Lesson 22: The Message of Salvation to All – 10:5-21
 5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them.
6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down)
7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame.”
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing His riches on all who call on Him.
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?”
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”


19 But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, “I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry.”
20 Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, “I have been found by those who did not seek Me; I have shown Myself to those who did not ask for Me.”
21 But of Israel He says, “All day long I have held out My hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”

We ended the last lesson with the verse saying Christ is the end of the Law. We study this more in our Scripture today. Righteousness cannot come from the Law – even if we were able to obey the Law so perfectly that we thought we could go to Heaven and demand Jesus to come down to see our good works, or were so strong that we could go into the grave and by our following the Law so perfectly – we could still not raise Jesus from the dead. Our ability to follow the Law can never be that perfect.

Righteousness can only come by faith which we not only believe in our hearts but also confess with our words before others. This is not a magic statement or even something said in the ecstasy of speaking in tongues – it is a clear statement that we have chosen to believe Jesus about who He is and what He has done for us, and that from this point on we are trusting Him for righteousness rather than seeking righteousness through our own efforts to be good enough for Him.

Righteousness by faith is for everyone. Jews do not have a better chance of being saved than Gentiles, and Gentiles do not have a priority before God because the Jews as a nation have not yet believed.


Once we are saved, our good works are those in obedience to our Lord Jesus – and He asks us to tell others about Him (Acts 1:8). In our verses today we are reminded that others cannot hear about Jesus unless someone tells them, and we cannot tell them if we are unwilling to go to those who need Him. We must go – first to those closest to us, our family and close friends. Then we must tell those who are our neighbors or co-workers. Then we must tell those who are complete strangers to us, who may come from all over the world.

In our final verses in today’s Scripture, we again read about the people of Israel, the Jewish people of today. They need to hear from us who Jesus is in our life. With gentleness and great love for them, we need to show them who Jesus came to be in their lives too. Verse 19 says Jesus will use our words to make them jealous that we have a personal relationship with the God they thought was their God. Through this jealousy, they will seek Him too.

*Whom have you told about Jesus this week?