Romans 10 - Faith Comes From Hearing
There are two types of people: those led by emotion, & those led by God's truth. Which are you?
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Romans 10 (ESV)
1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.
2 For I bear them witness that
they have a zeal for God,
but not according to knowledge.
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.
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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Watch previous DIG DEEPER video post
Romans 10 Summary
Remember the overall question that Paul is struggling with in chapters 9-11: why is it that his own people, Israel, in large part rejected Christ? In the opening passage of chapter 10, he concludes that they were so wrapped up trying to fabricate their own righteousness that they completely missed/ignored the perfect righteousness God offers in Christ.
The true Christian gospel is not complicated. Verse 9 is worth memorizing:
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.
Since the gospel is at its core a message that must be heard before it can be believed, this chapter emphasizes the critically important need for preachers. In fact, preaching - which is two way communication that requires both a proclaimer as well as an active listener - is the basis for not only establishing faith in a new believer, but building and growing it throughout a Christian's life.
Dig Deeper
There is no question that the Jews in Jesus' day were zealous for their faith. They were willing to kill for it! But no amount of zealousness can overcome bad theology.
This means that it's not enough for you to feel really strongly about what you believe or to be led by your emotions. Rather, your feelings & attitudes must be based on a true knowledge of who Jesus is and what He's done.
It doesn't take long in our super-charged world to get worked up into a zealous frenzy. Don't let this happen to you, because a zeal that is not based on knowledge (v2) will always pull you farther from the truth of the gospel (it's important to note here that the Greek word translated 'knowledge' is not just facts in general, but theological truth).
Keep yourself grounded in the true gospel by reading the Bible, singing the Bible, praying the Bible and hearing the Bible preached.
AAA Prayer:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father who holds His hands out all day long to His stubborn and disobedient people (v21)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that Jesus' Lordship will be present in every aspect of your life (v9)
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
