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.
9. that if thou shalt, &c.] Here the contents of the “utterance” are given in more detail.
confess with thy mouth ] i.e., practically, “submit to and own Him as supreme for thee.” See, for the demand of such “confession,” Mat 10:32; Luk 12:8. For all adult converts, this was an important feature of Baptism. In all cases, it is to be a test of the intelligence and reality of the faith of which it is a fruit. “ Confession ” is here put before “believing,” because in Deuteronomy “the mouth” had been named before “the heart.” In the order of experience, of course, faith precedes confession.
the Lord Jesus ] Better, Jesus as Lord; i.e., as Supreme and Eternal; the all-blessed Son. Cp. 1Co 12:3; where light is thrown on the deep reality and significance of the confession meant here. St Paul here refers back to the “who shall ascend?” of Rom 10:6: Jesus, as Lord, is He “who is in Heaven,” (Joh 3:13,) who came thence, and is the way thither.
that God hath raised him, &c.] Cp. Heb 13:20; where the “bringing again of the Great Shepherd from the dead,” by the Father, is the full and final proof that the Father is the God of Peace; i.e. of Reconciliation, of Justification. See too above, Rom 4:24-25, Rom 5:1; and 1Th 1:10. The belief in the Resurrection here is not merely historical belief, (which yet is indispensable to all other belief in it,) but “heart” belief; the perception and cordial embrace of what the Resurrection reveals and imports as to the Risen One and His work. Here, obviously, the “who shall descend?” of Rom 10:7 is referred to.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
That if thou shalt confess – The word here rendered confess homologeo is often rendered profess; Mat 7:23, Then will I profess to them, I never knew you; Tit 1:16; Tit 3:14; Rom 1:22; 1Ti 2:10; 1Ti 6:12-13, 1Ti 6:21; Heb 3:1, etc. It properly means to speak what 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; compare Act 2:36; Phi 2:11, And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Here it means to acknowledge him as Lord, that is, 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 Phi 2:8-11; Eph 1:21; Act 2:24, Act 2:32-33; Act 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 the note at Act 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.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 9. 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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
q.d. There are but these two things, which the gospel principally requires in order to our salvation: the one is, the confession of Christ with our mouths, and that in spite of all persecution and danger, to own him for our Lord, and for our Jesus; and to declare, that we are and will be ruled and saved by him, and by him only. The other is, to believe in our hearts,
that God hath raised him from the dead. This article of the resurrection of Christ presupposeth all the rest, and fasteneth together, as by a link, all the antecedents and consequents of it; his ascension, session at the right hand of God, and intercession, which followed after. This article therefore, by a figure, is put for all the rest; and this is mentioned, because the death and passion of Christ had availed us nothing, unless he had risen again; for thereby he obtained a perfect victory over sin, death, and damnation, for all the elect. This is the principal ground of our justification, as hath been said, Rom 4:25.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. That if thou shalt, c.Sounderstanding the words, the apostle is here giving the language ofthe true method of justification and this sense we prefer (withCALVIN, BEZA,FERME, LOCKE,JOWETT). But ableinterpreters render the words, “For,” or “Because ifthou shalt,” c. [Vulgate, LUTHER,DE WETTE,STUART, PHILIPPI,ALFORD, RevisedVersion]. In this case, these are the apostle’s own remarks,confirming the foregoing statements as to the simplicity of thegospel method of salvation.
confess with thy mouth theLord Jesusthat is, probably, “If thou shalt confess Jesus[to be] the Lord,” which is the proper manifestation or evidenceof faith (Mat 10:32 1Jn 4:15).This is put first merely to correspond with the foregoingquotation”in thy mouth and in thine heart.” So in 1Pe1:10 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 thineheart that God hath raised“that God raised”
him from the dead,&c.(See on Ro 4:25). InRo 10:10 the two things areplaced in their natural order.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,…. That is, if a man shall make a good, sincere, and hearty confession to God, before the church and people of God, and before the world, that Christ is his Lord and Saviour, whom he desires to serve, and to be saved by; and this as arising from a comfortable experience of the grace of God in his soul, and from a true faith in Christ in his heart, wherefore it follows,
and shall believe in thine heart, that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved; for this article of Christ’s resurrection includes the several other articles of faith: it supposes his death, and that supposes his life, and the obedience of it; and his life implies his being here on earth, and that his coming down from heaven to do the will of his Father; and this is the rather mentioned, which is here ascribed to God the Father, though not to the exclusion of the Son and Spirit, because that Christ is risen again for our justification, with which true faith is principally concerned; for such a faith is intended, not which lies in a mere assent to the truth of this, or any other article of the Christian religion; but which is concerned with Christ for righteousness, life, and glory; and with such a faith salvation is certainly and inseparably connected.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
If thou shalt confess ( ). Third class condition ( and first aorist active subjunctive of ).
With thy mouth Jesus as Lord ( ). This is the reading of nearly all the MSS. But B 71 Clem of Alex. read (the word in thy mouth that Jesus is Lord). The idea is the same, the confession of Jesus as Lord as in 1Cor 12:3; Phil 2:11. No Jew would do this who had not really trusted Christ, for in the LXX is used of God. No Gentile would do it who had not ceased worshipping the emperor as . The word was and is the touchstone of faith.
And shalt believe ( ). Same construction. Faith precedes confession, of course.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
That [] . So rendered as expressing the contents of the word of faith; but better because, giving a proof that the word is nigh. Confess and believe, correspond to mouth and heart.
The Lord Jesus [ ] . Others, however, read to rJhma ejn tw stomati sou oti kuriov Ihsouv If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the word that Jesus is Lord. Rev., Jesus as Lord.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1 ) “That if thou shalt confess,” (hoti ean homologeses) “Because if thou confessest,” if you or anyone confesses, discloses or makes known by audible testimony, Psa 107:2.
2) “With thy mouth the Lord Jesus,” (en to stomati sou kurion lesoun) “With your mouth (the) Lord Jesus”; One may be saved, as a secret disciple, without publicly saying so, but it is feared such will be saved, “as if by fire,” without rewards, as was Joseph until the death of our Lord, Joh 19:38; 1Co 3:15; Mat 10:32; Luk 12:8; Act 8:37. One is to confess that Jesus is his Lord, to honor him.
3) “And shalt believe in thine heart,” (kai pisteuses en te kardia soul” and dost believe in your heart;- The heart pricked or convicted by the Spirit, can obey God by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, Act 2:37; Pro 1:23; to believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for our sins, according to the scripture, is obeying the gospel, and the form of doctrine, 1Co 15:1-4; Rom 6:17; Rom 10:16; Luk 24:25.
4) “That God hath raised him,” (hoti ho theos auton egeiren) “That the (true) God, the Trinitarian One raised him”; to reject the resurrection of Jesus Christ, according to the scriptures, is to be lost forever. If he be dead, yet in his grave, he cannot intercede for our sins, and we are still in them, lost, doomed; a dead man can help no one, 1Co 15:17.
5) “From the dead,” (ek nekron) “Out from among dead corpses,” from the city of the dead. When one believes in the living Saviour, raised from the dead, the Holy Spirit enters, quickens, imparts spiritual and eternal life to him and seals him to the day of redemption, Joh 3:3; Joh 3:5; Joh 6:63; Eph 1:13-14; Rom 8:11.
6) “Thou shalt be saved,” (sothese) “Thou wilt be saved,” or the one who trusts (believes) will be saved, not may or might or has a good chance of it. This is blessed assurance because our Saviour is alive to intercede, Rev 1:18; Heb 7:25; Joh 5:24.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
9. That if thou wilt confess, etc. Here is also an allusion, rather than a proper and strict quotation: for it is very probable that Moses used the word mouth, by taking a part for the whole, instead of the word face, or sight. But it was not unsuitable for the Apostle to allude to the word mouth, in this manner: — “Since the Lord sets his word before our face, no doubt he calls upon us to confess it.” For wherever the word of the Lord is, it ought to bring forth fruit; and the fruit is the confession of the mouth.
By putting confession before faith, he changes the order, which is often the case in Scripture: for the order would have been more regular if the faith of the heart had preceded, and the confession of the mouth, which arises from it, had followed. (326) But he rightly confesses the Lord Jesus, who adorns him with his own power, acknowledging him to be such an one as he is given by the Father, and described in the gospel.
Express mention is made only of Christ’s resurrection; which must not be so taken, as though his death was of no moment, but because Christ, by rising again, completed the whole work of our salvation: for though redemption and satisfaction were effected by his death, through which we are reconciled to God; yet the victory over sin, death, and Satan was attained by his resurrection; and hence also came righteousness, newness of life, and the hope of a blessed immortality. And thus is resurrection alone often set before us as the assurance of our salvation, not to draw away our attention from his death, but because it bears witness to the efficacy and fruit of his death: in short, his resurrection includes his death. On this subject we have briefly touched in the sixth chapter.
It may be added, that Paul requires not merely an historical faith, but he makes the resurrection itself its end. For we must remember the purpose for which Christ rose again; — it was the Father’s design in raising him, to restore us all to life: for though Christ had power of himself to reassume his soul, yet this work is for the most part ascribed in Scripture to God the Father.
(326) “He puts ‘mouth’ before ‘heart,’” says [ Pareus ], “for he follows the order in which they are given by Moses, and for this reason, because we know not faith otherwise than by profession.”
This is one of the many instances both in the New and Old Testament, in which the most apparent act is mentioned first, and then the most hidden, or in which the deed is stated first, and then the principle from which it proceeds. See Rom 13:13. And we have here another instance of the Apostle’s style; he reverses the order in Rom 10:10, mentioning faith first, and confession last. The two verses may be thus rendered, —
9. That if thou wilt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, And believe in thine heart that God raised him from the dead, Thou shalt be saved.
10. For with the heart we believe unto righteousness, And with the mouth we confess unto salvation.
He begins and ends with confession, and in the middle clauses he mentions faith. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(9) If thou shalt confess with thy mouth.Interesting as containing the earliest formal confession of faith; that in Act. 8:37 (see Note there) is not genuine.
There is no opposition between the outward confession and the inward act of faith. The one is regarded as the necessary consequence and expression of the other. In the next verse this takes the form of Hebrew parallelism, in which the balanced clauses are regarded as equivalent to each other.
The Lord Jesus.Jesus as Lord.
Hath raised him from the dead.Comp. Rom. 4:25. Though the death of Christ apprehended by faith is more especially the cause of the Christians salvation, still the Apostle regards the Resurrection as the cardinal point; for without the Resurrection the proof of the Messiahship of Jesus would have been incomplete, and His death would not have had its saving efficacy.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. That Rather, because, as depending upon nigh thee.
Mouth heart St. Paul follows the order of Moses in these two words; though, in the ordinary order of cause and effect, the latter is the fountain from which the stream flows through the former. And so Paul reverses the order in Rom 10:10. Moses, however, accustomed to outer confession, penetrates from the outward inwardly to the heart.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Because if you will confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and will believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved,”
What was required in order to be saved was confessing with the mouth Jesus as LORD, and believing in the heart that God had raised Him from the dead, (that is, had vindicated Him as the true Messiah, as the only One so raised). An open willingness to confess with the mouth what we believe about Jesus was thus seen as important. As Jesus had said to His disciples, ‘everyone therefore who will confess Me before men, him will I also confess you before My Father in Heaven’ (Mat 12:32). The main idea behind this was not so much witnessing, as being willing to take a stand when challenged. So to receive the righteousness which comes from faith it was necessary to take an open stand on the fact that Jesus is LORD (some see this as signifying a confession at adult baptism, but while that may be partly in mind it must not be limited to that. See Mat 12:32; Php 2:11; 1Co 12:3), and to believe that God had vindicated Him and revealed the truth about Him through the resurrection, thereby demonstrating that He is the true and only Son of God (Rom 1:3-4). In other words receiving the righteousness that comes from faith requires belief in Who Jesus really is, ‘the Son of God with power’, and belief in Him, and open acknowledgement of Him, as LORD.
The word ‘LORD’ here has in mind the title of YHWH in the Old Testament. At some stage (although we do not know how early, for pre-Christian evidence for LXX is very limited) YHWH was almost always translated as ‘LORD (kurios)’ in the LXX except when YHWH was linked with adonai (‘Lord’), and is so translated in many English versions (ASV is an exception). There is certainly evidence that prior to the time of Jesus the Jews were doing this orally. And it is quite clear from Old Testament citations in the New Testament that the early church did the same from the beginning (Act 2:21; Act 2:25). Thus the use of LORD (kurios) to signify YHWH is clearly attested. This is why Paul can constantly link God the Father with the LORD Jesus Christ on equal terms. He is thereby indicating their co-equality. Php 2:9-11 confirms this by informing us that, as a consequence of His resurrection, Jesus was declared to be LORD, which is the Name above every Name (i.e. the Name of YHWH), and had to be confessed as such, to the glory of God the Father, with people acknowledging Jesus as YHWH by bowing the knee and confessing Him as LORD (Php 2:10-11 with Isa 44:23). Compare also the equating of God with LORD in 1Co 8:6.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rom 10:9. That if thou shalt confess, &c. St. Paul had told them, Rom 10:4. (says Mr. Locke) that the end of the law was to bring them to life by faith in Christ, that they might be justified, and so be saved. To convince them of this, he brings three verses out of the book of the law itself, declaring that the way to life was by hearkening to that word, which was ready in their mouth, and in their heart; and that therefore they had no reason to reject Jesus, the Christ, because he died, was removed into heaven, and remote from them. Their very law proposed life to them by something nigh them, which might lead them to their Deliverer; namely, by words and doctrines, which might always be at hand, in their mouths, and in their hearts, and so lead them to Christ; that is, to that faith in him which the Apostle preached. We may observe farther from this place, that the expectation of the Jews was, that the promised Messiah should be their deliverer; in which they were right: but that which they expected to be delivered from at his appearing, was the power and dominion of temporal, not spiritual enemies. When our Saviour came, the time predicted for his coming was completed, and the miracles which he did concurred to persuade that he was their Messiah; but his obscure birth and mean appearance did not correspond with those ideas which they had formed of his splendour. This, with his prediction of the destruction of their temple and state, set the rulers against him, and held the body of the Jews in suspense till his crucifixion, which made them wholly averse to him. They gave up all thoughts of being delivered by him; he was gone; they saw him no more;and it was past a doubt with them, that a dead man could not be the Messiah or deliverer even of those who believed in him. It is against these prejudices that this and the preceding verses seem directed; wherein St. Paul teaches them, that there was no need to bring the Messiah from heaven or the grave, and introduce him personally among them; for the deliverance that he was to work for them, and the salvation he was to procure, was salvation from sin and its condemnation; and that was tobe had by believing and openly avowing him to be Messiah their king, and that he was raised from the dead; for by this they would be saved, without his personal presence among them.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rom 10:9 . Not a statement of the contents of the , but assigning the ground of the immediately previous . The force of the argument lies in the fact that, in respect of the published by its preachers, confession and faith (mouth and heart) must be consentaneous in order to obtain salvation, which is what Moses also means of the (Rom 10:8 ).
. . . ] corresponds to . ( ) in Rom 10:8 , as afterwards . . . to . . in Rom 10:8 .
] as Lord (comp. 1Co 12:3 ; 1Co 8:6 ; Phi 2:11 ). “In hac appellatione est summa fidei et salutis,” Bengel. It refers to the question . . ., Rom 10:6 ; for the whole acknowledgment of the heavenly of Jesus as the of God is conditioned by the acknowledgment of the preceding descent from heaven, the incarnation of the Son of God; Rom 8:3 ; Gal 4:4 ; Phi 2:6 , et al .
] corresponds to the question of Rom 10:7 .
] corresponds to in Rom 10:6 , but characterizes the latter, according to the doctrinal system of the apostle (Rom 1:16 , Rom 5:9-10 , et al .), as a deliverance from destruction to the Messianic salvation.
The confession of the mouth (of high essential importance for the relations of every time, and peculiarly of that time!) and faith in the heart are not separate things, as though one without the other had as its consequence the , but they are mutually dependent requisites. Comp. Knapp, p. 565 ff.
The resurrection of the Lord here appears, as suggested by Rom 10:7 , and according to Rom 4:25 quite justly, as the object of that faith which makes blessed. Without it, His death would not be the atoning death, 1Co 15:17-18 , nor would He Himself be the Son of God, Rom 1:4 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
9 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.
Ver. 9. That if thou shalt confess ] That is, if thou shalt call upon the name of the Lord, as it is expounded, Rom 10:13 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
9 .] Because (explanation of the word being near thee: so Thol., De Wette, Stuart, al. Others take here as in Rom 10:5 , merely recitantis, making . . . the preached. But as Thol. observes, (1) the duty of confessing the Lord Jesus can hardly be called part of the contents of the preaching of faith, but the prominence given to that duty shews a reference to the words of Moses: (2) the making render a reason for . . . suits much better the context and form of the passage: (3) the fact of the confession with the mouth standing first , also shews a reference to what has gone before: for when the Apostle brings his own arrangement in Rom 10:10 , he puts, as natural, the belief of the heart first), if thou shalt confess with thy mouth (same order as Rom 10:8 ) the Lord Jesus (not, I think, ‘Jesus as the Lord’ (see the readg of [94] al.): this might very well be, and might, as Thol., be the predicate placed first for emphasis, did not Paul frequently use for ‘ the Lord Jesus ,’ see (ch. Rom 14:14 after a prep.) 1Co 1:3 al.; Phil. ( Rom 2:19 ) Rom 3:20 ; Col 3:17 ( 1Th 1:1 ; 1Th 4:1 ). 1Co 12:3 is hardly an example on the other side: see not there, but 2Co 4:5 is, cf. note there ), and believe in thine heart that God raised Him from the dead (here, as in 1Co 15:14 ; 1Co 15:16-17 , regarded as the great central fact of redemption), thou shalt be saved (inherit eternal life).
[94] The CODEX VATICANUS, No. 1209 in the Vatican Library at Rome; and proved, by the old catalogues, to have been there from the foundation of the library in the 16th century. It was apparently, from internal evidence, copied in Egypt. It is on vellum, and contains the Old and New Testaments. In the latter, it is deficient from Heb 9:14 to the end of the Epistle; it does not contain the Epistles to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon; nor the Apocalypse. An edition of this celebrated codex, undertaken as long ago as 1828 by Cardinal Angelo Mai, has since his death been published at Rome. The defects of this edition are such, that it can hardly be ranked higher in usefulness than a tolerably complete collation, entirely untrustworthy in those places where it differs from former collations in representing the MS. as agreeing with the received text. An 8vo edition of the N.T. portion, newly revised by Vercellone, was published at Rome in 1859 (referred to as ‘Verc’): and of course superseded the English reprint of the 1st edition. Even in this 2nd edition there were imperfections which rendered it necessary to have recourse to the MS. itself, and to the partial collations made in former times. These are (1) that of Bartolocci (under the name of Giulio de St. Anastasia), once librarian at the Vatican, made in 1669, and preserved in manuscript in the Imperial Library (MSS. Gr. Suppl. 53) at Paris (referred to as ‘Blc’); (2) that of Birch (‘Bch’), published in various readings to the Acts and Epistles, Copenhagen, 1798, Apocalypse, 1800, Gospels, 1801; (3) that made for the great Bentley (‘Btly’), by the Abbate Mico, published in Ford’s Appendix to Woide’s edition of the Codex Alexandrinus, 1799 (it was made on the margin of a copy of Cephalus’ Greek Testament, Argentorati, 1524, still amongst Bentley’s books in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge); (4) notes of alterations by the original scribe and other correctors. These notes were procured for Bentley by the Abb de Stosch, and were till lately supposed to be lost. They were made by the Abbate Rulotta (‘Rl’), and are preserved amongst Bentley’s papers in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge (B. 17. 20) 1 . The Codex has been occasionally consulted for the verification of certain readings by Tregelles, Tischendorf, and others. A list of readings examined at Rome by the present editor (Feb. 1861), and by the Rev. E. C. Cure, Fellow of Merton College, Oxford (April 1862), will be found at the end of these prolegomena. A description, with an engraving from a photograph of a portion of a page, is given in Burgon’s “Letters from Rome,” London 1861. This most important MS. was probably written in the fourth century (Hug, Tischendorf, al.).
Here we have the two parts of the above question again introduced: the confession of the Lord Jesus implying his having come down from heaven, and the belief in His resurrection implying His having been brought up from the dead.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rom 10:9 . Apparently this verse gives the content of what the Apostle describes as “the word of faith which we preach”. = viz. The reference both to heart and mouth in Deut. suits his purpose, and he utilises it; the closing words in the LXX ( ) he disregards. : the putting of the confession before the faith which inspires it, and of which it is the confession, seems to be due simply to the fact that in the O.T. passage present to the Apostle’s mind precedes . is virtually = the Gospel, as God’s word concerning His Son and faith in Him. We confess it when we say, Jesus is Lord. Cf. 1Co 12:3 , Phi 2:11 . The exaltation of Jesus is the fundamental Christian confession, and presupposes the resurrection; and it is this exaltation which here (as in the other passages referred to) is meant by His Lordship. It is mechanical to say that the first part of Rom 10:9 (Jesus is Lord) refers to the doubting question in Rom 10:6 , and therefore means a confession of the incarnation; and the second part of it (God raised Him from the dead) to the doubting question of Rom 10:7 . Paul nowhere connects the Lordship of Christ with His incarnation, and there is certainly no reference to His Divine nature here. The confession of the first part of the verse answers to the faith in the second; he who believes in his heart that God raised Christ from the dead can confess with his mouth (on that ground and in that sense) that Jesus is Lord. On the basis of such mutually interpreting faith and confession he is saved. This does not deprive the death of Christ of the significance which Paul ascribes to it elsewhere. Christ could not be raised unless He had first died, and when He is raised it is with the virtue of His sin-atoning death in Him. His exaltation is that of one who has borne our sins, and the sense of this gives passion to the love with which believers confess Him Lord.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
with. Greek. en.
the Lord Jesus = Jesus as Lord. Compare Joh 13:13. 1Jn 4:15.
Lord. App-98.
Jesus. App-98.
believe. App-150.
hath. Omit.
raised. See Rom 4:24.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
9.] Because (explanation of the word being near thee: so Thol., De Wette, Stuart, al. Others take here as in Rom 10:5, merely recitantis, making … the preached. But as Thol. observes, (1) the duty of confessing the Lord Jesus can hardly be called part of the contents of the preaching of faith, but the prominence given to that duty shews a reference to the words of Moses: (2) the making render a reason for … suits much better the context and form of the passage: (3) the fact of the confession with the mouth standing first, also shews a reference to what has gone before: for when the Apostle brings his own arrangement in Rom 10:10, he puts, as natural, the belief of the heart first), if thou shalt confess with thy mouth (same order as Rom 10:8) the Lord Jesus (not, I think, Jesus as the Lord (see the readg of [94] al.): this might very well be,-and might, as Thol., be the predicate placed first for emphasis, did not Paul frequently use for the Lord Jesus,-see (ch. Rom 14:14 after a prep.) 1Co 1:3 al.; Phil. (Rom 2:19) Rom 3:20; Col 3:17 (1Th 1:1; 1Th 4:1). 1Co 12:3 is hardly an example on the other side: see not there, but 2Co 4:5 is, cf. note there), and believe in thine heart that God raised Him from the dead (here, as in 1Co 15:14; 1Co 15:16-17, regarded as the great central fact of redemption), thou shalt be saved (inherit eternal life).
[94] The CODEX VATICANUS, No. 1209 in the Vatican Library at Rome; and proved, by the old catalogues, to have been there from the foundation of the library in the 16th century. It was apparently, from internal evidence, copied in Egypt. It is on vellum, and contains the Old and New Testaments. In the latter, it is deficient from Heb 9:14 to the end of the Epistle;-it does not contain the Epistles to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon;-nor the Apocalypse. An edition of this celebrated codex, undertaken as long ago as 1828 by Cardinal Angelo Mai, has since his death been published at Rome. The defects of this edition are such, that it can hardly be ranked higher in usefulness than a tolerably complete collation, entirely untrustworthy in those places where it differs from former collations in representing the MS. as agreeing with the received text. An 8vo edition of the N.T. portion, newly revised by Vercellone, was published at Rome in 1859 (referred to as Verc): and of course superseded the English reprint of the 1st edition. Even in this 2nd edition there were imperfections which rendered it necessary to have recourse to the MS. itself, and to the partial collations made in former times. These are-(1) that of Bartolocci (under the name of Giulio de St. Anastasia), once librarian at the Vatican, made in 1669, and preserved in manuscript in the Imperial Library (MSS. Gr. Suppl. 53) at Paris (referred to as Blc); (2) that of Birch (Bch), published in various readings to the Acts and Epistles, Copenhagen, 1798,-Apocalypse, 1800,-Gospels, 1801; (3) that made for the great Bentley (Btly), by the Abbate Mico,-published in Fords Appendix to Woides edition of the Codex Alexandrinus, 1799 (it was made on the margin of a copy of Cephalus Greek Testament, Argentorati, 1524, still amongst Bentleys books in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge); (4) notes of alterations by the original scribe and other correctors. These notes were procured for Bentley by the Abb de Stosch, and were till lately supposed to be lost. They were made by the Abbate Rulotta (Rl), and are preserved amongst Bentleys papers in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge (B. 17. 20)1. The Codex has been occasionally consulted for the verification of certain readings by Tregelles, Tischendorf, and others. A list of readings examined at Rome by the present editor (Feb. 1861), and by the Rev. E. C. Cure, Fellow of Merton College, Oxford (April 1862), will be found at the end of these prolegomena. A description, with an engraving from a photograph of a portion of a page, is given in Burgons Letters from Rome, London 1861. This most important MS. was probably written in the fourth century (Hug, Tischendorf, al.).
Here we have the two parts of the above question again introduced: the confession of the Lord Jesus implying his having come down from heaven, and the belief in His resurrection implying His having been brought up from the dead.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rom 10:9. ) if only-, thou shalt confess) Confession in itself does not save; otherwise infants would not be saved: but only in as far as it includes faith.-, the Lord) The summary of faith and salvation is found in this appellation. He who confesses that Jesus is Lord, does not now any longer [now for the first time ceases to] endeavour to bring Him down from heaven.- , hath raised Him from the dead) The special object of faith. He who believes the resurrection of Jesus does not now any longer endeavour to bring Him from the dead, Rom 10:7.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rom 10:9
Rom 10:9
because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord,-The words preached by the apostles caused those who heard to believe with the heart that Jesus is the Christ, and that God raised him from the dead and had taken him up into heaven. This implies and embodies a belief of all that is told concerning him after his ascension. His resurrection and ascension stand as the conclusion and crowning testimony of his claims as the Son of God. He was declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead. (Rom 1:4). The confession with the mouth is the declaration to the world of faith in the heart. It is needful that a man should have courage to declare his faith in Christ Jesus’ to the world. Every one therefore who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven. (Mat 10:32-33).
I do not understand this as referring to a formal confession of faith before baptism, for the following reasons: In the commission, in its fulfillment on the day of Pentecost, and in the examples of conversion recorded in Acts of Apostles, there is no example of a formal confession being required as a precedent to baptism, unless the case of the eunuch be regarded as such. In reference to this, it is claimed by the textual critics generally that the confession there recorded is an interpolation. The context and circumstances would indicate that such a confession was made. It is also clear that Philip was not seeking a formal confession, but evidence of faith. Whatever confession was made came in response to this seeking. The natural evidence of faith in the heart is the confession with the mouth. When Philip said, If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest, the natural response would be: I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. But it was made to manifest the presence of faith, not to make a formal confession. But if this does not require the confession, the singular fact is presented that in the Scriptures a condition of salvation is left out of all the precepts and examples concerning remission, and is to be found only in a reference in a letter to Christians as to what had been required. Then it is necessary that at every step of the religious life, even after one has grown old in the service of the Lord, with the mouth confession must be made unto salvation, and with the heart he must believe unto righteousness. He must live by and walk through faith unto the end. It is just as necessary that confession of Christ should be made at all times or Christ will not own us.
But that any formal confession was required before baptism, more than at any other step of his religious life, is not clear. Confession of Christ in our words is necessary. It is necessary in coming to Christ and in all the Christian life. I am sure that the questions and obedience on the day of Pentecost were an acceptable confession. So at the house of Cornelius and in all other instances.
and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved:-The confession here precedes the belief in the heart, but this is no indication of the order of development of these in the Christian character. The next verse shows that the belief in the heart must precede the confession with the mouth and is essential to the life that leads to salvation.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
saved
(See Scofield “Rom 1:16”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
That if: Rom 14:11, Mat 10:32, Mat 10:33, Luk 12:8, Joh 9:22, Joh 12:42, Joh 12:43, Phi 2:11, 1Jo 4:2, 1Jo 4:3, 2Jo 1:7
and shalt: Rom 8:34, Joh 6:69-71, Joh 20:26-29, Act 8:37, 1Co 15:14-18, 1Pe 1:21
Reciprocal: 1Ki 8:35 – if they pray Psa 40:10 – not hid Pro 14:3 – but Mar 10:26 – Who Mar 16:16 – that believeth and Luk 13:35 – Blessed Luk 23:42 – Lord Joh 3:15 – whosoever Act 11:14 – words Act 16:31 – Believe Act 20:21 – faith Rom 4:5 – But to Rom 4:24 – if we Rom 10:10 – and with Gal 1:1 – raised Gal 3:14 – through Gal 3:22 – to Eph 2:8 – through 1Ti 6:12 – hast Heb 10:39 – but 1Pe 3:21 – the answer 1Jo 4:15 – confess 1Jo 5:1 – believeth
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
CONFIRMATION
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 he saved.
Rom 10:9
When St. Paul speaks of confession which is necessary to salvation, he means in part, and perhaps chiefly, that confession of faith which attended Adult Baptism. Now that Infant Baptism has become, and rightly become, the almost universal custom of the Church, the public confession has been transferred to a later age. It belongs to Confirmation.
I. Confirmation is an act by which a person who has come to years of discretion accepts and ratifies the covenant of his Baptism, renews the dedication of himself to God, and declares his faith in the promises and privileges into which his Baptism admitted him. This confession then, which was once, and is still, properly, a part of Adult Baptism, now belongs to Confirmation. Till he is Confirmed, a person has never made himself a public confession of Christ and of the Christian religion, before God and the world. Then he does it. Perhaps the only time in his life in which he ever does it before the Church. How pleasant this is in Gods sight, and how essential, appears from these words of our textwhere you will observe that the outward confession before the Church, and the inward faith, are bracketed together. This places Confirmation in its true light, and shows its very great and paramount importance.
II. It is double Confirmationconfirming and being confirmedyou confirming the covenant of your baptism, and you are confirmed, if you come to it in faithby the Holy Spirit, equally. Of the reason, then, and the propriety and duty of Confirmation, as the supplement of Infant Baptism, I can hardly conceive any doubt in any reasonable mind. I speak within bounds when I say that the experience of hundredswhom I have myself knowncould bear witness to the greatness and the reality of the blessing and the power which were found in Confirmation. Of course the benefit depends entirely on the truth and the earnestness with which it is done; but be it only real and done in faith, and no words can exaggerate the gain.
Rev. James Vaughan.
Illustration
I am afraid that most of us must plead guilty to the charge that we do not, in our ordinary habits of life, in our ordinary everyday conduct with one another, show Whose we are, and Whom we serve, by speaking of Christ and the great truths of the Christian religion. Could any common observerwould any chance listener, who came in, who met us in society, who sat with us in our family circle, discover that we are Christians? Even if we speak religiously, is it Christ of Whom we speak, and of His great salvation?
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
0:9
Rom 10:9. The simple belief that the resurrection took place, and the confession on our part of such a belief, is sufficient to bring salvation within reach as far as what we must believe is concerned.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rom 10:9. Because. The word may mean that (as in E V.), indicating the purport of the word preached, but because is preferable here. We have then a proof that the word is nigh.
If thou shalt confess with thy month. This is placed first, to correspond with in thy mouth (Rom 10:8); after the proof is completed the order is changed (Rom 10:10).
Jesus as Lord. There is little doubt that this is the correct explanation. This confession implies that He has become Incarnate (comp. Rom 10:6 : who shall ascend into heaven?); for Lord is the term applied to Jehovah in the LXX. In this appellation is the sum of faith and salvation (Bengel).
Believe in thy heart. Comp. in thy heart; Rom 10:8. Heart is to be taken in the wide Biblical sense, and not limited to the affections.
That God raised him, etc. This answers to the question of Rom 10:7. Paul always gives prominence to this fact of Redemption. His example should be followed by all modem preachers.
thou shalt be saved. The requisites for salvation, as here stated, are: belief with the heart in the Resurrection of Jesus, not as an isolated historical event, but as involving the previous Advent of the Son of God, who is now the ascended Lordand hence confession of Him as Lord.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
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.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Vv. 9, 10. Seeing 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.
The two terms: confessing with the mouth and believing with the heart, reproduce the ideas in thy mouth and in thy heart, of Rom 10:8. These are the two conditions of salvation; for while faith suffices to take hold of the finished expiation, when this faith is living, it inevitably produces profession, and from this follows incorporation into the flock already formed, by means of invocation and baptism. Profession is put first here, in keeping with the words of Moses (Rom 10:8 : in thy mouth); the order is that which from the external ascends to the internal; it reminds us that profession would be nothing without faith.
The object of the profession is the title Lord given to Christ, as is done in the invocation by which we publicly declare ourselves subjects; comp. 1Co 12:3 (according to the true reading). Here again we find the idea of Rom 10:6, that of the glorified Christ. The same relation between the sovereignty of Christ and the Christian profession appears in Php 2:9-11 : Wherefore God hath supremely exalted Him…that every tongue should confess that He is Lord. This allusion to Rom 10:6 proves clearly that the reference there was not to the incarnation; for Jesus is called by the title of Lord, as the glorified, and not as the pre-existent Christ.
On the other hand, the special object of faith is Christ risen. The reason is clear: it is in the external fact of the resurrection that faith apprehends its essential object, the moral fact of justification; comp. Rom 4:25.
Paul concludes this long sentence with a brief summary word: , thou shalt be saved, as if he would say: After that all is done. Rom 10:10 demonstrates in fact that these conditions once complied with, salvation was sure.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
because [the gospel (and Moses) speak of the mouth and heart, because] if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved [Moses emphasized the nearness of the law. The Jew was to keep it near (accept it), for, as a far-off, neglected thing, it would be of no avail. As an accepted rule, loved and talked over daily, it would be effective unto righteousness. Jeremiah, foretelling the days when a new law would be more effective than the old, declared that the promise of Jehovah was: “I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their hearts will I write it.” Thus it would become nearer than when written externally upon stone. When this new law came, Jesus indicated the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s word by saying. “The kingdom of God is within you” (Jer 31:33; Luk 17:20). Therefore, when Paul quotes Moses’ words about that nearness of the law which makes it effective, he takes occasion to describe how the gospel or “word of faith” is made effective unto righteousness by the believer’s full consent to the will of God that it be near him, making it an inward nearness by confession with the mouth and belief in the heart. In short, the gospel is not righteousness unto life until it is accepted, and the prescribed method by which it is to be accepted is faith leading to confession, followed by obedience of faith, beginning with baptism, which symbolically unites us with our Lord in his death and resurrection. But Paul makes no reference to the ordinance, laying stress on the central truth of Christianity which the ordinance shows forth; namely, God raised Jesus from the dead. The zealous lover of first principles might expect Paul to make the Christhood of Jesus the object of belief (Mat 16:16). But that is already taken care of by the apostle in the brief summary: “Confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord.” The truth is, the resurrection is the demonstration of that proposition: “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.” “Jesus” means “Saviour,” and the resurrection proves or demonstrates his ability to save from death and the grave (1Co 15:12-19; 1Pe 1:3-5; 2Co 4:14). Jesus is Christ; that is, God’s anointed Prophet, Priest and King over all men; for such is the meaning of “Christ.” Now, the resurrection proves that Jesus was a teacher of truth, for God honors no liars with a resurrection like that of Jesus; it proves that lie is an acceptable High Priest, for had not his offering for sin canceled the guilt of sin, he had appeared no more in the land of the living (Mat 5:26), but he was raised to complete his priestly work for our justification (see note on Rom 4:25; and Act 13:37-39); it demonstrated that he was the King, for by his resurrection he led captivity captive (Eph 4:8) and received the gift of universal power (Mat 28:18; Act 2:23-36; Act 13:34-37; Act 17:31; Phi 2:8-11; Eph 1:19-23); and, finally, it declared him to be the Son of God with power– Rom 1:4; Act 13:32-33]:
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
9. That if thou mayest confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
10:9 {6} That if thou shalt {g} confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that {h} God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
(6) 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.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The terms "mouth" and "heart," which have been a source of confusion in the interpretation of this verse, come from Moses’ words that Paul quoted in the preceding verse. The statement quoted accounts for the unusual order of "confess" and then "believe" in this verse. The normal chronological order is that one believes and then acknowledges his or her belief (i.e., confesses; cf. Rom 10:10; 2Co 4:13-14).
"But the two formulations interpret each other, so that what is to be both believed and confessed is the more precisely defined." [Note: Cranfield, 2:527.]
"Confess" means to say the same thing about something as someone else does (Gr. homologeo; cf. 1Jn 1:9). In this context it refers to saying the same thing about Jesus Christ as other believers in Him do. It is an acknowledgment of one’s faith in Christ. Obedient Christians in the early church made this confession verbally and in water baptism, as we do today (cf. Mat 28:19-20).
In the early church the phrase "Jesus is Lord" was one of the most common and simple expressions by which believers confessed their faith in Christ (cf. Act 2:36; 1Co 8:6; 1Co 12:3; Php 2:11). It is a confession parallel and very similar to Israel’s basic confession of faith in Yahweh: "Yahweh our God is one Lord" (Deu 6:4, the Shema). In the Roman world faithful citizens were increasingly being expected to acknowledge that Caesar was Lord (divine). So the original recipients of this epistle, especially, had to face the issue of who really is divine, Jesus or Caesar.
"We take it that, for Paul, the confession that Jesus is Lord meant the acknowledgment that Jesus shares the name and the nature, the holiness, the authority, power, majesty and eternity of the one and only true God." [Note: Ibid., 2:529. Cf. Bruce, p. 176; and Mickelsen, pp. 1214-15.]
"Paul’s statement in Rom 10:9-10 is misunderstood when it is made to support the claim that one cannot be saved unless he makes Jesus the Lord of his life by a personal commitment. Such a commitment is most important [cf. Rom 6:13-19; Rom 12:1]; however, in this passage, Paul is speaking of the objective lordship of Christ, which is the very cornerstone for faith, something without which no one could be saved." [Note: Harrison, p. 112. See also Ryrie, So Great . . ., pp. 70-73; idem, Balancing the Christian Life, pp. 169-81; Roy B. Zuck, "Cheap Grace?" Kindred Spirit 13:2 (Summer 1989):4-7; and Constable, "The Gospel . . .," p. 209.]
The fact that Jesus is Lord (God and Savior) became clear when He arose from the dead (cf. Rom 10:7). Jesus’ resurrection was the proof that He really was the divine Messiah, God’s Holy One (cf. Psa 16:10-11). Belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ meant belief that Jesus is Lord. Paul was speaking of belief in His resurrection as an evidence of saving faith, not as a condition for salvation.
Jesus’ resurrection was not part of His saving work. His death saved us (Rom 3:25). While the resurrection is part of the good news of salvation, the gospel message (1Co 15:3-4), belief in the resurrection of Christ is not a condition for salvation. A person could experience regeneration if he only knew and believed that Jesus Christ died for his sins without knowing of His resurrection. What if a person heard the gospel, including the fact that Jesus arose from the dead, and did not believe that Jesus arose? If he disbelieved in Jesus’ resurrection because he did not believe Jesus Christ is whom He claimed to be, that person would not experience regeneration. However if he disbelieved in Jesus’ resurrection because he did not believe in the possibility of bodily resurrection, he probably would experience regeneration. In the latter case, he would just need teaching on this subject.