Last week in our study of Romans, we left off most of the way through chapter 9.
In the first part of Paul’s letter, he describes the beauty of the Gospel message. What is that message? God loves the world so much that He sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross to, once and for all time, pay for the sins of those who will accept his invitation. And it’s not just that we are forgiven; we are justified. That means if you accept God’s invitation, when God looks at you, it is as though you have never sinned because the blood of Jesus covers your sin. That is the beauty of the Gospel message.
Because you have been justified, Paul says at the end of chapter 8, that nothing can separate you from the love of God, except, what …?
Except nothing. There is nothing. What can separate you from God’s love? NOTHING!
Then Paul begins chapter 9, lamenting that only some Jewish people had responded to God’s invitation. He says at the beginning of this section that he would give up Heaven for himself if it meant that all the Jews would come to know this enduring love that God has for them.
So last week, we explored Paul’s extreme love for a group of people who wanted him out of the picture, even if that meant killing him. Despite that fact, Paul’s love for them persisted. Last week, we asked, “How do we develop that same kind of love for people?”
Paul continues down that same track as we read the end of chapter 9 and then through chapter 10. Here, Paul points out the things that are getting in the way or the roadblocks to the Jews responding to God’s invitation to confess Christ and know God’s enduring love for them.
The biggest problem for the Jews is their inability to grasp that righteousness comes by faith in Christ alone.
So Paul will show us here in chapter 10 that we become Righteous by Faith Alone.
Rom 9:30-33 (CSB)—What should we say then? Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained righteousness—namely the righteousness that comes from faith. But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not achieved the righteousness of the law. Why is that? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. As it is written, Look, I am putting a stone in Zion to stumble over and a rock to trip over, and the one who believes on him will not be put to shame.
The gospel, with its proclamation of the ‘righteousness’ of God bestowed on believers, came to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile, but (on the whole) it was accepted by the Gentile first. Because to the Jew, righteousness only comes through following the law. In other words, our works save us, not our faith. The problem is the law, or “our works”, cannot save us because we cannot keep the law. Why? Because of sin, sin makes us all lawbreakers. Instead, Paul says, righteousness comes by faith in Christ. To the Jew, faith in Jesus is the stumbling stone.
So what is the first roadblock to the Jews responding to God’s enduring love:
Works
The law was the center of life for the Jew. Following it and making sacrifices at the Temple in Jerusalem was all important. Wrapping their minds around the idea that Jesus fulfilled the entirety of the law was hard for them to comprehend. For the Jew, religion was not about experiencing the enduring love of God. Religion was about the fear of failure. In essence, the law had become their god. The only way to avoid failure and judgment was to work harder.
In Matthew 11, Jesus says something that we love to quote. However, we often misunderstand what Jesus is talking about here:
Matt 11:28-30 (CSB)—Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
What Jesus is saying is the burden of works, the burden of trying to impress God with how good you are, the yoke of a religion that requires you to perform at a certain level, is made easy and light when you allow Jesus to take it off of your shoulders and carry it for you.
In other words, let Jesus do the heavy lifting. Let Jesus carry the burden for you.
Many today may not follow the Jewish law but still believe it is by their works that they become righteous; it is by their works that they will impress God. They come to the end of their lives hoping their good deeds will somehow outweigh their bad deeds, which will be their ticket to heaven.
For many who believe that, this idea that righteousness only comes through faith in Jesus is a stumbling stone. In hopes of impressing God with their works, they literally trip over the truth.
But here is the truth, told to the Ephesian church in Paul’s letter to them:
Eph 2:8-9 (CSB)—For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast.
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Romans 10:1-3 gives us the second roadblock.
Rom 10:1-3 (CSB)—Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God concerning them is for their salvation. I can testify about them that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. Since they are ignorant of the righteousness of God and attempted to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes,
The second roadblock for the Jew was Knowledge.
The Jews had knowledge, but they had the wrong knowledge. The Jews sincerely believed that they were right and that righteousness came by following the law, but Paul says, “You can be sincere about something, but you can be sincerely wrong.”
Paul knew this from personal experience. Like the majority of Israel, He was sincere, but he was sincerely wrong.
In Phil 3, Paul says there was no one more zealous when it came to persecuting the church, but now that I have met Christ, I realize that everything I gained by pursuing righteousness on my own is a loss compared with knowing Christ.
Our culture tends to celebrate people because of their sincerely held beliefs (unless they are Christian beliefs). But just because they are sincere in their beliefs does not make them right. Sincerity does not equal truth.
This is why, as followers of Jesus, we must know what and why we believe. Our enemy, the Devil, will try and convince you that you’re wrong. The world may try to convince you that you’re wrong and that their sincerely held beliefs are right. You may have a bad day and wonder if God is even there. In those moments, having a sincere faith and an informed faith is essential.
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The third roadblock for the Jews was the Simplicity of the Gospel message.
Rom 10:8b-11 (CSB)—This is the message of faith that we proclaim: 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. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame,
There are 613 commandments in the Jewish law: 248 do’s and 365 don’ts. Just figuring out what to do before you eat a meal is complicated. But now, Paul comes along and says that simply confessing with your mouth that Jesus is God’s Son and believing in your heart that God raised Him from the dead results in righteousness probably sounded crazy.
It’s too simple. Forgiveness, justification, and experiencing a new life in Christ can’t be that easy, can it? Yes, Paul says.
It is not God’s intention to keep anyone out of Heaven. It is not God’s intention that anyone not be given the chance to respond to His enduring love.
In the middle of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt, there is a strange little story. Along the way, the Israelites developed a chronic grumbling problem. Despite repeated warnings and punishment for complaining against God and Moses, God’s people continued to moan and groan. In Numbers 21:6, God deals with their bellyaching.
Num 21:6 (CSB)—Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and they bit them so that many Israelites died.
Then, Moses intercedes on behalf of the Israelites with God.
Num 21:8-9 (CSB)—Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a snake image and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover.’ So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. Whenever someone was bitten, and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered.
God, in His mercy, offered a simple remedy for Israel’s sin.
When the grumbling Israelites looked at the bronze serpent held high on a pole, they were saved from the punishment they deserved. God used the emblem of His judgment to draw His people back to Himself. That was good news for them, pointing to even better news for us.
Jn 3:14-16 (CSB)—Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life. For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
This is the wonderful simplicity of the message of the Gospel. When we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths, we will be saved and never put to shame before God.
The Israelites looked to a snake on a pole for healing from poisonous venom.
We look to Jesus on the cross to heal us from the poison of sin in our lives. When we do, we not only receive healing but now, God looks at us and He doesn’t see our sin but the righteousness of Christ.
We become righteous by faith. This is the simplicity of the gospel.
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The final roadblock to the gospel for the Jews is the Inclusivity of the Gospel message.
Rom 10:12-13 (CSB)— since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Paul says something similar to the church in Galatia.
Gal 3:27-29 (CSB)—For those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ. There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.
For the Jews, this was tough to hear because they were God’s chosen people; they had been given the law; they had been given the promises of God, but now Paul says everything has changed. Through Jesus, God is fulfilling his promise to Abraham to bless all of the nations of the earth through him. Now, the gospel message is meant for all the nations of the earth.
The gospel message is for everyone. Jew and Gentile alike. Who is the gospel for? EVERYONE! It is for the rich and the poor. It is for the homeless and the housed. It is for the sick and the healthy, for both genders, every nationality, and every person on the earth.
Whose job is it to make sure they know this gospel’s message?
Rom 10:14-15 (CSB)—How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.
It is our job. It’s your job and my job to tell our story. We need to talk about the goodness of God in our lives and share this message of forgiveness and restoration.
Even though many of the Jews have rejected the message of the gospel, Paul says, it has now come to the rest of the world, and it is our job as followers of Jesus to be His witnesses about what he has done.
As you share your story, though, remember that people may put up roadblocks to the gospel. It may be they think they can work their way into God’s favor, or maybe they think they already have the answers. Some might think it’s too simple, that there has to be more work involved than simply believing in your heart and confessing with your mouth. Or perhaps they have some different political beliefs than most Christians they’ve met and are convinced they would never fit into the church. But the gospel is for everyone.
How can they believe without hearing about Him? The answer is they can’t. Despite the roadblocks, perhaps God wants to use you. Has God put someone in your life who has never heard the gospel message? Who might that be?
Chris Hankel 
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