Quotes & Notes on:
Romans 10:9
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John Wesley's Notes:
If thou confess with thy mouth-Even in time of persecution, when
such a confession may send thee to the lions.
And restest in the law-Dependest on it, though it can only condemn thee.
And gloriest in God-As thy God; and that, too, to the exclusion of
others.
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge:
* That if. Ro 14:11; Mt 10:32,33; Lu 12:8; Joh 9:22; 12:42,43; Php 2:11;
1Jo 4:2,3 2Jo 1:7
* and shalt. Ro 8:34; Joh 6:69-71; 20:26-29; Ac 8:37; 1Co 15:14-18; 1Pe
1:21
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Adam Clarke's Commentary:
That if thou shalt confess, &c.] Acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as
the only Saviour. Believe in thy heart that he who died for thy offences
has been raised for thy justification; and depend solely on him for that
justification, and thou shalt be saved.
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Family Bible Notes:
Confess with thy mouth--believe in thy heart; he mentions these
two things, because both are necessary to salvation--the inward faith in
Christ, and the outward confession of him. That God hath raised him from
the dead; for belief in this includes every thing else. By raising
Christ from the dead, God set his seal to him as the promised Messiah.
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1599 Geneva Bible Notes:
That is indeed true faith which is settled not only in the head, but
also in the heart of man, of which we also give testimony by our outward
life, and which serves Christ as our one and only Saviour, even as he
sets forth himself in his word. (g) If you profess plainly, sincerely,
and openly, that you take Jesus alone to be thy Lord and Saviour. (h)
The Father, who is said to have raised the Son from the dead: and this
is not spoken to exclude the divinity of the Son, but to set forth the
Father's plan, with regard to our redemption in the resurrection of the
Son.
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People's New Testament Commentary:
Because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord. For the
importance which Jesus attached to confession, see Mt 10:32; Lu 12:8,
and compare Ac 8:37. To openly confess Christ in those days of
persecution was a trial of faith of the severest kind. Note distinctly
that there is no promise here to a concealed faith.
And shalt believe in thine heart. That is, with all the heart. The
belief must not be only a mental assent, but a belief that brings the
whole man into loving trust and obedience to Christ. Such a faith is
referred to in Ro 1:5, where the "obedience of faith" is described.
Thou shalt be saved. Such a faith confessed unites its subject to Christ
as his loving subject, and imparts to him the righteousness of those who
have died to sin and been freed from the law. See Ro 6:1-4.
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Robertson's Word Pictures:
If thou shalt confess (ean homologêsêis). Third class condition (ean
and first aorist active subjunctive of homologeô). With thy mouth Jesus
as Lord (en tôi stomati sou Kurion Iêsoun). This is the reading of
nearly all the MSS. But B 71 Clem of Alex. read to rêma en tôi stomati
sou hoti Kurios Iêsous (the word in thy mouth that Jesus is Lord). The
idea is the same, the confession of Jesus as Lord as in 1Co 12:3; Php
2:11. No Jew would do this who had not really trusted Christ, for Kurios
in the LXX is used of God. No Gentile would do it who had not ceased
worshipping the emperor as Kurios. The word Kurios was and is the
touchstone of faith. And shalt believe (kai pisteusêis). Same
construction. Faith precedes confession, of course.
Albert Barnes' Commentary:
That if thou shalt confess. The word here rendered
confess--(omologhshv)--is often rendered profess. Mt 7:23, "Then will I
profess to them I never knew you." Tit 1:16; 3:14; Ro 1:22; 1Ti 2:10;
6:12,13,21; Heb 3:1, etc. It properly means, to speak that which agrees
with something which others speak or maintain. Thus confession or
profession expresses our agreement or concord with what God holds to be
true, and what he declares to be true. It denotes a public declaration
or assent to that, here expressed by the words "with thy mouth." A
profession of religion then denotes a public declaration of our
agreement with what God has declared, and extends to all his
declarations about our lost estate, our sin, and need of a Saviour; to
his doctrines about his own nature, holiness, and law; about the Saviour
and the Holy Spirit; about the necessity of a change of heart and
holiness of life; and about the grave and the judgment; about heaven and
hell. As the doctrine respecting a Redeemer is the main and leading
doctrine, it is put here by way of eminence, as in fact involving all
others; and publicly to express our assent to this, is to declare our
agreement with God on all kindred truths.
With thy mouth. To profess a thing with the mouth is to speak of it; to
declare it; to do it openly and publicly.
The Lord Jesus. Shalt openly acknowledge attachment to Jesus Christ. The
meaning of it may be expressed by regarding the phrase, "the Lord," as
the predicate; or the thing to be confessed is, that he is Lord. Comp.
Ac 2:36; Php 2:11, "And that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord." Here it means to acknowledge him as Lord, i.e., as
having a right to rule over the soul.
Shalt believe in thy heart. Shalt sincerely and truly believe this, so
that the external profession shall correspond with the real, internal
feelings. Where this is not the case, it would be hypocrisy; where this
is the case, there would be the highest sincerity, and this religion
requires.
That God hath raised him. This fact, or article of Christian belief, is
mentioned here because of its great importance, and its bearing on the
Christian system. If this be true, then all is true. Then it is true
that he came forth from God; that he died for sin; and that God approved
and accepted his work. Then it is true that he ascended to heaven, and
is exalted to dominion over the universe, and that he will return to
judge the quick and the dead. For all this was professed and taught; and
all this was regarded as depending on the truth of his having been
raised from the dead. See Php 2:8-11; Eph 1:21; Ac 2:24,32; 17:31; 2Co
4:14; 1Co 15:13-20. To profess this doctrine was, therefore, virtually
to profess all the truths of the Christian religion. No man could
believe this who did not also believe all the truths dependent on it.
Hence the apostles regarded this doctrine as so important, and made it
so prominent in their preaching. See Barnes for Ac 1:3.
Thou shalt be saved. From sin and hell. This is the doctrine of the
gospel throughout; and all this shows that salvation by the gospel was
easy.
{a} "thou shalt confess" 1Jo 4:2.
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Jamieson-Faussett Brown:
That if thou shalt, &c.--So understanding the words, the apostle is here
giving the language of the true method of justification; and this sense
we prefer (with CALVIN, BEZA, FERME, LOCKE, JOWETT). But able
interpreters render the words, "For," or "Because if thou shalt," &c.
[Vulgate, LUTHER, DE WETTE, STUART, PHILIPPI, ALFORD, Revised Version].
In this case, these are the apostle's own remarks, confirming the
foregoing statements as to the simplicity of the gospel method of
salvation.
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus--that is, probably, "If thou shalt
confess Jesus [to be] the Lord," which is the proper manifestation or
evidence of faith (Mt 10:32; 1Jo 4:15). This is put first merely to
correspond with the foregoing quotation--"in thy mouth and in thine
heart." So in 1Pe 1:10 the "calling of believers" is put before their
"election," as that which is first "made sure," although in point of
time it comes after it.
and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised--"that God raised"
him from the dead, &c.--(See on JFB for Ro 4:25). In Ro 10:10 the two
things are placed in their natural order.
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Spurgeon Commentary:
(No comment on this verse).
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William Burkitt's Notes:
Observe here, The two great and principal things which the gospel
requires, in order to our justification and salvation.
The first is, Confession of Christ with our mouth; that is, in all times
of danger, particularly in a time of persecution, to own Christ Jesus
our Lord, and to declare that we will serve him, and adhere to him, be
ruled of him, and expect only to be saved by him.
The second is, To believe in our hearts, that God hath raised Christ
from the dead.
But why is the article of Christ's resurrection only named, seeing faith
respects his birth, life, and death, &c.
Answer Because this article of the resurrection presupposeth all the
rest of the antecedents to it, and consequences of it; as namely, his
incarnation, death, and passion, ascension and intercession.
This article therefore of the resurrection is put for all the rest, and
includes all the rest: for as he could not have risen, had he not first
died, so his death had availed us nothing, unless he had risen again.
Learn hence, 1. That all those who would be accepted with God unto
righteousness and life, must be such as do believe in Christ with the
heart, and openly confess with the mouth, that he is the Son of God, and
the Saviour of the world. If thou confess and believe, thou shalt be
saved.
Learn, 2. That the principal seat and subject of faith is not in the
understanding barely, but in the will, called here the heart: With the
heart man believeth unto righteousness: not the head.
Although knowledge is so necessary to faith, that it is sometimes put
for faith, By his knowledge, or by the knowledge of him, shall my
righteous servant justify many, Isa 53:11; yet there may be much light
in the understanding, where there is no life in the will, much knowledge
in the head, where there is no faith in the heart, nor obedience in the
life. Therefore says the apostle here, With the heart man believeth, &c.
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Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary:
(No comment on this verse).
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The Fourfold Gospel:
(No comment on this verse).
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