HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1391
R OM ANS 10
page 1021
21 When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t
he have a right to use the same lump of clay
to make one jar for decoration and another to
throw garbage into? 22 In the same way, even
though God has the right to show his anger
and his power, he is very patient with those
on whom his anger falls, who are destined for
destruction. 23 He does this to make the riches
of his glory shine even brighter on those to
whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in
advance for glory. 24 And we are among those
whom he selected, both from the Jews and from
the Gentiles.
25 Concerning the Gentiles, God says in the
prophecy of Hosea,
“Those who were not my people,
I will now call my people.
And I will love those
whom I did not love before.”*
26 And,
“Then, at the place where they were told,
‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called
‘children of the living God.’”*
27 And
concerning Israel, Isaiah the prophet
cried out,
28
“Though the people of Israel are as
numerous as the sand of the seashore,
only a remnant will be saved.
For the Lord will carry out his sentence
upon the earth
quickly and with finality.”*
29 And Isaiah said the same thing in another
place:
“If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
had not spared a few of our children,
we would have been wiped out like Sodom,
destroyed like Gomorrah.”*
Israel’s Unbelief
30 What does all this mean? Even though the
Gentiles were not trying to follow God’s standards, they were made right with God. And
it was by faith that this took place. 31 But the
people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right
with God by keeping the law, never succeeded.
32 Why not? Because they were trying to get
right with God by keeping the law* instead of
by trusting in him. They stumbled over the great
rock in their path. 33 God warned them of this in
the Scriptures when he said,
9:25 Hos 2:23. 9:26 Greek sons of the living God. Hos 1:10.
9:27-28 Isa 10:22-23 (Greek version). 9:29 Isa 1:9 (Greek
version). 9:32 Greek by works. 9:33a Greek in Zion.
9:33b Isa 8:14; 28:16 (Greek version). 10:1 Greek Brothers.
10:4 Or For Christ is the end of the law. 10:5 See Lev 18:5.
10:6-8 Deut 30:12-14. 10:11 Isa 28:16 (Greek version).
10:12 Greek and Greek. 10:13 Joel 2:32. 10:15 Isa 52:7.
10:16 Isa 53:1. 10:18 Ps 19:4.
“I am placing a stone in Jerusalem*
that makes people stumble,
a rock that makes them fall.
But anyone who trusts in him
will never be disgraced.”*
10
Dear brothers and sisters,* the longing
of my heart and my prayer to God is for
the people of Israel to be saved. 2 I know what
enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. 3 For they don’t understand God’s
way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own
way of getting right with God by trying to keep
the law. 4 For Christ has already accomplished
the purpose for which the law was given.* As
a result, all who believe in him are made right
with God.
Salvation Is for Everyone
5 For Moses writes that the law’s way of making
a person right with God requires obedience to
all of its commands.* 6 But faith’s way of getting
right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart,
‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ
down to earth). 7 And don’t say, ‘Who will go
down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ
back to life again).” 8 In fact, it says,
“The message is very close at hand;
it is on your lips and in your heart.”*
And that message is the very message about
faith that we preach: 9 If you openly declare
that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart
that God raised him from the dead, you will
be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart
that you are made right with God, and it is by
openly declaring your faith that you are saved.
11 As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts
in him will never be disgraced.”* 12 Jew and Gentile* are the same in this respect. They have the
same Lord, who gives generously to all who call
on him. 13 For “Everyone who calls on the name
of the Lord will be saved.”*
14 But how can they call on him to save them
unless they believe in him? And how can they
believe in him if they have never heard about
him? And how can they hear about him unless
someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go
and tell them without being sent? That is why
the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet
of messengers who bring good news!”*
16 But not everyone welcomes the Good News,
for Isaiah the prophet said, “Lord, who has believed our message?”* 17 So faith comes from
hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about
Christ. 18 But I ask, have the people of Israel actually heard the message? Yes, they have:
“The message has gone throughout the earth,
and the words to all the world.”*