It is no doubt that the Apostle Paul longed for Israel to be saved. He realized the insufficiency of man's works to provide salvation to anyone. In this chapter he shares with us about the need for true faith. Below is a explanation of verses 1-13 of this great chapter.

 

 

 

 

 Paul writes here that Israel as a whole needs to be saved. He comes to this conclusion as he considers their response to Christ and their decision to rely upon their own efforts to gain God’s acceptance.

He writes vs1, “brethren my heart's desire and prayer for Israel is that they may be saved.” Paul understands something that many others in the faith never truly get a grasp of. It’s the gnawing reality that unless a man is born again he will not see the kingdom of God. He understands this reality and it weighs heavily upon him. He loves his people. He wants what's best for them. And he knows that if they do not come to the place where they put faith in Christ they will not be saved.

As a side note: not only do many Christians never come to grasp this reality but the lost in the world never come to recognize this either. They fail to realize that if they continue as they are that there will be a day of judgment that each one will face. This reality should strike fear into the heart of every single human being who ever walks on the face of God’s green earth. Yet many go on with their lives never giving a second thought to this. Forgetting or ignoring or neglecting the reality  that; Heb 10:31 “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

How could such a truth be so readily neglected?

For Israel, this came through their determined efforts to gain righteousness of their own. Vs 3 tells us this is the case.

Ro 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.

To be ignorant means to not know.[1] They, instead of receiving God’s righteousness, seek to establish their own by keeping the law that God had given to them. However, this was not the purpose of the law as it related to their salvation. It wasn’t given to provide a path to attaining self-righteousness by the keeping of the things of the law. Instead, it was meant to provide a path that brought man to the end of his efforts, and then when he had reached the bottom of his ability to keep the law to please God, he would then look up and see the one who was “high and lifted up” Jesus Christ.

For Christ is the “end of the law ….to everyone who believes.”

For it is made clear through the troubling statement, that should strike fear into the hearts of all who would try to attain self-righteousness “the man who does those things shall live by them.” Meaning that it would require perfect observance of the law, without any wavering, without any failure, to attain righteousness by it. And we know that this is not possible. Instead, the law teaches us that we are unrighteous people who are broken from the very beginning of our lives by sin. (Romans 5:12,19)

Paul goes on to present the extreme of man's futile efforts as he says, “who will ascend” “who will descend” (vs6-7). These things are not so, because our salvation is not brought by our efforts or abilities, instead, it is right here, “near you” it is “in your mouth”. That which they had so desperately tried to attain in their exhausted efforts was right there all the time. It was simply a matter of realizing that this is true.

“It’s”, Paul writes, “the word of faith which we preach.” Faith is the answer to their need. It’s not more works or more effort. It’s faith. And Not just faith as some abstract thing, but faith in Jesus as the crucified and risen Savior.

And how does faith work? He tells us in vs 9, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Confessing that Jesus is Lord (the idea here is that you confess that He is exactly who the Scriptures claim He is, (God the Son, sent to save us from our sins), and believe in your heart. The emphasis on “believe with your heart” is intended to point out the essential element of salvation which is faith. Agreeing that He is Lord has to do with the knowledge that you possess about Him, believing in Him is a matter of faith (vs 10). Believing that HE could save you and give you eternal life. Trusting in Him and no other.

No matter who you are. No matter what ethnicity, background, gender, or color. Whoever you are, if you will simply place faith in Him as Savior; you will be saved! (vs 11-13) [1] LKTTGNT 

Please continue reading in the next blog for the rest of the chapter.