July
6th Romans
10
1:
Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that
they might be saved. 2: For I bear them record that they have a zeal
of God, but not according to knowledge. 3: For they being ignorant of
God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own
righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness
of God. 4: For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to
every one that believeth.
(Present) Believing
in Christ
5:
For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the
man which doeth those things shall live by them. 6: But the
righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in
thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ
down from above:) 7: Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is,
to bring up Christ again from the dead.) 8: 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; 9: 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. 11: For the scripture saith, Whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 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. 13: For whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved.
We
might hear the question is Israel saved? The answer is they are a
redeemed nation, redeemed from Egypt. They are in Covenant with God
and they have the blessings of fellowship with God. But this is not
salvation as described in the NT. Paul says my hearts desire is for
Israel to be saved. Clearly Paul did not reckon them as saved - yet.
His prayer is that they might be saved. (They can of course believe
in Christ as individuals but then they become members of Christ and
part of the Church, But Paul here is talking about the Nation as a
whole, in Gods prophetic purposes) He says they have a zeal for God
but it is not based on the full knowledge of God in the Gospel. He
says they are ignorant of the righteousness which is the gift of God
to those who believe the Gospel. He says they are still trying to
make themselves righteous by obedience to the Mosaic Law. Paul points
out that Christ is the end of the road for the Mosaic Law to every
sinner who believes in Christ for salvation. Once a sinner believes
the Gospel they are declared righteous by God. So why would they
subsequently return to Law keeping? If they could keep the Law what
would be the point. Let’s suppose they kept the Sabbath and by it
obtained a small bit of righteousness, what are they going to do with
it? They already have all the righteousness of Christ. You cannot add
righteousness of the law to the righteousness of Christ. Paul says
that, Moses described the righteousness of the law saying that the
man who tries to keep it is committed to keep it all. However, there
is a righteousness of Faith in what Christ has done. Then Paul
describes the Gospel in particular relation to the Jews. It’s not a
separate Gospel for the Jews but their unique situation brings out a
unique emphasis. Let’s think about the Jewish situation. The Jews
formally rejected Christ denying him publically and subsequently
denying his resurrection which was the final sign of his Messianic
claims. Paul says you Jews have got to make a personal stand and
reverse this position of Judaism to Christ if you are to be saved. He
says, if you confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, This is to make a
public acceptance of Jesus of Nazareth as the Jewish Messiah. And on
top of that a personal faith in the truth that God has raised him
from the dead, then you can be saved. Paul says that when a man
believes with his whole heart he comes into the righteousness of God.
And he says the public confession of Jesus as the Christ brings him
to salvation. Some Jews might say I'm ashamed to acknowledge Christ
publically. Paul quotes the scripture saying; whosoever believeth on
him shall not be ashamed. Lastly Paul makes the point that salvation
comes to the Jew and Gentiles in exactly the same way. 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. The final quote of scripture
completes his message, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved.
- What does Paul want more than anything for Israel?
- What are the two specific requirements or obstacles to be overcome for a Jew to believe in Christ?
- What does a person have to do to be saved?
No comments:
Post a Comment