Daily Bible Nugget #316, Romans 10:13

The Nugget:

Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

My Comment:

This well-known verse contains the Gospel in a nutshell. But there is much more truth to unpack from this little verse than most people have ever seen or heard.

I mentioned briefly in a recent Bible Nugget that Greek grammar possesses a verb voice category not present in our English language called the Middle Voice.

When the Middle Voice is used in Greek, it signals that the subject is a participant in the action.

This is a most important matter theologically. There is an ongoing debate between those who affirm “monergism” and those who affirm “synergism.”

Monergism is a term used by Calvinists to affirm that salvation is all of God and that man has no part in his salvation. The Calvinistic doctrine of “Total Depravity” or “Total Inability”–the “T” in “TULIP” is where this issue sometimes appears. Calvinists insist that since men are “dead”–“dead in sin” (Ephesians 2:3), that an unsaved person can do absolutely nothing with regard to salvation. God does it all.

Synergism is a term non-Calvinists use to affirm that man indeed has a part in salvation. The Bible clearly affirms we must DO something to be saved. The Philippian jailor asked Paul and Silas, “What must I DO to be saved?” Paul did not answer like a Calvinist might, “What do you mean, DO? There is nothing you can DO. Salvation is all of God”! Rather, Paul and Silas answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

“Believe” is a command to be obeyed. It is something we must do. A command is given in the imperative mood in both Greek and English, and involves an appeal to the volition of another person to obey in response to the command. It is an appeal of one will to another will. The use of the imperative mood in Greek grammar with respect to salvation and the requirement to believe shows we must respond by believing if we are to be saved. That means we have a part and responsibility to take in our salvation. This being so, salvation is not monergistic but synergistic.

Romans 10:13 involves another element of Greek grammar, the Middle Voice, which makes the person seeking salvation a participant in the action required to be saved. Here, the Greek Middle Voice more literally says “For whosoever may call for themselves upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” This is not monergism, but synergism, for the person calling upon the Lord for salvation has a part–he or she calls for himself or herself upon the Lord. That is something each person must do to be saved.

The doctrines of Calvinism do not stand up to the light of the Scripture when checked carefully against the grammatical features of Romans 10:13 or the rest of the Greek New Testament.

For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:

(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 1290 for Romans 10:13.

(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 1311 or in Logos 5 Bible software for Romans 10:13.

(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:

Romans 10:13. whosoever. Ro 3:30. Nu 21:8, 9. Is 45:22. *Is 55:1. >Joel 2:32. Mt 11:28-30. Lk 12:8. Jn 3:16. 4:14. Ac 2:21. 10:35, 43. 11:18. +*2 P 3:9. +*1 J 2:2. *1 J 5:1. *Re 3:20. *Re 22:17. shall call. or, may call. May call translates epikalesētai, an aorist tense middle voice subjunctive mood verb. The subjunctive is a potential mood and so conditional—may call or may not call; if they do call they will be saved. Further, one potentially calls for himself/herself since epikalesētai is also in the middle voice. This shows the participation of the subject in the action. Thus salvation is for the masses of humankind, but they respond to God individually, conditionally—may respond (Lavender NT, fn e). Ge 4:26. 2 S 22:4. +*Ps 50:15. 86:5. 91:15. 105:1. **Is 55:6, 7. *Je 33:3. Zc 13:9. Mt 15:21-28. +*Ac 2:21. +*Ac 7:59. *1 Cor 1:2. the name. To call upon the Name of the Lord implies right faith about Him, as the Object of worship (Liddon). Ge 12:8. 1 K 18:24. +Ac 2:21, 38. shall be saved. ver. **Ro 10:9, **Ro 10:10. Mt 19:25. **Jn 11:25, 26. **Ac 4:12. **Ac 16:30-32. 1 Th 2:16. 2 Th 2:10. +*1 Tim 2:4. **1 J 5:10-13.