Paul discusses the problem of Jewish unbelief from Romans 9-11.
• He started off in chapter 9 telling us of God’s sovereignty and His purpose in election.
• God has not failed when He chose Israel to serve His purpose in salvation, even though many would reject Christ. He would save a remnant.
• In Romans 9b Paul defended the Lord’s absolute sovereignty, His merciful nature, and His good will in saving a remnant of Israel and the believing Gentiles.
Paul turns his attention in Romans 10 to address their responsibility.
• God has done all that was necessary for their salvation through Christ. Man is given the freedom and responsibility to respond to Him.
We will learn in this text that divine election and human responsibility go hand-in-hand. They do not contradict. They are friends and not foes.
• God’s sovereignty does not negate man’s free choice. Paul hopes that his kinsmen would understand the Gospel and believe in Christ. Why are they still resisting Him?
We will look at four areas that Paul touches on: How not to believe, what not to believe, who to believe and who can believe?
Romans 10:1-4
1Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 2For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
In his plea for them to believe the Gospel, Paul highlighted 3 mistakes they have made. These serve as cautions for us today.
• One is having a zeal for God but not according to knowledge (v.2).
Mistake 1: HAVING ZEAL WITHOUT THE TRUTH (How Not to Believe)
We see again Paul’s concern for the Romans.
• Earlier in 9:2 we read that he has “great sorrow and unceasing anguish in his heart” and now, we see “his heart’s desire and prayer to God” for their salvation.
• He believes in God’s election and yet at the same time, longing and prays for them.
• Knowing God’s sovereignty, which he established in Romans 9, did not stop him from desiring and praying for his kinsmen. They don’t contradict each other.
• God has His will and we have our responsibility. God sovereignly acts and we preach the Gospel and pray for the lost. Both are right and necessary.
Far from criticising or condemning them, Paul hopes they would understand the Gospel.
• They have a zeal for God, Paul recognises, but “not according to knowledge”, that is, without the correct understanding of the Gospel.
• They were zealous but ignorant, passionate but mistaken, religious but without the knowledge of the truth.
Just like Paul was before he met Christ. Paul was also very zealous for God and was fervently obeying the Law.
• He rejected Christ, persecuted the Christians, and was determined to destroy the church. His great zeal led him to kill Stephen (Acts 7).
• Zeal without knowledge is dangerous. Zeal without knowledge is terrorism. Zeal without the truth kills.
An elderly lady was admitted to the hospital because she listened to her cell group members and took ivermectin [iver-mectin] to prevent Covid.
• She rejected vaccination because the group says it is the sign of the beast, it’s the tool of the devil. They say, “Don’t give in to it, don’t give in to the devil’s ploy.”
• I wonder who is the real devil here? Full of passion but little knowledge.
Mistake 2: HAVING FAITH IN THEIR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS (What Not to Believe)
10:3 “3For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.”
• The righteousness of God has already been revealed in Christ but they would rather trust their own righteousness.
• With the privilege of the Law and the prophets, they ought to know better. The Messiah has come. Jesus died and rose again for their salvation.
• But they insisted on establishing their own righteousness and chose NOT to “submit to God’s righteousness” (10:3).
Many are in such a state today. It feels good to know that you are a morally good and upright person by your own efforts. It’s an achievement.
• But the truth is, we are still sinners in the eyes of God. We failed under God’s standard of righteousness, no matter how good we think we are.
Paul urges them to trust Christ, who is the end of the law for righteousness. He is the fulfilment, the completion, the goal of the Law.
• Only Christ met the requirements of the Law perfectly. The Law cannot save us; Christ saved us.
• As Paul has already highlighted in the earlier part of ROMANS, the Law points to Christ and reveals our need for Christ.
• Jesus Christ is God’s only way of blessing us with the righteousness we need. And it is for everyone who believes (10:4).
Zeal without knowledge (of the truth) cannot save.
• God said through Hosea: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” (Hosea 4:6)
• Ignorance of the truth is fatal. Sincerity cannot save them. Being religious cannot save them.
This is the plague of our times too. Many do not know the truth and are not willing to seek the truth. They DENY the truth, they REJECT the truth.
• The scarier thing is that people nowadays TWIST the truth without qualms, without any reservations. There is no unease in doing so.
• They can happily create fake news and scams. They can lie even to the parliament.
Last week, the POFMA Office (Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act) issued a correction direction to the Truth Warriors website over falsehoods relating to COVID-19 vaccines and promoting ivermectin treat the virus.
• [Ivermectin is an antiparasitic used to treat worm infections.]
• The website calls itself, Truth Warriors. What an irony. Claiming to provide truth to help people make the right choices but churn out misinformation and lies instead.
We pray for God’s wisdom and discernment to know the truth.
• Proverbs tell us to seek God for WISDOM. He gives us the LIGHT to see clearly.
• We are taught not to “lean on our own understanding. In all our ways to acknowledge Him. Not to be wise in our own eyes. To fear God and turn away from evil. The Lord will direct our paths.” (cf. Prov 3:5-7)
• We have an enemy in Satan. Jesus says the devil is a liar and the father of lies; he does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. (John 8:44).
• While he continues to twist the truth and propagate lies, we will diligently preach the truth and pray for God’s wisdom and discernment to know the truth.
Sincerity alone is not enough. Zeal alone is not enough. We need to know the truth.
• Augustine says it’s better to be limping in the right path than running in the wrong way (probably with great enthusiasm).
• No one wants to be passionately wrong! Paul made that mistake in the past.
Paul directs them to the Gospel, yet again - Romans 10:5-10
5For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. [Lev 18:5] 6But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7“or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” [Deut 30:11-14] (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
Mistake 3: EXCUSES NOT TO TRUST CHRIST FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS (Who to Believe)
Paul urges them to put their faith, not in the Law, but Jesus Christ.
• We see the contrast now, right? The righteousness of man vs righteousness of God, the righteousness based on the Law and the righteousness based on faith.
• The flipside of the quote from Moses (Lev 18:5) – “the person does the commandments shall live by them” – means whoever fails shall be condemned.
• Righteousness through the Law requires moral perfection. You have to keep it all.
That means you can stand before God one day EITHER on the basis of your righteousness OR the righteousness that God grants you in Christ.
• One is based on the Law and the other on faith. The first one is unattainable, as Paul has already established in the first part of this book.
• No one can keep all the commandments perfectly and live.
• The only other option is to be justified through faith in Christ, the righteousness based on faith.
What efforts do we need to put in for this? How do we get it?
• Paul explains it is not by any human efforts but by faith in Jesus Christ. And he uses the text in Deut 30 to illustrate his point.
• 10:6-7 6Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (to bring Christ down) 7“or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (to bring Christ up from the dead).
Moses spoke these words when he was about to send his people into the Promised Land and reminded them to obey God and live well in Canaan.
• Deut 30:11-14 11“For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.
God has revealed, “the commandment” (singular, His Law or will). It is not too hard or too far off, meaning, it’s not unreachable or inaccessible. You know it.
• Paul replaces the “commandment” with “Christ” to illustrate. Similarly, we have seen God’s will in Christ. “The Word became flesh and dwell among us.”
• Christ is not far away or hidden. God has revealed Him to us. We have seen the Messiah.
• You don’t have to ascend into heaven to look for Him – He has come. You don’t have to descend into the abyss to find Him – He has risen.
• Whatever the “excuses” we might think of, Christ is not beyond our reach. He is with us and we can call on Him to be saved.
The expressions - heaven and abyss - are similar to what David wrote in Psalm 139:7-10.
• 7Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.
• The idea is that He is not unreachable or hidden and cannot be found.
Unlike the righteousness by the Law which is unattainable, the righteousness by faith is available in Christ and He is within the reach of anyone.
• He is a confession away. He is not inaccessible. Anyone can believe and receive Him.
• 10:9 “…confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Paul latches on the words used by Moses - ‘mouth’ and ‘heart’ – to express genuine faith in Christ.
• True faith involves both the heart believing (inward) and the mouth confessing (outward). It does not mean a two-part step, but just two sides to the same coin.
• 10:10 “For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth, one confesses and is saved.” Being justified and saved are the same.
• True faith in Christ will show, outwardly in your confession and conduct. The one who confesses Him as Lord reveals the faith in his heart.
• The Lord says, “…out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (cf. Luke 6:45)
For the Romans, to confess Jesus as LORD is significant. It is tantamount to saying Caesar is not Lord, Jesus is.
Notice Paul points to the deity of Jesus. Not any Jesus. Not any good Rabbi, prophet or historical figure who had once lived.
• But the Jesus who is LORD and whom God has raised from the dead! The risen Lord!
• Jesus’ resurrection is the foundation of our faith. It proves that His redemption work on the cross has been completed and God the Father has accepted it.
• Rom 4:25 says He was “raised for our justification”. His resurrection is our hope of eternal life. That’s the JESUS we believe in.
So finally, WHO CAN BE SAVED? (Who can believe it?)
Romans 10:11-13
11For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” [Isaiah 28:16] 12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” [Joel 2:32]
God’s gift is for EVERYONE who believes, to ALL who call on Him.
• The Gospel excludes none. Those who are outside, exclude themselves.
• If righteousness is not by works but by faith, then how can anyone be disqualified?
• No one is excluded. Anyone who calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved, whether Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female.
• It doesn’t matter who. It matters whether you are willing to believe Jesus.
The failure of Israel is a failure of faith because whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.
• Both quotations coming from the OT – Isaiah 28:16 and Joel 2:32 – reveal the heart of God for the salvation of anyone who is willing to believe His Son Jesus.
• Peter says, “The Lord is not slow to fulfil his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Pet 3:9)
This is the human responsibility in the equation.
• God is sovereign and we have our freedom and responsibility.
• God’s election does not diminish our responsibility.
• No one can blame God for not saving them. The choice is ours.
Pray that God will grant us and as well as all our loved ones and friends, the humility and the wisdom to understand His heart and choose right.
• May that Lord bless you with faith in Jesus Christ!
PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, we are grateful for what you have done and for the righteousness we have in Christ. Thank you for saving us.
We celebrate the many lives that have been redeemed and transformed down through the centuries worldwide. We praise you for your patience and grace shown to all.
We pray that everyone here today will open our hearts to you, Jesus, and acknowledge you as Lord and Saviour.
May our loved ones and friends be led to see you and experience your love for them. Grant them encounters and experiences in life that will show them that Jesus, you are their Lord and Saviour.
Let us live and serve you always with grateful hearts.
In your Name, we pray. AMEN.
* You can hear and view the sermon with slides at https://tinyurl.com/KTCC-EnglishService
