOSPEL!!! Again, how in the world can anyone ignore all this truth and claim that Romans 10 only applies to the physical salvation in the nation of Israel? Zionism rots the brain! Please run from the retarded Zionist garbage circulating on the internet, religious colleges and in many churches today. Jews are no better than Gentiles, nor does God have a more earnest desire in His heart for Jews to be saved than Gentiles. The inhabitants of Heaven rejoice just as loud and exuberantly when an African American gets saved than some Jewish rabbi. God is no respecter of persons!

What about Romans 10:12-13, “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.” When I got saved at age 13, I called upon the Lord in my soul. That is, I asked Jesus to save me, and He gratefully did. Now, I was saved before I even cried out to Christ, because I already believed on Him just seconds before. The word “call” here doesn't mean to pray. In old English it was standard for businesses to say: “Please call again!” That simply meant that they hoped you would return and give them the privilege to serve you.

God wants to save all sinners (2nd Peter 3:9), even the vilest of mass-murdering criminals. Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6-9). That means He died for you too! It would be God's privilege to save even the worst sinner upon the face of the earth. But the only way anyone can be saved is through faith in Jesus Christ. John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Romans 10:13-17 simply reinforces the truth in Romans 10:9-10, that in order for a person to come to Christ, they must believe in their heart. You don't get saved when you call, but when you believe. However, it is a normal response to hearing the Gospel that someone would be compelled to call upon the name of the Lord to be saved. But truthfully, they got saved the first moment that they BELIEVED, which is exactly what the entire Gospel of John teaches (John 6:28-29; 40).

Acts 2:41, “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” Those 3,000 sinners were instantly saved simply when they GLADY RECEIVED HIS WORD. What word? Well of course, THE GOSPEL which the Apostle Peter preached unto them on the Day of Pentecost. Galatians 3:2, “This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? I love that verse! I love it! I love it! I love it!!! The Apostle Paul in his epistle to the churches of Galatian, just wanted to know one thing from them—How did you get saved? Paul asked them how they received the indwelling Holy Spirit (i.e., how did they get saved). Was it by the KEEPING OF THE LAW (aka, “turn away from your sins to be saved” lie); or was it by the HEARING OF FAITH? Boy, I sure love the simplicity of the Gospel. What Paul means is that a sinner gets saved by simply placing their faith in the Good News (Gospel) of Jesus Christ when we hear it preached.

What saith the Scripture? Hebrews 4:1-2, “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For 40 long years the Jews heard the Gospel preached unto them by Moses, but they didn't have any faith in what they heard, so they perished in the Wilderness and sadly went to Hell. I love these simple passages of Scripture, which show us how easy it is to be saved to go to Heaven. Can anyone actually claim that Romans chapter 10 has nothing to do with God's gift of eternal life? Romans 10:4 plainly says, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. This Bible verse applies to every human being that has ever been born!!!

Romans 10:14b asks the$64,000 question: “and how shall they hear without a preacher?” Romans 10:15a, “And how shall they preach, except they be sent?” Oh, what a responsibility we have as God's redeemed children to preach the Gospel. We are Christ's ambassadors to this evil world (2nd Corinthians 5:20-21). Literally, we represent the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Paul is recruiter soulwinners in Rome. Paul is stirring up the saints at Rome, to go preach the Gospel to Israel, so they may be saved by faith alone in Jesus Christ, who is the end of the law to them that BELIEVE. I am frustrated by those heretics who totally disregard Roman chapter 10, claiming that it only applies to the physical salvation of the nation of Israel, and not getting people saved. They simply cannot back up their false claims with the inspired King James Bible...
Romans 10:16-21, “But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.”
As we just read, the prophet Isaiah boldly reached out in love to the Jews ALL DAY LONG with the truth, but they were disobedient and gainsaying (they challenged and disputed everything Isaiah preached to them). Here is the Old Testament passage which is quoted by Paul:
Isaiah 65:2-3, “I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts; A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick;”
The Israelites were sinfully practicing idol worship. They were a rebellious people. They rejected the Gospel. They all went to Hell, those who did not trust in Christ. As you can clearly see for yourself, Romans chapter 10 is all about spiritual salvation, and not the salvation of a physical nation. There is no physical salvation except to those who accept God's spiritual salvation first, which is only obtained through childlike faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 10:3-4; Philippians 3:9). Amen and amen!

I see this happen so often, where people who don't understand the Word of God, wrest it to fit their own flawed understanding. Since Romans 10:9-13 seems to present a different Gospel than the Gospel of John, some Bible students errantly conclude that this must be a different plan of salvation for future Israel. Folks, that is bad Bible interpretation. If Romans 10 were only applicable to the future salvation of the physical nation of Israel, then the Bible would have plainly told us so, but it doesn't! You have to wrest, stretch, bend and pervert the Holy Bible in order to conclude that Romans chapter 10 is not about being born-again through faith alone in Jesus Christ. Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) is so right:  "A good rule to follow when interpreting the Bible is to never use an obscure passage to contradict a clear one."

Although I tremendously admire Pastor Peter S. Ruckman (1921-2016), he was very wrong in some of his theology. Most notably, his teaching that people were saved by faith plus works in the Old Testament. Nothing could be any further from the truth! Acts 10:43 plainly teaches that ALL THE PROPHETS give witness to remission of sins through faith alone in Christ. Romans 4:4 is very clear that if salvation at any time in human civilization has, or ever will be, by works, then God would OWE that person salvation (which means it could not be by grace). Well, we know that salvation has always been, and always will be, solely by God's wondrous mercy (not giving us what we deserve) and grace (giving us what we don't deserve).

So, if you understand this foundational truth (that future Jews during the Tribulation period will be saved THE SAME way that all saints have been throughout history), then it makes no sense why anyone would claim Romans 10 is not about the same salvation. Thank you for reading my blogs. I sincerely love you in Christ, whoever you may be. Jesus is precious!!!

False Prophet John Hagee: Zionism Is A False Doctrine Of The Devil

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