Romans 10:1-4
Scripture: Romans 10:1-4 (ESV)
“Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
Devotion:
In these verses, Paul shows us his deep heartfelt desire for his fellow Israelites to be saved by Jesus. He wants them to recognize that the true path to salvation is through faith in Jesus alone. Now this challenges us in two different ways.
Firstly, Paul shows us what a heart that has been captured by the Gospel looks like. It is a heart that wants others to come to know the same Jesus that transformed it! It is a sad truth that many of us, even perhaps for most of us, lose our zeal to see others come to faith. We get stuck in the rut of the “normalness” of our faith in Jesus. We go to church, we attend growth groups and Bible studies, and we pray. But when we meet a non-believer, we are strangely disconnected from the fact that they are on a highway to hell.
Paul here reminds us that a heart captured by the Gospel should want others’ hearts to be captured by the Gospel too.
Secondly, this passage challenges our natural tendency to rely on our own efforts to please God. We can often have a passionate commitment to what we believe serves God, but Paul’s point is that zeal for God is not the same thing as serving God. You can very zealously do the wrong thing!
Look at the Israelites. They’re not indifferent, they aren’t apathetic or lukewarm. They care deeply but their zeal is pointless because it seeks to earn salvation through human effort and works. As Paul has pointed out, righteousness comes only by faith. In their striving to be righteous through the law, these Israelites have missed the person the law had been pointing to all along—Jesus.
Jesus embodies the righteousness they (and we) seek. He completes the law’s demands on our behalf, offering us his perfect righteousness as a gift received through faith, not through our own efforts. This shifts the focus from what we can do to what Jesus has already done. And that sets us free.
Prayer:
Lord, help us to see where our zeal might be misdirected, focusing on our own efforts rather than on Your grace. Teach us to lean not on our own understanding but to trust in the righteousness that comes from faith in Jesus. May our hearts find rest in the fact that it’s not about climbing higher or trying harder but about embracing the gift of righteousness You’ve provided through Your Son. Amen.
Spiritual Challenge:
Today, notice moments when you’re tempted to rely on your own efforts to feel right with God. Instead, pause and remind yourself that righteousness comes through faith in Christ alone. Let this truth guide your thoughts, decisions, and interactions throughout the day.