“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;”
King James Version (KJV)
Ben Weaver's comment on 2010-11-30 07:56:15:
Here we have the contrast between God's law as given to Moses, which requires a doing, and the gospel of grace, which is to be believed and confessed with ones mouth. The grammer of "saved" and "salvation" is most often future tense (maybe following preparation for it, but still in this life as well as at the judgment). There are references to the benifits of salvation here and now. Eph. 6 states (Take the helmet of salvation v.17 ...that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil v.11. That seems to support "whosoever believes on Him shall not be ashamed" or defeated here and now when "with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (v.10). Jesus spoke with his mouth, "Get thee hense, Satan, for it is written (Matt. 4:10). Also, most miracles of defeating our enemies were performed by the spoken word. See Acts 3:6.
Ben Weaver's comment on 2010-11-23 03:52:26:
From v. 4 to 11, this passage describes the Christ method to be saved from defeat. It is not by merrit works like the old testament was, but by believing and declaring Jesus Christ raised from the dead. While being saved is usually seen as after we die, V. 11 indicates that this promise is for now, during this life. In the phrase "Word of faith", "Word" is from the Gr. "Rhema" which I gather means, that which God reveals or gives to us, beyond the method of giving, for which the Gr. is "logos". Anyway, "The word of faith" needs not be sought as from a distance, but it is in believing and declaring Jesus. Doing this, we will not be defeated.