Romans 10:1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. 2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Again in this chapter God directed the apostle Paul to write about his heart’s desire, but more importantly, God’s desire that Israel be saved. God did not choose Abraham to have his descendants go to hell. God promised to bless Israel. He made it possible for Israel to see the greatness and goodness of God. They were a fledgling nation and God miraculously brought them along and multiplied them. He blessed them with a land. In proportion to the rest of the world, the land of Israel is a small land. However, that land was a very productive land as long as Israel honoured God. Israel was a booming and bustling place for a number of years. Other nations envied the blessings they saw in Israel. Due to many of the Jews’ failure to acknowledge God’s hand in their lives, the nations around Israel did not see the hand of God at work in Israel. They kept trying to take away what Israel had. They assumed they could go and conquer that land and it would remain productive for them as well. Those who drove Israel out, under God’s direction, discovered that the land of Israel was nothing special without God’s hand of blessing upon it. They could not make that land produce like it did when Israel was living there under God’s blessing. God blessed Israel so that through Israel He could bless the other nations. The greatest blessing was the spiritual blessing that God offered Israel. Some of the nations had come past their opportunity of blessing. God’s cup of wrath was full toward the inhabitants of Canaan, when He brought Israel into that land. They were to destroy the people and their houses, etc. God would guide them in building that land up with houses and other buildings that would honour Him. He would place His house, the temple in Jerusalem so that the entire nation of Israel could come there to worship Him. Israel had failed to follow God’s lead. He judged them severely. Israel is still being judged by God today. Mr. Netanyahu was speaking yesterday of how Israel is operating in their attacks against Gaza. Israel is being careful to protect innocent civilians. There are not very many innocent civilians in Gaza. Most of that population supports Hamas. However, Israel is trying to keep the civilian casualty numbers down. However, what Israel is not acknowledging is that God is giving them the success they are having in this entire operation. God is not going to allow Israel to be destroyed. As we watch what is happening there, God wants us to see His faithfulness to Himself. He wants Israel to be saved. He wants Gentiles to be saved. He wants all people to put their trust in Him. He is the Faithful God. In verse 2, Paul pointed out that Israel has a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. Their god is not the God of the Bible. They refuse to acknowledge the true God. They rejected Him in Paul’s day and they still do today. There are individual Jews that are being saved. However, there are many that refuse to see their need to be saved. They still have the same attitude they had when Jesus addressed them in John 8:
John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 33 They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
Jesus wanted the Jews to be free. Not primarily free from Roman rule, but free from their bondage to sin. That was the primary need of the Jews. As we read in those verses and further, the Jews rejected Jesus’ assessment of their situation. They did not believe they were in bondage. They just wanted to be released from Roman rule. They did not realize the root of the problem. They had a zeal of God but not according to knowledge. That is still their problem today. In verse 3 we are told that Israel, in their ignorance of God’s righteousness, were going about to establish their own righteousness. Their ignorance was a wilful ignorance. They had the law. They could study the law. However, they were more willing to subject themselves to false teachers who tickled their ears, than to Godly men like the apostle Paul. They refused to submit themselves to the righteousness of God. That was a serious problem. That is still a serious problem for Jews and Gentiles today. It is sickening to see how “religious” Gentiles are mocking God with their wickedness which they claim is the worship of God. They do not know what they are doing because they choose not to know. The same was true for the Jews of Paul’s day. It is still true of them today. In verse 4 we are reminded that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. Striving for righteousness will not work. Setting up our own standard of righteousness will not do. Jesus Christ is righteous. Those who are saved, both Jew and Gentile, need to submit to His righteousness. That is not an impossibility. That is a necessity and it is something that we can know if we humble ourselves according to God’s Word. God is the Author of salvation and Jesus Christ is the Saviour. We can readily see the holiness of God in the Bible. We can know that what the Jews were doing on Oct.7, 2023 was not in accordance with the holiness of God. We can also know that what is passed off as the worship of God in the majority of churches today is not in accordance with the holiness of God. There are some churches that hold a “traditional service” to cater to the older people. They have a more contemporary service to cater to the younger generation. Neither of those services honours God. No God-fearing pastor would participate in that evil. No God-fearing saint would remain in that environment. The indwelling Holy Spirit would not allow them to be content there. We, those who are saved, must submit to the righteousness of Christ. We can know 100% that Jesus Christ is not the author of the wickedness that is endorsed in most churches today. Even those of us who claim to hold to the Word of God, need to be careful that we do not have any of the root of that wickedness creeping into our worship of God. We need to be content to stick to the Word of God, even if that is classified as “old fashioned”. God’s Word is never out of fashion. God does not change. Rebels have existed since the fall of Adam. God has never catered to them. He has always presented Himself as the holy God that He is. Many have taken offence to His holiness. Many have tried to present a “newer” version of God, but they have all failed. If we want to be saved and see others saved, it will only be according to the righteousness of Christ. Pastor Bartel
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