‘Mid-Acts-ers’ have pre-assigned Romans chapters 9-11 as being about Israel .... so they boycott all those verses having to do with salvation, even though ‘their apostle’ Paul specifically said this was the message ‘we’ preach when he gave the details of the gospel. They won’t ‘use’ verses about ‘calling’ on the Lord’s name, or about ‘the mouth’. They attach them to Israel.
Rom 10:8 But what saith it (What saith ‘the righteousness which is of faith’ - from Rom 10:6)? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart:
that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
The first of that verse came way back in the scriptures from Moses, so ‘mid-Acts-ers’ reject it:
Deut 30:14 But the word is very nigh unto thee,
in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
Paul showed that ‘what Moses said’ is the SAME word of faith that he and others (we) preached, so the last part of Rom 10:8, presents a problem for ‘mid-Acts-ers’. Even though Paul also said there is ‘one faith’ (Eph 4:5), ‘mid-Acts-ers’ deny that Moses and Paul shared in the SAME faith.
Neither will ‘mid-Acts-ers’ preach the clear gospel from these next 2 verses in the Romans 10 passage. Even though Paul wrote it, and even though it has the SAME elements of trusting the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, ‘mid-Acts-ers’ still ignore the gospel here, because of its ‘confession with the mouth’ factor:
Rom 10:9-10 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.
Then the ‘mid-Acts-ers’ separate themselves further by discarding the next verse since it quotes the OLD testament (even though it teaches simple faith in Christ):
Rom 10:11 For the scripture saith,
Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Paul used the same OLD testament reference in the previous chapter:
Rom 9:33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence:
and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
The prophets taught the saints to have a calm assurance and to patiently wait .... knowing that God would provide their deliverance .... not from physical pain and death .... but to eternal life.
Isa 28:16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation:
he that believeth shall not make haste.
Isa 49:23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD:
for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.
Jer 17:7, 13 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.
'Mid-Acts-ers' teach that the 'earthly' Jesus was 'another Jesus' from the 'risen, glorified Lord' that 'CALLED' Saul on the road to Damascus. What about the 'risen, glorified Lord' that appeared to His disciples after He rose from the grave? Were there 2 different 'risen, glorified LordS' (one that commissioned the disciples, and another that commissioned Saul)? No! The scriptures teach that it was the SAME Lord!
‘Mid-Acts-ers’ just choose one phrase out of this Romans 10 passage ("there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek"), and then they leave the rest for Israel:
Rom 10:12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
‘Mid-Acts-ers’ opt themselves out of the ‘calling’ terminology, even though ‘their apostle’ Paul wrote it. Since it is located in Romans chapters 9-11, which they deem for Israel, they chuck it:
Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
‘Mid-Acts-ers’ scorn PAUL’s use of the ‘calling’ because PETER taught it in Acts 2, and they say Paul and Peter preached 2 DIFFERENT gospels:
Acts 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Keep on backing up, and see that Peter brought the ‘calling’ forward from JOEL’s OLD testament prophecy:
Joel 2:32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
A lot of times ‘mid-Acts-ers’ try to squeak by .... explaining their ‘dividing Paul’ doctrine (dividing ‘early’ Paul from ‘late’ Paul) for an excuse. But that won’t work with this ‘calling’ issue either:
1 Cor 1:2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth,
to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
2 Tim 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
There are SO many verses that prove ‘mid-Acts’ doctrines wrong. It is personally embarrassing that I used to be in that mess. I respected a man with a chart and I accepted his paradigm. But, no more!
Psa 118:5, 8 I called upon the LORD in distress:
the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place.
8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
I called on the Lord .... His word .... in my heart and in my mouth!
This is David Dowell, saying, "Think about it!"
