Children (Romans 9-11), continued

  • Romans 10:1-4 – Paul wishes that the Jews would be saved. They were religious and believed in God but did not have full knowledge of God’s plan for salvation. They wanted to be saved their own way – through the Law of Moses (see Romans 9:30-33). They were looking for Jesus and He was right in front of them, causing them to stumble over Him. Compare John 9:28-29. The Law of Moses pointed toward Jesus (Matthew 5:17; Galatians 3:23-25). They had all these scriptures, but they read with prejudice and missed the point.
  • Romans 10:5-13 – See Leviticus 18:4-5. Man could live by following the Law of Moses, but no one could follow them perfectly. See Galatians 3:10-14.
    • Romans 10:6-8 – The quote is from Deuteronomy 30:8-14. The word of God is not in some far off, inaccessible place.
    • Romans 10:9-10 – Salvation is from God. We can’t look to ourselves to find a way to be saved. Our only option is to turn to God.
    • Romans 10:11 – The writer quotes Isaiah 28:16 here. See Acts 7:35. Paul is pleading with them to not make the same mistakes of the past, when then initially rejected Moses as their leader.
    • Romans 10:12-13 – The quote is from Joel 2:32. Jesus is the way to salvation. He is Lord! See Matthew 7:21; Acts 9:18; 22:16. Calling on the name of the Lord involves more than just saying words. Paul had already been praying for three days, but he still needed to call on the name of the Lord and have his sins washed away. Clearly, “calling on the name of the Lord” involves more than just prayer. See Acts 2:16-21, 37-38, 47. Peter called on them to do more than just pray to be saved. See I Corinthians 1:2; II Timothy 2:22.
  • Romans 10:14-15 – This is referring to men that God sent in the first century – not preachers today. See Luke 24:46-49; Acts 1:8; 9:15; 10:42. Jesus sent forth the people who had witnessed His life, death, resurrection, and teaching.
  • Romans 10:16-17 – See Acts 14:1; 15:7. Faith comes from hearing (or reading) the word of God. It is not by a direct indwelling of the Holy Spirit as is often believed today. If you want to develop faith, study the Bible! Even when the Holy Spirit did intervene miraculously in Acts 2:4, He made it so everyone could hear the message in their own language. He did not miraculously change their hearts!
  • Romans 10:18-21 – The quote in verse 18 is from Psalm 19:4. “They” here is referring to Israel. Everyone has heard the gospel message! Paul then quotes more Old Testament scripture (Deuteronomy 32:21; Isaiah 65:1-2) to illustrate that their behavior was prophesied long before. Israel should have been the first in line to follow Christ, but many of them refused His message.