Romans 10

The Jewish people

(10:1) “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.”

Paul still struggles with the fact that many of his Jewish brothers do not know Christ, and they are actively rejecting him. Apparently, this was a residual prayer of Paul’s. Paul was not an abstract, cold theological thinker. These great truths about God’s plan, God’s election, and God’s sovereignty stirred his heart for evangelism.

(10:2) “For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.”

Before Paul speaks about the problems with his unbelieving Jewish friends, he begins with the positives: He loves them deeply (v.1), prays for them frequently (v.1), and acknowledges their zeal (v.2). Before we begin to critique someone, it is important to affirm something good in them, as well as our love for them.

Paul had been zealous for the law (Phil. 3:6), but didn’t acknowledge the truth of Christ. Their lack of knowledge was “self-inflicted.”[] Consequently, Paul’s statement contradicts the modern concept of, “It doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you are sincere.”[] Psychological certainty or personal sincerity is not enough. Truth matters!

(10:3) “For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.”

The problem with Paul’s Jewish brothers was that they underestimated the righteousness of God. Instead of accepting the gift of his righteousness through Christ (Rom. 1:16-17), they wanted to establish self-righteousness. This is a willful ignorance, as Paul has already argued in chapters 1-9. Furthermore, God warned the nation of Israel that he didn’t choose them because of their righteousness (Deut. 9:4-6).

(10:4) “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

Christ fulfilled the righteous demands of the law in our place (Mt. 5:17-18). To “subject yourself to the righteousness of God” (v.3) means to allow Christ to fulfill the righteous demands of the Law in your place.

(10:5) “For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness.”

Paul cites Leviticus 18:5 to show that we need to follow the law (perfectly!) to be righteous. Paul reminds us of his argument in Romans 1:18-3:20. No one keeps the law perfectly. (No one, of course, except Jesus.)

(10:6-7) “But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: 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).’”

In short, Paul’s purpose in citing from Deuteronomy 30 is to demonstrate that if the Law was easy to understand, then how much more in the gospel? We don’t need to do the impossible by travelling to heaven, or dying and rising again. Someone already did this for us—namely, Jesus. We simply need to accept what Jesus did on our behalf. So, to repeat, if the Law (Deuteronomy 30) states that it was clear, how much more is this gospel message?

(10:8) “But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching.”

Paul cites Deuteronomy 30:12-14 to show that the message of the Law was not difficult to understand. And if the Law was easy to understand, then how much easier is the gospel to understand? It is “near” the unbeliever—right on the tip of their tongue. They merely need to “confess with their mouth” and “believe in their heart” (v.9).

(10:9-10) “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; ¹⁰ for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

The message of Christ is simple: Confess and believe in the person and work of Christ. Like Hebrew parallelism, “confess” and “believe” are not distinct concepts, but complementary ideas.[] The point is that we need to trust in Christ. This is similar to how “righteousness” and “salvation” are parallel in verse 10. Later, Paul just describes this as simply as possible as “call[ing] on the name of the Lord” (v.13).

(10:11) “For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.’”

Paul cites Isaiah 28:16 for the second time (cf. Rom. 9:33). We make a lot of decisions that we will regret, but receiving Christ is not one of them! This is the greatest decision we will ever make.

The message of Christ is both exclusive (because we need to “believe”), but it is also inclusive (because “whoever” chooses to trust Christ will be forgiven).

(10:12) “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him.”

We all need the Savior: Jews and Gentiles alike. This fits into the sweeping context of Romans 9-11—namely, both Jews and Gentiles are in God’s kingdom. In the historical context (see Introduction above), the Jewish and Gentile Christians were likely embittered with each other. Paul’s abolished the idea of ethnic, religious, or sociological superiority by his repeated affirmation that they were both in God’s church with “no distinction.” This theological truth had sociological implications.

(10:13) “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Paul cites Joel 2:32 which originally referred to calling on the name of Yahweh. Here, Paul applies this passage to calling on the name of Jesus (see the parallel in verse 9). Paul’s point is that Joel referred to “whoever” would call on the name of God—not just the Jewish people. Gentiles are included along with Jews.

The problem with Israel? Faith

If coming to Christ is so accessible and understandable, then why have so many of Paul’s Jewish brothers and sisters not come to Christ? They have stubbornly refused Jesus’ offer of love and forgiveness. Summarizing this section, Moo writes, “[Paul’s] point, then, is that Israel cannot plead ignorance: God has made his purposes clear in both the OT (note the six OT quotations in vv. 14-21) and the worldwide proclamation of the gospel. So the fault rests with Israel: she has been ‘disobedient and obstinate’ (v. 21; cf. v. 16).”[]

(10:14-15) “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? ¹⁵ How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!’”

This could be Paul’s hypothetical opponent (or interlocutor) raising this question. The unbelieving Jewish person could argue that they need to hear a preacher in order to come to faith (citing Isa. 52:7). Paul accepts this premise, but he goes on to say that these people have heard a preacher.

(10:16) “However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our report?’”

The problem with Israel is not a lack of knowledge, but a lack of faith. They heard the gospel from good messengers (citing Isaiah 52:7), but they didn’t believe it (citing Isaiah 53:1. In the middle of one of the most powerful predictions of Jesus in the OT, we read that God anticipated Israel’s unbelief (Isa. 53:1).

(10:17) “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

Many of us deeply desire a stronger faith. Simply “hearing” the word of Christ can build faith in us.

(10:18) “But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have; ‘Their voice has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.’”

Paul cites Psalm 19:4 to show that God’s general revelation has made it to everyone on Earth. Paul seems to be making another a fortiori argument: If all people have heard about God through general revelation, then haven’t the Jewish people heard about Christ through special revelation? Indeed, Paul’s hypothetical opponent knows quite well about Jesus; otherwise, there would be no debate.

Similarly, we find ourselves talking with skeptics who ask, “What happens to those who never hear about Jesus? What will God do with them?” To them, this is equivalent to telling a Christian, “Checkmate!” But our common response is this, “That’s a good question. But that question doesn’t apply to you, because you are hearing about Jesus right now. What will God do with you if you refuse to respond to what you are hearing?”

(10:19) “But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? First Moses says, ‘I will make you jealous by that which is not a nation, by a nation without understanding will I anger you.’”

Paul cites Deuteronomy 32:21. Paul is setting up for the concept of Gentiles causing the Jews to be “jealous” of the gospel in Romans 11. Jewish people will see the transformation of Gentiles by the Holy Spirit, and they will yearn for the same transformation in their own lives. Mounce adds, “If unenlightened people outside of the covenant could understand the gospel, then certainly a religiously gifted and highly favored group like the Jews had no grounds for claiming that it was beyond their understanding… It is an argument from the greater to the lesser: if the Gentiles, then certainly the Jews.”[]

(10:20-21) “And Isaiah is very bold and says, ‘I was found by those who did not seek Me, I became manifest to those who did not ask for Me.’ ²¹ But as for Israel He says, ‘All the day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.’”

Paul cites Isaiah 65:1-2. This passage shows that God predicted how the Gentiles would accept him, but his own Jewish people would deny him.

What prevented these non-believing Jewish people from coming to faith in Jesus?

• They needed to have religious affection for the truth (v.2). Truth matters.

• Self-righteousness (v.3).

• They didn’t believe that Jesus had fulfilled the Law for them (v.4). They were set on fulfilling the Law for themselves.

• They were making salvation more complicated than it needed to be (vv.5-8).

• They needed to trust in Christ (vv.9-11).

• Religious and ethnic prejudice may have stopped them from coming to faith (vv.12-13). It was scandalous that they simply need to come to Christ just like anyone else.

What do we learn about evangelism from this section?

• People need to hear the message (v.14). Preaching, teaching, and verbalizing the gospel is very important.

• Some people will reject the clear evidence for Christ (v.16). Paul cites from Isaiah 53:1 to show that many could hear this awesome prediction, but they would reject it.

• God is doing his role to welcome people into a relationship with himself (vv.18-21). The problem is not on his end, but on ours (v.21).

Conclusion

We saw in Romans 1:18 that our core human condition is not a lack of evidence, but a suppression of it. Here, Paul applies this same logic to Jesus’ message of love and forgiveness: It isn’t complicated. We need to agree with God (“confess”) and trust God (“believe”), and as a result, we will be saved (v.9). Are you ready to come to faith in Jesus? There’s nothing complicated about this. All you need to do is surrender to the love and leadership of God in your life. Why procrastinate on this decision any further? You can come to Christ right now.

God is standing with wide-open arms wanting you to come to him (v.21). The problem is not on God’s end, but on ours. Will you turn toward his loving invitation, or will you reject him? Some things in life are nuanced and grey issues. But not this is not one of them! Jesus said, “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters” (Mt. 12:30).