The Road to Salvation – We study Paul's letter to the Romans

Looking back at Romans 9

Let us first go back to Romans 9. One of the controversial aspects that comes out of this is the view that God is unjust and has chosen some people to be saved and others to never get any fair chance. We know this as the doctrine of election, and its interpretation is mostly wrong. On this subject, the Calvinist view of the Bible and how it is interpreted is not consistent. Many people deliberately want to abuse this concept to give justification for their own sin and then accuse God of not giving them a fair chance for salvation.

However, we must understand that Romans 9 is not about John being saved but Susan being lost. It has to do with the history of the Jews and the nation of Israel. Romans 9:6-18 is about a lineage from which Israel as a nation is born first, and from that the Messiah would come. The Messiah was never meant exclusively for the Jews, but for everyone. He was simply meant to be the Messianic king for a specific group, not to be an exclusive saviour. At the end of the day, people are saved because they made the right choice, responding to God's call to repentance. In his omniscience, God knew who would be saved and who would not. It has never been his choice that anyone perish (2 Peter 3:9). However, man has a choice:

• God gave man a choice of free will. God's foreknowledge and election do not undo man's free will. Even though God foresaw that my choice would be wrong, it was still my choice. See Genesis 2:16-17; John 1:12; 15:16; and Revelation 22:17.
• Election is in conjunction with God's foreknowledge. As a parent, you knew that the hot stovetop would burn your children's fingers. If they did not listen, and then exercised their own choice to keep touching the hot stove, then they just had to feel. See Romans 8:29-30 and 1 Peter 1:2.

Let us summarise it up like this: That you are saved today is proof of God's grace for you. Before you point a finger at someone else and say, "But Lord, what about him?" (John 21:21), first take a deep breath, calm down, and thank God for your salvation. Leave it to Him to sort out the other guy.

Back to Romans 10

In Romans 9 to 11, Paul's focus is on his own people. They do not want to accept the new covenant that Jesus Christ brought and have rejected the justice of God for them. However, the new covenant has its origins in the Old Testament. It is for this reason that he repeatedly refers to the Old Testament. After all, this is their reference, yet they do not understand it. He quickly refers in verse 2 to Hosea 4:6. I want to encourage you to leave Romans 10 right now and read Hosea first.

God mentions to the prophet that he must take a lady of questionable conduct as his wife, as representative of Israel's wandering away from God and their adherence to foreign gods (fornication). Yet He still loves them. See Hosea 1:10, which Paul quotes in Romans 9:26. Now focus on Hosea 3:4. This refers to where Israel is currently, a country without a king and without their rituals. This is why the new temple must be rebuilt as quickly as possible. See Daniel 9:27; 11:31; and Matthew 24:15 about what will happen to this new temple. Hosea is God's mouthpiece and call on Israel to repent. However, they don't notice it.

Back to Romans 10. They are very zealous, but they do not know God's justice and are now trying to do their own thing. However, they do not succeed and Paul quotes Leviticus 18:5 in verse 5. Immediately afterwards he quotes Deuteronomy 30:12-14. However, Israel did not do Deuteronomy 30:19 – they did not choose life (John 14:6). Then Paul gives the essence of our salvation.

Rebirth is not a pretty rhyme of a so-called "sinner's prayer", and the "invitation of Jesus into your heart". It requires two, almost brutal, actions: confess with your mouth; and believe with your heart. What should you confess (audible, outward response to other people) and believe (inner change)? That God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. See Acts 16:31. Many "Christians" think they are saved but wear a cross on a chain around their neck with Jesus still on it (like the Roman Catholics) and/or they don't really believe that He was raised from the dead. Check out this article: https://www.johnchapterthree.com/en/theresurrectionfromthedead for more information. Paul again uses the Old Testament to prove the New Testament. See Isaiah 28:16.

God's plan of salvation is not something that suddenly appeared in the New Testament because Israel turned their back on Him and He now had to find another people to serve Him. Look at verse 13. Everyone who calls on the Name (God's total character is included here.) of the Lord will be saved (Joel 2:32). It has never been implied that only Israel would one day be saved. "Everyone" is everything and everyone included. The passage that Joel refers to is a time of need throughout the world, and not just for Israel, but for all people.

Paul now states the facts of his own mission and that of the Church – if someone is not sent to preach, no one can hear the message. If they do not hear the message, they do not hear from Him. If they do not hear from Him, they have no one to believe in. If they have no one to believe in, there is no one to call upon. However, we hear not only with our ears, but also with our hearts. For the heart to understand the message, faith is needed. Again, the Old Testament has already explained this to us. See Isaiah 52:7 and Nahum 1:5.

Long before the foundation of the Church, however, there were already evangelists – the prophets who had to bring the message to Israel. Unfortunately, not everyone as part of Israel heeded the message. Paul shares Isaiah's heart, who was also disappointed because the people did not want to accept his message. See Isaiah 53:1. Feel free to read the entire chapter, which is the "forbidden chapter" for the Jews today and look for the video on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGz9BVJ_k6s). Faith comes when we hear the Word, and we hear the Word through its preaching. Paul asks if Israel might not have heard the message. However, he immediately gives the answer, not his own ideas, but from the Word:

• Maybe they didn't hear the message? See Psalm 19:4. Nature bears witness to the works and existence of God (Romans 1:18ff). So, they heard.
• Maybe they didn't understand the message? See Deuteronomy 32:21 (Moses' sermon to Israel). So, they understood.
• Maybe there wasn't a message for them? See Isaiah 65:1. So there was a message.

However, they did not want to listen. See Isaiah 65:2. Israel may not believe in the gospel as a nation today, but they know that their only allies are us, the Church. Yet God did not reject them, and his plan of salvation for all Israel is already being put into place daily in our time. This is something for them to look forward to, as we will learn next week. Go read Romans 11 in the meantime.

Chapters

• Romans Chapter 1
• Romans Chapter 2
• Romans Chapter 3
• Romans Chapter 4
• Romans Chapter 5
• Romans Chapter 6
• Romans Chapter 7
• Romans Chapter 8
• Romans Chapter 9
• Romans Chapter 10
• Romans Chapter 11
• Romans Chapter 12
• Romans Chapter 13
• Romans Chapter 14
• Romans Chapter 15
• Romans Chapter 16

Send to a friend

Return to home page