Romans, Day 7
Romans Chapters 9 – 10
At one point in my life, I became the unexpected owner of a snowblower. I had never owned one before, and purchasing one wasn’t on the radar because I still considered myself “young enough” to use a shovel, so when I was gifted one I was ecstatic and clueless about how to use it. Snow was in the forecast, and I did what I heard experienced snowblower owners say to do, which is to start it up and make sure it works before the snow hits. It started with no issues — I let it run for 20 seconds or so then turned it off. The snow came a few days later and I excitedly trekked to my garage to start up the snowblower, only to find that I couldn’t get it started. I then began troubleshooting it: “Perhaps it’s too cold;” “Maybe I need to use the electric start;” “Maybe my gas is bad.” Nothing I came up with worked. Eventually, through a few calls to my father for support, I realized the reason it wasn’t starting was that there was a little valve on the fuel line that I was unaware of. This valve was used to shut off the flow of the fuel to the engine so it didn’t stay in the engine and damage it when it wasn’t in use. Once I tapped into the fuel source, everything worked as it should.
In Chapters 9 and 10 of Romans, we are faced with the question of Israel with regard to salvation. “What does it mean that Israel has missed the Messiah?”1 The main question that arose was, “How can I be secure in God’s love and salvation to me when it seems that Israel was once loved and saved but now seemed to be rejected?”2 The answer we find is that Israel was trying to run its snowblower without fuel. Israel was seeking righteousness through the law. They were missing the fuel of faith in their pursuit of salvation.
Paul is clear that salvation comes only through the sacrifice of Christ, not the works of the law. The problem facing Israel was as he puts it in Romans 10:3: “For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.” Our salvation is not found in our ability to follow the laws of the Bible but by confessing with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in our heart that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9).
We can all be a little like Israel sometimes, thinking that if we simply do things by the book things will work out. If that book is the Bible, we are on the right path! However, we cannot take faith out of the equation. Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as ”the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” There are going to come times when we cannot see the end result. The Christian faith is fueled by faith — faith that God will do what He has said He will do, faith regarding things we cannot see right now that God has promised will happen. If you continue to read the rest of Hebrews 11, you see a list of people who were counted as righteous because they trusted God by faith.
Faith is what fuels our lives as Christians. It’s not only what leads to salvation but it’s also what leads to the fruit of the Spirit being evident in our lives. Faith doesn’t mean we excuse ourselves from planning or from putting in the work. What it does mean is that we are not trusting in our power for the results — we are trusting God and His power and sovereignty to produce the results that further His kingdom.
Adam
- https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/guzik_david/StudyGuide2017-Rom/Rom-9.cfm?a=1055002
- https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/guzik_david/StudyGuide2017-Rom/Rom-9.cfm?a=1055002