Please turn in your Bibles this evening to Romans chapter 10 as we continue our study through the Word of God. Las week we began Paul's fourth main division of this letter to the Romans, a section dealing with election. In regards to election or the sovereignty of God, we saw in Romans 9:15-16, "For He says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.' So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy."
Now, as we move into chapter 10 this evening we are going to see man's responsibility or his free will to choose, to receive Christ as Paul says in Romans 10:13, "For 'whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.'" Here again God tells us to beleive it by faith, diving election and man's free will, it is not something we are going to be able to understand or reconcile with our finite minds, nor does God as us to. It is like the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit; one God manifested in three distinct persons, I can't figure it out with my finite mind but God has clearly shown us this truth in His Word and He wants us to believe it by faith! It is as the Lord said in Isaiah 55:8-9, "'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,' says the LORD. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.'"
We can also breakdown Romans chapters 9-11, dealing with election, this way. Romans chapter 9 deals with Israel’s past election. Romans chapter 10 deals with Israel’s present rejection of the Messiah, of Jesus. And in Romans chapter 11 we will see Israel’s future restoration, for God is not done with the Jewish people, there is a remnant that will be saved, the nation of Israel will turn to the Messiah and may we not forget that there has always been a faithful remnant of Jewish believers!
Now, as Paul concluded in Romans chapter 9, he was setting the stage for what he is going to be talking about here in Romans chapter 10, Israel's present rejection of Jesus, the Messiah. He tells us in Romans 9:30-33, "What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. As it is written: 'Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.'" Thus, with that said, let's begin reading in Romans chapter 10, starting in verse 1 and see what the Lord has for us this evening.
VERSE 1
For some, they would rejoice over the stumbling of another
or say something to the effect, "They are only getting what
they deserve!" But not Paul, we saw in the previous chapter,
that if it were possible he would go to Hell if his Jewish brethren
would be saved and here, once again, we see the heart of Paul
for his people. They rejected the Rock, Jesus Christ and tried
to attain righteousness by works outside of the Messiah. And
as Paul sees their stumbling, it then leads to action on his part,
it leads Paul to pray for His people that they might be saved.
May we have that same heart towards family, friends, co-workers;
that they would be saved and pray for them!
VERSE 2
Paul knew from his own personal experience that you can
have a real zeal for God, be very active for God and yet lack
the true knowledge of God, which in the end is meaningless, God
will not accept it for you must worship Him in Spirit and in truth!
In Acts 9:1-5 we are told of Paul's zeal for God without knowledge.
We are told, "Then Saul, still breathing threats and
murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest
and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that
if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he
might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he journeyed he came
near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.
Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him,
'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?' And he said, 'Who are
You, Lord?' Then the Lord said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'"
Do you see how Paul was trying to serve God, he was sincere, but
without knowledge!
Then we see Paul's conversion to the Lord Jesus and how
his zeal for God is now with knowledge, it is true knowledge.
We are told, "So he, trembling and astonished, said,
'Lord, what do You want me to do?' Then the Lord said to him,
'Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must
do.' And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing
a voice but seeing no one. Then Saul arose from the ground, and
when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the
hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without
sight, and neither ate nor drank. Now there was a certain disciple
at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision,
'Ananias.' And he said, 'Here I am, Lord.' So the Lord said
to him, 'Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire
at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold,
he is praying. And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias
coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive
his sight.' Then Ananias answered, 'Lord, I have heard from many
about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem.
And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who
call on Your name.' But the Lord said to him, 'Go, for he is
a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings,
and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things
he must suffer for My name's sake.' And Ananias went his way
and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, 'Brother
Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came,
has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with
the Holy Spirit.' Immediately there fell from his eyes something
like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and
was baptized. So when he had received food, he was strengthened
. . .
. . . Then Saul spent some days with the disciples
at Damascus. Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues,
that He is the Son of God. Then all who heard were amazed, and
said, 'Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name
in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might
bring them bound to the chief priests?' But Saul increased all
the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus,
proving that this Jesus is the Christ." Acts 9:6-22.
Paul had a bad reputation among believers, but that was now changing
as he went forth in the power of God's Spirit and was serving
God in truth!
We see this even today as religious people; people involved
in cults have a zeal for God without knowledge. And this zeal
for God is seen as they try to work their way into heaven by doing
this and doing that, but you will never enter in by works, only
by faith! Our knowledge comes as the Word of God, illuminated
by the Spirit of God enables us to walk in holiness before God.
You see, as sincere and devoted as people are to their faith,
outside of Christ it is meaningless, you can't do anything that
He will accept apart from Him. You see, I can be very sincere
and show my devotion to what I believe by driving my car across
a bridge, even though the sign says "BRIDGE OUT!" And
yet, all that sincerity and devotion will leave me crashing upon
the rocks below, it won't save me and the same is true for those
that reject Jesus and try to enter in another way!
VERSE 3
They lacked or truly rejected what God desired of them
and tried to attain God's favor by keeping the Law, all 613 commandments
and yet in Isaiah 64:6 we are told, "But we are all
like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy
rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind,
Have taken us away." And yet, there are some who
still believe they can work their way into heaven but James shatters
that kind of thinking when he says, "For whoever shall
keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty
of all." James 2:10. If it were possible for you
to keep the Law and at the end of your life you broke one of the
Laws, lets say you coveted, James is saying that in the breaking
of that one Law you are guilty of all the Law. Why is that? Because
God only accepts perfection and breaking one Law is just as bad
as breaking them all. Then it is impossible to keep? Exactly!
You see, Paul is telling us here that it is not only important
to have the right information but then you must apply it to your
life, you must submit to the righteousness of God that is found
in Jesus!
Robert Murray MaCheyne, that godly Presbyterian preacher,
tells the story of how he was passing out Gospel tracts one day
and he gave one to a very well dressed lady. As she looked at
it she gave this man of god a haughty look and said, "Sir,
you must not know who I am!" In a kind and gentle way he
replied back, "Madam, there is coming a day of judgment,
and on that day it will not make any difference who you are!"
How true that is, the only thing that will make a difference
is our relationship with Jesus and His righteousness accounted
into our lives by faith!
VERSE 4
For the Jew, they had worshiped the Law instead of the
Savior! The Law was there to bring us to Christ not to save us.
Yes, Christ fulfilled the Law completely; He was the only one
who could (Matthew 5:17-18). The problem for us is that we can't
keep the Law! Thus, Paul says that Christ is the "end"
or TELOS in the Greek which speaks of a termination or the purpose
or goal of the Law was to point people to Jesus, that is the completion
of the Law, it is as Paul said in Galatians 3:24-25, "Therefore
the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be
justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer
under a tutor." Thus, salvation is based upon believing
and receiving Jesus, and not in fulfilling the Law by works!
Of this verse, Spurgeon said: "Christ did not come
to make the law milder, or to render it possible for our cracked
and battered obedience to be accepted as a sort of compromise.
The law is not compelled to lower its terms, as though it had
originally asked too much; it is holy and just and good, and ought
not to be altered in one jot or tittle, nor can it be. Our Lord
gives the law all it requires, not a part, for that would be an
admission that it might justly have been content with less at
first."
VERSES 5-7
Paul is quoting out of Leviticus 18:5 to show God's standard,
if you want to be righteous before God in your own righteousness
then you must live by the Law, you must keep it perfectly. Is
that possible? Of course not because man is sinful, he is a sinner
separated from God. In the minds of the Jews they saw the Scribes
and the Pharisees as holy men of God and if only two people were
to make it into heaven, one would be a Scribe and the other a
Pharisee. But Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:20, "For I say
to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness
of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom
of heaven." Thus, any hopes of man achieving righteousness
by the Law is now doomed to fail from the very start, as Paul
said, "Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will
be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of
sin." Romans 3:20.
Think of it like this; when Moses came down from Mount
Sinai with the Law of God the children of Israel were already
breaking it and 3,000 Jews lost their lives in the judgment of
God (Exodus 32:28). But, on the Day of Pentecost when the Spirit
of Life descended upon the people, 3,000 lives were saved (Acts
2:41). It is as Paul said in Romans 8:2-4, "For the
law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from
the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that
it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned
sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might
be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but
according to the Spirit."
Paul continues on speaking of how people go to great lengths
to achieve righteousness, reaching up into heaven to bring God
down - but He has already come! Or reaching down to the grave
to bring Him up - He has already risen from the dead! You see,
a righteousness based on the Law denies His Incarnation and His
Resurrection! It is as Geoffrey Wilson said: "The sheer
perversity of unbelief is shown by the many who prefer to undertake
an impossible odyssey rather than put their trust in an accessible
Christ." The foolishness of man trying to attain righteousness
before God by his own efforts, it won't work, it won't be accepted!
What do we do then? Let's read on and see what Paul has to say
regarding this issue.
VERSES 8-10
You see, Paul is telling us that salvation does not come
by the Law through works but by grace through faith in Jesus!
And the idea here is that it begins in our heart, the inner man
and not the outward act of obedience. Why is that? Because
God wants your heart and once you surrender to Him, that which
has taken place on the inside will be manifested in your actions.
For the Jewish religious leaders, they were trying to fulfill
the Law outwardly but inwardly they were wicked, their hearts
were deceitful as Jesus said "Woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and
cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice
and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving
the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow
a camel! Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you
cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full
of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse
the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be
clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For
you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly,
but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.
Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside
you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Woe to you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the
prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If
we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been
partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.' Therefore
you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those
who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your
fathers' guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape
the condemnation of hell?" Matthew 23:23-33.
Thus, we don't have to go to heaven to find Christ or to
the dead but God's Word is near, it is not complicated, the Word
of faith, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. All you must do, the free
will of man, is confess that Jesus is Lord, believe in His resurrection
and what is in your heart will be confessed from your lips! It
is as Denney put it: "A heart believing unto righteousness,
and a mouth making confession unto salvation, are not really two
things, but two sides of the same thing."
Do you see the simplicity of salvation - it cost Christ His life
and He has extended that free gift of eternal life based upon
His finished work, if we believe by faith and receive Him into
our lives. It is as Spurgeon said: "We believe everything
which the Lord Jesus has taught, but we must go a step further,
and trust him. It is not even enough to believe in him, as being
the Son of God, and the anointed of the Lord; but we must believe
on him . . . The faith that saves is not believing certain truths,
nor even believing that Jesus is a Savior; but it is resting on
him, depending on him, lying with all your weight on Christ as
the foundation of your hope. Believe that he can save you; believe
that he will save you; at any rate leave the whole matter of your
salvation with him in unquestioning confidence. Depend upon him
without fear as to your present eternal salvation. This is the
faith which saves the soul."
VERSES 11-13
As we saw in Romans chapter 9 the sovereignty of God in
the election of man but here in Romans chapter 10 we see the human
responsibility to believe in Jesus, to call upon Jesus. How do
you know if God predestined you, elected you to be a child of
God? By calling upon Him and receiving Him into your life. What
if you don't? Then you are not elected to be a child of God -
the sovereignty of God and the free will of man, it is 100% of
both!
In verse 13 Paul quotes out of Joel 2:32 to show how salvation
was not to the Jews alone, but also to the Gentiles, for all who
call upon the name of the Lord will be saved! And folks, this
is not a New Testament idea, for we are told in Isaiah 60:1-3,
"Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory
of the LORD is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall
cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the LORD will
arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles
shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your
rising." Salvation will and has come to the Gentiles,
but for the most part, at this time, Israel has rejected the salvation
of God!
VERSES 14-15
Paul quotes out of Isaiah 52:7 and Nahum 1:15. In Nahum,
written some 150 years after the prophet Jonah came and called
for the people of Nineveh to repent, and they did, but now judgment
was coming upon the Assyrians for their rebellion against God
and this was good news to the Jews. In Isaiah it speaks of the
good news of the glorious kingdom age, and that of course is great
news! But I believe Paul is speaking of the present time we live
in, that we are to bring the Gospel message to the people who
don't know Him or else how will they believe if they don't know
about Him? How shall they believe in Him if they have not heard
of Him? Thus, we have been instructed by the Lord to "'Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;
and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.' Amen."
Matthew 28:19-20. You see, the remedy for Israel's rejection
of Jesus, and for all, is to hear the Word of God that they might
believe in Jesus and for those that bring forth this good news,
how beautiful their footsteps are as they go forward with glad
tidings of Jesus Christ!
VERSES 16-17
Here is the problem,
even though people hear the Gospel message, not all will receive
it and believe it! Why is that? Because of the hardness of man's
heart to the things of God and no matter how clear things may
be, if they don't want to receive it, they won't, it is a matter
of the heart, not the mind!
Look at what is spoken of in Isaiah 53:1-6, “Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
Now Jewish scholars have traditionally believed, after the death and resurrection of Jesus, that this is speaking of the nation of Israel, but that is wrong. When did Israel die for the sins of the world? They didn’t, in fact they were in need of the Savior, of the Messiah just like the rest of the world. The evidence was before them that Jesus is the Messiah, the fulfillment of what the Old Testament prophets spoke of. He healed the sick, opened the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf, caused the lame to walk and-so-on, and yet, because of the hardness of their hearts, the Jewish religious leaders said He did these things by the power of the Devil and not of God. You see, if you don’t want to believe you won’t no matter how much evidence there is before you!
In saying that, may it not discourage us or cause us to stop from proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ! Listen to Paul’s warning to Timothy, and I believe to us in the days we are living in when people want to have their ears tickled instead of their hearts pierced by the Word of God! Paul said, “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” II Timothy 4:1-5. Just because a child refuses to take their medicine do you stop giving it to them? Of course not, it is what is needed for them to be healed. Just because people don’t want to hear the Word of God do we stop giving it to them? Of course not, it is what they need to be healed spiritually speaking, it is where their faith begins and it ends!
In Psalm 19:1-6 David shows us that God’s existence is seen in nature, by creation itself, and then in verses 7-14 he shows us how God’s existence is seen in the Scriptures, the Word of God. So all the world has seen nature and has no excuse in believing that God created all this. Now, as His representatives, it is our responsibility to go out into the world and present to them the Gospel message so that they might come into a personal relationship with Him!
Paul shows us from the Old Testament that God is going to use the Gentiles to cause Israel to be jealous with the hope that they will return to God. It is as Paul said in Romans 11:11, “I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles.” The thing is, in knowing what they know; they are accountable for their rejection of the Messiah, of Jesus!
You see, God knew that Israel would turn against him and that He would use the Gentiles, who were not seeking Him, to cause them to be jealous! It is as Paul said in Romans 9:30-32, “What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone.” The problem for the Jews is they tried to obtain a righteousness by the Law through works while the Gentiles obtained the righteousness of God by grace through faith as Paul said in Ephesians 2:8-9 from The Amplified Bible, “For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved ( delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God; Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law's demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.].”
Notice the love of God as He stretches out His hand to Israel, a stiff-necked, hard-hearted, rebellious people, not at all different from us, and in Matthew 23:37 you can see the heart of Jesus for the Jewish people as we are told, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” How sad, now does that mean that God is done with Israel because of their rejection of Him? As I have said, not at all and we will see that next time in Romans chapter 11 as we look at Israel’s future restoration! But to give you a glimpse of that before we close, listen to what Paul said in Romans 11:25-27, “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.’” God is not done with His people, He is faithful to His Word, and thus, we can trust in Him for what He has promised He is able to bring to pass!