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Good morning!
We're so glad you chose to join us today!
When we meet together, we take time to share any joys or concerns we have. If you have a prayer request, please add it as a comment on this post. When you are ready, use the prayer below to get started.
God, All peoples have their origin in you and it is your will to gather them as one family in yourself. Fill the hearts of people with your love and the desire to ensure justice for all their brothers and sisters. Amen
Today's lesson is on Romans 10:1-17.
Just how comprehensive is the good news of Jesus the Messiah? The entire book of Romans is concerned with this question. Romans 1-8 sets forth proof of the need and extent of God's mercy available to those who trust him with their lives. God has announced salvation for all who trust. The gospel of grace has come to light for all. The extension of God's offer of salvation to Gentiles does not exclude Jews. The depth of God's love extends to Israel as well as the Gentiles.
Romans 10 reflects on Paul's hope that the good news that Jesus is the Messiah and Lord will also come to his fellow Jews. God promised salvation to Israel, and God keeps promises at all times. Therefore, the promise of salvation must come to Israel. The hard division between Jews and Gentiles did not occur until several generations after Paul's lifetime. Paul himself never used the word “Christians” in his writings, though it had begun to circulate within the church. He likely did not anticipate the centuries of hostility between the two groups or the habit of those thinking themselves to be Christians of insulting and even persecuting Jews. The hard division that Paul's experience and wrote about was between Jews (whether Christs-followers or not) and Gentile (whether God fearing or not). The gospel of reconciliation and peace in Christ reaches all, allowing God both to keep the ancient promises of Israel and to add the Gentiles to the faithful community. Praying for God's salvation for the Israelites was probably habitual for Paul. His concern for his people – including his family and friends – was reason enough to pray for the nation. The Scriptures he long had studied modeled praying for deliverance for Israel from its various foes. And there was an expectation, found particularly in the prophets' writings, that the nation would be restored after suffering for their sins. Paul's prayers expanded to include that his people would turn to Christ and find eternal salvation in him. Paul does not suggest that his fellow Jews were all pursuing evil ends, because that was clearly not true. Jews who did not follow Jesus still desired to follow God, But, Paul asserts, they misunderstood the trajectory of God's work and how their own Scriptures pointed to Jesus as their Messiah. Paul does not dismiss zeal for God as insignificant; he knew from personal experience that misdirected zeal could be turned to God's purpose. Still, his people's zeal without knowledge of Christ prevented them from recognizing that God's long anticipated provision of deliverance of his people (and indeed to all people) had finally been revealed. Paul has argued the righteousness of God consists of extending salvation to all on the basis of trust in the work of Christ. Paul criticized the attempt to make Jews out of Gentiles. Attempts to come to God on the basis of anything other than Christ, and especially on the basis of any human achievement, fail. An approach to saving the Gentiles that tried to compel them to keep the Law of Moses neglected the deeper reality that the relationship with God always depends on faithful trust, not on the works themselves. The word translated culmination has the sense of “ultimate goal” in Greek. The coming of Christ and his activity in revealing God's salvation to all human beings was always the goal of the Law. And the Law of Moses itself pointed to the work of God, as opposed to the law existing for its own sake. Paul did not expect the abolition of Torah but the completion of God's promises. Those who trust God's work through Jesus have fulfilled the Torah's overarching objectives. Paul quotes Leviticus 18:5: "The person who does these things will live by them." Paul did not oppose Jews keeping the Law, and he accepted the idea that its instructions can guide a person to a wiser, more faithful life. In this way, Jews who kept the Torah in faith did live by them and could experience limited righteousness of striving to accomplish God's will. Paul next quotes Deuteronomy 30:12-13: "Do not say in your heart,..'Who will descend into heaven... Who will descend into the deep?'". These verses are part of God's promise that he would extend mercy to Israel after the nation experienced the consequences of breaking covenant and turned to him in repentance and faith. Paul adds to these quotations two comments, the first being that is to bring Christ down. Paul's point is that Christ's descent into the human world was God's work, not that of striving human beings. Salvation, therefore, comes from God and not from humans. The second comment, to bring Christ from the dead, connects the ancient text to the core Christian story of Jesus' resurrection. Paul links the confession of faith from one's mouth with the belief in one's heart and thus to the commitments of the whole person. To believe that God has raised Jesus from the dead also means to trust that God has overcome the power of death itself. Salvation involves both the present and the future. We can understand being saved as a shorthand for the entire relationship that the redeemed person enjoys with God. The effects begin in our Spirit-led lives now and will culminate in everlasting life in Heaven. Confession of Christ's lordship occurs daily, both in the face of opposition or hardship and in more peaceful times. It also involves witnesses, making a public commitment. The message of the gospel connects deeply to real lives, and those who hear it must internalize it and proclaim it. When the heart and the mouth align in acknowledging the saving work of Christ, it becomes possible to experience both righteousness and salvation. Paul quotes Isaiah 28:16, which is part of a promise that God would rebuild Zion after its destruction. The Bible often conceives of shame as a social condition, visible to all, rather an inner, more private emotion. Paul understands trust in God as the opposite of public humiliation. At the final judgment, those who trust in Jesus for deliverance from sins will never be put to shame because our hope of salvation will be fully realized. Paul then quotes from Joel, "For Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Both Joel and Paul understand God as one who answers the sincere cries of people longing for help. Because Jesus is “Lord of all” everyone may call on him. An important characteristic of Christian's preaching is the proclamation of peace between God and humanity. When one experiences reconciliation with the Lord, it becomes possible to reconcile to other people as well. Christian teaching and preaching should, therefore, be filled with joy about hope because of the good things God wants to accomplish in us and through us. Verse 16 & 17. But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. Paul quotes Isaiah 53:1 that is part of the prophetic reflection on the fact that people do not always listen to God's Word. In its immediate context continues the account of the Suffering Servant, noting the disbelief of many. In spite of that disbelief, Paul's job and the job of Christ followers, is to keep celebrating the good news and to live lives that reflect our faith in Jesus. After all, we might plant the seed and water it, but God makes it grow. Our responsibility is not the outcome but our faithfulness to report the good news. There is a contrast between the two verses. Verse 16 emphasizes the negative side of unbelief, while verse 17 understands the power of the message to be so great that it leads people to trust Christ. Paul was confident that both Jews and Gentiles would learn to trust God once they understood the nature of the gospel. 
Conclusion
The offer of salvation comes through the preaching of the Word as one of hope and expectation. God is for us and wishes to be with us. When we trust the reliability of that offer, we can enter into a life of joyful hope, which is the Bible salvation. That life begins now and extends into eternity. In Romans 10, Paul speaks of those who cry out to God, confess Jesus as Lord and so receive salvation. Like the prophets of Israel, who called on their people to turn from evil towards good, Paul makes a direct connection between the words that humans speak and God's willingness to save. The words must be sincerely uttered, but the key actor in this drama of salvation is God. Preaching connects closely to prayer as we seek to conform our desires to God's desires. It must be full of hope, inviting listeners to trust a gracious God. This readiness to hear comes from God's passionate love for the creation. In truth, God created the world originally out of love, and he sustains the creation out of the same love. In an environment of love, a needy humanity crying out for help receives a willing ear.
Prayer
O God who makes promises and keeps them over generations and long centuries, our prayer is for all the people near and far to come to know Jesus. Send us! In Jesus' name we pray. Amen
Questions for discussion
Benediction
Next week, we will be starting the summer quarter. If you have been reading the lessons, we would love for you to join us in person, at 10 am. The topic for the summer quarter is Hope in the Lord.
The lesson for next week will be on Colossians 1:24-2:3.
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