In Romans 9:1-29, Paul emphasizes God’s sovereignty in choosing those to be saved. That is often referred to as Divine Election. As we pick it up in Romans 9:30-10:5, Paul transitions to showing the importance of human responsibility in salvation.  

Read Romans 9:30-10:5 and look for the role of humans in salvation. 

1. What failures of Israel (the Jewish people) does Paul draw out in those verses? What did they do or not do? 

2. How do you think God’s sovereignty and human responsibility can both exist at the same time? 

While teaching on this passage, I heard a pastor say, “Where scriptures emphasize divine election (God’s choice in salvation), I emphasize it. And where the scriptures emphasize human responsibility, I emphasize it.” I think that is wisdom. We know from Scripture, clearly, that both exist. God chooses, and we must also choose Him. Both must be kept in tension. This is a matter of both, and, not one or the other. Some sects of Christianity stress one more than the other must be held as true or truer. 

During this theological lesson from Paul, we also see his heart. Read Romans 10:1 again. 

3. What are some things you would say you care about? It might be people, hobbies, or activities. How do you know that you care about them? 

Paul’s prayers were connected to his care. The people he cared about, he prayed for. One of the most damaging things that a Christian can do is throw around the phrase, “I will pray for you,” without action. Someone who makes that statement and then does not pray for that person is not only a liar but also gives false hope and hurts their witness for the sake of the Gospel. 

4. Do you ever find yourself flippantly telling people you will pray for them? What steps have you taken or can you take to make sure you follow through? 

A couple of years ago, a mentor of mine at the time gave me the advice to pray for people right when they ask. If someone asks for prayer after a Sunday morning gathering, I ask them if I can pray for them right then and there and make a practice of that as much as possible. Sometimes it can feel awkward in the moment, but it has always been worth it. 

To summarize Paul’s idea, this section shows Israel’s failure to live by faith. For much of the Old Testament times, it was shown by their obedience to the Law for the sake of their salvation. In the times that Paul originally wrote this letter, the Israelite’s failure was shown in their rejection of faith in Christ, still believing that their obedience would grant them salvation. 

A Jewish professor of mine at Moody Bible Institute, Dr. Michael Rydelnik, shared that his father had suffered greatly. His father’s first wife, five sons, and an adopted daughter were all killed by the Nazis in Auschwitz. His father experienced the concentration camps himself, lost his second wife in childbirth, and another daughter drowned to death. After moving to America, his third wife and three of his children (including Michael, my professor) came to saving faith in Christ. Michael’s father then disowned his wife and children and moved to Israel. Michael, upon the death of his father in 1996, came to these difficult conclusions: “Jewish people, in fact, all people, are lost without faith in Yeshua as their Redeemer and Jewish people, and Gentiles must have conscious faith in Yeshua to experience God’s forgiveness and receive the promise of life in the world to come.” Even Jewish people must choose to accept Christ, taking the role of human responsibility, as we will see more in-depth soon in Romans 10:9, “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.” 

5. When did you make the profession of Christ as your Lord? What role did God play in choosing you first? How did you sense His call, and what led you to respond? 

Paul transitions from this idea of the failure of the Israelites to true salvation through faith in the next section, Romans 10:6-21.  

Marvin C. Pate, in his commentary on Romans, outlines the steps to salvation that Paul lays out in this section: 

6. How did you see these steps play out in your life? Who was sent to preach to you? What was the message you heard? What led you to believe in Christ? What words did you cry out to the Lord with? 

If you are not Jewish, you are a Gentile. To this day, many Jewish people have heard the Good News of Jesus but have chosen to reject Him as Messiah (the Promised One). If you have cried out in faith for Christ to save you from your sins, you are the fulfillment of Paul’s words in this section of Romans.  

As Gentiles are grafted into salvation (Romans 11, next week’s study), this takes place to make God’s chosen people who were first offered salvation, the Israelites, jealous. Read Romans 10:19, “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.’” 

Would you consider, prayerfully, who the Lord is sending you to preach the Gospel to? A mentor of mine that I meet with monthly asks me a convicting pair of questions every month:  

Some months, those questions are more difficult to answer than I would like them to be.  

7. So I ask you, the reader, the same. Who have you shared the Gospel with this month?” As Paul shows, how will people believe unless they hear? 

If you are meeting as a group, take time tonight to split up into groups of 3-4 people and pray through Romans 10:12-17. Ask God to send you out to those that need to hear the Gospel.