Discovery Church or Ignorant Brethren and The F-Word (part 4)

The last post on this response to the post on Pastor Jason''s blog dealing with the topic of forgiveness, the pastor showed his hand in saying and referring to Romans 10:13 as to how a soul is saved. I left off in part 3 of my commentary demonstrating the intended audience, beginning in Romans 9 is not anyone that has been alive for about 2000 years, instead was directed to stumbling, falling, blinded Israel. Today, the stumbling and falling is completed and is not taking place, rather, Israel has fallen and has no standing. Last time, I demonstrated every verse in Romans 9 has Israel's address on it as well as Romans 10 up to and including verse 5. Why would anyone think the Apostle Paul would shift gears in the next few verses and begin dealing with the church, the body of Christ at this point?

• Romans 10:6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
• Romans 10:7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
• Romans 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

Did you see the issue being presented to Israel? Is the gospel of the grace of God being presented anywhere in the scriptures from Romans 9:1 to this point? No, the issue for Israel is faith and accepting their Messiah, Jesus Christ as it was pointed out in the previous chapter in verses 29- 32.

• Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Is the issue being discussed the death, burial and resurrection of Christ as a substitutionary atonement or propitiatory sacrifice? or is the issue the personage of Jesus Christ? The matter of confession is always Israel's issue and language. In the OT book of Mathew we see Jesus sending his men only to Israel and not to Gentiles, and with the message concerning confession of Christ as their Messiah.

• Matthew 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
• Matthew 10:6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
• Matthew 10:32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

Have you noticed the many times Paul says "as it is written" or simply quotes passages from the prophetic books in order to upbraid his kinsmen in the flesh, Israel as to what they missed? The next verse is another example demonstrating to his brethren that they missed their Messiah.

• Romans 10:11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Paul is quoting Old Testament passages showing them Jesus is their Messiah being presented in their books, in this case, the book of Isaiah.

• Isaiah 28:16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

Paul is without a doubt addressing Israel concerning their prophetic program with Christ seated on David's throne in Zion. No where in this passage beginning from Romans 9:1 has Paul presented the gospel of 1ST Corinthians 15:1-4, instead, Paul is speaking their language and addressing their problem being they missed their Messiah and their need to make a decision. That decision would be to accept Jesus as their Messiah. The next verse throws a lot of folks off since it says "Greek" but we must remember there were also Gentile proselytes into the nation Israel such as Cornelius in Acts chapter 10.

• Romans 10:12 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.

I want to stop here before going to the verse in view from the original post, that being Romans 10:13 because that is the verse the Pastor uses to demonstrate how a soul is saved today. What a mess we can make out of our Bibles if we do not pay attention to who is speaking, to whom are they speaking, and do we fit in the audience spoken to. If we fail to heed to those instructions, we can easily demonstrate that salvation would be by works, keeping the commandments or any number of things. It is so important to get it right, your never dying soul relies on your getting it correct. I'll pick up in verse 13 of Romans 10 as I proceed with this commentary next time. Grace and Peace!