ROMANS, CHAPTER 10: Commentary, King James Version.

EPISTLE OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE TO

ROMANS.

CHAPTER 10.

Verse 1. Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. Here Paul the apostle addressed Roman believers as brethren. Brethren [Greek adelphos], referred to: (a) A male person related to another individual by having the same parents, or same father or same mother as in Genesis 27:6; 28:2; Judges 8:19. In this case, they are partly Roman Jews who were physically, literally brothers of Paul. (b) Somebody spiritually akin, that is, a Christ disciple, one related in respect to true worship, a heavenly material, as seen in Matthew 12:50;23:8; Acts 9:17; Romans 1:13; 1 Corinthians 6:6. Alternatively, in this case, they are partly Roman Gentiles who had fully entered, embraced the Hebrew faith. Remember the Epistle of Paul to Romans is relevant to us, because the entire world is still under Roman rule. We are still Romans, brothers and sisters. We are brothers and sisters because we came from one blood of Adam, according to Acts 17:26.  Christ Jesus is the only one who will end Roman rule.

The apostle stated plainly that his heart’s desire, rendered Greek ehydokia, describing good will, rightful intention. He is speaking from his deep heart, his spiritual perspective. Another Greek word for desire is epithymia explaining well up or boil. Paul’s heart was well fed with Jewish love. His heart was boiling for the love of Israel. The Hebrew word for desire here was nepes, representing total human self. All of Paul’s life was for the Jewish love. Psalms 37:4, states: “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”

The apostle’s good will, rightful intention, or more precisely boiling love, is practically demonstrated or joined with his prayer to God for Israel, that they might be saved. The apostle is not praying for Romans {them in Minority Text or corrupt modern versions, is wrong}. He is calling upon the name of the LORD, something not for himself alone, but a command to all Christians regardless of race. Israel must be saved from Roman yoke, from American democracy, from all the consequences of sin associated with corrupt worship practiced by the Gentiles. Remind yourself what Noah spoke in Genesis 9:25-27. Psalms 122:6-9, states: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall proper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren (the Jews) and companions’ (Gentiles) sakes, I will now say Peace be within thee. Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good.” Nations must pray for Israel, not for themselves alone. “And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house (Israel) with glory, saith the LORD of hosts” - Haggai 2:7.

The apostle says:

Verse 2. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

“Bear them record” is not  away of showing apology, but rather the Hebrew expression of being a witness. Paul the apostle is a Gospel witness, not to the Gentiles only but to the Jews as well. His witness to the Jews, Israel proper, is the harsh truth he will reveal to them concerning the true worship of God. Moses the son of Amram with Jochebed, who delivered the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage told them in the wilderness, that: “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19). Joshua, the son of Nun, the successor of Moses, told the same people, that: “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15).

As a Hebrew of Hebrews (Philippians 3:5), the apostle witnessed, that Israel have a zeal of God. In other words, they were given prerogatives to guard seriously the true worship of God from pollution and filthy worship of the Gentiles. This was commendable. In fact Jude wrote: “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and to exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3). But Israel have not done this according to knowledge, that is, the knowledge of God.  Knowledge was derived from know connected with ledger in Old English. To Israel, know connected with ledger was, and still, remained the Holy Bible. To know the Bible, in ledger form from Genesis to Revelation. Israel had not protected the true worship of God as demanded by God’s word in the Holy Bible.

Solomon wrote in Proverbs 1:7, that: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” James the Lord’s brother wrote: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upraideth not, and it shall be given him” (James 1:5).

They have failed to contend for God’s word, failed to protect the true worship of God:

Verse 3. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

This is exactly the repeat of what happened at the building of the Tower of Babel recorded in Genesis 11. At the Tower of Babel man rebelled against God, by trying his own means to reach heaven. The record in Genesis 11:4 states: “And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”

Ignorant is literally to ignore, to refuse to do the right thing when one knows he/she is doing a wrong thing. Righteousness, on the other hand, is described: (a) Hebrew saddiq, which meant straight/ upright and truth. Jesus Christ said: “Enter ye in at the strait  gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). He again spoke: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). (b)  Greek dikaiosyne noun form of the verb dikaioo, equivalent to Hebrew noun sedeq or sedaqa, verb sadak, meaning to vindicate, to treat as just, to dispense justice. “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom” (2 Timothy 4:1). In Old English, righteousness was known as rightwiseness, specifically the right wisdom. God’s righteousness was thus exactly God’s method or way of saving sinners (see separate article written on The Righteousness of God).

The message of the apostle is crystal clear: Israel had ignored, rejected God’s wisdom, had rejected Jesus Christ, God’s method of saving sinners. They have ignored, rejected narrow way to heaven in preference to the broad way to hell. What a pity!

The rejection is seen, or discharged in this wise: FIRST, they had devised, developed their own method of wisdom in worshipping God (going about to establish their own righteousness). They want to worship God in their own terms, rules. This alluded to what Jesus Christ told them: “Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy {Isaiah 29:13; cf Ezekiel 33:31} of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for the doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:7-9). The religious parties they formed like Pharisees, Scribes, Sadducees, Zealots, Herodians, were their own method of worship. Even currently, Judaism, a religion whose origin is from Vatican, Catholic, is counterfeit, fake. SECOND, they have not submitted, in other words rejected God to reign over them like the days of Samuel (1 Samuel 8:7), and also rejected Jesus Christ as well (Luke 19:11-27). Israel had rejected God in preference to the carnal filthy behaviours, conducts of the Gentiles. They had adopted democracy. They had embraced corrupt worship. Denominations and religions are ways, means of men, trying to enter heaven without God’s means, which is Jesus Christ.

Verse 4. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.

This is perfectly understood in all the following aspects: (a) Jesus Christ is the beginning and the accomplishment of the true worship of God. “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). If any Jew does not know Christ, he does not know God. (b) Jesus Christ is the only means of salvation. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Roman Catholic, Protestants, plus Judaism including Kabala (which are Satanic worship plus rituals of darkness) cannot save Israel. American democracy initiated and implemented by the Jewish impostors popularly known as Khazars who originally are Ashkenaz (Genesis 10:3), descendants of Japheth, white men proper, will not do it either. Psalms 5:6 states: "Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man."  (c) Jesus Christ is the establishment, the complete concrete goal of the right wisdom, the Gospel, to every person who had true worship and indeed focused into heaven. “But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24). Any Jew who had rejected Jesus Christ had no God’s wisdom but rather foolishness of the world. (d) Jesus Christ is grace and truth. He is the way, the truth and the life. “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). Any Jew who had rejected Jesus Christ is in God’s wrath and deception. Anyone who does not know Jesus Christ, or rejected him, is in total darkness, lost, living in lies and in death. Without Jesus Christ, there is no eternity. A friend of the world is not a friend of God (John 17:16; James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-17).

The apostle expounds further his point:

Verse 5. For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live with them.

The quotation is from Leviticus 18:5. The same Moses described Jesus Christ as a Prophet like himself {a new Moses}, a Deliverer (not from Egyptian bondage this time, but slavery of sin and Satan, the Gentile yoke, to be precise) among the children of Israel as recorded in Deuteronomy 18:15, and quoted in Acts 3:22; 7:37. Moses wrote again in Deuteronomy 27:26, cited by the apostle in Galatians 3:10, that: “Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.” Jesus Christ told the Jews that: “Do not think I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust” (John 5:45). All things written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms were fulfilled in Jesus Christ (Luke 24:44).

The law is now rendered God’s word called the Gospel. The law is Jesus Christ himself. It is the universa doctrina.

Therefore, Moses explained the right wisdom of the Gospel, Jesus Christ himself, that any person submissive to him will live, will have eternity. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life…He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:16,18).

This agrees fully with the next statement, which indicates:

Verse 6. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)

The apostle quotes from Deuteronomy 30:12. In Deuteronomy, Moses used God’s law, commandment, which demanded obedience from the children of Israel. Here Paul is referring to Christ in place of God’s law, commandment. In other words, Christ was the law that Moses received from God.

The righteousness which is of faith, is the right wisdom which is received by believing on who is not seen. “…blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29). “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). This right wisdom from above had no room for doubts, speculations whatsoever. In that respect, any person who pursues this right wisdom should not have evil interior motive, struggling in his heart of who can recall Jesus Christ from heaven in order to believe the begotten Son of God. Jesus Christ came from heaven. He was born as a normal human being, though his conception was from the Holy Ghost.  He was betrayed by the Jews, crucified by white men from Roman administration, made to die, resurrected and ascended back to heaven. No one can compel, command Jesus Christ to repeat what he did, went through, in order to believe in him. Jesus Christ does not need to experiment himself, approve himself to anyone neither present his divine credentials to anyone. You either believe in Jesus Christ or believe in Satan. Jesus Christ was born a Jew. If the Jews don’t want to believe in him, then there is no any other option. Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the entire seeds of Adam. If atheists do not want to believe in him, then there is no any other wisdom from God. You cannot enter heaven your own way. You must know that heaven belongs to God, and it is only his way that you can enter there. Jesus Christ is the Way to God, our heavenly and only Father.

Verse 7. Or Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)

This is similar to the record in Deuteronomy 30:13, but with outstanding variations. It states: “Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it and do it?” The Greek word rendered deep is abussos, literally bottomless pit. It has nothing to do with hades the Greek word for the Roman Catholic purgatory, but could be equated to hell. Moses’ message to Israel was that their passage of the Red Sea, was indeed resurrection of Israel from the dead, from the grave. Their passage was deliverance from hell, from the consequences of sin, from the claws of Satan.

But is the bottomless pit, or the deep connected to Christ? The answer is No. Jesus Christ did not visit hell. He was not arrested by divine powers, neither chained like Satan and the fallen angels in bottomless pit (Revelation 20:1-3). In the case of Jesus Christ, we talked about the grave. One does not need to subject Jesus Christ into death, burial into the sepulchre and subsequently resurrection once again in order to believe him. One does not need to go to hell, the place of the lost, before believing on Jesus Christ. Hebrews 9:27 is perfectly clear: “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Remember the rich man in hell, who presented petition before Abraham while far away. He desired second chance but he got none (Luke 16:19-31). If any Jew or Gentile does not believe on invisible Christ, then alternatively they will not believe on the visible Christ. A child of Satan will never be a child of God, unless there is repentance. Therefore:

Verse 8. 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;

In other words, what does this right wisdom from above, Jesus Christ himself demands from us, revealed to us, the Jews and Gentiles? The apostle is paraphrasing Deuteronomy 30:14, and cleverly applying it here. The right wisdom from God, from above, the righteousness of faith, believing on the unseen, practically presents the simplicity of the Gospel. The Gospel is near, right on the mouths of professors, confessors, deeply lies within themselves. No one needs to bother himself with the search, discovery of Jesus Christ whether in respect of resurrection or ascension in order to believe him. Jesus Christ is right in the mouth, and deeply seated on the heart. According to the Hebrews, the mouth was the vital tool for a witness (Exodus 20:16; Deuteronomy 19:15), while the heart was a vital tool for a judge (Ecclesiastes 3:17). The Jews had both witness and judgment of God’s wisdom.

The Gospel is plain, very simple and easy enough. It does not culminate into difficulty in understanding, believing, and ownership of one’s life, provided one is able to go God’s way, not his/ her rules, stipulations. This is the message the servants of God proclaimed. The apostle sums it as the word of faith, which we preach. This has nothing to do with Word of Faith Movement, also known as Charismatic Movement or The Pentecostals, which compelled their converts to speak in demonic tongues. This is spiritual rebellion, playing double standard with the Gospel. God’s wisdom explains:

Verse 9. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

The Greek word for lord was kurios, which in Roman world was applied to the emperor. Jesus Christ is Lord because he has a kingdom. Any person who confesses Jesus Christ must be ready to accept his government, dominion, to be his slave, subject, otherwise he is not his/her Lord. The government of the world formed and embraced by politics must be renounced, and replaced by Jesus Christ. Corrupt worship formed and executed on basis of religions and denominations must be deserted and their place taken by Jesus Christ. The message is pretty simple. That if you shall become a witness of Jesus Christ’s government, a subject, not competitor and judged in your heart, inner self, that God raised Christ from the dead then such person will be delivered, from the kingdom of  darkness to the kingdom of light, from Satan to Christ, from politics to Gospel preaching, from greed to honesty and from sin to righteousness of God.

This is mandatory to the children of Israel. For them to be delivered from Satan, sin and Gentile yoke, they must: (i) accept Jesus Christ. There is no option. It is compulsory. Jesus Christ is now the new Moses. (ii) renounce emperor worship. American democracy is satanic and is for the Jewish impostors, who in the real sense are descendants of Japheth; (iii) believe in their hearts of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is nowhere a Jew will see Jesus Christ resurrecting from the dead physically. Believe and get contented. True worship is the worship of invisible God. False worship is the worship of visible gods, which are idols. It is pathetically sad to depart from true Hebrew worship for Gentile confusion.

Verse 10. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

The heart is the seat of human thought, the origin of character, traits and everything done by human beings. “But those things which proceeds out of mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man” (Matthew 15:18). Confession must go together with believing. Jesus Christ said: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). There no such thing as secret Christian, evangelical Christian, Pentecostal Christian, Catholic Christian, neither Protestant Christian. These are impostors in Christian faith. You are either a Christian or a pagan. A Christian is either a Jew or a Gentile.

From the heart, man received God’s wisdom, the government of Christ and from the mouth man consent, agreed of his servitude to that government. That is exactly deliverance, an indication that he has crossed over from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. Christless Jew is a darkness slave.

Verse 11. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

The scripture is prophecy. Paul, the apostle quotes from Isaiah 28:16, where he used not be ashamed instead of not make haste. The concept remained the same.

Any person who believed, had faith, trust in God, had judged already in his heart and made his mind about Jesus Christ, will never be ashamed experienced divine disgrace. The person will not make haste, in the sense that he will not doubt, hesitate, neither, rely on speculations. “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (2 Timothy 2:19). His choice will remain relevant and will not regret.

Verse 12. For there is no difference between the Jew and Greek: the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

There is no distinction between the Jews and the Greeks or Gentiles generally before God because they have been enslaved by sin and taken over by the wave of corrupt worship. Anyone who had embraced Greek civilization had buried his head also into the sand of false worship. The worship in Vatican is the worship in entire Europe, Asia and Africa. The world had blended the worship of God with the worship of Zeus. Both Jews and Greeks, or anyone who had adopted Greek culture, are guilty before God.
But God is merciful (rich). He is able to forgive, save and provide righteousness to all who believed on him. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). He is the God of all, who deals with all on the same terms and treats all as sinners.

Verse 13. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

The apostle quotes from Joel 2:32, which also has been cited in Acts 2:21; 9:14. To call upon the name of the Lord was a Hebrew expression for worship (Genesis 4:26; 12:8; Psalms 116:4,13,17; Lamentations 3:55). Worship in Old English was worthship, designating the precious value of God to receive special honour, respect in accordance to his supremacy, his worth, mighty since the earth with her fullness thereof, plus heaven belongs to him. The Hebrew word for worship saha, corresponding to Greek proskyneo emphasize the act of prostration, doing of obeisance, reverence. Anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord, worship God must accept the fact, recognize that: (i) he/ she is in deep trouble, in slavery of sin and dominion of Satan; (ii) he/she is a failure in  his/ her methods, means of worship. His/her means cannot save him/her from the mess he/she had found him/herself into, including God’s wrath; (iii) God and his Son Jesus Christ, is the present, while the rest are past. Jesus Christ is both Lord and Saviour. One having that mind will be saved, delivered, set free. Jesus Christ said: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free…If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:32,36). Jesus Christ is the Truth. Jesus Christ is the Freedom.

The apostle pose 3 questions in respect to worship, worthship:

Verse 14. 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?

The questions could be expounded in this sense for further understanding: FIRST, how could someone worship God in truth, the only true God of Israel, without in the initial estate having faith, being convicted in his heart in the first place, that the worship is genuine, divinely authorized? SECONDLY, how can someone be convicted in his heart, have a contrite heart, without hearing the word of God? THIRDLY, how can they hear this Gospel without the servants of God?

The answers are at our fingertips. FIRST, one cannot worship in truth with false beliefs. You cannot have true worship, where Christian faith had incorporated or amalgamated with paganism. One cannot have true worship in Roman Catholic, Protestants whether they call themselves Adventists, Evangelicals, Pentecostals and so on, because of the diverse doctrines involved. SECONDLY, one cannot judge in his heart, convicted, believed, without first getting the divine information by hearing. Jesus Christ preached in Israel, likewise to apostles and prophets, and it was the message that was compiled as the Holy Bible. THIRDLY, one cannot hear the word of God, unless God had led him to his servant in whom he had planted the word in his heart. Thus, this passage disapproved the satanic doctrine presented as Prosperity Gospel. It disapproved Praise and Worship, the Gospel music industry, which had incorporated the pagan worship of Bacchus, the god of wine. It disapproved the demonic tongues uttered and the crocodile tears shed in the Pentecostals. It disapproved the issue of fathers and nuns in Roman Catholic, which had brought technically the worship of the fertility goddess Aphrodite, the Ashtaroth, also known as Semiramis, the wife of Nimrod. Immorality is secretly performed in the Catholic priesthood. It also disapproved the Seventh Day Adventist, which had brought back the seven devils cast out by Jesus Christ, mingling them with Sabbath, and presenting satanic teachings of their founder Ellen G. White as Christian faith, doctrine.

All these Gentile filthy, disgusting worships cannot save a Jew, neither provides him with alternative true worship.

Verse 15. And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

The apostle quotes from Isaiah 52:7; Nahum 1:15, and explained the beautiful feet as the feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace in Ephesians 6:15. Jesus Christ said: “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9). Jesus Christ himself is the Prince of Peace according to Isaiah 9:6.

The point of the apostle is straight and easy to understand. How can they preach, except they be sent? In other words, how can somebody become a servant without a master? How can a person become an employee, without the employer, the boss? How can someone be a disciple without a teacher? It cannot happen for the two are compatibles. God plants his word, his Gospel into the hearts of men, into bringing the lost into salvation. Isaiah 6:8 states: “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” Jesus Christ chose 12 apostles. He again sent out the seventy also, not 72 as written in corrupt modern versions. He trained remaining 11 apostles for 40 days and 40 nights after his resurrection. He commanded them according to Acts 1:18, which stated: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witness unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” This was exactly the syllabus of the Gospel.

The next thing that could be understood here is that corruption of the Gospel originates from fellow human beings used by Satan to spread his kingdom of darkness. “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or obedience unto righteousness?”( Romans 6:16). Protestant clerics, as well as Catholic priests, are not sent by God. They are servants of darkness. No one can make himself a preacher. Theological schools cannot do it either.

The apostle revealed to the Jews the beautiful feet of those who preach the Gospel of peace, that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ who prayed for his followers to be in one, in unity as he is in one with God, the Father (John 17:21). The Jews should know that the apostle did not describe the beauty of suits of men, the garments of modern day Jezebels, the gowns of the pope, generally of Protestants, and Roman Catholic, the religions, which corrupt the word of God. Their feet are ugly as their messages. To the Jews, there is a problem:

Verse 16. But they have not all obeyed the Gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?

Paul the apostle quotes from Isaiah 53:1. Not all the Jews had respected their Hebrew God, for they had not accepted the fact that Jesus Christ, is God’s Son, and not only that he is Lord and Saviour, but had fully replaced Moses in the matters pertaining to the Jewish deliverance. If they obey the Mosaic Law as they claimed, then they must accept the fact that Jesus Christ is that Law. There is no Torah separate from Jesus Christ. Christ is the Torah. There is no Talmud without Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Jewish Talmud.

The Greek word rendered believed here is akoe, from the verb akoyein, which meant hearing. Isaiah charged the Jews for not believing their report in the sense that: (i) they have made themselves deaf deliberately; (ii) their ears are dull for hearing; (iii) their hearts are heavy and stiff naked; and (iv) they love the Gentiles more than their God. They cannot be convinced of God’s  message from his servants because they want signs, miracles for proof, unlike the Greeks who demanded wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:22). The Gospel demands hearing and obedience. Hearing is practically seen on how the person receives the Gospel, while obedience is practically seen on how the person believed the Gospel:

Verse 17. So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Therefore, in conclusion faith, also called belief or divine trust developed from hearing, being seriously attentive. What to be heard, must come from the Gospel ministers. In clear sense, the beginning, progress and strength of the Gospel is hearing the message from God’s servants, while faith is the instrument which demonstrates that it is well received and obeyed. Corrupt manuscripts, the modern versions contained word of Christ instead of word of God.

The apostle presents a question and an answer at the same time:

Verse 18. But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the end of the world.

No one can claim he or she has never heard about Jesus Christ, especially from Holy Bible and this era of information technology. An educated person can simply reject Jesus Christ and the Gospel entirely. Paul the apostle quotes from Psalms 19:4. In this case, men will appear before God without excuses. Jesus Christ said: “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment, For by thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned” (Matthew 12:36-37).

Verse 19. But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.

It cannot be intimated, estimated that the answer to the question is Yes, they don’t know. The answer is No, they know. The quotation is from Deuteronomy 32:21. Israel had rejected God and his Son Jesus Christ for no gods of the Gentiles. I will provoke you, that is, Israel as a nation, people, will be irritated, will be exposed to worship competitor. They will be moved to godly jealousy. This was done by the instrument of a no people, no bodies, a foolish nation. The Greek word for people and nation, is the same. It is ethnos, equivalent to Hebrew goyim, meaning Gentiles generally who believed in Jesus Christ. It is not a particular country, neither civil government leaders, who are considered as reputable men with exaggerated university education. This plan of bringing the Gentiles into the Gospel program was told to the Jews, when Christ spoke to his apostles that: “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock (belief having faith in Jesus Christ) I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). Peter the apostle wrote: “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). The Church of Jesus Christ is that nation. The Church is the people.

Verse 20. But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not for me.

The apostle quotes from Isaiah 65:1. This pointed the accepting of the Gospel by the Gentiles and rejection of the Gospel by the Jews. The Gentiles who are afar off, are made nigh, and are  near. The Gentiles who had long without God in the world are now set to seek for their Creator. God answers, responds to their  efforts with blessings. They have found Jesus Christ and glued on him as their Lord and their personal Saviour. The hopeless people destined to hell, now hope for heaven. On the other hand the Jews who had God on their side, are running away from God taking the place of repentant Gentiles in the kingdom of darkness.

Verse 21. But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto disobedient and gainsaying people.

This is again quoted from Isaiah 65:2. In Isaiah, rebellion is used instead of obedience; which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts is used instead of gainsaying. All day long is exactly an indefinite period of time, specifically endless. God had stretched his hands by himself, prophets, judges, Jesus Christ his Son, and the apostles and yet Israel had rejected him. The Jews had joined the godlessness of the Gentiles to the extent that they can worship God based on what God can do to them, in fact prosperity, and not what they can do with the word of God. Human greed is the vehicle driving man. Man is covetous. Man is materialistic.

God had stretched forth his hands, but the children of the world ignores it, in preference to politics, religion and income generating activities. Man is both civil and religious criminal before God. Jeremiah 17:5 states: “Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.”