Romans 10:5-21--The Message of Salvation to All

Romans 10:5-21
English Standard Version

The Message of Salvation to All
5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. 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. 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.”

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.”

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So then, Paul makes the argument that salvation is not something exclusively for the Jew or for the Gentile, but is available to all who come to Jesus by faith, believing that He is the Son of God and that in Him is the only Way to the Father and to eternal life--the Way that He made through His Body and His Blood.  We are not to try to obey the Law to obtain righteousness, nor are we to make Christ 100% divine at the exclusion neglecting His humanity, nor are we to make Him out to be 100% man at the exclusion of His deity, but we are to believe that He is 100% God and 100 man, the God-Man Christ Jesus who is our penal substitutionary atonement.  He is our Passover Lamb, our Scapegoat, our Guilt Offering, our Sin Offering, our Fellowship Offering (Peace Offering) and the fulfillment of every other offering and feast of the Law.  So then, in Him and through Him the entirety of the Law has not just been obeyed, but fulfilled, and He has done so on our behalf so that He would be credited with our sin and die the death that we deserved and we would be credited with His righteousness and eternal life that He deserved.

So then, "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."  We love to stop here, but we must keep going to see the fullness and richness of what Paul is saying, "For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved."  So then justification follows belief and then confession is made once one's heart and position before God has been changed--it is a confession of the work that God has already done in you.  It is not a work you do to gain rustication, but is your giving glory and adoration to God for what He has done to you and in you.

Paul adds that no one who believes in Him will be put to shame.  That is the same thing that Paul is saying in Philippians 1:6, "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."  and that Jesus says in John 6:37, "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out."  No one will be left hopeless or ashamed who has truly believed on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.  Also, there is no distinction for Jew and Gentile--it is the same gospel for all.  All of us must come to God by faith in and through Jesus Christ.

​Now comes the convicting part.  By what means does God use to make the gospel message known to both Jew and Gentile?  The answer is the Church by the means of The Great Commission.  We are to be His faithful witnesses and ambassadors of our King and His Kingdom.

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.

We must boldly go, we must be sent and send others, we must go and be sent with the purpose of teaching and preaching the Word of God so that the people may hear the Word and receive it and believe it by faith to receive salvation.  So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.  I hope that encourages you to 

Now comes the answer to that hypothetical that I mentioned way back in Chapter 1.  Is there a person that exists who will be able to stand condemned before God and claim ignorance because "no one ever told me"?  The answer is a resounding "No."  

“Their voice has gone out to all the earth,
    and their words to the ends of the world.”

So then all men are "without excuse" as we read in Romans 1.  If they are ignorant, they are willfully ignorant because they close their eyes to what they do not want to see and stop up their ears to not hear what they do not want to hear.  They know God and His invisible attributes through His creation and they know His righteous requirements because we are made in His image and He has put His breath, His Spirt within us which we call our conscience.  So then there is no one that will stand before God and accuse Him of being unjust for all have received enough revelation that they have rejected to condemn them, but glory to God that He has rescued His Elect out of their rebellion and changed our hearts and minds according to His good will and pleasure to the praise of His glory.

Paul further makes this point that revelation was given to Israel by quoting Moses saying that one day Israel would be jealous of the other nations who would come to God even though they had not been made a nation by Him.  He also quotes the prophet Isaiah to say that those who were not looking for God (the Gentiles) would find Him and that He would show Himself (give revelation) to those who did not ask.  So then it has been God's plan all along to make the gospel available to the whole world--first to the Jew, and then also to the Gentile.  God has not stopped working to save the Jews, and Paul wishes that all of His Jewish brethren would be saved like Him, but God says of most of them, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”  We see in our study of the Old Testament that this is an accurate summary of the people who were known for being rebellious, stubborn, and "stiff-necked" people in the eyes of God and often made God so angry that He desired to destroy them, but it was His greater plan for the good of all mankind and the promise that He made to Abraham--the promise of the Messiah--that stayed His hand of judgment.  One day there will be the day of judgment and God's hand will no longer be stayed.  Father, Son and Spirit will all be in agreement that the time is right for the wrath of God to be poured out on all His enemies.  In that day, people will clearly know that the punishment they are receiving is the wrath of God, but they will not turn to Him in repentance or believe His gospel.  They will be stubborn and stiff-necked and will die in their rebellion as they will follow the Antichrist, the False Prophet, and Satan himself so that their lot will be the same as this unholy trinity and angels that rebelled alongside Satan.  This need not be your story, because God is offering salvation to all who believe today.  "Today is the day of salvation!"