Failing to obtain life’s greatest gift: A right relationship with God!
Romans 9:30-10:21
The book of Romans is Paul’s attempt to explain, expound, and interpret the gospel: the message of
what God has done in Christ. This is what Paul hoped to teach and preach when he had the
opportunity to visit the believers living in Rome. The gospel is the main subject of his letter. The
salvation that was achieved by Christ is the center and the main content of this letter which Paul so
carefully and systematically wrote to the church at Rome.1 Now in the last several verses of chapter 9
through the end of chapter 10, Paul continues his teaching upon a nagging-and painfully troubling issue
concerning the preaching of the gospel of Christ: the failure of the majority of the people of Israel to
believe in Jesus! This is both a painful and a personal issue for Paul. What went wrong? The people of
Israel-God’s special people- were given special treatment by God. They were the primary recipients of
God’s promises regarding the coming Savior and the salvation that would come through him. The people
of Israel of Paul’s generation however, have rejected Jesus. Why? What is the root cause behind this? Why
have so many Gentiles (the rest of the world outside of Israel) believed and accepted and found joy in the
salvation promised through Christ? This seems so wrong? Did God fail them? Did the Jewish people have
an adequate opportunity to hear and accept God’s salvation?
Paul has addressed some of these concerns in the first part of chapter 9. In the last several verses of
chapter 9, along with all of chapter 10, Paul concedes that the fact the majority of the people of Israel did
not believe, nor accept the good news concerning Jesus. Their failure was due not to not hearing or not
understanding the message; but their failure to believe in the good news concerning Jesus was due to
their own stubborn refusal to believe the message, together with their preoccupation with trying to
establish their own righteousness with God. Please do not miss this last key point. This was a major
factor in rejecting Jesus as we will discover upon our own careful examination of our text today. Because
they were seeking to establish their own righteousness, they rejected the opportunity to receive salvation
when it when it was offered to them.
So, let us take a closer look at this text and discover for ourselves what these verses tell us about Israel’s
pursuit of righteousness with God. (Rm. 9:30-10:4). Then, let us take a look at Paul’s repeated insistence
that the God of Israel has made his salvation available and attainable. (Rm. 10: 5-13). Finally, we will
examine the final eight verses of chapter 10, hearing Paul’s concluding statement regarding Israel’s
failure to believe and accept God salvation. These final verses simply state the painful truth: The
people refused to believe because they were stubborn and disobedient. Once again these verses focus on
the content of the gospel: God has provided what all humanity needs: righteousness! These verses once
again get to the heart of Paul’s desire not only to visit Rome, but also provide insight into why Paul so
strongly believes that the gospel that he preaches concerning Christ is not just amazing, but so different
from any other attempt even by religious people to become right with God.
I. The failure to obtain main prize of life: Righteousness with God. (Rm. 9:30-10:4)
1
Romans is the longest and the most systematic having a carefully developed argument. I.H. Marshall, S. Travis, and I Paul in
Exploring the New Testament Vol. 2. Chapter 8 The Letter to the Romans p. 105 Intervarsity Press Downers Grove Ill. 2002
This is first of the three sections making up this next section of Paul’s letter. This first section of eight
verses may appear to be a jumble of unrelated and unfocused ideas by Paul. Not so! A careful examination
of this first section reveals that Paul’s main focus is on the theme of the righteousness of God. Six times
Paul uses the term righteousness in these 8 verses. This idea as we have already seen is the main
concept that Paul uses to describe his gospel or what God has achieved for us in Christ. From what we
have read so far in this letter to Romans, it is safe to say as seen from Paul’s writing that obtaining this
righteousness of God from Christ is the main burden of Paul’s preaching and this letter. How to be
right with God-how to be justified before him- how to be declared not guilty and to be in a right
relationship to him- this is what consumed Paul. This is the background for appreciating this first section
and Paul’s attempt to explain why the people of Israel-Paul’s brethren- failed to believe and failed to
accept the righteousness gained through Christ. Paul makes three points in these verses. 1) Israel failed
to obtain the prize of life. 2) Why Israel failed to obtain the prize.
A. The Prize of Life: Being righteous with God! The main point of this section and even the whole
chapter is Paul’s statement that Israel (most of Israel) did not obtain “the righteousness offered
by God”, but the Gentiles did! This is exactly how Paul begins this section. This is what Paul wants
us to keep in mind. “What shall we say then? The Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have
attained it, that is a righteousness that is by faith: but Israel who pursued a law that would lead to
righteousness did not!” Please pay attention to the fundamental contrast that Paul is making.
Israel is pursuing something! The Gentiles were not pursing something! One got the prize! The
other did not obtain the prize! What is going on here? Both Moo and Schreiner both attest that
informing this passage is the image of a runner running/attempting to obtain a prize. This image
of a runner undergirds these first two verses. It is important to grasp that both groups of people
were intentionally or unintentionally pursing the same prize or goal: righteousness with God.
Paul’s key point in these first two verses is that Israel failed in her pursuit –even though she was
keenly bent on gaining the prize: righteousness with God. She failed! Those people who were not
of Israel-the Gentiles- gained the prize of life. Why? This does not make sense!
B. The main reason behind Israel’s failure to obtain God’s prize of life: the salvation of our
lives. (Rm. 9:32b) The failure of the people of Israel to receive and to obtain God’s promised
salvation is very troublesome for Paul. It causes him pain and anguish. It does not seem fair. God’s
people- Israel- were so zealous for God. They wanted his salvation so intently. So how could they
miss it; but, the Gentiles who were in so many cases oblivious to seeking God or his salvation
succeeded in finding it? The simple answer given by Paul for why the Jews failed to obtain this
righteousness or salvation is stated by Paul in one short half verse: “Because they did not pursue
it by faith, but as if it was based on works.” (Rm. 9:32a). Paul again says the same thing even
more compellingly in chapter 10, explaining why the Jews did not accept God’s gift of
righteousness: “for being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own,
they did not (believe) and submit to God’s righteousness.” The two expressions: “by works” and
“establishing their own” reveals one possible root cause for Israel’s failure to see and obtain
God’s gift of righteousness. The Jews of Paul’s day thought that they could achieve their own
righteousness. They themselves without help from God could be righteous. They could live up to
God’s righteous standards. This is the main reason why they did not succeed in obtaining the prize
of life.
C. A second reason behind Israel’s failure to obtain God’s prize of life. Israel did not know
God. (Rm. 10: 3-4) A second reason explaining Israel’s failure to obtain God’ salvation is not so
obvious and easy to overlook. In the beginning of chapter 10, Paul after testifying once again
concerning his strong desire that his fellow brethren –aka- the people of Israel be saved, Paul
concedes more or less that his people are ignorant of God- or that they do not know God and
His ways. This is Paul’s point in verse two. “For I bear witness that they have zeal for God, but not
according to knowledge.” Paul concedes that Israel does have real commitment, real loyalty for
God, yet not according to real knowledge about him. What knowledge is Paul referring to? The
next verse clarifies what Paul was referring to for Paul immediately clarifies what he is referring
to. “For being ignorant of the knowledge of his righteousness.” What does Paul specifically have in
mind here? The context seems to suggest that the knowledge of righteousness concerns what Paul
himself has been addressing since 9:30. What might that be? I suggest the following three ideas: 1)
God demanded righteousness from his people. 2) He made it clearly known to them through the
Law what he demanded. 3) They failed to see that they could not achieve–righteousness-what
God demanded from them, but not obtainable by their own efforts.
II. A superficial and shallow understanding of their own sin. (v. 5-13)
This is the second section of the chapter. It is both confusing and is seemingly unfocused. Yet, this second
section of nine verses both clarifies and develops Paul’s main proposition that he previously has made in
verse 3. The Jewish people of Paul’s day rejected the good news of the gospel which promised “a
righteousness to everyone who believed” because they possessed a false confidence of their own
righteousness. They thought they could! They thought that they could achieve the status of being
declared righteous by God. Paul himself did. A healthy person does not need to go the hospital. They were
healthy –they did not need God’s righteousness.
In this second section, Paul’s once again is focused upon the idea of the righteousness of God. Overall,
Paul contrasts the righteousness based upon the law with that of the righteousness being made available
and attainable through Christ. Even though only one verse-the first verse- explicitly is focused upon the
righteousness that is “based on the law” while the following eight verses are focused for the most part on
the righteousness based on Christ, the initial contrast between the two contrasting means of
procuring “God’s righteousness” must be kept aware of throughout all nine verses.
The overall proposition that Paul wants us to see is: The Jewish people possessed God’s teaching of
attaining righteousness through the Law. They thought that the righteousness was near to them and this
righteousness could be obtained by their own efforts. Paul’s implied point: Not so! God’s righteousness
was available, but not obtainable. God’s righteous ways were reasonable. God’s revealed ways of living
rightly were achievable. But Israel failed to comply with God’s demands given to them because of their
own sinful natures. Second implied point: Israel should have realized from their history and their own
lives that their sinful natures prevented them from obtaining what they were pursuing: righteousness
with God.
Therefore, what they thought was near to them (obtaining God’s righteousness) was indeed very
distant from them. They could never ever live up to God’s demands .Thus, what they themselves could
not do-Christ by his own death achieved righteousness for them. So, as we look closely at this second
section, let us keep these two key points in our minds. Let us verify for ourselves that this main theme:
that righteousness according to Moses that Moses wrote about was attainable; but not obtainable. How
is this possible? It was not obtainable by their works or their own efforts. They should have seen that
their failure to keep the Law pointed to their need for a Savior. This is the point of verse 4: “For Christ is
the end or culmination of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” This seeming contradiction
lies at the heart of what Paul wants us to grasp from his transmission of Moses teaching and from what
Paul testifies to concerning the gospel of Christ in this second section.
A. Moses taught the people of Israel about God’s righteousness. This is the first and basic point
of verses 5 through 8 of chapter 10. Three times in these first four verses Paul testifies that
“Moses writes or Moses says. Where? In Scripture! Paul quotes from the Law as found in Lev. 18:5
“You shall therefore keep my statutes and rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them.” Point:
Paul is contending that God through Moses expected his people to know and do his commands.
Attached to the demand is the promise that they would live or have life if they followed his
commands.
B. Moses taught God’s people in Deuteronomy that his commands for righteousness were
both knowable and attainable. In a key passage of a key passage marking the conclusion of
Moses giving the Law to his people at Sinai, Moses insisted that God’s commands were knowableaccessible- do able- not hard. Schreiner comments that doing the Law did not require super
human effort. They should have been able to know and live out his commands. But the history of
Israel shows that again and again they failed to keep his commands. They should have realized
that they had a major problem. Isaiah did. He saw how sinful he was before God who is absolutely
righteous. A corresponding recognition by the people of Israel of their failure to attain to God’s
righteous demands should have brought about a realization that they merited condemnation
by God. But it did not. This in turn would have may have caused the people of Israel to see their
need of a savior and the salvation offered through him.
C. The righteousness that could not be obtained through the Law is now available through
Christ. This is Paul’s reinterpretation of Moses words from Deuteronomy. The righteousness that
God called for through the Law that Moses declared was attainable was now truly obtainable
through Christ. How? By Faith! Israel should have seen this throughout her history. Now, after
Christ’s coming, this righteousness is available to everyone. How by faith? Paul reapplies the
Deuteronomy passage specifically to say that this righteousness based on faith (v.6) is now
knowable-accessible- obtainable. Christ accomplished what no one could accomplish on their
own efforts: righteousness. Moses said that knowing righteousness demanded by the Law was
accessible and attainable. In so many words, Paul is saying taking Moses own words and
reapplying them to say that the righteousness based on faith is even more available and more
readily attainable than Moses himself imagined. Paul quoting Moses states concerning this
righteousness: that it is near them, on their own lips, already on their hearts. Paul even is so
bold to identify this righteousness as being “the word of faith- the gospel of Christ- that Paul
proclaims.”(v.8)
D. This righteousness of God can be obtained by simply calling on God and accepting his offer
of righteousness. (v. 9-13) So what the people of Israel or anyone for that matter cannot achieve
by their own works by following the Law, Christ has achieved by his death and being raised
from the dead. 2 While we cannot earn God’s salvation-his righteousness- God does require
something from us! We must accept the gift of what Christ has done. How? Paul testifies that we
must do the following: believe, call, and confess. Let us look quickly at these three actions and
what they mean.
1. Believe. In response to the word of faith that Paul proclaims, Paul first requirement that he calls
to the message of Christ is faith or belief. Paul himself states that it is from the act of believing in
Christ that one is justified. (vs.10) “If you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved.” It seems clear that an essential element of becoming righteousness with God is
in believing the basic facts concerning Christ’s life. His death had a purpose. God supernaturally
brought him back to life. Here, Paul only mentions Christ’s resurrection. Certainly in any
presentation of the gospel message an understanding of Christ’s death is essential.
2. Call: In response to the word proclaimed (the word of faith), Paul testifies that not only that God
will save or justify a person, but bestow his riches upon that person. ( vs.12) What are those
riches? From my standpoint these riches certainly include enjoying God’s presence and favor and
knowing that the God of the Universe loves us as a son or daughter. What can top that? But what
does it mean to call on him? At the very least it means to call on him as a personal being and to
accept the forgiveness offered through Christ.
3. Confession: In addition to believing and calling upon God as something for us to do in order for
us to be saved, Paul calls on us to make a confession concerning Christ. This could be debated as
whether or not this is essential for a person to be saved. But, Paul makes it a point to include
confessing Christ as something that happens in response to hearing the message concerning
Christ. “For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart…. “ This is
very interesting for note Paul is not saying that it is right and proper along with believing Jesus is
our savior to confess him as Savior, but to confess him as Lord. Why might this be the case?
III. Concluding Reflections upon Israel’s failure to obtain God’s righteousness. (14-21)
In these final eight verses, Paul concludes his explanation regarding Israel’s failure to believe in the
message of Christ stressing two key points. First Israel- not God- is to blame for her own failure to call
upon the LORD and graciously accept the salvation being offered to her. Secondly, the truth of the gospelconcerning what Christ accomplished by his death must be proclaimed, understood, and believed
before anyone can be saved.
A. Israel understood the gospel. (v.14-19) The people of Israel had ample opportunity to hear,
know, and understand the gospel message. In this third section of chapter 10,Paul concludes his
two chapters 9 & 10 dealing with the troubling issue concerning the people of Israel’s failure to
believe the message concerning the salvation. Paul stresses in the first six verses of this final
section, that the people of Israel-the Jews of Paul’s day-cannot claim that they had not heard the
2
It is very interesting that Paul does not even spell out explicitly that Christ achieved our righteousness. Why? Paul assumes that we
have understood this key element of his gospel that he has strongly asserted before.
gospel. Nor can they claim that they did not clearly understand the significance of the gospel. Not
knowing and not understanding the gospel is the main issue that Paul is addressing here in this
section. This is the issue that Paul himself raised at the beginning of this chapter by his remark
“For I bear them witness that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.” (vs.2).
So, could it be that the people of Israel- Paul’s own people-did not have an opportunity to hear and
understand the good news concerning Jesus? Paul’s main point of the first four verses of this last
section is simply: the Jewish people had the opportunity to hear the good news. For Paul quotes
Isaiah: “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news” (Is. 52:7). The
rest of this verse from Isaiah makes specific mention of proclaiming good tidings and salvation to
Zion. Paul implied point: Isaiah’s promise of salvation being proclaimed and offered to Zion had
been fulfilled. Paul explicit point declaring that Isaiah’s promise has been fulfilled is stated in
verse 19 “But I ask; have they not heard? Indeed they have, for their voice has gone out to all the
earth….” Paul is asserting that not only has Zion and all of Israel heard, but the good news has gone
out to all the earth. Furthermore, Paul declares in the next verse that the people of Israel have not
only heard, but they have understood the message. “But I ask; did not Israel understand?” Indeed
they have, for ….I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation…” Paul’s grounding for why
Israel not only heard, but understood the message is not immediately understood by me, except
how can anyone be jealous of someone without first knowing something that triggers jealousy.
Paul’s overall point: Israel cannot claim that she did not hear and understand the gospel message
concerning Christ and his salvation. So why did she fail to believe?
B. Israel failed to believe and call on Him because she was stubborn & disobedient! (v.20-21)
In the final two verses of this chapter, Paul forcefully discloses the main reason for Israel’s failure
to obtain the long awaited promised salvation. It was not due to not hearing the message. It was
not due to not understanding what Christ had achieved for them by his death. Paul lays the blame
on the people of Israel whom he claims are guilty of being stubborn and obstinate. “But of Israel he
says “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary (obstinate people).” How
sad! May it not be so!