Romans 10:9 and Protestants

[dizzy_dave]

Romans 10:9 says:
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved.

What does this verse really mean? Protestants use this verse to push the once saved always saves and so on. What can I say to a protestant who uses this verse? Thanks and God bless.

 

[Fidelis]

=What can I say to a protestant who uses this verse? Thanks and God bless.

Ask him where he got such a small Bible that it only contains one verse? *Along with * this exhortation by Paul to faith, you have an equal (or greater) number of verses that state the necessity of obedience to God in our thoughts, words and deeds (Romans 2:6-11 comes to mind). The Bible, remember, is directed to Christians, and it is chock full of exhortations to to good, persevere, avoid sin, and so forth. If it doesn’t make any difference to our salvation, why would the sacred writers pen so much about it?

It is not sane to build a whole theology on a single verse, but we are to follow the WHOLE Gospel.

 

[Grace_and_Glory]

You also might want to consider the historical context when this verse was written. In the early Church, there was much persecution. Someone who confessed Christ with his mouth would run the risk of being put to death. It’s a vastly different situation than the average person making an oral confession of Jesus would face today.

 

[MilesJesu]

You can ask if Paul’s intent in that verse is for a person to confess only once. This usually makes them think a little.

Peace,

MilesJesu

 

[azcelt]

the majority of protestants i know would say that faith comes first,but that if works,doing good,etc, don,t follow then the person really didn,t have life saving faith to begin with. in christian unity,celt

 

[enanneman]

dizzy_dave:

Romans 10:9 says:
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved.

What does this verse really mean? Protestants use this verse to push the once saved always saves and so on. What can I say to a protestant who uses this verse? Thanks and God bless.

How about this?

If thou eats, thou shall surely live.

Surely, no one would argue with this statement. One needs nurishment to live. But, one also needs to do other things. One needs shelter as well. And, one needs clothing. One also must work to earn the money to buy the food and drink and clothing and shelter. And, one most avoid certain practices. One cannot expect to put all sorts of illicit drugs into his body and continue to live.

So, what St. Paul says is true. A person must have faith to have eternal life. If a man rejects the Lord Jesus after having the truth revealed to him, he will surely die. But, one also must remain in Christ all the days of his life. And, if he should stumble, if he should fall, he must then repent, receive sacramental Reconciliation, and return to Christ. One must be perfect as our Father is perfect. And our good works and struggles against sin help us to perfect ourselves. Of course, the vast majority of us will not obtain perfection this side of death. The vast majority of the saved will need to be purged in the next life.

So, in the words of Obi-Wan Kenobi, “What I said was true, from a certain point of view.”

Peace and God bless!

Eric

 

[RyanL]

You may ask if they agree that this means “faith”. Once they agree (as there’s nothing to disagree with here), you can point them to Rom 1:5 and Rom 16:26. In these two verses, which stand like bookends around the Epistle to the Romans, you will identify the phrase “obedience of faith”. St. Paul uses it at the beginning AND the end to remind us the context in which he uses the word “faith”. Faith, in St. Paul’s understanding, clearly includes obedience. Furthermore, if you are disobedient, you do not have faith. This is how St. James can say what he does in James 2:20 and 2:24.

They want the faith, but don’t want the obedience. If they still insist that works have nothing to do with salvation, you may remind them who said to “take up your cross daily”.

As C.S. Lewis is respected by most Protestants, you may remind them what he said about faith and works, “Regarding the debate about faith and works: It’s like asking which blade in a pair of scissors is most important.”

Good luck, and God bless,

RyanL

 

[jusher7281]

I agree with Fidelis. That is only one passage of Scripture that tells us what we must do to be saved. There are so many others, but that is taking the easy way out. I think it’s been referred to as “cheap salvation.”

As to what you can say, ask them if they’ve read the ENTIRE New Testament. If they have, they should know there are many things Jesus commands us to do in order to be saved. Also, ask them to show you in the Bible exactly where it says, “once saved, always saved.” They won’t be able to.

In Christ,
JU