Scripture Text (NRSV)
Romans 10:8b-13
10:8b "The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart" (that
is, the word of faith that we proclaim);
10:9 because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be
saved.
10:10 For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one
confesses with the mouth and so is saved.
10:11 The scripture says, "No one who believes in him will be put
to shame."
10:12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same
Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him.
10:13 For, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall
be saved."
Comments:
I remember reading somewhere that various names given to Jesus
including "Lord" were in response to the fact that Ceasar was called
Lord. It was like saying, "my allegiance is to Jesus. Jesus is Lord.
Ceasar is not." Ceasar was even called "Son of God." Saying that Jesus
was Son of God was also saying that Ceasar was not. (I think I read
this in Marcus Borg's new book.)
I encountered a woman in one of my previous churches who insisted that
the ONLY way one was "saved" was by saying certain words out loud
(confessing with the lips). She quoted this scripture a lot to prove
her point. But to me, confessing with the lips can mean what you say
to a distraught neighbor, or an advisary, or someone who makes you
angry or hurts you. Can we respond as Christ would respond?
Of course, believing in our heart is crucial. But is it mere belief? I
guess I would question belief that isn't evident in the way one lives.
Saying that I believe in my heart that Jesus is Lord means nothing if
I don't live like Jesus is Lord. It will be evident in whether or not
we treat others as Jesus would treat others and whether or not we do
our part to right the injustices of the world.
Hope this makes sense. I'm trying to make sense of it all myself.
Grace and Peace, MEL in NE
Paul reminds the Christians at Rome of the foundational affirmation of
those who are saved: the confession of faith in the risen Jesus as
Lord.
Here we have the expression of the heart. In one way or the other, the
matter of our heart will be expressed by our lips. Similarly, our
inner devotion to God should manifest by our outward actions.
Is this the reason why this passage was picked to start Lent?
Coho, Midway City
I'm intrigued with "the Word is near you, on your lips and in your
heart". I'm thinking of how Jesus used the Word in time of temptation
(gospel lesson). Anyone can quote scripture, and the devil did quote
scripture (the lesson from Ps. 91). Yet it was a misuse of scripture,
at least in that context. How do we use scipture rightly? How do we
get it in our hearts, as Jesus did, so that we can draw on it
appropriately? I'm preaching to a congregation, half of whom are
Biblically illiterate.
DGinNYC
The Jewish members of the church at Rome thought that God favored them
over the Gentiles, meaning that God treated them differently...better.
Paul reminds the church at Rome that God hears everyone's prayers or
cries for help. God is the same God to everyone. Human beings do not
determine the number of persons who can call on God for help, or their
identity.
How wonderful to know that there is no limit to God's grace or power,
especially since I feel pretty small in the shadow of the cross. NG
I am going for the simple and the obvious - "The Name that Saves." I
believe that it was Shakespeare who said a rose by any other name
would smell the same. However, this text implies there is something
about the name. Of course, there is the OT equivolent Joshua. Are
there any soteria experts out there? Tn Mack
TN Mack -
I'm certainly not a soteria expert, but perhaps that's the point of
the passage. We don't need to be experts - intellectually,
theologically, or in holiness; all we need to do is call on the name
of the Lord. I think you're right - the message is simple and
straightforward.
revo in Ga
I'm going with "there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the
same Lord is Lord of all..." With so much division in the world today,
we need to work really hard to bring some unity to our community of
faith. People are leaving their churches because of the division
between denominations. We need to become truly ecumenical if we are
going to survive. It seems that many of our churches are resorting to
"repent and get some love" tactics instead of, "God loves you...no
strings attached" with a possible (but not guaranteed) result of "and
I'm going to turn to his ways and try to spread a little bit of that
love around." Just my rambling.....
Jo
Jo
I'm a woman minister in an area where there are a lot who disagree
with women being ministers. The more prominent one writes a column in
one of the papers (I write for both of them) and his idea of unity is
believing just like he does. I don't want to say that with God all
things AREN'T possible, but I do believe that until we're able to
understand that God is less concerned with who's right and who's
wrong, and more concerned with God's grace, and his higher purpose
(which Jesus went into the wilderness to align with), it's going to be
difficult. Our human frailty prevails.
I'm just remembering when I wrote a column on Christian unity, and he
wrote a column the next week on the same subject and said pretty much
the complete opposite of what I was trying to get at. In other words,
even the most "spiritually mature" leaders (if you don't believe it,
just ask him) are still more interested in being "right" than being
subject to Jesus as Lord.
revo
