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10 Dear friends, my greatest wish and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. I know they love God, but they don't understand what makes people acceptable to him. So they refuse to trust God, and they try to be acceptable by obeying the Law. But Christ makes the Law no longer necessary[a] for those who become acceptable to God by faith.

Anyone Can Be Saved

(A) Moses said a person could become acceptable to God by obeying the Law. He did this when he wrote, “If you want to live, you must do all the Law commands.”

(B) But people whose faith makes them acceptable to God will never ask, “Who will go up to heaven to bring Christ down?” Neither will they ask, “Who will go down into the world of the dead to raise him to life?”

All who are acceptable because of their faith simply say, “The message is as near as your mouth or your heart.” And this is the same message we preach about faith. So you will be saved, if you honestly say, “Jesus is Lord,” and if you believe with all your heart that God raised him from death. 10 God will accept you and save you, if you truly believe this and tell it to others.

11 (C) The Scriptures say no one who has faith will be disappointed, 12 no matter if that person is a Jew or a Gentile. There is only one Lord, and he is generous to everyone who asks for his help. 13 (D) All who call out to the Lord will be saved.

14 How can people have faith in the Lord and ask him to save them, if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear, unless someone tells them? 15 (E) And how can anyone tell them without being sent by the Lord? The Scriptures say it is a beautiful sight to see even the feet of someone coming to preach the good news. 16 (F) Yet not everyone has believed the message. For example, the prophet Isaiah asked, “Lord, has anyone believed what we said?”

17 No one can have faith without hearing the message about Christ. 18 (G) But am I saying that the people of Israel did not hear? No, I am not! The Scriptures say,

“The message was told
    everywhere on earth.
It was announced
    all over the world.”

19 (H) Did the people of Israel understand or not? Moses answered this question when he told that the Lord had said,

“I will make Israel jealous
    of people
who are a nation
    of nobodies.
I will make them angry
    with people
who don't understand
    a thing.”

20 (I) Isaiah was fearless enough to tell that the Lord had said,

“I was found by people
who were not looking
    for me.
I appeared to the ones
who were not asking
    about me.”

21 (J) And Isaiah said about the people of Israel,

“All day long the Lord
    has reached out
to people who are stubborn
    and refuse to obey.”

Footnotes

  1. 10.4 But Christ makes the Law no longer necessary: Or “But Christ gives the full meaning to the Law.”

10 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire(A) and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous(B) for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.(C) Christ is the culmination of the law(D) so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.(E)

Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.”[a](F) But the righteousness that is by faith(G) says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’”[b](H) (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’”[c](I) (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).(J) But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”[d](K) that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare(L) with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,”(M) and believe(N) in your heart that God raised him from the dead,(O) you will be saved.(P) 10 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. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”[e](Q) 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile(R)—the same Lord is Lord of all(S) and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord(T) will be saved.”[f](U)

14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”[g](V)

16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news.(W) For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?”[h](X) 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message,(Y) and the message is heard through the word about Christ.(Z) 18 But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did:

“Their voice has gone out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.”[i](AA)

19 Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says,

“I will make you envious(AB) by those who are not a nation;
    I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.”[j](AC)

20 And Isaiah boldly says,

“I was found by those who did not seek me;
    I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.”[k](AD)

21 But concerning Israel he says,

“All day long I have held out my hands
    to a disobedient and obstinate people.”[l](AE)

Footnotes

  1. Romans 10:5 Lev. 18:5
  2. Romans 10:6 Deut. 30:12
  3. Romans 10:7 Deut. 30:13
  4. Romans 10:8 Deut. 30:14
  5. Romans 10:11 Isaiah 28:16 (see Septuagint)
  6. Romans 10:13 Joel 2:32
  7. Romans 10:15 Isaiah 52:7
  8. Romans 10:16 Isaiah 53:1
  9. Romans 10:18 Psalm 19:4
  10. Romans 10:19 Deut. 32:21
  11. Romans 10:20 Isaiah 65:1
  12. Romans 10:21 Isaiah 65:2