CHAPTER 10

1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
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.
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

The "END of the law for righteousness" before God is Jesus Christ!

Both "the law," and "the prophets" pointed to a Redeemer coming to ESTABLISH righteousness before God.
That Redeemer is Jesus Christ.

Jesus not only established righteousness in His perfect life, but in His death and resurrection, He established
righteousness "to every one that believeth" - believes that Jesus IS the end of righteousness before God.

Paul had (and every Christian has) a genuine desire to see the nation of Israel saved "to the uttermost". (See Hebrews 7:25

The lifestyle of the Jewish nation exemplifies a genuine respect for God, and a desire to be righteous in His sight.
However, they (who have not surrendered to Christ) do not have the "knowledge" of Him as God in flesh.
((The word knowledge, here is derived from the Greek epignosis, which generally means discernment, recognition, or acknowledgement of a fact.))

When we try to live by the "law" to present ourselves to God, we are spitting in the wind!
NONE -- I say again -- NONE are righteous before God by living legalistically! (See Psalm 14:2-3, Romans 3:23)

But when we SUBMIT ourselves to Christ, HE (and He alone) will declare us righteous in His own blood! (See 1Corinthians 1:30)

5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
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:)
7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
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;

Moses DID give a law which said, "Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments; which if a man do, he shall live in them."(Lev. 18:5).
But which man can say he had fully obeyed ALL of God's law ALL of the time!
NONE!

To say he has lived perfect, a man would have the ability to draw "the righteousness of God" down from heaven.
To say he has lived perfect, a man would have the ability to say he has no NEED of Christ's death, burial and resurrection.

Indeed, some say (even today) that the prophesied Christ has not yet come.
And they are looking for another.

Yet the "righteousness of faith" speaks and states a different thing:
Christ HAS come,
He HAS died, been buried, resurrected, ascended to heaven, and is soon returning for His people.

And, perhaps THIS is what Moses meant!
When a person truly lives with the full assurance of the Savior, then he actually desires to live by the law.
It is NOT the other way around!
A person who lives solely by the law is only striving to establish self before God.
But he who surrenders to the Savior is only trying to establish Christ before men!

That word, the word of faith -- "is NIGH thee" - near, as close as your next breath!!
For it has sounded and resounded throughout the earth in the Gospel of Jesus "which we preach!"

And THIS is how a person is saved:

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.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Listen closely now!
It is believing in the heart,
AND, confessing with the mouth through the life!

In order to confess that something is true, one must first believe it to be true.
In order to prove belief of a truth, it must be confessed!

Paul is not saying the same as some namby-pamby preachers, "just accept Jesus in your heart and you'll be saved."!!!!
Paul is emphatically stating that when one genuinely believes Christ is LORD, that person will seek to LIVE as proof of that truth!!

Believing only in the heart that Jesus came for salvation, causes man to WANT to be righteous.
But a openly confessing life of that truth shows Jesus is IN that life!!

Too bad God has lots of "secret-service" believers!
Unless one is LIVING for Christ, one hasn't genuinely believed!

11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

When a person genuinely believes Jesus is LORD, he/she "shall NOT be ashamed!"
Isaiah 28:16 says, "Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste."

The last part of Is. 28:16 says, "shall not make haste".
The words "make haste" are translated from the Hebrew chuwsh, which means fearfully excited.
The person who genuinely believes in Jesus will not fear, or become anxious at, confessing Jesus as LORD!

The entrance of God's Holy Spirit into the repentant, confessing sinner brings OPEN confession of Jesus as Lord! (See Ephesians 1:13)

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.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

If we divide the world into two categories: Jew and Greek (Gentile), it doesn't matter.
Because God grants mercy to "ALL that call upon Him."

Therefore, ALL the world must call on Jesus to be saved!
There are NO exceptions! (See John 14:6)

AND, "WHOSOEVER shall call upon the name of the LORD (Jesus) SHALL BE SAVED!!"
PRAISE GOD!!
What MERCY! What GRACE! What LOVE!
That God would accept sinners and give them ETERNAL LIFE -- which is life WITHOUT sin!!

It doesn't matter who you are or what you've been, it only matters if you genuinely repent and call upon Christ to save you!
AIN'T GOD GOOD?!!!

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?
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!

Paul has just completed a premise that states people are saved when they BELIEVE in Christ, CONFESS He is Lord of all, and CALL UPON Him to be saved.

Then, one might ask, "Is God UNJUST to condemn those who have never heard?"
"How can they CALL on Him, if they have not BELIEVED?"
"How can they BELIEVE if they have not HEARD?"
"How can they HEAR without a PREACHER?"
And, "Who can preach unless He is commissioned of God?"

Suppose you were in the capitol of a country who's army had gone off to war.
You were anxiously awaiting word to hear if the army had victory.
And, then, you SEE -- a MESSENGER running on the hills above, and approaching the city.
Then, you HEAR him telling how the army had been succesful and gained victory!
And, suppose the messenger's feet were awfully dirty and bruised from his travel.
Would the MESSAGE not make his feet BEAUTIFUL to you?
Of course it would!
You might even give him water and ointment with which to cleanse and treat his bruises.
In today's world you might even provide him shoes!

The messenger may be untidy, unkempt and even dirty.
But the MESSAGE is GOOD NEWS, and that makes the messenger (his feet) BEAUTIFUL!

And the MESSAGE of salvation through One coming to earth from God has been PREACHED throughout all TIME and throughout all the WORLD!

Adam and Eve knew the message.
That message was taught them from God Himself!
In Genesis 3:15, God was speaking to Satan and said, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it (the woman's seed) shall bruise thy head (deal a death blow), and thou shalt bruise His heel."
Nowadays, any 13-year-old can tell you a woman does not have "seed," the MAN does!
God was saying there WILL come a man born from a woman WITHOUT a man's seed!
And THAT Man will deal a death blow to Satan, even though Satan will bring Him hurt!

Moses also knew the message.
He said, in Deuteronomy 18:15, "The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;".
Moses was saying God would bring forth a Man Who would be from the lineage of the Hebrew people.
He would be a man like Moses.
A PROPHET, whom no one liked, but everyone followed!
(Remember, the Israelites didn't LIKE Moses, but they FOLLOWED Him!)

David new the message.
Nathan told David the Man God talked about would come through David's family!
(See 2Samuel 7:12-16)
David sang about that in Psalm 89:3-4.
And David called this Man his LORD in Psalm 110:1!!

The prophets knew the message, and preached it.
See Jeremiah 23:5-6, Isaiah 11:1-5 , Ezra 4:1-5, Micah 5:2, Isaiah 9:6-7. (and others)

It was even prophesied that this MAN of whom God spoke to Adam and Eve would be GOD IN FLESH!
See Isaiah 12:2, Hosea 13:4.

One can readily see that God-ordained men preached the message of GOOD NEWS, and it was HEARD throughout the earth.
The problem was, they did not BELIEVE what they heard, because they WANTED to hear something else!!

And, therefore, they did not OBEY the message of good news!

16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?

Even the Jews who had the law, the prophets and the promises of God did not BELIEVE and OBEY the message!
In fact, they treated the messengers with scorn, even imprisoning and murdering some!
See Matthew 23:28-32, Hebrews 11:37-38.

17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.

Yes, faith - the gift of God - comes by hearing (giving audience to) the WORD of God!
See Ephesians 2:8-9.

Grace BRINGS the Word,
the heart HEARS the Word,
the heart then BENDS to Christ (repentant confession, and calling upon Him to be forgiven and saved),
And, then, God GIVES the "gift" of faith, which is the ability to CLING TO Christ!

So then, God is NOT unjust in condemning those who have not believed, confessed and called upon Christ!
Because the sound of the message from the messengers has gone "into ALL the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world!"

Also, one can look at the heavens and SEE there must be God!
See Psalm 19:1-4.

Man is "without excuse"!! (See Romans 1:20.

19 But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.
20 But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.
21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

And especially Israel is "without excuse"!
Century after century God cause the GOOD NEWS to be preached among them by His ordained prophets!

Therefore, (vs 2) Isaiah said God would be foud by those that "sought me not"!
In other words, God Himself would seek out those who would "worship Him in Spirit and in truth." (John 4:23-24)

And, by a "foolish nation" (Gentiles who had no previous knowledge of the Gospel) God would "anger" them (or disturb them greatly).

God had raised up Israel from the womb of Sarah.
For centuries He literally led them by the hand, and fed them the Word of God containing His GOOD NEWS!
Yet, they were a "disobedient and gainsaying people!"

They HEARD but would not BELIEVE.
And, when Jesus actually came, they would not RECEIVE!

EVERY person, Jew or Gentile, is accountable for believing and receiving Christ!

Next chapter.... God has NOT "cast off Israel!"
Many are still saved today!!

PLEASE CONTINUE WITH US IN BIBLE STUDY TOMORROW.
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