From the ministry archive
Salvation and Truth
Just a few notes today on the kingpin of modern Christian tradition, which is the gross misusage of Romans 10:9. Let's look at what it says, and then show how it is being misused, then see what it is REALLY talking about: "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." Amen. And again I say, AMEN! Now modern Christianity states that this passage means that whoever, wherever, will just say, and mean it of course; that "Jesus is Lord," and "God raised him from the dead," is saved. Wow. And again I say, WOW! Your kidding, right?! I'm afraid they are not. Truth is, you will have to search far and wide to find anyone who is NOT taken in by this enormous religious idol. That is correct, I am saying that that usage of that scripture is an enormous, provocative, ABOMINATION TO GOD! But unlike the proponents of this false new birth myth, I will show you from the scriptures what is the truth about this scripture, and at the same time why the modern "Christian" usage of it is both ridiculous and unthinkable in the sight of God. First of all one should look at the scripture right before Romans 10:9, because Romans 10:8 clearly shows that this was an exhortation to people who were already "in Christ:" 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." And then he states Romans 10:9, which we have already copied above, which I'm sure that everyone already knows by heart anyway, even if they do NOT know another scripture in the entire Bible. After all, THAT is the only one anyone NEEDS to know, right? Wrong! And here is where we get to see WHY it is wrong. How could this word of truth already be in these people in Rome's hearts and mouths if they weren't already born again? This epistle was written to BELIEVERS in Rome: "To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints... First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world" (Rom. 1:7,8). The apostle was writing to those who were in Rome who were already in Christ, meaning that they had already been baptized with the holy Ghost, and yes had "spoken in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance" (I Cor. 12:13; Acts 2:4). And he was writing to the born again believers who were "called to be saints," about current issues involving their faith, not about issues involving people who were not yet in Christ. If you would like to confirm this further, just back up one more verse and go backward from there for three more verses. Verses 4-7 are taken from Deuteronomy 30, where Moses gave a very similar exhortation to the children of Israel, after they had been IN COVENANT WITH GOD FOR FORTY YEARS! And after saying in effect the exact same things to Israel in Deut. 30:11-13, that Paul said in Rom. 10:4-7, Moses clearly told them in Deut. 30:14; "But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it." The word was nigh them, in their mouths and in their hearts, for the very same reason that the word was nigh unto the believers in Rome: Because in both cases the people being exhorted were already in covenant with God, and therefore very familiarized with the word of God. Sinners are neither one, and therefore Romans 10:9 CANNOT BE and IS NOT a methodology for someone who is not born again to GET born again, or "saved," or whatever you may call it. The apostles did not write epistles to sinners, but rather to those who were ALREADY IN THE FAITH, about issues that involved THEM!
So then let's move on to what Romans 10:9 is REALLY talking about. To begin with, the same apostle Paul wrote an identical exhortation to the BELIEVERS IN CHRIST in Corinth, and for the life of me I can't figure out why this one never gets any press or air time. Probably because it alone would expose the farce of Christianity's wicked usage of Romans 10:9. Anyway, here it is: "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, IF ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (I Cor. 15:1-4). Same exact thing as Romans 10:9, that being that these BELIEVERS would be saved IF they continued in the faith that Jesus died for their sins, and rose again the third day. If you don't see that friend, then just read both passages really slow, one after the other, until it clicks. It really is all that is there. So that brings us to the point of WHY the apostle Paul felt that these believers, both in Rome and in Corinth, needed to be reminded of these simplistic elements of the faith of Christ. It is very simple: At that time, when these congregations existed, and when the apostle Paul was still on earth; there had already sprung up people subverting God's people with doctrines stating that Jesus had NOT risen from the dead, and that the resurrection of the saints had already taken place, and that is was spiritual. In other words, according to these doctrines, the resurrection of the dead was a spiritual event, had already taken place, and there was no physical resurrection to come; which things meant that Christ had not risen form the dead either. Here is all the evidence you need of this reality, and the bulk of it comes from I Corinthians 15, where I have just copied from above, that correlates to Romans 10:9: "But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some" (II Tim. 2:16-18). And from I Corinthians 15: "But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished" (I Cor. 15:12-18). There it is my friends, and how I wish I could transmit the power of God that I feel in my bones into everyone reading this post right now! This is the irrefutable scriptural evidence that Roman 10:9 has NOTHING to do with ANYONE getting born again or anything else Christianity wants to call it. The truth is, at the time that these epistles were written, all of these diverse modern Christian rhetorical doctrines did not exist. If you were "in Christ," you were either in the established truth, or you were subverted into something that claimed that Jesus had not truly risen from the dead, and that he was not really the Christ, as John alluded to in I John 2:22-24. And that is why this exhortation was given to these born again believers, so that they would NOT be subverted by the false apostles and teachers who were perpetrating such doctrines, as Jude also confirmed (Jude 1:4). So only one exhortation remains for the moment: "Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding" (Prov. 9:6). Amen and AMEN!
*Many thanks to my son Benjamin for his much research and study of the early history of the body of Christ, and the doctrines of those who apostatized from the "faith that was once delivered to the saints" (Jude 1:3).
