The longing of my heart and prayer to God. Chapter one. Romans 10:1-13.

Dear brothers and sisters,

The longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved.

I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal.

They don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself.

Refusing to accept God’s way,

they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law;

for Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given.

As a result, all who believe in him (Christ) are made right with God.

(Romans 10:1-4 NLT)

What is the foundation of Paul's statement?

Paul tells us that the law that Moses wrote about (the Torah) and said that whoever can perform the law will live by it. At first glance, that does not seem like such a bad thing, as there were only ten ordinances to follow; and, the law/Torah brings about a momentary righteousness.

(As I try to put flesh and blood on this act of sacrifice that brings righteousness, I picture a man leaving the temple with a satisfied look on his face because he knows that he has just covered his sins for the year. Only moments later, some camel jockey cuts him off on the way home and he retaliates with some curse and a few hand gestures. At that moment, he realizes that he just threw a year's worth of righteousness out the window; and, he must wait until next year. What if something happens and he dies of a heart attack the next day? Can you see the problem in that system? The sacrificial system did not change the person.)

Perhaps, a corresponding verse from Deuteronomy might give us an angle that sheds some light.

And if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness." (Deuteronomy 6:25 TNIV)

So then, the Torah would be their/our righteousness, but what does that do with God, since God, knowing that we cannot maintain a righteous condition, and therefore He has to be our righteousness?

Paul has an answer to that question as well. (You may have noticed that Paul's style of writing is one in which he asks questions. In asking questions, he is trying to get you to think. It does not demand an answer, as Paul does not ask questions for which he does not have an answer.)

But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) "or 'Who will descend into the deep?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, "Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame." (Romans 10:6-11 TNIV)

It isn't about one's ability to follow the rules; it is faith in the fact that God raised Him from the dead so that you too could have life. Did you pay attention to the line that says, for Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given? So Christ, as the final sacrifice, paid the price necessary for our righteousness; all that is left is to accept and believe this is so.

Earlier in Paul's letter to the Romans, he pointed out that God leveled the playing. In other words, NO ONE people group has an advantage merely because they are Jewish.

This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:22-24 TNIV)

(Side note: Romans 3:23, a passage that we religious folk use to point out that everyone is a SINNER isn't trying to make that point at all, it is pointing out that WE ALL have a massive problem and NEED a savior. Since the playing field is leveled, then NO ONE has an advantage, and all must come to Him. God is not withholding His love and grace from anyone.)

Notice how Romans 10:11, in the TNIV, says, “anyone who believes in him.” There are a few translations of this, and this is what they say, Everyone, Whoever, or Whosoever. What does that mean? It means that anyone is welcome into God's family.

Since the concept of belief has multiple possibilities, then perhaps God has the grace to accept faith in a variety of forms. Let me be first to respond negatively to this statement.

There is only one way to the Father, and that is through Jesus Christ.

But what does that look like?

When we look at Matthew 25, the story of the sheep and the goats, and understand that these people being brought before the great white throne (I know it does not specifically say that, but the component pieces are there if you are willing to look,) are those from among the nations that have died. (I can guarantee that at this point you are not comprehending the immensity of this statement.) The nations, to a Jew, has always meant someone outside of God's grace. For the believer, it was us, but now means those whom we perceive as not accepting Christ's love. How would I know any of that? Think in terms of chronology. Since we, the church, are not subject to the wrath that God will bring upon this earth, then we are going to be caught up to meet Him/Jesus, in the air, and forever be with Him. These, from among the nations, did not get caught up. Standard religious thought arbitrarily assigns these to hell. Obviously our thinking is wrong on this, as SOME are given access, And here's why:

I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me.' (Matthew 25:35-36 MSG)

Some might see this as works, and if we have learned anything, it is that works don't cut it, faith does. There is something far deeper about God's love than we could have imagined.

For the thief on the cross, his faith was beyond simplistic.

One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, "Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!" But the other answered, and rebuking him said, "Do you not even fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? "And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." And he was saying, "Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!" And He said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise."

(Luke 23:39-43 NASB)

Allow me to break this passage from Luke's gospel down for you.

1. One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, saying,
   “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!” (Luke 23:39 NLT)
   Well, He is the King of the Jews – both then and now, and Jesus did not defend Himself, He did not need to. Neither of the thieves knew what Jesus was about to do, and the resulting salvation that would come to, NOT only Jesus but billions of followers.
2. The other thief, rebuking the first, answered,
   “Do you not even fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” (Luke 23:40-41 NLT)
   Where and how did this thief come to the understanding that there was a God to fear?  Since I assert that belief is not so tightly defined, then how do we explain what this man has said?
   Despite what he may have heard about Jesus, he believed.
3. What happened next? The thief, having acknowledged that Jesus had done nothing wrong, said to Jesus,
   “Yeshua, remember me when you come as King.” (Luke 23:42 CJB)
   Most of the time, because we Gentile believers struggle with Jewish understanding, and therefore ignore it, read this as, when you come into your kingdom. This concept of a kingdom, for many, throws this scene beyond the thousand-year reign of Christ over the earth. Jesus' response to the thief proves that concept to be wrong. My question to you then is, when will Jesus return to earth as the King? What the Jews longed for then, and expect now, is for Yahshua to come as the warring, conquering Messiah. This triumphant arrival is what we see in Revelation 19:11 when Jesus comes back to earth as the Messiah riding a white horse. (If you hold to the idea that this Bible we read is a Jewish book, then information, such as we see in Revelation 19, will begin to make sense to you.)
   Merely being a Jew does not exclude you from breaking laws, and this man surely broke enough to get himself hung. Although, considering the Roman propensity for hanging people to make a statement, I am not surprised he is there next to Jesus.
4. Jesus response to the man who is demonstrating a form of belief,
   “What I'm about to tell you is true. Today you will be with me in paradise.”
   (Luke 23:43 NIrV)
   There was an emphasis on Jesus' words to the man. Now whether Jesus said, “what I am about to tell you is true,” is debatable, but the effect emerges from the scripture, and virtually every translation proves this out. Jesus was telling the man, beyond all doubt, that TODAY the man would be with Him in paradise.
   “Paradise is a Persian word and was used for an enclosed park or pleasure ground. The word occurs in two other passages in the N.T. (2Co_12:4; Rev_2:7), in both of which the reference is plainly to heaven” (Robertson, Word Pictures, vol. 2, p. 287).

So let's get back to Romans 10:11 for a moment. Look at this verse in the New International Readers Version.

“But I will bless any man who trusts in me. I will show my favor to the one who depends on me.” (Jeremiah 17:7 NirV)

The Word Study Dictionary says this about the Hebrew word for trust.

bāṭaḥ: “A verb indicating to trust, to be confident. It expresses the feeling of safety and security that is felt when one can rely on someone or something else. It is used to show trust in God. …, and people.”

The Strong's concordance tells us this about the word trust.

To hide for refuge (but not so precipitately as H2620); figuratively to trust, be confident or sure. H2620 is the Hebrew word khaw-saw' and means to flee for protection.

Strong's shows us a word I was not familiar with, precipitately. The word means hastily, with rash haste, without due caution.

It seems that the only time we run without due caution is when we are in imminent danger. God, on the other hand, desires that we run to Him regularly, not because we are weak and out of control, but because He is love and longs to show us that love. To prove my point, you will be hard-pressed to find anyone willing to give their life to save you. Oh sure, there is always that one person that makes the news, but they aren't your friend. God, on the other hand, put Himself on that cross, for you, when you hated Him or were so distanced from Him that you did not want Him to see your face.

Answer me this is that something that we do, flee to God for protection? Israel fled to God, but only when things got completely out of control. I have done that myself, and things were indeed out of control. So for us, this concept seems to be a standard, but is it God's?

Did the thief on the cross, that gained acceptance into paradise, put his trust in God?
Obviously, he did, for Jesus himself said, “what I am telling you is true, this day you will be with me in paradise.”

Did the thief who gained the assured acceptance into paradise, go through all the standard religious practices? There is no practical way he could have done that. I believe it is safe to assume that this man was a Jew as well, and would have known what the law required for repentance, and how that blood, spilled in sacrifice was the decreed way to gain righteousness at this time. Sadly, the man was in no position to do any of that.

Another piece of evidence, on behalf of the thief, was that he could recognize that Jesus had done no wrong. How would he have known that and by what standard could he have made that kind of assessment? (We assume that the thief was not a Jew. It would appear that our assumption is wrong, once again.)

In studying the early chapters of Romans, I commented on how Paul spoke of God leveling the playing field. Well, here it is again.

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; for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."

(Romans 10:12-13 NASB)

Can you not see that the thief on the cross, called upon the name of the Lord?

Next time we will pick up at Romans 10:14 and finish this out.