Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word...but isn't there an if clause in there just like in Jeremiah 18.
That "if" you shall confess with your mouth and believe in you heart.
Anytime I see the word "if" then to me it means that you are given a choice or option to do something or not to do something...
Romans 10
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;
9 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.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Also verse 13: For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
The rest of the chapter goes on to say that yes, Israel heard...but they did not obey...so in their disobedience unto God, in not putting their faith in him and calling upon him, they were not saved.
Now this is my understanding of it, anyhow...
But Greek is not English! The word "if" and your comment that you are given a choice or option is not reflected at all in the Greek.
There are 4 kinds of conditional clauses in Koine Greek, including one that says, IF this is true.... THEN this is true. That is the First Class Conditional. So, never assume because it is that way in English, it is the same for Greek or any other language.
"[FONT="]ὅτι ἐὰν [/FONT][FONT="]ὁμολογήσῃς ἐν τῷ στόματί [/FONT][FONT="]σου κύριον Ἰησοῦν, καὶ πιστεύσῃς ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ σου ὅτι ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸν ἤγειρεν ἐκ νεκρῶν, σωθήσῃ·"Romans 10:9 Greek[/FONT]
The conditional classes that use
εί and
ἐάν, are generally translated as "if." This verse, uses an
ἐάν conjunction, making it into a 3rd Class Conditional sentence, which is introduced by
ἐάν and a verb in the subjunctive.
[FONT="][/FONT][FONT="]ὁμολογήσῃς [/FONT][FONT="]which is Aorist Subjunctive Active, meaning "to agree, confess, proclaim." I believe this means that confession is an axiomatic truth, leading to the apodosis, which is [/FONT][FONT="][/FONT][FONT="]σωθήσῃ [/FONT](soothes) (to be saved!) which is Future Indicative Passive, making it a divine passive -indicating that God saves you.
[FONT=Helvetica Neue, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica Neue, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]ὅτι [/FONT][FONT=Helvetica Neue, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]
under normal circumstances usually means, "that, since, because." In fact, NET uses, "because" as the subordinate conjunction. ESV also uses "because," and NASB use "that." NIV, surprisingly does not translate the [/FONT]
[FONT="]ὅτι.[/FONT][FONT=Helvetica Neue, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
"because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9[FONT=Helvetica Neue, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][/FONT]
According to Bauer (BDAG), my Greek lexicon, [FONT="]ὅτι[/FONT] is translated as a marker of causality. "For this reason" or "because" or "that" followed by "if" you confess your sins..... Not really any option offered, at all.
In fact, a Third Class Conditional is more firm than our English way of using "if." "If" something might happen, and there is a possibility that it will, then something else
definitely happens. The speaker is thinking of a specific event. So, the if, refers to the first part of the clause (the protasis) that IF something might happen, and it definitely will, then something else definitely will happen. No chance it will not.
The use of the passive verbs, as required after both
[FONT="]ὅτι[/FONT] and
[FONT="]ἐὰν,[/FONT] are not something that is only possible, but in fact, will happen. And of course, the divine passive
[FONT="]σωθήσῃ[/FONT] means God causes it to come to pass. And although it seems to say that confession is necessary first, in 10:9, the next verse, 10:10 reverses the order, so that heart one believes is first, then with the mouth one confession.
It is thought that these verses which acclaim Jesus as Lord, are a very early an very central element of Christian conviction, as well as the conviction that God raised Jesus from the dead. Paul's focus here on Christ's resurrection and the resurrection alone, is "often set before us as an assurance of our salvation, not to draw away our attention from his death, but because it bears witness to the efficacy and fruit of his death."
