Despite the fact that Paul saw the Jews of his day rejecting Christ, he wanted so badly for them to change their minds and trust in Christ for salvation.(v.1)
This is a good point to stop and remind ourselves about the words "salvation" and "saved". The Greek words for "salvation" and "saved" are context sensitive. The biblical concept of salvation does not simply mean "avoiding hell and going to heaven instead". Depending on context, salvation can refer to Justification (meeting all of God's moral standards, and thus avoiding punishment), Sanctification (being set apart for the purposes of God), Glorification (perfectly reflecting, in body and spirit, the character of God) or more than one of these.
Paul acknowledges the zeal the Jews had for God in his day. But it was zeal without "knowledge".(v.2) Specifically here, the Greek word used for knowledge means "knowledge that avoids error".
The Jews (as most people do today) remained ignorant (most often by choice) of God's standards of morality as well as his way for people to meet those standards. Instead, they decided on their own what they needed to do to be "good enough" for God, making themselves the ultimate moral authority rather than submitting to God and his standards.(v.3)
The story is the same today. Most people come up with their own ideas of what it means to "live a good life". They are subject to no standard except the one they set for themselves. They may base their moral code on existing ideas that others have adopted, but at the end of the day, the elements they choose to include in their moral standards are up to them and them alone, submitting to no one and nothing else. When we do this, we take the place of God, rebelling against his authority and choosing to try and assert our own instead.
God has established the single way we can meet his standards. Specifically, Christ is the "end" (or we might say the culmination) of all of God's laws for righteousness. For everyone who trusts in him, Christ fulfills all of God's standards of perfection on their behalf.(v.4) His life was lived in perfect accordance with God's will. But rather than accept the reward he was due, he passed it on to us, instead taking the punishment we earn for ourselves. This is what the earthly life and death of Jesus were all about.
Paul quotes a repeated principle taught by Moses. (Leviticus 18:5 is one example) Moses rightly taught that whoever obeys the laws of God will "live" by them.(v.5) The Hebrew and Greek words quoted and used here for "live" refer to living in the broad sense. Not just having a pulse, but prospering and living to the fullest extent, even living forever! Some types of life could be experienced by obeying God's laws, but the full extent of life that lasts forever can't be achieved through the law except hypothetically. (Romans 2:13) Only Jesus was able to obey the law perfectly and earn eternal life.
By contrast, the view of righteousness(meeting God's standards) that is attainable through faith is an entirely different perspective. Paul continues to quote Moses, who said in Deuteronomy 30:12-13 that the words of God are not high up in the sky, needing to be brought down to us, or deep in the ocean, needing to be pulled out from the depths for us to have access to them. Paul adapts Moses' words and inserts Christ in place of God's word. (An appropriate fit, based on John Chapter 1) The Gospel (meaning the "good news" about who Christ is and what he has done for us) is not some complex idea or hidden mystery. No one needs to "summon Jesus" in order for him to save us. (v.6-7)
As it was for the ancient Israelites under Moses(Deut. 30:14), God's words are right here, available to us at a moment's notice. (v.8) The offer of rescue from eternal self-destruction doesn't entail a series of mantras or rituals. If we verbally acknowledge that Jesus is God (as the Greek word for "Lord" here was used in Greek translations of the Old Testament) and truly believe that God raised him from death, we will be rescued by God from both a meaningless existence in this life and eternal misery and regret in the next. (v.9)
Paul breaks this truth down further. When someone chooses to believe in their heart (which here in the Greek refers to the mind and entire inner being, not just the emotions) that Jesus really did pay for their sins and rise from death (as only God could do), they immediately become "justified" by God. They immediately, through Christ, meet every perfect moral standard set out by God, and have no need to fear judgment or eternal punishment. When a person verbally acknowledges that Jesus is Yahweh (God's personal name, given to Moses and signified by an all caps "LORD" in the Old Testament), he is "saved" in the more general sense of being sanctified, set apart more and more, for the purposes of God. In fact, these simple spoken words themselves are "sanctified" and can be used by God in the lives of whoever hears them! (v.10)
Paul emphasizes here (using Old Testament quotes to establish God's consistency in this) that this promise, this simple way of being rescued, is not just for the Jews or the religious elite. It's an offer to everyone. Yahweh is God over everyone, no matter their cultural background. He is God. The choice to acknowledge that is left to us. But the reward for doing so is more than we can possibly fathom. (v.11-13)
Next- Is Ignorance Of God Willful Or Accidental?
Coffee House Question- Why do you think it might be important to God that those who spend eternity with him meet and perfectly maintain perfect moral standards(righteousness)? Why do you suppose God can't just "lighten up" and let everyone spend eternity with him?
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