The Message of Salvation to All (Parts 1 & 2)
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The Message of Salvation to All (Parts 1 & 2)
The Message of Salvation to All (Parts 1 & 2)
We are moving tonight to this wonderful passage of scripture found in Romans chapter 10. And if you remember from the last few weeks we were talking through Romans Chapter 9 and Israel's unbelief. Paul was answering the question how is it that God's chosen people could reject the gospel that they were supposed to bring about? It seems odd at the very nation who was to bring Messiah would reject him. Yet that's exactly what happened. And it wasn't because of God's failure to fulfill his promises. It wasn't because of God's failure in His covenant relationship with Israel. Further comment wasn't because of God's failure through His prophets. Nor was it his failure to His prerequisites for salvation.
The Message of Salvation to All (Parts 1 & 2)
The Message of Salvation to All (Parts 1 & 2)
The reality was that Israel rejected Jesus as Messiah and therefore rejected the gospel because they were trusting in their own self-righteousness. They were trusting in their own ability to follow the law and fulfill the law. Secondly the religious leaders of Jesus's day wanted to call the spiritual shots. They had set up a human based worship system as a means to fulfill the law. The problem is they were unwilling to relinquish their grip on what was rightfully God's.
The religious leaders utterly rejected Jesus to the point that they conspired with the Romans to kill him. For most Jews in that time, being unable to discern spiritually, look to the religious leaders to for their own righteous standing. If the religious leaders were rejecting Jesus to be the messiah, despite all the prophetic fulfillment, who are they to think otherwise? In fact, this would be the attitude of most Jews today. To them, Jesus was just another religious heretic, despite all the signs and all the prophetic fulfillment.
The Message of Salvation to All (Parts 1 & 2)
The Message of Salvation to All (Parts 1 & 2)
In fact, the prophets said that Israel would reject the Messiah and be set aside by God. But this does not mean that God is done with Israel. Because God has a plan of restoration. God's not going to restore something that hasn't been set aside and this is the case with Israel. We are watching this take place right before our eyes. The events in Israel today are causing many Jews to look back to the Scriptures and the prophets. It is opening doors for conversation.
The fact of the matter is that God warned the nation or the consequences of unbelief:
9 So he built the house and finished it, and he made the ceiling of the house of beams and planks of cedar.
20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, 22 for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. 23 Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
The Message of Salvation to All (Parts 1 & 2)
The Message of Salvation to All (Parts 1 & 2)
So whether you're reading the Old Testament or the New Testament, these passages promise that there will be tragedy to Israel. What we have to understand is that these tragedies are not an ends to themselves, but a means to bring restoration to God's people. What we understand is that God's promises never fail. God established certain covenants with Israel that will not ever be voided. Although Israel may turn away from God and forfeit God's blessing, The consequences of the forfeiture is not eternal or punitive, but as a means to restore Israel back to God.
Today, Israel is by and large a secular nation. I believe it is critical for the church today to live with the heart of Paul as he describes in Romans 10:1 “1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.” Paul says that they are ignorant so my colon blinded; They don't know. So what are they ignorant of? There are five things outlined in chapter 10:
The Message of Salvation to All (Parts 1 & 2)
The Message of Salvation to All (Parts 1 & 2)
1. They Were Ignorant of The Righteousness of God
2. They Were Ignorant of The Provision of Christ
3. They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
4. They Were Ignorant of The Necessity of Salvation
5. They Were Ignorant of The Prophecy of Scripture
This week and next we are going to cover these five things.
They Were Ignorant of The Righteousness of God
They Were Ignorant of The Righteousness of God
3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
They Were Ignorant of The Righteousness of God
They Were Ignorant of The Righteousness of God
The first thing Paul addresses with regarding the ignorance of the people of God as they were ignorant to God's righteousness. They didn't realize just how righteous God was. That sounds bizarre, but it's not uncommon even among Christians. The Jewish person with all of the law and traditions we're following man-made righteousness. So they were tolerant of sin. You say, “wait a minute I thought these were legalists?” The answer is they absolutely were, but it was based upon their own set of morality that they drew from the law of God. In reality, they thought God was tolerant of sin. They thought that they could be good enough for God's standards. And so, they pulled God down to their level and said, “This is what God requires and so this makes us righteous.”
They Were Ignorant of The Righteousness of God
They Were Ignorant of The Righteousness of God
The sad reality is, this is multiplied by millions of people all over the world who do not understand how holy God truly is. Not only is this multiplied by people around the world this is multiplied by people within the church. People do not understand how absolute and holy God truly is and it damns their soul forever. Think about Isaiah in the throne room of God of Isaiah chapter 6. He was a Jew, and he was a prophet of God, and he goes into the throne room of god and comes undone and declares himself ruined.
They Were Ignorant of The Righteousness of God
They Were Ignorant of The Righteousness of God
The carnal believer wants to pull God down to their level. It is self-saving. The realization of the holiness of God we'll bring a person to their knees. Our sinful nature is uncovered in the holiness of God. The Jews of Jesus day didn't know God’s righteousness and holiness. They thought they could attain His standard by their own works.
They Were Ignorant of The Provision of Christ
They Were Ignorant of The Provision of Christ
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. 5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them.
32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone,
They Were Ignorant of The Provision of Christ
They Were Ignorant of The Provision of Christ
Do you remember how Jesus came and condemned their self righteousness? Do you remember the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus said this:
Matthew 5:20 (ESV)
20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
They Were Ignorant of The Provision of Christ
They Were Ignorant of The Provision of Christ
Their righteousness was man made. Their righteousness was paraded around for all others to see. So why do they even need a Savior? To them, they didn't need a Savior Because they had invented righteousness. That's why Jesus came and lifted the bar back up to where it was supposed to be. Jesus came to provide the righteousness that they could never obtain. They were ignorant to that.
Matthew 9:12–13 (ESV)
12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
They Were Ignorant of The Provision of Christ
They Were Ignorant of The Provision of Christ
Jesus is saying he was not called to the righteous, but to those who know they're sinners. This was a sarcastic response. He's saying, as long as you think you're righteous and as long as you think you're well, you can't be helped. It's not until you know you're sick that you go to a doctor for help. If you refuse to acknowledge your sickness, there's no help for you. The same is true spiritually.
9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
They Were Ignorant of The Provision of Christ
They Were Ignorant of The Provision of Christ
Verse 4 says, “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness.” The fact is, many people were seeking righteousness through the law. We've already talked about that. In their eyes if you're going to be righteous you keep the law. Well, Christ is the end of that. Paul is saying, Christ terminates the Crest for righteousness through the law. When you come to Christ you receive his righteousness by faith and that ends your request for being justified by the law. Now, Paul didn't say this is the end of the law, but the end of the law for works of righteousness.
Matthew 5:17–18 (ESV)
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
They Were Ignorant of The Provision of Christ
They Were Ignorant of The Provision of Christ
The fact of the matter is the law was never intended to be a means of righteousness but rather the exposure of our unrighteousness. A good way to look at it is that the law is like a mirror. You can look in the mirror and see that you are unrighteous and that you are sinful. If you go to your mirror and see that you have something stuck to your teeth, you don't pull the mirror off the wall and try to clean your teeth with the mirror. It's the same principle with the law.
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
24 “Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; to him shall come and be ashamed all who were incensed against him.
1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “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). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 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. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
So this brings us to our Third Point. The Third Point is that Israel was ignorant to the purpose and place of faith.
32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone,
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
Faith was the issue. Notice verse five. “From Moses describes the righteousness which is of the law.” First of all, he's going to show that Moses talks about the law of righteousness. Then he's going to show that Moses talks about righteousness through faith. To do this, Paul makes reference to Leviticus 18:5.
5 You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
To obtain righteousness through keeping the law of God means that you must live perfectly all the time every time. That's absolutely impossible. That's what Paul is saying and that is what Moses had said to Israel.
As you know, the religious Jews were confused in their mind to this and so they lowered the standard so much so that in Matthew 19 when Jesus confronted the rich young ruler and told him that you have to keep the law of God he says, “all these things i have done since my youth.” He thought he was righteous.
26 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
This is very important for us to understand. The man who pursues salvation by keeping the law will stand or fall on that effort. It is impossible to stand. This means eternal damnation. The moment you decide to put yourself on your own self righteousness you have cursed yourself. This would come as a shock for Jewish readers to learn that they're actually under the curse for trying to keep the law. They believed that the Gentiles were under the curse and that they were the righteous ones for adhering to the law. This is very confusing for people because they think that Israel or the Jews are justified by keeping the law and that God made a provision for the rest of us through the Cross.
15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’
7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
Here's the whole point. Why was Israel God's people? Did they earn it? Did they deserve it? No. It was all God's grace. No one was ever redeemed in the Old Testament by keeping the law. They came and opened their heart to God and God loved them and out of that love relationship came obedience. That's the whole framework of the law: sovereign grace.
4 “Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you. 5 Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Romans 10:6–7 (ESV)
6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “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).
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
Here Paul adds to his reference to Deuteronomy with these little parentheticals that are just absolutely marvelous. Verse 6, “don't say to your heart, who can ascend to heaven?” (That is common to bring Christ down.) In other words, don't think you've got to go all the way up there as if to bring Jesus down here. He's already come. What this means, is that works righteousness is a flat out denial of the incarnation of Christ. When you try to think that you've got to do it on your own you are saying that God is not capable of doing what he said he was going to do through Jesus Christ.
You don't need to find your way back down to the pit to find some kind of truth. Why? Do you need to bring Christ back from the dead? That's the resurrection. He's already been down in the pit. He's already been as deep as the pit gets. He's been to the bottomless place. And right there in the midst of Hell's carnival when he was dying on the cross and his body was still there and they were celebrating his death, he greeted them in the it and proclaim triumph over them. What makes you think you can do any better?!
Romans 10:8 (ESV)
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
You don't have to go anywhere to find it. God doesn't mock the Sinner with some kind of unattainable quest for him to go out and find salvation. What does Paul say? The righteousness of God, verse 8, says that it's near you. It's in your mouth. It's in your heart. It's been revealed. It's god's grace period so Paul reaches back to Deuteronomy and says Moses says that the righteousness of faith is not available just to those who can do the impossible by keeping the law. It's right there.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 (ESV)
13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
How do you receive it? How do you receive the righteousness of faith? The righteousness of God? That is the all-important question. If we mess this one up, we're in real trouble. The reality is, much of Christianity is confused about the issue. How is the righteousness of faith received? The answer is in verses 9 and 10 faith and confession.
9 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. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
Notice that in verse 10 the word righteousness is equated with the word salvation. They are the same thing. With the heart of man he believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth man confesses salvation. It doesn't take a great scholar to figure out that righteousness equates to salvation. They are synonymous but also distinct.
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
Salvation is what you need. You're being saved from something. Righteousness is what you receive in order to be saved. One does not and cannot exist without the other. I think we miss that point when we ask somebody if they “want to be saved.” What if we were to ask, “Do you want to be made holy?” or “Have you been made righteous?” That puts a whole different perspective on the question. Most people want to be saved, but they really don't want to be made righteous. For the Jews, they thought they already were righteous.
So here, at the end of verse 8, “the Word of Faith which we preach,” is referring to the saving faith through belief in God. It's the Word that God brought down through the incarnation and lifted from the grave through the resurrection. That Word is given to us. That Word is near to us. That Word is not something that you obtained by works. It's something that you don't have to pursue through some spiritual odyssey. It's readily available to you right here right now. It's the Word of Faith that we preach and that is the heart of the Gospel message.
13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
Romans 10:10 (ESV)
10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
Here Paul says that believing unto righteousness is the result of believing with your heart. Righteousness and salvation are received by believing in the heart. The heart, being the Hebrew concept of the core of a person's being.
Proverbs 4:23 “23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
John 8:24 (ESV)
24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”
31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
So John here is saying that you must believe. You must believe deep down in your own heart, within the whole of your being, that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now, you can say wait a minute, isn't there so much other things within the Bible that I have to understand and believe? The answer is yes but the sum total of all that belief comes down to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The resurrection from the dead proves that Jesus Christ is who he said he was and did what he said he would do. That is everything the rest of scripture points to. It is the verification and proof of the ministry of Jesus. The cross without the resurrection is insufficient. His death proved his humanity. His resurrection proved his divinity. Satan couldn't hold him in bondage. If Christ didn't rise, Then death is not conquered, sin is not conquered hell is not conquered and Satan is not conquered.
30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
But there's something more to that that we have to understand. Because it also says you believe in your heart and you confess with your mouth that Jesus is LORD.
19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
You can have all kinds of religious experiences. You can put all the razzle dazzle you want out on display. But that does not bring you to saving faith. The demons know who Jesus is. The gene demons have knowledge. They live in fear of judgment. They cried out to jesus, “don't send us to the pit!” What is the difference? True saving faith acknowledges Jesus as Lord. And not just Lord in the sense of deity, but lord as your sovereign ruler.
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
They Were Ignorant of The Purpose of Faith
Why did the rich young ruler go away sad? Because he wouldn't put himself under the lordship of Jesus Christ. That was the issue. Demons believe the right stuff but have no capacity to submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ. It's our faith that leads 2 obedience.
When you look at the nation of Israel, you must realize that their unbelief is not out of ignorance of doctrine or scripture. They heard the truth. Their ignorance comes from never allowing their sin to be unmasked and put their lordship under Christ.
They Were Ignorant of The Necessity of Salvation
They Were Ignorant of The Necessity of Salvation
11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. 18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”
They Were Ignorant of The Necessity of Salvation
They Were Ignorant of The Necessity of Salvation
Paul is quoting from Isaiah 28:16. What are you saying is that salvation by faith has always been God's plan. Salvation by faith is not something new. Moreover, the word “Everyone” or “whosoever” also is something that is not new to God's plan. At the end of verse 11 we come to the word shame.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
They Were Ignorant of The Necessity of Salvation
They Were Ignorant of The Necessity of Salvation
Whosoever believes in Jesus will not be disappointed. We are made in a new creation and there is nothing about the gospel that we need to fear. The gospel is for everyone. It's not racial or cultural period there's no barrier to your salvation based on your ethnicity. The only barrier to salvation is your acceptance or rejection of the gift of God.
They Were Ignorant of The Necessity of Salvation
They Were Ignorant of The Necessity of Salvation
Do you remember the very first Bible study we did as a church? It's the book of Jonah. What is amazing about Jonah is that Jonah, the Hebrew prophet of God, was told to go to ninevah. Ninevah was not a Jewish city. It was a gentile city. Jonah was told to go preach the gospel to Nineveh. And what happened to Jonah? He rejected and fled from the idea of preaching the gospel somewhere other than Israel. You know what happened to Jonah.
Yet, what happened when Jonah finally arrived in Nineveh and preached the message? The whole city repented. What happened when Paul preached the gospel in Jerusalem? The whole city rioted. The gospel is for everyone.
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.
26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
Ephesians 3:6 (ESV)
6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
They Were Ignorant of The Necessity of Salvation
They Were Ignorant of The Necessity of Salvation
Again, this isn't anything new. Salvation, be it from the Old Testament or the New Testament, has always been for whoever calls upon the name of the Lord. In fact, Paul is quoting from Joel 2:32.
6 Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call upon your name!
1 Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!
They Were Ignorant of The Necessity of Salvation
They Were Ignorant of The Necessity of Salvation
I want you to recognize something that Joel 232 refers to God. And our text where Paul is quoting from Joel 232, he is referring to Jesus Christ. This This is one of the strongest scriptural connections equating God and Christ.
Notice at the end of verse 13 it says, “Shall be saved.” No matter who you are, when you call upon the name of the Lord, you will be saved. This is the person who recognizes the deity of Christ, respects his authority, believes his word, commits to his sovereignty, and puts his hope in his mercy. The one who calls upon the name of Jesus will be saved. Saved (sōzō) means delivered.
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?”
They Were Ignorant of The Necessity of Salvation
They Were Ignorant of The Necessity of Salvation
Verses 14 through 16 reinforce the universal proportion of the saving message of the gospel. Only those who call upon the name of the Lord can be saved. Only those who ask on God's terms, understanding who christ is, and the absolute need for god's intervention for salvation, and his provision, can be saved.
They Were Ignorant of The Necessity of Salvation
They Were Ignorant of The Necessity of Salvation
Following that logic no one can be saved who don't call if only those who call are saved, They won't be able to call upon God unless they believe. The only way they're going to be able to believe is if someone tells them. The only way someone will be able to tell them is if they go. In other words, God doesn't send preachers for show. He sent preachers to preach the truth. Without the truth men cannot be saved. Unless you understand that you need to be saved, then you won't ask to be saved.
It is belief that leads to obedience good to be saved means that you are obedient unto faith. There's no such thing as salvation apart from obedience. In other words the fruit of salvation is an obedient heart
Hebrews 5:9 (ESV)
9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,
37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him,
46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.
They Were Ignorant of The Necessity of Salvation
They Were Ignorant of The Necessity of Salvation
So Paul sums up his whole point with verse 17. Romans 10:17 “17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” How do you get saved?. And you get the message? It comes by hearing and it's the message? It's the preaching of Jesus Christ. This brings us to our last point
They Were Ignorant of The Prophecy of Scripture
They Were Ignorant of The Prophecy of Scripture
18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.” 19 But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, “I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry.” 20 Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, “I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.” 21 But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”
Psalm 19:4 (ESV)
4 Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,
They Were Ignorant of The Prophecy of Scripture
They Were Ignorant of The Prophecy of Scripture
God has put his knowledge over all the earth. The reason is, because he wants to be known. In fact Romans one tells us that he has made himself so abundantly known that no man can be without excuse. The gospel is extended as an available truth to everyone who desires to know the truth. Most people however, don't want to discover the truth. They only want to lower God down to them.
6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth,
They Were Ignorant of The Prophecy of Scripture
They Were Ignorant of The Prophecy of Scripture
Jews today still reject Jesus because the Jewish leaders of Jesus’s day rejected Jesus. Today, many Jews still reject Jesus because of that fact. They also see the Christian faith as a gentile religion. Nothing is new.
On Galileo was put to trial for heresy by declaring that the earth rotates around the sun as a sphere, he told the judges to look through his telescope by looking through his telescope they would see the moons of Jupiter. They would see how the earth also rotates around the sun. The judges refused to look. They were so convinced that the earth did not revolve around the sun that no evidence that could be presented to them would ever make them change their mind.
They Were Ignorant of The Prophecy of Scripture
They Were Ignorant of The Prophecy of Scripture
That's the way it is with Israel, they just won't look. But we know they soon will. In fact, the events in Israel today are causing them to ask questions and take a look. Just like Paul who has been laying out 1 Old Testament quote after another, so it is with israel as they see the old testament coming alive right before them.
They Were Ignorant of The Prophecy of Scripture
They Were Ignorant of The Prophecy of Scripture
In verse 19, Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 32:21 “21 They have made me jealous with what is no god; they have provoked me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are no people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.”
Didn't Jesus say this very thing? Over and over again in jesus's ministry he told the Jews that if they did not want the Kingdom then he would find someone who did. That's exactly what he did
Romans 10:20 (ESV)
20 Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, “I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”
They Were Ignorant of The Prophecy of Scripture
They Were Ignorant of The Prophecy of Scripture
Why did the Lord reject Israel and turn to the gentiles? Because he has been standing there with his stretched forth hands to a disobedient people. Disobedient meaning they literally refuse to believe. Outstretched hands meaning waiting for a loving embrace.
Chapter 10 is a profound message. Israel is lost. Israel is not enjoying the salvation of God. God is reaching out to every tribe and tongue. Every nation. Is this ignorant belief unbelief of Israel permanent? The answer to that –“NO” - comes in Chapter 11.
