Rejecting Christ’s Righteousness the Jews Sought to Establish their Own
Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes Romans 10:1-4
Romans 9 to 11 addresses the problem of Jewish unbelief. In chapter 9 the emphasis was on God’s purpose according to election. The emphasis in chapter 10 is on human factors, on the need to understand the gospel (10:5-13), the need to proclaim it (10:14,15) and the need for a response of faith (10:16-21). But with chapter 10 Paul turns from the past to the present, from his explanation of the Israelites’ unbelief to his hope that they will hear and respond.
Romans 10:1-4 unfolds in a staircase sequence, with each verse justifying the assertions made in the verse immediately before. Though not obvious in the NIV, each verse begins with the Greek word normally translated ‘for.’ This is how Paul’s thinking runs:
· I long for Israel’s salvation (v.1)
· They have a zeal for God but lack knowledge (v.2)
· as seen in:
· how they seek their own righteousness while ignoring God’s (v.3)
· and seeking their own righteousness, through the law, is wrong because Christ is the culmination of the law (v.4)
‘Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved’ (10:1). At the beginning of chapter 9 Paul expressed the hypothetical wish that he might himself be cursed if that meant Israel might be saved (9:3). Here he is expressing his ardent, prayerful desire for their salvation. As his pain is increased by their privilege and prejudice (9:4f), so his longing is increased by their zeal and ignorance (10:2).
The issue is not one of sincerity. ‘I can testify about them that they are zealous for God’ (10:2). Paul in his pre-conversion days was equally zealous, ‘but their zeal is not based on knowledge’ (10:2). Zeal without knowledge, like commitment and enthusiasm without reflection and understanding, means we can be sincere but wrong.
‘Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness’ (10:3). To say the Jews ‘did not know the righteousness that comes from God’ means they had not learnt the way of salvation, how the righteous God puts the unrighteous right with Himself by bestowing on them a righteous status. This is the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel, and received by faith completely separately from the law (1:17; 3:21,22). Recognising their need of righteousness if they were ever to stand in God’s presence, they ‘sought to establish their own’ and ‘did not submit to God’s righteousness’ (10:3).
This ignorance of the right way and tragic adoption of the wrong way are not limited to the Jews. Religious people of all backgrounds, including professing Christians, have suffered with this. Believing that God is righteous and they are not, they look for a cloak of righteousness that makes them feel able to stand in His presence. There are only two options. One is to establish their own righteousness by religion and good works. The other is to submit to God’s righteousness by receiving it from Him as a gift through faith in Christ. In 10:5 and 6, Paul will call the first ‘the righteousness that is by the law’ and the second ‘the righteousness that is by faith.’