The Gospel Promotes Interracial Harmony

Romans 16:2 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, 26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: 27 To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.

From chapter two through the rest of Romans a thematic thread addressing the potentially destructive force that racial conflict and tension can bring into church life runs through this book. The foundation the apostle Paul laid and the intense logic of his arguments gave a clear statement of the commitment it would take for all Christians to avoid the dire consequences of racial division

Paul showed how the fundamental truths of Christianity logically promote racial harmony among Christians. Instead of being one homogeneous nation, as with Israel before, we who populate Jesus' churches are adopted children who have no common racial ancestry. The gospel and the preaching of Jesus revealed the former secret that the population of the Church that Jesus built would be made up of every kindred, tribe, and language on earth. The “power to stablish” us in our racial complexity is found in that message. We must hear it... we must know it... we must live it...

Like much of the rest of practical Christianity, our interracial stability is found in the profound belief in and commitment to the clear statements of Jesus, Paul, and other New Testament writers about the global power and intent of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the call for our obedience to the faith that has saved our souls.

Those who use Old Testament passages to foster racial division are using the Bible incorrectly. The New Testament changed the rules of the game. Those who want to argue with God about this issue will receive this response: For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. Romans 9:15, 16 God has chosen it to be so... and I am so glad to be a part of His great family! And I say, “To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.”

Is Prayer Necessary For Salvation?

Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

I was asked the question in the title a few months back at the end of a Bible class. The notion that a prayer for salvation is necessary to receive salvation is so popular today that it is tightly woven into the fabric of contemporary Christianity. Question it and some look at you like you are seriously disturbed. So... I guess you can just call me crazy Larry, because... well... I questioned it...

This is not such a difficult question to answer, but it may be difficult to hear the answer. I didn't have time in that class to answer the question properly, so I wrote this answer to make it available for our members to read and carefully study. I have posted it on my blog to make it available to anyone who wants to study the subject. So… here goes… first some Bible facts:

• There is not one verse in the Bible that claims a person must pray to be saved… not one.
• Even though the Bible records various examples of people being evangelized, there is no example in the Bible of any believer asking an unbeliever to pray for salvation… not one.
• There is no place in the Bible where prayer as a component of salvation is systematically discussed. What I mean by that is there is no place in the Bible where a serious Bible student can go to find instruction on how this prayer for salvation thing works.
• There is no place in the Bible that tells me what should be said in this prayer or any example of a prayer for salvation. Some might say that Luke 18:13 tells us what must be said. But that prayer doesn’t meet the standard usually required by those who teach prayer for salvation from Romans 10:13. There is no confession, and no mention of Jesus in the prayer. This prayer contains no acknowledgment of saving faith or the Gospel, and there is no place in the context of this verse or the rest of the Bible which promotes the use of this prayer by others.
• There is also no place in the Bible where a person is requested to “ask Jesus into your heart.” In fact the two words “ask Jesus” never appear together in the Bible.
• There is no place in the Bible where prayer and salvation are discussed in the same context. Ah, but some may say Romans 10:13 meets that standard. Before I go there let me first mention that resting an essential salvation doctrine on one verse that appeared decades after the ministry of Jesus is dangerous.

Romans 10:13 is a partial quote of the Old Testament passage Joel 2:32. So in order to interpret it properly it must be studied in two locations, first the Old Testament and then the New Testament. But it is interesting that I have never come across a proponent of prayer for salvation who even knew this was a quote from the Old Testament. I'm not trying to be rude, but if a person hasn't studied the verse enough to know it is a quote, then it is clear that person hasn't studied the subject sufficiently enough to even have an opinion. Especially when dealing with the bible doctrine of salvation.

It must be noted that the word “prayer” does not appear in Romans 10:13. Paul did use the word prayer in Romans 10:1, but not anywhere else in chapter 10. The words translated prayer and call are not the same words. Confession, as it is used in Romans 10:9-10, is also not prayer. Confess means, "a public statement of what one believes." (Friberg's Analytical Greek Lexicon) The word call is used in Romans 10:12, and the Old Testament verse quoted in Romans 10:13 was used by Paul to support the statement he made in Romans 10:12. Verse 12 is part of the contextual discussion that Jews and non-Jews can now have the same standing with God.

The word call in Romans 10:12 is a present participle. Which means it defines “its subject as belonging to a certain class.” (Burton’s Greek Grammar) Call is not something done once, but it is a repetitive habitual action which identifies someone as belonging to a specific class of people. This class of people has already believed (Romans 10:14) and are, therefore, in the class of those who regularly call on the Lord. The intent of this verse is to teach that God "is rich" to this class of people no matter their race. 

Call in Romans 10:13 comes from a Hebrew word which means “to enter into an intensive relationship as someone who calls.” (Koehler-Baumgartner Hebrew Lexicon) Paul’s reason for using this Old Testament verse was to support the truth that Jews and Gentiles can now both be in a relationship with the Messiah because of the “righteousness which is of faith” (Romans 10:6). Paul was not discussing how a person gets into a relationship with God, but what class of persons are in a relationship with Him. This righteousness which comes by faith to all who believe the gospel, both Jew and Greek, has been the heart of Paul's discussion since the beginning of Romans.

An understanding of the gospel is necessary for salvation along with belief in that gospel. In every case of evangelism in the New Testament people were called to believe or have faith in that gospel. Those who have believed the gospel can and will now freely and regularly “call” on the name of the Lord. This teaching of salvation by grace through faith in the gospel of the Lord Jesus is supported throughout the New Testament. Prayer associated with the immediate work of salvation is supported nowhere in Scripture.

Why is this so important? Well there are at least three reasons:

1. Salvation is the most important doctrine in the world and accuracy on this subject is profoundly important. Even if you differ with me on this subject of prayer the importance of the doctrine should cause you to pause and carefully seek the truth apart from your own tradition or personal desires.
2. The bible is the rule of our faith and practice, so every belief should be tested by the Scriptures.
3. People who have been led in a prayer for salvation, as I was, often struggle with doubts about their salvation. They may tend to examine their prayer and wonder if it was good enough... did I say the right words, or was I sincere enough? Instead of looking with faith and confidence at the gospel for salvation and trusting that Jesus did everything right on our behalf they may be forever bound to look at themselves and their performance for confidence. And that leads to doubt and spiritual struggles, because we can never be sure we did something good enough. If you were led in a prayer for salvation I am not saying you are now lost, what I am saying is there is no evidence that prayer has any essential role to play in salvation. Turn your attention to the gospel work of Jesus Christ... that is where the firm confidence of salvation is found. Prayer is a good thing... but it cannot save. Only Jesus' Gospel work can reconcile us to God.

Forgiveness Jesus Style

Mark 2:5b Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.

It has been my experience when people discuss forgiveness that they generally speak about the personal forgiveness of someone who has wronged them. This type of forgiveness is often more beneficial to the offended than it is to the offender. In fact, the offender may experience no change in life whatsoever because there has been no penalty or effect caused by their offense. This type of forgiveness is important, but it is not the type of forgiveness recorded here, and it is important to see the difference. This person had committed no personal offense against the man Jesus Christ. As far as we know, until this moment, they had never met.

This man's offense was a legal offense against God. This type of offense or crime has three basic parts:

1. A crime had been committed. In this case it was a breach of God's covenant with Israel.
2. The person had been justly tried, found guilty, and convicted. The jurisdiction for this judgment is located in the founding documents of the Covenant, specifically Leviticus 26.
3. The sentence required by justice was executed. This man was under sentence from God's government based on a breach of covenant.

In a case of this sort the forgiver must have the legal authority to forgive.

We must be clear about our offenses against God: they are legal and personal. We tend to think of forgiveness only in a personal way because we, generally, don't have the standing to legally forgive anyone. But Jesus does have that legal power. In this case the man was guilty of breaking God’s covenant with Israel, and was being punished for his sin. But he was forgiven… this means he was immediately released from his legal and moral guilt with its consequences. This is the kind of forgiveness we receive freely through the Gospel. But Gospel forgiveness is comprehensive since it includes all our sin, and every aspect of our guilt. And... it is everlasting.

Why Did Jesus Heal?

Luke 4:40 Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.

Even a quick reading of the Gospels will give a solid sense of how important healing was in the ministry of Jesus. There was hardly an event when Jesus didn’t heal someone. While there have been sporadic reports of healing throughout history these all faint when measured beside the healing ministry of Jesus.

Some of these events recorded in the Bible are so prolific, like the one in this passage, that they could only be compared to someone emptying a city hospital by healing every person in it. That’s what Mark and Luke said Jesus did in this city: he healed every person in the city who came to be healed… and the passage in Mark said that “all the city was gathered together at the door.” It must be noted that He mostly healed Jews.

This was unlike any modern faith healing event. The first church I pastored was in a suburb of Tulsa, Oklahoma. This was in the day when “faith-healers” Oral Roberts and Kenneth Hagan, both residents of Tulsa, were active. Each had his own school devoted to teaching, among other things, “faith-healing”. I was a Hospital and Senior Police Chaplain in the area which gave me a lot of interaction with their followers. And I also personally observed a few meetings hosted by these men. There was always someone present in these meetings who testified to being healed, but I never saw even one of the ever present severely handicapped attendees healed. But... Jesus healed everyone including the maimed (see the blog post Maimed.)

The question arises, “Why did Jesus heal?” Well a simple answer might be: “He was a caring person”, or “It was prophesied that He would do this.” Both answers are true… but very incomplete. The answer is found in the covenant roots of the Jews. Specifically the covenant given from God through Moses, then agreed to by the children of Israel as recorded in the Old Testament.

This was a conditional covenant, which means the children of Israel agreed to obey God in everything He required in order to receive specific benefits. Exodus 19:1-8 But… if they failed in their commitment there was an awful price to pay. The price of breaking their agreement was described in Deuteronomy 28:15-68. Included in the dreadful punishments were serious painful diseases and violence.

By the time of Jesus Christ the Jews had already experienced a long history of failure in their covenant obligations and were reaping a terrible price for breaking their agreement. The illnesses described in Deuteronomy would have been full blown in Israel. The people were suffering.

Jesus Christ came to lift the punishment of the old covenant and place His followers under a new better covenant based on the grace of God found in the Gospel. Jesus' ministry of healing was a gospel ministry and witness to Jews.

Has God Cast Away Israel?

Romans 11:1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.

A proper understanding of this section of Romans includes a general knowledge of two major Bible covenants: the Abrahamic and the Mosaic. A covenant is a binding legal agreement.

The Mosaic covenant is often, but incorrectly, used as the primary covenant between God and Israel. This covenant was conditional and agreed to by Israel at Mount Sinai. Exodus 19:1-8; 24:3, 7 Conditional means there were commitments in the covenant that Israel must fulfill. Exodus 19:5 If those conditions were not met then God could implement the remedy for breach of the covenant which was also written in the covenant. Deuteronomy 11:27, 28; 28:14-29:1 Israel did not fulfill her covenant obligations, and, therefore, has received the punishment described in the Covenant. The final remedy described in the Mosaic covenant was to end the relationship established by the covenant.

The Abrahamic Covenant was not conditional except to the extent that it was conditioned upon Abraham’s faith and obedience. After Abraham met the conditions it became unconditional to his covenant descendants. So Israel is still in a covenant relationship with God. An example of the difference between the two covenants can be seen when Israel broke the Mosaic Covenant and Moses appealed to God for mercy based on the Abrahamic Covenant:

Exodus 32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. 14 And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

The Abrahamic Covenant is unconditional and, therefore, everlasting. Since this covenant relationship is everlasting it must be based in the Grace relationship established by the gospel work of Jesus Christ, not Israel’s obedience to the demands of Covenant Law. Paul said:

11:5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace.