Devotional Notes Romans 10

B1 What does this mean?

C1 Righteousness by the Law and by Faith Contrasted

D1 Paul mentions it is his heart’s desire for all Israel to be saved, which is the highest possible desire. It is also God’s heart desire.

D2 Knowledge in verse 2 refers to a complete knowledge. They could have had a complete knowledge if they had studied and read the Scriptures according to the plain, normal sense. Luke 24:44 NET Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled.

D3 Verse 3, they didn’t understand that God’s righteousness is what is necessary, not theirs.

D4 Verse 4, the end of the law, means it is completed, so it is no longer needed to attain salvation. No one could keep God’s law anyway.

E1 Robertson wrote on this passage: The end of the law (τελος νομου). Christ put a stop to the law as a means of salvation (Romans 6:14; Romans 9:31; Ephesians 2:15; Colossians 2:14) as in Luke 16:16. Christ is the goal or aim of the law (Gal 3:24). Christ is the fulfillment of the law (Matthew 5:17; Romans 13:10; 1 Timothy 1:5). But here (Denney) Paul's main idea is that Christ ended the law as a method of salvation for "every one that believeth" whether Jew or Gentile. Christ wrote finis on law as a means of grace.

E2 Also see Adam Clarke’s comment on verse 4.

D5 Verses 5-10

E1 Salvation, as understood by most Jews, is achieved by keeping Mosaic Law. This is necessary for salvation.

E2 Faith is different. Perfection is God’s standard. Keeping God’s law would require perfection in thoughts, desires, words, and deeds.

F1 The righteousness that comes from faith has nothing to do with our ability.

F2 We cannot ask, “Who will go to heaven, to find out the message and bring it to us.” See Deuteronomy 30:12 NIV It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?

F3 We also cannot ask, “Who will go down into the abyss:”

G1 Deuteronomy 30:13 NIV Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?

G2 Abyss

H1 Place of tormenting judgment: Luke 8:31 NIV And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss. Compare Revelation 9:1.

H2 A very deep place as the bottom of the sea: Psalm 107:26 NIV They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away.

H3 Hades/Sheol in Abraham’s Bosom/Paradise where Jesus’s soul went after crucifixion. Acts 2:27, 31 NIV because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay. ... 31 Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay.

H4 The bottom line is that the message of salvation is here, today, to anyone and all. The message of Jesus Christ, which is, Romans 10:9 NET because 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.

H5 Note the heart again. It is the deepest, most committed, and truthful desire and action.

H6 Just as Moses made God’s requirements accessible to the people of Israel, so Christ, who has come down from heaven and been raised from the dead, is accessible to all people by faith. (Source is the NIV Biblical TheologyStudy Bible).

H7 Article: Was the Unseen World Divided into Two Compartments? By Don Stewart

E3 The reason for verse 9 is found in Romans 10:10 NET For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation.

D6 Verses 10-13

E1 Verse 10 is the reason salvation is by faith not privilege, heritage, or works.

E2 Verse 11 from the Logos Bible (Septuagint): Isaiah 28:16 Therefore thus says the Lord, even the Lord, “Behold, I lay for the foundations of Zion a costly stone, a choice cornerstone and precious, for its foundations; and he that believes on Him shall by no means be ashamed.

E3 Any can be saved by faith whether Jew or Gentile.

D7 Verses 14-16

E1 God could do all the work Himself, but He is a delegator. We, who believe, are delegated to preach (tell) the Gospel to others. 1 Corinthians 3:5-7 GNB After all, who is Apollos? And who is Paul? We are simply God's servants, by whom you were led to believe. Each one of us does the work which the Lord gave him to do: 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plant, but it was God who made the plant grow. 7 The one who plants and the one who waters really do not matter. It is God who matters, because he makes the plant grow.

E2 Not all believe (Isaiah 53:1). John 8:46 NIV Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me?

D8 Verses 17-18

E1 The correct Scripture here reads “Word of God.” It is not the “Word of Christ,” as most versions have. Pickering notes: Perhaps 2% of the Greek manuscripts read ‘Christ’ rather than “God”, to be followed by NIV, NASB, TEV, LB, etc.—an inferior proceeding. It is the Word of God that gives authority to our message.

E2 The Scriptures reveal the basis of the Gospel.

F1 Faith comes about from the preaching of the Gospel message.

F2 Hearing comes from the initiative of God in opening the mind, heart, conscious, etc.

E3 All know that God, the creator, exists. See Romans 1:17-21.

F1 For me I believe that the Christian God, Yahweh, exists because after researching I found

G1 That a man named Jesus existed 2,000 years ago is most reasonable. Both Jewish enemies and government enemies wrote about him.

G2 That what he did as recorded by the 4 Gospels is most reasonable.

G3 If he existed and what he did is most reasonable, then what he taught would be most reasonable.

G4 This is a rather simplistic explanation that I have written about before.

F2 1 Corinthians 8:6 NLT But we know that there is only one God, the Father, who created everything, and we live for him. And there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom God made everything and through whom we have been given life.

D9 Verse 19 shows that the Gentiles would be included in salvation blessings. The jealousy is from Jewish understanding that they are the best and greatest with God and that God does not care about the Gentiles.

E1 See Deuteronomy 32:21 NLT They have roused my jealousy by worshiping things that are not God; they have provoked my anger with their useless idols. Now I will rouse their jealousy through people who are not even a people; I will provoke their anger through the foolish Gentiles.

E2 Compare: Matthew 27:18 NLT (He knew very well that the religious leaders had arrested Jesus out of envy.)

D10 Verse 20.

E1 God is even more clear and plain spoken in Isaiah 65:1 NIV I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, 'Here am I, here am I.'

E2 Ray Stedman, in a sermon, states: You see, God understands this principle in fallen human nature. He even uses it at times to make people wake up. This is why God pours out blessings upon an individual or a family, with one member of the family receiving spiritual insight. He does it in order to make the others jealous so they will listen to him. This is why God will pour out blessings upon one nation in order to make other nations jealous. "What is the secret of your blessing?" they will ask. Thus they might hear the witness about God.

D11 Israel has been stubborn and resists even to this day.

E1 Genesis 6:3 NIV Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.

E2 2 Chronicles 36:13 GNB Zedekiah rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had forced him to swear in God's name that he would be loyal. He stubbornly refused to repent and return to the LORD, the God of Israel.

E3 Acts 7:51 ESV You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.

C2 Questions:

D1 Is God’s law still in effect?

D2 Are we responsible to keep it? Explain.

D3 Can any keep God’s law?

D4 How then can anyone be saved and have the blessings of salvation?