Here is a question to consider this week:

     Romans 10:9-10 says, “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.

     For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is

     made unto salvation.”  Some have labeled this as a “dry passage.”  In other words, they

     are saying that salvation is discussed here without the inclusion of baptism.  How would

     you respond to this?    

     In last week’s bulletin, I indicated that some claim that Romans 10 (in particular, verses 9-13) is a “dry” passage.  In other words, they are saying that
salvation is discussed here without the inclusion of baptism.  How would you respond to this?

     Is Romans 10 a “dry” passage?  In presenting the correct answer to this question, I would like to demonstrate the usage of a very important principle of
Bible study known as the “synthetic” method.  The word “synthesize” is defined as “combining parts or elements into a whole” (Mirriam-Webster Dictionary,
© 2006, ver 2.6).  So, with the synthetic method of Bible study, the Bible student considers various parts of the scriptures as a collective whole.  This is
crucial for a proper understanding of what one must do to be saved due to the fact that there is not one, single passage within the scriptures that provides the
steps of salvation in their entirety.  In other words, there isn’t one particular passage that says, “Here’s what you must do to be saved.....” which then goes on
to list the various steps in their entirety. So, several passages need to be studied and the results combined to get a collective answer.

    With this in mind, it is important to note that the exclusion of a particular item from one passage does not, by necessity, indicate that it is non-essential.  For
example, in Romans 10, the Bible student will not find the step of repentance being addressed.  Yet, we know that it is a requirement due to what other
passages indicate.  For example, in Luke 13:3-5 Jesus makes it very clear that repentance is a necessity.  Acts 17:30 amongst others also confirm this fact.  So,
if baptism was excluded from Romans 10, it would not, by necessity, indicate that it is non-essential.  Again, one would have to utilize the synthetic method of
Bible study to discover what other passages indicate about baptism.  In doing so, one would find several passages that show its essential nature to salvation: 
Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, Gal 3:26-27; 1 Pet 3:21.

     However, is baptism excluded from Romans 10?  In reality, the answer to that is “no.”  Notice verse 13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved.”  What does it mean to “call upon the name of the Lord”?  Once again, the synthetic method of Bible study should be utilized.  In Acts 22,
we find a record of Ananias’ instructions given to Saul of Tarsus:  “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sin, calling on the
name of the Lord” (emp. add.).  Also on the Day of Pentecost, Peter quoted from Joel 2 and stated, “...that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord
shall be saved.”  Later in that same chapter, when Peter and the apostles were asked, “...what shall we do?” Peter responded, “Repent, and be baptized every
one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins...”  Obviously, calling on the name of the Lord and baptism are linked together.  Baptism is a
part of that process.  So, by properly utilizing the synthetic method of Bible study, one can see that baptism is indeed included in Romans 10 - in verse 13.

  Therefore, it is not a “dry” passage as some claim.