In verses 6-9 Paul has been discussing the difference between the righteousness of the law and the righteousness which is of faith. There now follows FOUR deductions from this explanation, each beginning with the word FOR:
- Verse 10 " For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation "
- Verse 11 "For the scripture saith WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH ON HIM SHALL NOT BE ASHAMED."
- Verse 12 " 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."
- Verse 13 " For WHOSOEVER SHALL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED."
Each of these deserves some consideration; but, taken together, they mean that the righteousness of faith;
1. Begins in the heart . 2. Will not be disappointed. 3. Is available to all who will call on God for mercy. 4 Those who invoke His name shall be saved. All this requires some explanation.
Paul seems to be suggesting here, that two things are required for salvation; namely, belief in the heart and confession with the mouth. This appears to contradict the theology of John in his gospel, who uses the word pisteo, meaning believe. no less than 98 times. Clearly, John teaches that all that is required for a person to have eternal life is to believe. Not only so, but this the only place that Paul adds "confession with the mouth" as an necessity for salvation. Furthermore, how do we interpret the "secret disciples" namely Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimithaea, who had not publicly confessed Jesus, but were nevertheless true disciples (John 19v38).
The answer to this apparent discrepancy is found in Romans 10v10 itself. Here the apostle makes a distinction between "righteousness" and "salvation." He says "with the heart man believeth unto righteousness;" and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Therefore Paul makes a distinction between righteousness and salvation, We tend to make them the same, but they are not. The word "righteousness" is used over 40 times in this letter and always refers to the moment in time when God declares a person to be right with Himself. However, the word "salvation" is used much more sparingly in Romans and seems to refer to the whole programme of salvation to include initial justification, progressive sanctification, and future glorification of the believer. The references to the word "saved" and "salvation" are found in Romans 1v16; Romans 5v9; Romans 8v24; Romans 10v1 before we come to these verses in chapter 10. Paul is making a distinction between the initial point of justification (or righteousness) and the entire programme where God will save a man through life and on into a future glory. The truth of this is best understood in chapter 5v9 where being "justified" and being "saved" are seen to be two different things. "Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." Again in Romans 5v10 a similar distinction is made "for if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled we shall be saved by His life."
Paul, therefore is viewing salvation as a blanket term to cover all aspects of eternal life in Christ whether past, present, or future. There are, therefore in the main three different aspects of salvation, namely: past deliverance from the penalty of sin, present deliverance from the power of sin and future deliverance from the presence of sin. Thus the apostle here makes a very clever and very important distinction between the initial moment of conversion and the ultimate programme of salvation. Thus he is right to say and in full agreement with John and all the other writings of the New testament, that all that is necessary for righteousness (being made right with God) is a true heart belief in the work of Christ on the part of the believer. For the benefit of our ongoing lives and receiving of eternal rewards, the New Testament makes it clear that public confession will be a necessary part of this.
In essence, heart belief leads to justification; whereas confession of the mouth leads to sanctification and ultimately glorification. All that is required, initially is belief in the heart: however confession with the mouth will be an integral part of salvation. This distinction needs to be understood better and propagated better.
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