week 15 day 1

Read Romans 10
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+10;&version=NIV
10:1–15 In Romans 10 Paul develops the concept of righteousness that comes by faith, not by works, and shows Israel’s failure in that area. Jewish unbelief is not due to God withholding his grace, but to Israel’s own failure to appropriate God’s provision of righteousness by faith. Romans 10:3 is the key verse (cf. with 1:17). This elaborates 9:31–33. For “law” (10:4), see 9:31.
The law points to Christ (Luke 24:44; Gal. 3:24) and is fulfilled in Christ (Matt. 5:17–18). The new covenant in Christ has ended the law as a contractual obligation. Yet the law as a reflection of God’s values and standard has abiding significance for the new covenant believer. Note the bracket of Isaiah 28:16 in Romans 9:33 and 10:11. This section emphasizes the importance of faith over law keeping.

In Romans 10:6–8 Paul quoted from Deuteronomy 30:12–14 to reflect his own thoughts concerning the fact that faith-righteousness simply accepts what God has provided. In Romans 10:11 Paul quoted from Isaiah 28:16 as further proof that salvation is by faith. The ideas tied to “confess,” “heart,” and “mouth” (10:7–8) are drawn from the quotation of Deuteronomy 30:14. This continues the concept of Romans 9 regarding personal unbelief as the cause for condemnation. In 10:11–12 Paul linked “believes” to “calls on,” which leads into the Joel 2:32 quotation of 10:13 (cf. Acts 2:21, 39). Paul quoted from Joel 2:32 to emphasize the universal application of salvation by faith. The text quoted in Romans 10:15 (Isa. 52:7) refers to those messengers announcing deliverance from Babylonian captivity. The idea is that the swiftness of the messenger’s pace revealed the character of the message being delivered.

10:16–21 Quoted in Romans 10:16, Isaiah 53:1 anticipated Israel’s rejection of the Good News of salvation. In Romans 10:18 Paul applied Psalm 19:4 to the proclamation of the gospel, which was just as effective and far reaching as the proclamation of nature. In Romans 10:19–20 Paul quoted Deuteronomy 23:21 and Isaiah 65:1, which predicted Gentile acceptance of the provision of faith-righteousness. In Romans 10:21 Paul quoted Isaiah 65:2 to show that God never ceases to plead with his people to repent and believe. But his immediate concern is to reinforce that the Gentiles have God’s blessing because of Israel’s unfaithfulness.

Discussion and reflection question
Verse 9 is a key verse for all of us to know and spread. But look at the words “Jesus is Lord.” The meaning of this statement is often understated when given. What is the meaning of “Jesus is Lord?”