Righteousness by Faith
Romans 10:1-13
It will be helpful to begin by looking at a crucial issue in Scripture, namely, the matter of truth. In the introduction to his gospel, John pronounced that Jesus was “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
While teaching in the treasury of the temple, “Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free’ ” (John 8:31–32)
Jesus declared Himself to be the source and the measure of truth, and that “everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” (John 18:37). “I am the way, and the truth, and the life,” He said on another occasion, and “no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (John 14:6).
In many other instances, Jesus emphasized the truthfulness of His teaching, introducing His instruction with such words as, “Because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me” (John 8:45) and “I tell you the truth” (John 16:7).
Paul declared that “those who perish,” do so “because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved” (2 Thess. 2:10) and that those who are saved are sanctified “by the Spirit and faith in the truth” (2:13).
The gospel puts a high premium on God’s truth. The gospel is the life-changing, sin-cleansing, salvation-giving, soul-transforming, heaven-opening truth that comes only through trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord
After healing the cripple at the gate of the Temple, Peter explained to the wondering Jews who gathered around, “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered up, and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you.… Now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also” (Acts 3:13–14, 17).
Sanford C. Mills, himself a Hebrew Christian, has commented, “Israel wants to be the captain of her own soul, the master of her own ship. But Israel lost both her rudder and her compass, and now, with her vessel of state careening about in a maelstrom of sin, what is to save her from being drawn into the vortex of hell? Yet this is the condition of Israel today, even as it was in Paul’s day” (A Hebrew Christian Looks at Romans [Grand Rapids: Dunham, 1968], p. 333).
Paul confessed to Timothy his own rejection and spiritual ignorance before coming to salvation: “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service; even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. And yet I was shown mercy, because I acted ignorantly in unbelief” (1 Tim. 1:12–13).
His deepest heart’s desire was that every Jew be saved, and his earnest prayer to God on their behalf was for their salvation. Deēsis (prayer) conveys the idea of pleading and entreaty, of persistent petition to God. Paul was not making a hopeless plea that he did not expect God to answer. He prayed because he fully believed God could save all Israel, that, no matter how seemingly unlikely, the people of Israel could be saved if they would place their trust in their Messiah and Savior.