“Those who were not my people,
I will now call my people.
And I will love those
whom I did not love before.”
26 And, “Then, at the place where they were told,
‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called
‘children of the living God.’”
27 And concerning
“Though the people of
only a remnant will be saved.
28 For the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth
quickly and with finality.”
29 And Isaiah said the same thing in another place:
“If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
had not spared a few of our children,
we would have been wiped out like
destroyed like
30 Well then, what shall we say about these things? Just this: The Gentiles have been made right with God by faith, even though they were not seeking Him. 31 But the Jews, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded. 32 Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law and being good instead of by depending on faith. They stumbled over the great rock in their path. 33 God warned them of this in the Scriptures when He said,
“I am placing a stone in
But anyone who believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
10:1 Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is that the Jewish people might be saved. 2 I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. 3 For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with Himself. Instead, they are clinging to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. They won’t go along with God’s way. 4 For Christ has accomplished the whole purpose of the law. All who believe in Him are made right with God.
Paul’s mission was to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ to everyone. He clearly saw Jesus as the fulfillment of all of the Old Testament prophecies, and it broke his heart to see so many of his fellow Jews rejecting Christ as their Messiah.
In a way, the Gentiles had it easy. Faith in Christ made perfect sense to them. The Roman Gentiles that came to faith in Christ were generally educated, free thinkers. And, when presented with the message of faith in Christ as being the answer that they had been looking for, they gladly received it.
But the Jews stumbled over “the great rock” in their path. That rock is Jesus Christ. Jesus was not the Messiah that they had been looking for. They had struggled through their entire lives meticulously keeping the law. Everything that they would do or say was subject to the law. It was the one thing that separated them from all of the other nations. It made them different, and in their eyes, it made them better. In their mind, the Christ would come down from heaven and instantly see how obedient they were to the law, say to them collectively, “Good job”, and conquer their greatest enemy – Rome
They had lost perspective, or maybe they never had it. Their greatest enemy was sin, not Rome
We are no different from the first century Jewish people. We still try to make ourselves right with God by keeping religious laws. We “live by the Ten Commandments”, go to church on Sundays, attend mid-week bible studies, give offerings, help other people, etc. All of these are great things to do, just as the Jewish laws were great rules to live by, but they are nothing without faith.
Is it possible for someone to be raised in a Christian home, be baptized, attend Sunday school, Sunday service or mass, receive the sacraments, and still not be saved? How about being ordained as a priest or minister, lead a congregation and not know salvation? Of course it is.
Paul’s words struck a nerve. This way of making ourselves right with God will never succeed. God’s plan is not for those who try to earn their way by being good. God’s plan is for those who realize that they can never earn their way, are terminally lost, and must depend on Christ to save them. It is only by putting our faith in Christ and what He has done for us that we can be saved. If we do that, we will never be disappointed.
I’m often asked, “What about all of the people who believe in God, but don’t believe in Jesus Christ as their savior? Since they believe in the same God, won’t they be saved?” If there was any other way to be made right with God, then Christ died for no reason.
C.S. Lewis wrote, “…You must either fall to your knees and worship Him as the incarnate Son of the Living God, or dismiss Him as a lunatic or something worse. But, what you cannot do is come to Him with some patronizing nonsense that He is just another way to heaven. He is either the only way, or He is no way at all. He offered no other option. He never intended to.”
If sin is what separates us from God, then Christ’s sacrifice is the only way to overcome the power of sin.
For all have sinned, all have fallen short of God’s glorious standard.” Romans 3:23.
Again, if sin is what separates us from God, then Christ is the only way.
Study Questions
Are you relying on your own level of goodness to get to heaven?
If you were to die today, would you go to heaven? If you are trusting in your good deeds, your religious affiliation, or your sense of spiritual awareness, then you cannot know for sure. It is only through faith in Jesus Christ that you can be certain that you will have everlasting life. Stop trusting in your own abilities, and trust in the God that loves you.
Is Jesus the only way?
This is the question that we all have to ask ourselves. Dig deep down into your heart. Clear away all of the rules and regulations of religion. Clear away all human reasoning and stand in the presence of Jesus Christ, the Son of God Himself. No hoops to jump through, no self-sacrifices to make. Just you and Him – nothing else. Ask yourself the question – “Is it true?” Did God so love the world that He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice for our sins, so that simply by believing in Him, we can be made right with God? There’s nothing more to it than that. Jesus paid the price for our sins because He knew we never could. That is true love. Can you believe that?
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