In my last post I shared my thoughts on this most important subject for humanity's has in force an attempt to deceive even the very elect of GOD'S Saints. This is taken from Romans chapter 10 verses 5 through 15, and as has been my habit I will first share from the KJV and then the newer ESV before looking at the Mirror Study Bible. Now first keep in mind that with the Cross and Resurrection all things of the OT, which was looking forward to a future promise was realized in Jesus who within Himself redeemed the imaged the GOD (Deu. 29:29) hidden within all of humanity.
Romans 10:5-13, 14-15 (KJV) "For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. 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:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) 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; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
How then shall they 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!"
Now for the ESV of the same passage:
Romans 10:5-13, 14-15 (ESV) "For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) "or 'Who will descend into the abyss?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"
Now for the Mirror Study Bible passages and what they reveal:
Romans 10:5-13, 14-15 Moses was the voice of the Law (of condemnation, based of human efforts and limited inspiration); He said that a person's life is only justified in their doing what this Law requires. But faith finds its voice in something much closer to a person than their most disciplined efforts to obey the Law. Faith understands that Christ is no longer a distant promise; Neither is Christ reduced to a mere historic hero or record. Christ is humanity's righteousness / innocence now today (not as a future event of religion's teachings)! Christ is no longer hidden somewhere in the realm of heaven as a future hope. For the Jews to continue to ask GOD to send them their Messiah is a waste of time! That is not the language of faith. Faith knows that the Messiah is not roaming somewhere in the region of the dead. "Who will descend into the abyss to bring Christ back from the dead (Heb. 8:1)," is not the language of faith (Rom. 4:25, 1Cor. 15:3-6). (Those who deny the resurrection of Christ would wish to send someone to go there and confirm their doubts, and bring back final proof that Jesus was not the Messiah. Faith announces a righteousness / innocence that reveals that all of humanity has indeed been co-raised together within Christ as Christ; The testimony of the risen Christ is confirmed in the heart and life of every believer.) Faith-righteousness (1Cor. 1:9) announces that every definition of distance in time, space, or hostility has been breached and cancelled. Faith says, "The Word is nearer you than you know and understand. It is as close to you as your voice and the conviction of your own heart." Therefore we publicly announce this message (because we are convinced that it belongs to everyone). Now your salvation (actually our redemption, reconciliation...OT, H3722, NT G2643) is realized! Our own [1]words echo GOD'S voice. The unveiling of the masterful act of Jesus forms the words in our mouth, inspired by the conviction of our heart that GOD indeed raised Him from the dead. (In His resurrection, GOD co-raised us [Hosea 6:2]. His resurrection declares our total innocence [Rom. 4:25]. Salvation is not reduced to a recipe or a "sinners prayer" formula; It is the spontaneous inevitable conversation of a persuaded heart! To confess, [1, G3670, from G3674 and G3056 homologeo, homo, the same thing +logeo, to say, acknowledge) Heart-faith confirms this fact of humanity's righteousness and ignites the kind of conversation consistent with salvation. (salvation G4991, to rescue from slavery, is the wrong word for this use, reconciliation G2433, to atone for, or conciliation is better here. He restored us to blameless innocence of Gen. 2! It is impossible not to boldly announce news of such global consequence [Isa. 40:9].) Scripture declares that whosoever will believe Christ (to be the fulfillment of the promise of GOD to redeem H1350, H1353 humanity) will [1]not be ashamed [2 hesitant] to announce it. ([See Isa 28:16] These two Hebrew words, 2H2363 cush, to make haste and [Isa. 49:23] 1H954 bush, to be ashamed, look very similar and were obviously confused in some translations---the Greek from Hebrew translations, the Septuagint, was the Scriptures Paul was most familiar with and there the word was translated from the word 1bush.) Nothing distinguished the Jew from the Greek when it comes to the generosity of GOD. He responds with equal benevolence to everyone who sees themselves identified in Him (they realize that GOD defines them and not their own cultural identity of very limited preconceived perceptions.) Salvation is to understand that every person's 1true identity is revealed in Christ. (Whosoever shall 1call upon the Name of the LORD shall be saved (healed, perserve, to be saved, to rescue, Joel 2:24 H4422); 1G1941 epikaleomai, to entitle, to identify by name, to surname.)
How is it possible to convince people of 1their identity in Him while they do not believe that He represented them? How will they believe if they remain ignorant about who they really are? How will they understand if the Good News of their inclusion is not announced? (The word, 1G1941 epikaleomai, traditionally translated as "to call upon," is from G2564 kaleo, which literary means to surname, or to identify by name.)1G1941 epikaleomai, traditionally translated as "to call upon," is from G2564 kaleo, which literary means to surname, or to identify by name. This is also the stem in Ekklesia, with ek being a preposition that denotes origin, and kaleo. In the context of Matthew 16 where Jesus introduces this word, He reveals that the son of man is indeed the son of GOD, "I say to you Simon, son of Jonah, you are Petros [Rock] and upon this petra I will build My Ekklesia!") What gives someone the urgency to declare these things? It is recorded in prophetic Scriptures, "How lovely on the mountains (where the watchmen were stationed to witness the outcome of a war) are the feet of them leaping with the exciting news of victory. Because of their eyewitness encounter they are the qualified to run with the Gospel of peace and announce the consequent glad tidings of good things that will benefit everyone."
Now we see as no one else sees and hear what no one else hears as did the first Adam, as recorded in Gen. 2, and by men like Enoch [Gen. 5:22, 24] and Elijah [2Ki. 2:11] with king David in the Psalms and the Prophets of old.
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