Romans 10:5–17 - The Elegant Simplicity of Complex Theology
You need to be zealous - but base your zeal in true knowledge.
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Romans 10:1–17 (NASB95)
1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation [of his Jewish people]. 2 For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. 3 For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. 5 For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness. 6 But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), 7 or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching: 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? 15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”
16 However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
Belgic Confession
Article 22: The Righteousness of Faith
We believe that
for us to acquire the true knowledge of this great mystery
the Holy Spirit kindles in our hearts a true faith
that embraces Jesus Christ,
with all his merits,
and makes him its own,
and no longer looks for anything
apart from him.
For it must necessarily follow
that either all that is required for our salvation
is not in Christ or,
if all is in him,
then he who has Christ by faith
has his salvation entirely.
--
And faith is the instrument
that keeps us in communion with him
and with all his benefits.
When those benefits are made ours
they are more than enough to absolve us
of our sins.
Summary
Don't make the mistake of thinking that theology is a cold, clinical pursuit of difficult doctrines for which you need to shed every sense of sentimentality to do well. Paul didn't. In fact, the deeper his theology goes, the more intimately he expresses it. He opened yesterday's chapter - the Bible's hardest - admitting the great sorrow and unceasing anguish in his heart that his people had rejected the gospel. And here today, he shares that the salvation of his people was his heart's desire. You can't properly follow Paul's theology (which you must!) without modeling your heart in this same way.
But the flip side is even more dangerous - emotion, or zeal as Paul calls it here, detached from knowledge. Paul's people certainly had a zeal for God; in fact, their entire economy was built around their temple worship. And although they knew quite a bit about God, their zeal blinded their minds from recognizing God made visible - Jesus Christ (go back and review the encounters Jesus had with the religious establishment and see how emotionally charged they all are).
Youe theology - that is, your knowledge of God - controls everything about you: what you think, feel and even do. Even in humanity's fallen condition, deep down all people want to live righteously - this desire is hard wired into us because we still retain God's image. But not knowing about God's righteousness, people instead seek to establish their own. So the state of our society shouldn't surprise you: everybody defines righteousness and how to achieve it on their own.
This is the tension you need to live into: a heart desiring all people to be saved, and a mind that subjects itself to the righteousness of God - a righteousness based on faith.
Dig Deeper
Romans 10:9 is one that you need to have memorized. It shows the elegant simplicity of the gospel:
...If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
But this elegantly simple statement is undergirded and made possible by some massively complex theology!
We only have the space to dig into one short phrase: Jesus is Lord. Here's what you're confessing:
Jesus: Much more than a really good man who lived two millennia ago teaching a better way to live, Jesus is the Son of God, the second member of the Trinity - fully man, and fully God - born of a virgin so as to be free from Adam's sin, enabling Him to keep God's covenant requirements that Adam failed to keep. Christ is the end [goal] of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Because His blood atoned (paid) for your sin, you have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1).
Is Lord: All of what you think, feel and do - your theology - is governed by Christ, through whom God the Father rules all things. Jesus is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him. This means that you must increasingly come to know His Word and apply its Truth to every part of your life.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who raised Christ from the dead that all who confess Him will be saved;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you would have a zeal based in knowledge;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
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