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Romans 10:14 – You’re the Preacher

Posted on October 11, 2010 by Will

Romans 10:14 – You’re the Preacher

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?

Truth to Learn

The responsibility of sharing the Gospel message falls upon everyone who has believed it.

Behind the Words

“Believe” is from the Greek verb pisteuō. This word is based on the noun pistis, which means “firm persuasion, conviction, or belief in the truth.” Hence, pisteuō means “to have a firm conviction or belief in some truth.” It does not mean to simply accept a statement as fact, but to firmly grasp it as reality.

The word translated “heard” is akouō, which can refer to “the physiological process of hearing a sound” or to “the process of understanding spoken ideas.”

“Without a preacher” is translated from chōris kērussontos. Chōris means “at a space from” or “separate from” and kērussontos is a form of kērussō, which we saw back in verse eight means, “to proclaim or herald as a public crier would do.” It is expressed in this verse as a present participle, literally meaning “preaching.” Thus, we see that Paul says, “How shall they hear apart from preaching?”

Meaning Explained

Previously we pointed out that Paul was seen as a traitor by many Jews who believed that he deserted the Jews and the adherence to the Law as the way to righteousness, and that he had turned to the way of the Gentiles. Paul, himself, will say in the next chapter of this letter that he was called to be the Apostle (one sent with a message) to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13). But he has been demonstrating in this chapter that salvation and righteousness are through faith, which belongs both to the Jews and the Gentiles. And in the previous verse he proclaimed, “Whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”

Since that “whoever” includes the Gentiles, he now makes the point that the Gentiles need to hear the gospel message. He says, in order to call on Him they have to believe first, and in order to believe they have to hear the good news, and the only way they will hear the good news is through the preaching. This is the very crux of Paul’s ministry, preaching the gospel message to the Gentiles so they can believe.

The Jews have had the Law and the Prophets proclaiming the gospel message to them for centuries (as Paul has just demonstrated), but the Gentiles have been denied these sources so they need someone to proclaim the message of salvation to them. However, Paul is not the only one who is supposed to proclaim the blessed news of salvation by grace through faith. All of us who possess the gift of eternal life have an obligation to proclaim the news to those around us. It is the gospel (the good news) that is offered to all of mankind!

Application

If you have recognized your sinful condition, humbling yourself before the mighty hand of God, and appealing to Him for the salvation that you don’t deserve, then you now have an obligation to share this truth with others. Have you shared this message with someone else recently? Don’t think it is someone else’s responsibility to share the Gospel message. It’s yours!

In God’s service, for His glory,

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

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Romans 6:8 – Eternal Living with Christ

Posted on March 9, 2010 by Will

Romans 6:8

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,

Truth to Learn

We are currently living an eternal life with Christ.

Behind the Words

The word translated “believe” is pisteuō, which means “to believe” or “to have faith.” It is not simply a trust but a dogmatic belief. It is expressed as a present, active, indicative verb, which implies a current and ongoing belief, not just a momentary faith.

“Live with” is translated from the Greek word sudzaō, which is made up of sun, meaning “together with” and dzaō, meaning “to live.” Hence, it expresses a life that is characterized as living together with Christ.

Meaning Explained

This verse is not simply a reiteration of what was said in the previous three verses. It expresses a very deep truth about our new life in Christ. If we, that is our sin nature, died with Christ, then we live again in newness of life just as He is living again. There is a wonderful thing about the new life that Christ has. Because He has already died for sins and is resurrected, He will never die again. His life is eternal. So, if we are living together with Him, we have eternal life now as well.

There are actually two aspects of eternal life for us: future resurrected eternal physical life and current eternal spiritual life. We know that Jesus has eternal spiritual life because He is God, but He also has eternal physical life because He is completely human, and that human life has been raised from the dead so that death no longer has dominion over Him.

Because Jesus paid the price for our sins and we who believe in His death and resurrection have accepted the gift of grace from God, we too are promised to have eternal life with Him. We are promised that we will be raised from the dead. This is spoken of in one of the most precious passages of the entire Bible:

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:51-55)

However, if you read ahead to verses ten and eleven you will see that the current verse is not referring to our resurrected life, but our life right now. Because we believe with an active ongoing belief, we also live together with Christ. And, if we are living with Him, we can’t also be living in sin. That’s one of the beauties of saving faith – it is also living faith.

Application

Think about this: if we are living “with” Christ right now because of our belief in His death and resurrection, we have eternal life (both aspects of it). If we currently have eternal life, then we can’t lose it (if it’s eternal it can’t end). In other words, if our faith is real we can’t lose this salvation we have!

In God’s service, for His glory,

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

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