Romans 10:1-10, “Redemption and Righteousness Through Christ Alone.”
Read vv. 1-4... In vv. 1-2, Paul expresses his desire for Israel to be saved; also, his experiential understanding of their misplaced zeal for law-keeping (Philippians 3:4b-6), “If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless,” their zeal was not based on understanding, nor was it based on a personal relationship with God.
Verses 3-4 tell us true righteousness from God is found only in Christ. Righteousness is a right standing with God, and it cannot be earned by doing good deeds or keeping the Law, it is a gift from God, and is only granted by faith [belief], for it is by God’s grace (His undeserved and unmerited favor), through Christ the Lord.
The Jews had rejected God’s sovereign and singular gift of righteousness by faith in God’s Son, and instead sought their own way to earn God’s favor, by doing good works and trying to keep all the law, but God’s shows no favoritism (see Romans 2:5-12).
To reject God’s only means of being made acceptable to God, is to reject God’s offer of righteousness, and that is a damnable offense.
The Jews loved the Law, in fact, they idolized it to the point that they considered their zeal for law-keeping equal to attaining a right standing before God.
But it was Christ that they needed to believe in, for even the most rigorous law- keeping could not produce righteousness (see Romans 3:19-20).
Jesus is the fulfillment, the completion, of the Law. The Jews were given the Law of God, they considered themselves to be the only privileged people of God.
But it was never God’s plan to keep those outside of Israel from receiving the righteousness of God.
The purpose of the Law wasn’t to create an elite group of law-keepers, but to make us aware of our sinfulness and to point us to God’s One and Only means of attaining righteousness, Jesus Christ (see Romans 3:21-26).
Read v. 5... Moses describes righteousness like this (Leviticus 18:5 NASB), “So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.”
God’s standards for righteous living have always required heart obedience, for holiness is based on a faith that seeks to obey the Lord with all one’s heart and soul (Deuteronomy 30:10), “if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands
and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”
This teaching comes from Deuteronomy 6:3-9, and is called the “Shema” or Listen Up! “Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you. Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.”
Read vv. 6-8... God’s grace is for all sinners, but it can only be received by those who come to God in faith, those who respond to and obey the revelation of God in Christ.
Deuteronomy 30:11-14, “Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 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?’ 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?’ No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.”
That is powerful and revealing theology! We can’t go into heaven to bring Christ down, nor can we go into the depths of the earth to bring Him up. The point being, we don’t have to go anywhere or do anything mystical to receive the righteousness that comes from God; we simply acknowledge and put our trust in the finished work of Christ, by faith.
Abraham is the blood patriarch and father of the nation of Israel; he was a man of faith (as Paul writes in Romans 4:3 quoting Genesis 15:6), “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Abraham became the “spiritual” father of all who believe, not through the circumcision of the flesh, but through belief in Jesus Christ (see Romans 4:11-17).
Galatians 3:26, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,” 29, “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Verse 8 says the way of righteousness is not found in the law, for it exists only in and through Jesus Christ, who is the fulfillment of the Law. We become children of God, made righteous, through the finished work of Christ, Who has become both Lord and Savior.
God’s Way of Salvation has been clearly, completely, and repeatedly revealed, Paul says (v. 8) “it is near you, it is in your mouth and in your heart,” you must simply believe and receive it by faith.
1Corinthians 15:1-4, “Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
Read vv. 9-10... This is a clear imperative - we must confess and believe what God has said and done; the object of our confession and belief [i.e., obedience] is Jesus Christ, God’s Sovereign Message and Messenger.
More literally, verse 10 says, “with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”
John 6:28-29, The [people] asked Jesus, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent."
John 8:24, Jesus said, “I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe [confess] that I am [the one I claim to be], you will indeed die in your sins.” John 10:10, Jesus said, “I and the Father are one."
John 14:6, Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
1John 5:1, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God,” 11-13, “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
God’s sovereign message here is given through Paul, who was (Romans 1:1) “a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God.”
Paul clearly and repeatedly teaches salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone, apart from any law keeping, religious ritual, special favor, or ancestral heritage.
Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast.” Galatians 3:11, “Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith.”
Romans 3:21-24, “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
Romans 8:1-2, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law
of sin and death.”
No wonder Paul writes (1Corinthians 15:57), “Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ,” (2Corinthians 9:15), “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” Christmas is all about the Savior who has come, Jesus Christ, the Lord, be sure to celebrate and to share that message with everyone who will listen.
We are redeemed by God and made righteousness in and through Christ, when we confess our sins, believing that Jesus died on the cross to pay our penalty, and that God raised Him from the dead to provide eternal life; Jesus is the Only means of God’s forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life, for He is God the Son, Lord and Savior: crucified, resurrected, and coming again.
All Scripture quotes are from the 1984 NIV, unless otherwise noted.
Pastor Mike <‘((((><