Read Romans 10.
In this chapter, Paul continued discussing the unbelief of his people Israel. He spoke directly about his desire and prayer for the salvation of his countrymen (v. 1). Then he reflected on his own experience and concluded, “Yes, we Jews are very enthusiastic about God, but not according to knowledge” (v. 2).
And what was the knowledge they lacked?
That righteousness comes from God (v. 3) to “everyone who believes” (v. 4b). Since they did not know this, they “sought to establish their own” righteousness (v. 3b).
Verses 4-13 contrast the “righteousness for everyone who believes” (v. 4) with the “righteousness that is by the law” (v. 5). The righteousness that comes by the law is given to those who obey the law; as verse 5b put it, “The person who does these things will live by them.” That’s the promise of righteousness by the law–do what the law says and you will live.
Israel’s history–and yours and mine, too–shows that we can’t keep the law. Because we are sinners, as we saw in Romans 7, we can’t keep God’s law even when we want to–and most of the time, we don’t want to.
That’s why Christ came. He is, according to verse 4, “the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.” He kept the law we could not keep in order to give us the righteousness we could not earn. The way to righteousness (that is, “to be right with God”) is by faith in Christ (vv. 9-13). This has always been the case as we see from Paul’s quotations of the Old Testament here in Romans 10:
- v. 8 quotes from Deuteronomy 30:14
- v. 11 quotes from Isaiah 28:16
- v. 13 quotes form Joel 2:32
This is why God sends his servants into the world–to spread the message, the good news, of righteousness before God in Jesus Christ (v. 15). As we share the good news, we must remember that people are saved not through our slick presentation or clever arguments; rather, “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ” (v. 17). The message itself carries the ability to create faith in those God has chosen.
So, let’s be faithful about carrying the message!
