Righteousness by Faith in Jesus Rom. 10:1-13 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

The trouble with Israel is that they don’t believe in Jesus.  Yet Paul’s heart’s desire and prayer to God is that they might be saved.  In Rom 10:1-13 Paul deals with the subject of righteousness by faith in Jesus to encourage not only Jews but also Gentiles to be saved.  Concerning righteousness by faith, righteousness:

Is God’s – Rom 10:1-3 – Israel has a zeal of God, like Paul did [Gal 1:13-14; Acts 22:3] but they are ignorant of God’s righteousness [Rom 10:3], like Paul was [1 Tim 1:13].  God was longsuffering with Paul [1 Tim 1:16] as he has also been with Israel.  Yet, unlike Paul they were holding on to their own righteousness [Phil 3:6-9].  Like Paul they need the righteousness that only comes from God [Jer 23:5-6; 33:15-16].

Is Christ’s – Rom 10:4 – Christ is the end of the law for righteousness [Matt 5:17; 1 Cor 1:30]. We know he is righteous because he did no sin [2 Cor 5:21, Heb 4:15; 1 Pet 2:22].

Is not obtained by the Law – Rom 10:5 – the law is “do,” [Lev 18:5; Deut 6:24-25].  And the truth is that no one can “do” the law without sin [Rom 3:19-20].  That’s why Jesus had to die [Gal 3:10-13].

Is obtained by faith – Rom 10:6-10 – Paul adapts Deut 30:12-14 to make the point.  But read verses 11-20 where you find that HE is thy life!!!  Salvation is in a man.  Paul applies this Old Testament passage to faith and removes the references to “do” because Christ has already “done” what the law requires.  He is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth [Col 2:14-15].  Rom 10:9-10 is the way to get saved.  The word is in your mouth and in your heart.

Is available to anyone – Rom 10:11-13 shows that anyone can be saved whether you are a Jew or Gentile. In verse 11, Paul quotes Is 28:16 which says “make haste.” Checking the context of Is 28, we find righteousness in verse 17 and consumption in verse 22.  The idea is that the ones who trust the Lord don’t run because they are settled on the rock.  When Paul quotes this passage he says “ashamed” and Peter [1 Pet 2:6] says “confounded.”  See Ps 69:4-9 [particularly verse 6] which shows that those who trust Jesus will neither be ashamed nor confounded.  Rom 10:13 is a quote from Joel 2:32, a tribulation passage dealing with the remnant of Israel [Rom 9:27] and applied to all who call upon the Lord for salvation.