Everyone Who Believes

“For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”” -Romans 10:11

Like the sound theologian and rhetorician that he is, Paul now appeals to Scripture to support his claim that 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.

Quoting for a second time in this letter (the first time was in 9:33) from a passage in Isaiah, Paul universalizes the Prophet’s words to be sure his audience accounts for the knowledge that the Gentiles are also included in the invitation. Isaiah wrote, “therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste” (Isaiah 28:16).

To be in haste is a Jewish idiom that implies those who are in haste make foolish decisions that bring shame upon themselves. Paul doesn’t at all change Isaiah’s meaning; he simply uses clarifying language to assure his audience of the universality of the gospel: Everyone who believes in Christ in this way will be glorified!