Hello Friends!
Welcome Back! Let’s continue our journey through the book of Romans – “The Romans Road to Righteousness.”
Welcome Back! Let’s continue our journey through the book of Romans – “The Romans Road to Righteousness.”
The Roman’s Road to Righteousness (Chapter 10:14-21)
This week we will conclude our reading of chapter 10, verses 14-21 as we consider Israel’s Rejection of the Gospel...
In
our last study, we learned that the “Jew”
didn’t understand that God’s “salvation”
was a “whoever” proposition.
They did not understand that there was “no
difference” between the “Jew”
and the “Gentile.” However,
they should have understood this “witness” because it is found
throughout their Old Testament Scriptures! We remember that the Apostle Paul diligently
describes this earlier in the chapter where the “Jews”
were “seeking to establish
their own righteousness” and were thus willfully
“ignorant” of this great “truth”:
For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God – Romans 10:2-3
However,
despite the “Jews” professed “zeal for God”
of which was “not according
to knowledge,” God has graciously placed upon His “special” people of “Israel” the greatest blessings ever given
to any “nation” in history!
Therefore,
the Scriptures tell us that God “chose”
the “Jews” for three specific reasons:
One
~ To witness of their “peace” with
God.
Two
~ To “believe”
the Scripture.
Three ~ To be the “nation” of the Messiah.
It
was through that “chosen”
nation of “Israel” that God
would bring the “Savior” of
the world! These are a tremendously privileged people and as we have been
learning in our study of the book to the Romans, the sad reality is that “Israel” is now temporarily “blinded” by God and is at this time
“set aside” from their “special” place of privilege. And that's
why history has been so exceedingly difficult for the “Jews.” The Apostle Matthew also reminds us
of Jesus’ stern and sobering words spoken of “Jerusalem”:
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling – Matthew 23:37
In
other words, “Jerusalem” was “unwilling” to respond to “Jesus Christ” – as a “hen gathers her chicks under her wings.”
The “Jews” who killed “the prophets” and stoned “those who are sent to her” have refused
to “believe” and embrace the “Savior.” As a result, their “children” were left to desolation and brought
upon itself an unending holocaust of “judgment”
which will culminate in the future time of global horror known as the Great Tribulation…
The
“Jews” were to witness of
their “peace” with God:
Having
established the proportions of the “Gospel,”
the Apostle Paul now shows how God “sent”
out His “salvation’ message
via a “preacher”
to those who would “call on
Him” in whom they have “not believed” and would “believe in Him”
of whom they have “not heard”:
How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things! – Romans 10:14-15
Once
again, Paul quotes a most beloved Jewish Old Testament Prophet:
How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace and brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation, and says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” – Isaiah 52:7
This
is a very joyous “salvation”
verse because “good news” has
come from God to “Zion” that
their captivity in “Babylon” was
finally over! These are “beautiful feet”
because they bring “glad
tidings of good things!” It is a message of “happiness” for liberation and freedom from
personal “sin” – “Your God reigns!”
Paul’s
whole point here in these passages is that you can't “believe” unless you “hear” a message of “glad tidings of good things.” You
can't “hear” unless a “preacher”
gives it. You can't “preach”
a message unless you've been “sent.”
You can't get “sent” unless Someone
sends you. And God has sent “preachers”
far beyond “Israel.” God
has sent them across the entire world with the “gospel of peace” to “Jew” and “Gentile”
alike who will “call” on the “Lord.” But, only to
those who “call” properly on
God’s terms can be “saved.”
There's no other way to “believe”
than to “hear” the “truth” of the “Gospel” thorough Biblical diamarturomai
– “testimony.”
IMPORTANT POINT!: A
clear Gospel message precedes saving faith! The proper understanding of who “Jesus Christ” is, of who “God“ is, of who “sinful man” is and the provision of “salvation” by “grace” through “faith” is essential for one to realize his
need for a “Savior.”
Not to mention WHY he needs a “Savior” in the first place! This “saving” message of “salvation” doesn't just happen by intuition.
It doesn't happen by mysticism. It happens through a
proper “understanding” of
these “saving” Biblical
doctrines of which are absolutely necessary for the “lost” soul to appropriately “know” and “believe”
in “Jesus Christ” as “Lord”
and “Savior” – This is the crown of Paul’s argument throughout his
epistles!
The
“Jews” were to “believe” the
Scripture:
However,
there’s a big problem for “Israel”
today. Paul again paraphrases “Isaiah”:
But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God – Romans 10:16-17
They
have not all “obeyed the
gospel” and that's the problem!
Preaching was to “all” men – “Jew” and “Gentile”
alike. That was God's purpose. There is a wide open “call” today to “all” but they don't “obey” it. The “Gospel” message goes to the “ends of the earth” to “whoever believes” and “whoever calls” on the “name of the Lord” will be “saved.” But men just won't “obey” it. They are “disobedient” to the saving “Gospel” message:
Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? – Isaiah 53:1
Isaiah chapter 53 is a prophecy about Jesus Christ's death and
here “Isaiah”
is essentially saying “Lord, we really can't find anybody who believes this!”
The question implies that most people didn't “believe” it! The word to “obey” is hupakouo – the word
for “acoustics.” It means to “hear under”
or to get into submission – like a servant. The “Jews” have not “heard” it submissively with a “heart” of “obedience”
to “Jesus Christ.” In all the
messages of “Salvation”
throughout the Scriptures, there is a sense of “obedience.”
In other words, it isn't just “believing”
various Biblical facts. It is also affirming that I will hupakouo
– “line up under” – “obey”
and “submit” to His perfect
Will, His perfect Word and His perfect Way. Therefore, a true, saving “faith” is an “obedient” life of “submission” to “Jesus Christ” – AMEN!
REMEMBER: We must not so tenaciously cling to a
lopsided theology that puts everything on the Sovereignty of God and does not allow for Man’s Responsibility within God's plan and
providence. Both are true – This is the doctrine of Concurrence!
The
“Jews” were to be the “nation” of
the Messiah:
Paul
now closes this chapter with a telling summary from David in the Old testament
book of the Psalms:
But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed: “Their sound has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.” – Romans 10:18
What
David is saying here in Psalm 19 is
that the celestial bodies proclaim to the “whole
earth” that there is a “God”
– their “sound”
and “words”
have gone to the “ends of
the world.” God showed this “truth” by sending His messengers – the “stars” in “heaven”
and the “preachers”
on “earth”:
Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun – Psalm 19:4
Their
“line” and “sound” has gone out everywhere!
Paul borrows this very vivid verse as a symbol and foreshadowing of how the “Gospel” of “Jesus
Christ“ will extend to “all
the earth” as a the testimony of “heaven”
by the “sun” and “stars” themselves – People are without excuse!
Next
Paul quotes “Moses” speaking
of “Israel”:
But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says: “I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation.” – Romans 10:19
In representing the “law” – “Moses”
told the “Jews” that because
of what “is not God”
and their feverish fetish with “foolish
idols” the time would come when “God” would embrace those who “are not a nation” – “Gentile” & “foolish” – to “provoke” them to a “jealousy” about His relationship to them:
They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not God; they have moved Me to anger by their foolish idols. But I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation; I will move them to anger by a foolish nation – Deuteronomy 32:21
When
we read Deuteronomy chapter 32 in its
entirety we find out why God was “provoked” to “jealousy.” In verse
5 we see the “unbelief”
of “Israel.” In verse 20 we see their “judgment” from “God.” And in verse
21 we find God will “provoke”
and “move” the “Jew” to “jealousy” and “anger” by a “foolish nation” of “Gentile”
believers. Here God equates the “foolish idols” of the “Gentiles” with the “foolish nation” of “Israel – A
nation of fools!
Paul
then quotes “Isaiah”
speaking of the “Gentiles”:
But Isaiah is very bold and says: “I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me.” – Romans 10:20
In representing the “Prophets” – “Isaiah” said the same thing “Moses” said! There was a “Gentile” people who didn't “seek” and who didn't “ask” for God. But they had a “salvation” relationship with Him through “faith” in “Jesus
Christ”:
I was sought by those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ To a nation that was not called by My name – Isaiah 65:1
Therefore,
“whoever” will “call upon the name of the Lord” will be “saved.” And Paul is saying to the “Jews” that as long as they “believe” that this “faith” belongs only to “Israel,” then they have bound themselves
in willful “ignorance”
because the “truth” of God
extends to “all” people.
Tragically, most “Jews”
rejected the “Gospel” because
it involved “Gentiles” – the “Dogs” of society. And most “Jews” today still reject it for
that same reason – By God’s Sovereign
will!
And
finally Paul paraphrases “Isaiah”
in speaking of “Israel”:
But to Israel he says: “All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and contrary people.” – Romans 10:21
So,
why did the Lord reject “Israel”
and turn to the “Gentiles?”
Because God had originally said to these “rebellious” and “contrary”
people:
I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, according to their own thoughts – Isaiah 65:2
Again,
the “Jews” refused to “believe” God and they willfully
chose to “walk in a way” that
“is not good”
by “their own thoughts.”
The word “contrary” literally
means to deny or to speak against – anti-lego – to “contradict.”
And so “God” says they were “ignorant” of their own “Scriptures.” If “Israel” had “believed” the prophecy of “Moses” and the prophecy of “Isaiah” they would have “known” that the day would come when they
would become a “rebellious people” and that “God” would reach out to the “nations” beyond to “provoke” them to “jealousy.”
The
phrase "All day long"
means patiently and continually and "Stretched out My hands" means a loving embrace of intimacy. A patient and
loving God has “stretched
out” to the “Jews”
again and again and again but they
have resisted in willful “disobedience.”
However, one “Day” that will
all change...
In
closing:
The
“Jews” today still reject “Jesus Christ” as their “Messiah.” In fact, for them to individually
embrace Him is to go “contrary”
to their leadership and religious “Jewish”
traditions – they won’t even “look”
to Him! And one of the reasons they have totally “rejected” God’s plan of “salvation”
is because they see the “Gospel”
and the Christian “faith” as a
“Gentile” religion. This “sin” of “unbelief”
is nothing new…
Before
the Inquisition, Galileo was summoned before a court to be tried for “heresy”
in declaring that the earth revolved around the sun. In fact, he was actually
denounced as a scientific heretic! What Galileo discovered of course was
true. But the existing establishment of the day denied
this truth. During his “hearing” in court, Galileo spoke this poignant plea to
his judges:
"I can convince you. Here is my telescope, look through it and you will see the moons of Jupiter."
This
great historian says they refused to “look!” They
were so convinced the earth did not revolve around the sun, no amount of
evidence would ever make them change their mind… They
wouldn't even “look!”
That's
the way it is with “Israel”
today – they refuse to look! They've made up their
mind – regardless of what their “Scriptures”
tell them. They are willfully “ignorant” of the Person of “Jesus Christ” and His provision of “salvation” by “faith.” The “Jew” simply will not accept something that includes “Gentiles” equally to themselves – They won’t even “look!”
He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed – John 3:18-20
So…
Is this willfully “ignorant”
and “sinful” unbelief of “Israel” permanent? The answer to
that question comes in chapter 11… (Hint:
The correct answer is NO!)
And we are very glad for that – Praise
the Lord!
Please continue reading verses 14-21 of
the tenth chapter of Romans.
We are not guaranteed tomorrow – tomorrow may be too late! If you haven't yet made that most important decision of your life, won't you make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior today - before it's too late? Today is the day of Salvation!
If you have been blessed by this message or have a specific question, prayer request or testimony, please send me a note to: encouragingconcepts@live.com
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Blessings!
Shane K. Morin <><
Encouraging Concepts
Truth for Today
"Living Life From a Biblical Worldview"Lighthouse Publications <><
