Lessons From Romans – Lesson 13
For the most part year after year Paul is seeing the Israelites reject God. He would see some saved like the leader of the synagogue in Corinth. But most rejected Jesus.
They did not reject the Old Testament. They did not reject the promises of a messiah. But they rejected Jesus and they rejected faith. They chose works over faith.
Rom 9:31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
Rom 9:32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
Rom 9:33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
The stumblingstone and rock of offence is a him. Whosoever believeth on him. Faith in the Old Testament scriptures is not the stumblingstone.
It is specifically faith in Jesus that is the stumblingstone.
Verse 33 is referencing a Prophecy in Isaiah.
Isa 8:13 Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
Isa 8:14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel,
The Lord of hosts himself is of course Jesus. And he shall be for a sanctuary. And He is for everyone who gets saved. Jesus Himself is the way the truth and the life. Eternal life is found only in Jesus.
It is His righteousness imputed to you that saves. Without His righteousness you are lost.
Jesus is the only sanctuary from torment in hell.
But Jesus is a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel. There were 2 kingdoms at the time when Isaiah lived. Ten tribes in the north and Judah and Benjamin in the south.
God thru Isaiah foretold that Jesus would be a rock of offence and a stumblingstone for all the tribes of Israel. And Paul takes a look at what he is seeing in his day and remembers the prophecy in Isaiah and says God foretold this centuries ago.
And this was a burden to Paul. Think about it. They were so close. They believed in the fact that there is only one God. All others are the invention of men. And they believed that He created all.
They believed that God gave them prophets and that God gave them His word. And they had a zeal for it but not according to knowledge.
They believed that God wanted a relationship with them and that they were God’s covenant people.
They had such a long history with God. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, David, Samuel, Esther, Nehemiah, Isaiah and the list goes on and on.
All of that history and having God’s word that revealed so much. And which clearly foretold so much about the coming Savior that it was clear it was Jesus.
They were so close. The gentiles that Paul has been working with for years in Corinth and Athens for a short time and then Ephesus had none of that foundation.
When Paul started working with them they believed in the Roman or Greek gods or worse.
Their false gods were just as wicked as men. Paul had to teach that God is Holy and pure and just. Paul had to start from scratch. Teaching that there is only one God and teaching that He created. Paul had to teach that God had rules.
And that breaking those rules was called sin. And that the wages of sin is death. Paul had to teach about Heaven and about Hell. He had to work with them to turn from their false beliefs in so many areas.
And here the Jews are and they already know all of that. They are so close, and yet so very far away.
The people Paul is burdened for he took time to make clear he is talking about the Jews who believed in the promised seed.
And when that seed came, and went to the cross and paid for sin and the vale in the temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom showing all now can have direct access to God.
And Jesus came and fulfilled every prophecy.
The Jews looked at Jesus and you would think should have seen that He is the Messiah. A few did but most did not. They stumbled at Jesus and were offended.
This was heartbreaking to Paul.
But Paul also saw the prophecy that God foretold that some of Israel would be saved.
Paul had a burden and a desire to see that also. Paul wants to see Israel get saved as well as the Gentiles.
Rom 10:1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
Rom 10:2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
Rom 10:3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Rom 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Rom 10:5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
The problem is that no man can live by them. The them is every single rule in all of God’s law. No man can even get passed the 10 commandments let alone all of the volume of the other rules. God’s standard is a perfect standard.
Partially doing it does not cut it. God’s law shows that all fall short and that there is none righteous no not one.
Paul has already proved earlier in this letter that all have sinned. And that works cannot save.
So Paul is now going to plainly lay out how to be saved by faith. We know these verses well. They are the heart of what is called the romans road. Before this in the Romans road was all have sinned, there is none righteous no not one, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.
As we read it please notice how many times the heart is mentioned.
Rom 10:6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
Rom 10:7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
Rom 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Rom 10:11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Rom 10:12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
The heart is mentioned 4 times. It is not believe in thy head. Or believe with thy logic. Or with thy reason.
It is in thine heart. All scripture is given by inspiration of God. It must and it does all fit together.
Mat_4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mar_1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.Jesus said,
Luk 13:3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
John the Baptist preached repentance. When Jesus sent the disciples out to preach they went preaching repentance.
God commands all men everywhere to repent.
Act_17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
Act_3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted,
Go to Luke chapter 18 and let’s look at a parable that Jesus taught about the heart and its place in salvation.
Luk 18:9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
Luk 18:10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
Luk 18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
Luk 18:12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
The Pharisee believed in God. The Pharisee prayed to God. The Pharisee put belief in God’s word and acted upon it some. He picked and choose to not commit adultery, and to fast, and to give.
And in verse 14 we find none of this justified him. He is lost and goes to hell. So already in this Parable Jesus is teaching that head knowledge belief alone does not save. The Pharisee’s heart was wrong. He did not believe in his heart.
Jesus then in the parable gives an example of belief from the heart.
Luk 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
Luk 18:14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
The publican had conviction of sin. He believed in the heart. He admitted his sin and asked for mercy. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. When you ask for mercy you are admitting that you deserve punishment.
Jesus is giving us an example of what repentance is. Repentance is not works. Repentance is something that comes from the heart. Repentance is a turning from you sin and your works and a turning to Jesus for salvation.
So when Paul mentions believe in the heart 4 times in this part of Romans road he is talking about believing with a repentant heart. With conviction for your sin.
Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
When you believe unto righteousness you are also believing that unrighteousness (sin) is wrong and bad. When you believe unto righteousness you are admitting that God’s ways are right and yours are wrong and even more than that you are wanting His righteousness.
This is turning from and turning to. This is repentance.
A person then confesses this to God. He expresses this turning in his heart with his mouth and asks for mercy like the publican in Jesus’ parable.
Rom 10:11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Rom 10:12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
And this is the way of salvation for everyone. For the Jew and the Greek.
So the reason that the Jews who were rejecting Jesus and who Paul is praying for to get saved; the reason is not because they need a different message.
Some make that kind of mistake. O to reach this group you need a different message. And that group over there you need another approach. Nope. That is an error.
The same message saves everyone and it is the only message that does save.
Salvation is admitting your sin and that Jesus paid for your sin and rose again proving it was paid for in full. And then confessing that to God with a genuine repentant heart and simply asking to be saved.
Saying the words alone without any understanding and especially without any conviction of sin and without any repentance does not do anything.
There are many churches today that take only Romans 10: 9, 10, and 13 and separate them from what Jesus taught about repentance and the publican who got saved.
It is called easy believism. They will preach salvation without any heart repentance. They will work to get people to repeat a prayer without letting God build in real conviction and without spending any time to make sure that they have a repentant heart.
They get to add to their count, but most of them are not real. The saddest part is many of those people think they are now saved and going to Heaven.
I think that easy believism is where many of the people come from that Jesus talks about in Matthew chapter 7.
Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
They said some empty words that were not from a heart of repentance. Then many get added to a church group and even do some good works. But they never turned from their sin.
They never called upon Jesus with a repentant heart. And in that day they will say Lord, Lord and Jesus will say I never knew you: depart from me.
Not everyone who hears that will be because of easy believism there can be other reasons. And not all church problems are because of this. But a lot of them are. Having a congregation that has many who said some empty words without getting saved does cause problems.
A bunch of sinners in a church without ever repenting and getting regenerated by God; a group who do not have the Holy Spirit indwelling them is not a good thing.
It will hinder pretty much the work of God in every area of that church.
And many will go to hell thinking they are going to heaven so understanding what believing in thine heart means and preaching that you need to call upon Jesus to save you with an repentant heart really is a big issue.
Salvation really is simple. And it is totally free. It is a gift for any who call upon the Lord with a repentant heart.
And it is the only message that saved and so it needs to go out to everyone everywhere.
Rom 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Rom 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
And so men need to be burdened about and active about getting the Gospel out.