Paul’s concern.
Paul was concerned about the salvation of the Jews. Romans 10:1. Salvation is not possible without acceptance of the righteousness from God, Jesus Christ. Pursuing righteousness through performance in the flesh is evil in God’s eyes. There is one God, one Savior, Jesus Christ, one righteousness, and one salvation. The Jews were zealous for God, Paul attests. “For I can testify that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not in line with the truth. Romans 10:2, NET. The law that God gave the Jews was to lead them to the Savior, Jesus Christ. Therefore, the law is not a means for righteousness because even the efforts to obey the law in the flesh violate the law. The spirit of the law was fulfilled through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, not through our believing and working obediently.
“For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes.” Romans 10:3 – 4, NET. Jesus suffered temptation. Therefore, his life was made perfect. Hebrews 2:10. The law cannot find a fault in Jesus. Therefore, those who have died to themselves and accepted the perfect life of Jesus Christ are not under the law’s dominion. They are under dominion by the law of selfless love. “Thus the law became our guardian until Christ so that we could be declared righteous by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.” Galatians 3:24 – 25, NET.
The promise given to Abraham could not make Jews righteous. The promise God gave Abraham was Jesus Christ, in whom all nations would be blessed. The Jews refused to accept that all nations of humankind are included in the promised Son, Jesus Christ. Here is a lesson for the Christians also. Being born of Christian parents does not qualify one to be the child of God. There is no advantage to being a life-long Christian. There is no advantage to belonging to a specific Church or denomination. Devoting oneself to service in a Church for life does not qualify one to be the child of God. The only thing that qualifies us to be God’s children is to be born from above, the Holy Spirit. Human birth is of no value.
Who will be saved? Read the next blog.
