Read the passage: Romans 9:30-10:21 (ESV, Bible Gateway)
Verses 30-33
- What problem is Paul addressing?
- Why might secular unbelievers be more open to the gospel than moral, religiously minded people?
- Looking again at v32-33: What has ‘Israel’ done wrong?
- Why is Christ a stumbling stone to some people?
- In chapter 9 Paul showed us how God is sovereign over salvation. Here he shows us how people are morally responsible for their response to Christ. Is he contradicting himself?
10 verse 1
- What is Paul’s heart’s desire for his own people and what does he do about it?
- How does what we pray about reveal what we really think about things?
- Is there anyone you particularly want to see saved and are praying for?
Verse 2
- Why is religious zeal or commitment not enough for salvation?
- How does what Paul says here compare with the well-known saying, ‘It doesn’t matter what you believe, provided you are sincere’?
Verses 3-4
- How does Christ end the search for righteousness?
Verse 5
- Paul quotes Moses in Leviticus 18.5. What does he mean that the person who does the commandments ‘shall live by them’?
- But that is not all he says. In v6-8 he quotes from Deut 30.11-14. Read Deut 30.1-14 (to put the key passage in context)
- How would you summarise what Deut 30.1-14 is saying?
- How does this help us understand what point Paul is making in v6-7?
- But that is not all he says. In v6-8 he quotes from Deut 30.11-14. Read Deut 30.1-14 (to put the key passage in context)
Verses 8-9
- What are the key components of ‘the word of faith’ shown in these verses?
Verse 10
- Why is confessing with our mouths important? What’s wrong with a ‘private’ faith?
Verse 11
- Why is shame a powerful emotion? How does faith in Christ rid us of shame?
Verses 12-13
- Why is the gospel inherently equalising?
- How does Paul describe the grace of God? Is this the way you see the gospel?
- Look at v13: What is the only thing people need to do to be saved and why is this the case?
Verses 14-15
- In v14 Paul talks of people needing to hear ‘someone preaching’. The word for preaching is the word for a public declaration – like a herald in the street announcing good news. So this is much wider than ‘hearing a sermon’. What are the implications of this for ourselves?
- In what ways can you be a herald for the gospel?
Verse 16
- What is the problem? And why, in the case of Israel specifically, and religious people in general, is this ironic?
Verse 18
In this verse, Paul is quoting from Psalm 19. Look at Ps 19.1-4a. What point is Paul making? (Remember he is specifically addressing the issue of the Jewish people in his day).
Verses 19-20
- In v19 Paul tackles the question, ‘well, ok, the Jewish people may have heard the gospel, but maybe they didn’t understand it?’ How does he respond to this?
Verse 21
- What is the condition of the Jewish people and what is God’s heart towards them?
- How should God’s heart for His stubborn people influence us in our interactions with those we share the gospel with?
Leader’s notes
Verses 30-33
- What problem is Paul addressing?
Why – overall – Gentiles have responded to the gospel and Jews have not.- Why is Christ a stumbling stone to some people?
To come to Christ, we must first humble ourselves and admit our righteousness is never enough. We must admit we need grace and forgiveness and His righteousness. This is contrary to everything moral/religious people tend to think: that God approves of us based on our conduct, and their significance and self-worth is often tied up with being better than others. - In chapter 9 Paul showed us how God is sovereign over salvation. Here he shows us how people are morally responsible for their response to Christ. Is he contradicting himself?
No. The Bible teaches both human responsibility – that we are totally responsible for our moral decisions, and that God is totally sovereign over all things. Those who are saved are saved because they are chosen/ elected by God. Those who are lost are lost because they do not believe the gospel. We may not understand how both these can be true, but that does not mean that they are not true. One day we will understand.
- Why is Christ a stumbling stone to some people?
10 verse 1
- What is Paul’s heart’s desire for his own people and what does he do about it?
Paul wants his own people to be saved so he prays for that. What we pray for often reveals what we most value.
Verse 2
- Why is religious zeal or commitment not enough for salvation?
You can be thoroughly zealous about something and it still be totally wrong. Zealousness (whether political, national, or religious, often does not lead us to reflect on whether or not something is true. We are so committed to it, we don’t examine it. It is not based on knowledge.
Verses 3-4
- How does Christ end the search for righteousness?
He is the end of the law – the end of seeking to make yourself righteous by law-keeping. We don’t have to try and keep the law to win God’s favour. However, that does not mean that having received God’s favour because of Christ we now dispense with the law! The law still tells us about God and the conduct He requires of His people.
Verse 5
- Paul quotes Moses in Leviticus 18.5. What does he mean that the person who does the commandments ‘shall live by them’?
He means that if someone could perfectly obey the law they would live i.e they would receive eternal life.- But that is not all he says. In v6-8 he quotes from Deut 30.11-14. Read Deut 30.1-14 (to put the key passage in context)
- How would you summarise what Deut 30.1-14 is saying?
Israel will turn away from God and receive the curses of the covenant upon themselves. However, God will intervene, rescue them, bring them back, and circumcise their hearts so they will love and obey Him; and this – turning to the Lord with their whole heart – is not impossible to do – they don’t have to go to heaven or across the sea to do it. - How does this help us understand what point Paul is making in v6-7?
Faith understands that we don’t need to go to all these great lengths of law keeping to become righteous. We don’t need to try and climb the ladder to heaven to try and bring Christ down to us – Christ has already come down and lived the perfect life for us. We don’t need to descend into the place of death to try and pay for our sins – Christ has already done that and been raised from the dead. No – faith knows it is much simpler than that. It knows what Moses knew – we don’t need to go to great efforts of law-keeping, instead we need a heart that’s been changed, a heart in which God’s word lives.
- How would you summarise what Deut 30.1-14 is saying?
- But that is not all he says. In v6-8 he quotes from Deut 30.11-14. Read Deut 30.1-14 (to put the key passage in context)
Verses 8-9
- What are the key components of ‘the word of faith’ shown in these verses?
1. Faith knows who Jesus is: He is Lord – He is the divine sovereign over all things; 2. Faith knows that God raised Him from the dead – He died and rose from the dead for our sins. 3. These truths are to be believed. Faith is faith in something. It is not ‘faith in faith’. 4. We believe in our hearts – that is, in the depth of our inner being. We trust in Christ as our Lord, and in His life, death and resurrection with our whole life. We trust Him for our righteousness, not ourselves. 5. Faith expresses with our mouths what is in our hearts – we don’t earn our salvation by saying ‘Jesus is Lord’ like it’s a magic spell. It’s that the heart that believes will also ‘say it’.
Verse 10
- Why is confessing with our mouths important? What’s wrong with a ‘private’ faith?
Paul’s point is that the believing heart overflows in confession of faith – in who Jesus is and what He has done. The problem of a ‘private’ faith, that we never talk about is that it may be a sign that we don’t truly believe it. The truths of the gospel have not so lit up our hearts that we can’t help but talk about it. It might suggest what we have is more head knowledge than a heart that’s been transformed by Christ’s love.
Verses 12-13
- Why is the gospel inherently equalising?
It doesn’t matter what our racial/ethnic background is – the gospel is freely offered to all. All can be saved.- How does Paul describe the grace of God? Is this the way you see the gospel?
It is a bestowal of His riches upon those who call upon Him. The degree to which we realise our poverty and the riches given to us in Christ is the degree to which our hearts will be on fire with love, gratitude and worship towards God, and grace towards others. - Look at v13: What is the only thing people need to do to be saved and why is this the case?
Call out to God to be saved. Jesus has done everything else. But to be able to call out to God to be saved they need to hear the gospel – to really understand its implications.
- How does Paul describe the grace of God? Is this the way you see the gospel?
Verses 14-15
- In v14 Paul talks of people needing to hear ‘someone preaching’. The word for preaching is the word for a public declaration – like a herald in the street announcing good news. So this is much wider than ‘hearing a sermon’. What are the implications of this for ourselves?
We can all be ‘heralds’, ‘preachers’ of the gospel – in our daily lives. This is not just being sent as a missionary to a far off country – but as missionaries in our friendship circle, on campus, in our workplaces, etc. We are those with the beautiful feet bringing the gospel!
Verse 16
- What is the problem? And why, in the case of Israel specifically, and religious people in general, is this ironic?
We can proclaim the message, but people may not believe it and obey it. For the Jewish people/religious people this is ironic: they think they are made righteous by obeying God, and yet they refuse to obey Him by refusing to obey/believe the gospel.
Verse 18
In this verse, Paul is quoting from Psalm 19. Look at Ps 19.1-4a. What point is Paul making? (Remember he is specifically addressing the issue of the Jewish people in his day).
Paul is addressing the issue of ‘well, maybe the Jewish people have not believed because they haven’t heard the gospel. Paul’s response is – yes they have! The gospel had spread so widely in the Jewish communities of Paul’s day that they had heard it. He is not saying that everyone, everywhere in the whole world up to today has heard the gospel, though Ps 19.1-4 does say Creation gives us enough information to make us morally accountable, though not enough to save us.
Verses 19-20
- In v19 Paul tackles the question, ‘well, ok, the Jewish people may have heard the gospel, but maybe they didn’t understand it?’ How does he respond to this?
He quotes from Deuteronomy 32.21 – it is not the Jewish people who were foolish or ignorant of God’s ways – it was the Gentiles. The Jewish people had every reason to understand the nature of God, sin, sacrifice and redemption. And the fact that Gentiles who really were ignorant of these things have believed the gospel shows up the fact that the Jewish people haven’t.
Verse 21
- What is the condition of the Jewish people and what is God’s heart towards them?
God held out His hands to the Jewish people in ways He didn’t with the Gentiles, yet they disobeyed Him.
Download the complete study: Bible study on Romans (PDF) and leader’s guide (PDF)