New York UBF – NY University Bible Fellowship (NYUBF)

Romans Lesson 20 (2008)

UNDERSTANDING GOD’S PLAN OF SALVATION-II
(How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!)

Romans 9:30-10:21
Key Verse: 10:15

“And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’”

The content of Romans chapters 9-11 reveals the profound mystery of God’s plan of world salvation. (11:33-36) However, studying this section can be confusing. That’s why Apostle Peter said in his letter that Paul’s letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort. (2 Pet 3:15) However, studying this section should not confuse any of us but help us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. As we study this section, we should remember that in chapters 9-11, Paul deals with God’s salvation plan of the nation Israel and the entire human race, whereas in chapters 1-8 he deals with God’s salvation of each individual. According to chapter 9, God chose the nation Israel among all nations not because they were better or stronger than others. It was because of His mercy, as He said to Moses in Exodus 33:19, “I will have mercy one whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” (Ro 9:15) But in spite of God’s sovereign choice on them, the majority of the nation Israel rejected the gospel of God which is for the salvation of everyone who believes; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. (1:16) In chapter 10, Paul explains what went wrong with Israel as God’s chosen nation. We as Christians can also make the same mistakes. May we learn some spiritual lessons from this passage.

FIRST, THEY PURSUED SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS, NOT GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS (9:30-33)

Paul’s main argument in the previous passage is God’s election on Israel. However, he argues that not all Israel’s descendants are considered Israel. (9:6-9) He made it clear by saying “It is not the natural children who were God’s children, but it is the children of promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.” (9:8) He went on to say that although both Jacob and Esau were from the same parents, Isaac and Rebekah, God chose Jacob, not Esau, even before they were born or had done anything good or bad. Then he talks about God’s calling of the Gentiles, meaning that God’s election is not limited only to Jews. Gentiles are also included in God’s chosen people. He said in verses 23-24, “What if God did this to make the riches of His glory known to the objects of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory – even us, whom He also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?” In order to prove his argument Paul quoted from Hosea 2:23, which read, “I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one.” It is only by God’s mercy that we are saved. We were chosen by God even before were born, before we did anything good or bad – in order that God’s purpose in election might stand. What is God’s purpose in election? Why did God use the method of election? It is not to limit his mercy to save only certain people. Instead, it is to maximize His mercy in saving sinners.

Look at verses 30-32. “What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the ‘stumbling stone.’” Paul is talking here again in terms of groups, not individuals. Unlike the Jews or other religious people, the Gentiles didn’t pursue righteousness. As Paul described in Romans 1:18-31, they lived according to their sinful nature, degrading their bodies in sexual immorality, drunkenness, orgies and all kinds of wickedness. They were objects of God’s wrath and anger. Yet, instead of punishing them for their wickedness, the righteousness of God was given to them through Jesus Christ as a gift. And the Gentiles received it by faith, saying “Thank you, Lord! We don’t deserve it. Thank you!”, while the Jews did not. In fact, the majority of the Jews stumbled over Jesus, the rock of salvation. Why? Because they pursued their own righteousness.

Many people think that they will go to heaven because they do many good things, such as serving the poor, donating money to charity, being nice to others and keeping rules, etc. But will they really make it to heaven? The Bible says, “No.” The kingdom of God does not belong to good or religious people. The kingdom of God belongs to sinners who trust in Jesus, knowing that they don’t deserve God’s mercy at all because of their sins. The person who thinks he is already righteous sees no need for salvation. That’s why the majority of Jews rejected Jesus, a righteousness from God. In fact, one of the greatest obstacles to salvation is self-righteousness. In September 1994 a hundred Indian farmers in New Delhi, India, protested against the government for its plan to import three million tons of Dutch dung to be used for farm fertilizer. The Indian farmers questioned why they did this, saying, “There is no shortage of cows in India. And dung from Indian cows would not be tainted by pesticides.” So in protest, they rolled six carts piled with top-quality, home-grown dung right in front of the Parliament building. They shouted, “Our dung is better than their dung.” Those who depend on their own righteousness are like those farmers.

SECOND, THEY HAD ZEAL WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE (10:1-13, 16-21)

Paul begins chapter 10 with his earnest prayer for them as he did in chapter 9. “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.” (1) Traditionally, the Jews believed that they go to heaven automatically because they are the descendants of Abraham. But Paul didn’t think so, at least after his conversion. Why did Paul think that they were not saved? Look at verses 2 and 3. “For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, for their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they didn’t know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.”

The people of Israel thought that they could obtain that righteousness by good works in keeping the religious rules and regulations, such as circumcision, Sabbath observance, dietary regulations and ritual purity. Perhaps they were the most religious people on earth. However, their great religious zeal was not based on correct knowledge, but was misdirected. They were very sincere and sincerely wrong.

Many people think that it does not matter what religion you believe, whether you are Muslim, Hindu, Jewish or Buddhist, as long as you are sincere. When some people hear what Jesus said in John 14:6, which reads, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”, they feel really offended. Why did Jesus say that he was the only way to heaven? Was he ignorant? Was he despising the great religions of the world? No. We cannot deny that there are great teachings in those religions. Yet, Jesus said that he was the only way to heaven because the perfect righteousness of God is revealed only in and through him, and anyone who believes in him can have access to that righteousness. Look at verse 4. “Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.” The phrase, “Christ is the end of the law” means that Jesus is the fulfillment of the law. In other words, “Jesus is the righteousness from God.” Through Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross, our sins were punished and the righteous requirements of the law were fully met in us, who believe in Jesus Christ.
In verses 5-13, Apostle Paul explains how righteousness by faith has been clearly revealed in the Scriptures, which the majority of the Jews ignored. Look at verses 5-7. In these verses, Apostle Paul contrasts between righteousness that is by the law and righteousness that is by faith. Look at verse 5. “Moses describes in this way the righteousness by the law: ‘The man who does these things will live by them.’” This vers is a quotation from Leviticus 18:5. According to this verse, if a man wants to obtain God’s righteousness by keeping the law of God, he must be perfect. But the problem is that no one is able to keep the law perfectly. There was a rich man who offered $1 million to anyone who could swim from San Diego, California to Honolulu, Hawaii. The rules were simple. You have to swim straight through without stopping. If you do, you will gain $1 million. If you don’t make it, you get nothing. On the appointed day, no one showed up because the challenge was impossible to meet. So the rich man raised the prize to $10 million. Still there were no takers. Finally, he raised the total to $100 million. How many of you would like to try to swim from San Diego to Honolulu if you can will $ 100 million? On the appointed day 10,000 people showed up because that’s a lot of money, and even if you can’t do it, you never know what might happen. At the gun shot, everyone hit the water at once. A few people turn back after 200 yards because they couldn’t swim and just wanted the money. People continued to drop out until there was only one person left – a woman who won two Olympic gold medals for distance swimming. Finally even she gave up after swimming an amazing 215 miles. The distance between San Diego, California and Honolulu is about 2,600 miles! When she was pulled into the boat after swimming 215 miles, the woman was almost dead. But she told the rich man that she deserved the money because she lasted longer than anyone else. The rich man refused to give her the money, citing the rules of the contest: all or nothing. Who then can win $100 million? None. Righteousness by the law is like trying to swim from San Diego to Honolulu. But the righteousness that is by faith is different and easy.

Look at verses 6 and 7. “But the righteousness that is by faith says: ‘do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?” (that is, to bring Christ down)’ or “Who will descend into the deep”’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.) But what does it say? ‘The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming.” These verses are quotation from Deuteronomy 30:12-14. Apostle Paul was saying, unlike righteousness that is by the law, in order to obtain the righteousness by faith, we don’t need to ascend into heaven nor descend into the deep. It’s easy. Anybody can obtain it. Jesus already has died for our sins and rose from the dead to give us righteousness of God. All we need is to believe in his words. Look at verses 9-10. “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” This is the message of the gospel. Jesus became our Lord and Savior through his death and resurrection. We don’t need to do anything for our salvation. All we need to do is just believe what God has done for us through Jesus’ death and resurrection and confess that Jesus is the Lord.

Some people may say that they cannot believe the gospel because it sounds too easy, too simple and too good to be true. But God never meant salvation to be difficult. Righteousness that is by faith is not something new. It is one of the focal points of the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament. Look at verses 11-13. In order to prove that, Apostle Paul quotes from the various Scripture verses, such as Isaiah 28:16 and Joel 2:32. God said through the Prophet Isaiah that anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame (11; Isaiah 28:16), and through the Prophet Joel that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (13; Joel 2:32) The door of salvation is open to all people of all nations. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile – the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him. (12) Yet the majority of Israel rejected God’s message of salvation because of their pride and self-righteousness.(16-21) But God didn’t give up on them.

THIRD, HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS (14-15)

In verses 14-15, Paul describes the necessity of preaching and evangelism. The Prophet Joel proclaimed that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (13) Look at verses 14 and 15. “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” Why are preaching and evangelism necessary? It’s because faith comes from hearing the message. People are dying everywhere. We will also die someday. But the real tragedy is that many are dying without hearing or accepting the message of salvation.

Missionary Horace Grant Underwood was born in London in 1859 and immigrated with his family to the United States when he was 13. He graduated from New York University in 1881, and then attended the New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Jersey, during which time he felt a calling from God to become a missionary. At that time, he didn’t know where to go. He was expecting to be sent out to India, where mission activity was very strong in the mid-nineteenth century. He also studied medicine for a year in preparation. When the Mission Board sent him out in December 1884, they decided to send him to Korea instead of India. After learning the Korean language for a while in Japan, he finally arrived in Korea. As a fruit of his mission, he got the first convert whom he secretly baptized. He established several churches which later became two of the biggest churches in Korea. Besides preaching the gospel, he also did many things. He recruited many missionaries from the United States. And he published the first Korean hymnal. He formed orphanage, which later became high school. He also helped found the Korean YMCA, and in 1915 established Chosun Christian College, which later became Yonsei University. He took a Korean name, Won Doo-woo and served God and Korean people until he passed away in 1916. His family stayed in Korea for four generations, teaching and administrating at the university he helped to found, and served Korea in many other ways. It all started when the message of the gospel that was planted in his heart. Now, Korea is the second largest missionary sending nation in the world, next to the United States.

A few years ago, Ryoko Tanikuchi, a Japanese international student studied the Bible and received God’s salvation. God moved her heart to go back to her hometown in Japan and she is now serving the campus ministry there. God also saved one American lady from Texas while she was studying at NYU. She has been serving as an English and Bible teacher in China for the last three semesters. Now she is praying to go North Korea as a missionary.

The message of salvation is like a seed that is sown in the soil. Once it is sown in good soil, it grows and bears much fruit, thirty, sixty and a hundred times. It is true that we are living in a time when many people don’t want to listen to the truth, but go around looking for teachers who tell them what they want to hear. Yet, we cannot deny that there are still many who are thirsty and desperate for the message of salvation. That’s why Apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:1,2, “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season.” Through the 2008 Purdue International Summer Bible Conference, we saw how God used our missionaries to spread the seed of the gospel and raise young disciples of Jesus throughout the world. God wants to save His elect from all over the world. God does not want anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance. We cannot tell just by looking at them who God’s elects are and who will believe the message of God’s salvation. Our primary mission as Christians is to preach the message of the gospel whether they believe it or not. Why? It’s because saving faith comes only from hearing the message. Jesus said that gospel must first be preached to all nations before the end time. Jesus also commanded us in Matthew 28:10-20 to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching them to obey his words. He also promised that he would be with us to the very end of the age.

It’s by God’s grace that I received the message of God’s salvation through Jesus in my young age. However, it’s easy for me to make the same mistakes that Israel made. Unless we struggle spiritually, it’s easy for us to displease God by becoming self-righteousness and growing in pride rather than growing in the grace of Jesus Christ. It’s also easy for us to become self-centered, worldly and lose God’s calling as Bible teachers and missionaries. New York City is a unique mission field. By preaching to our neighbors and campus students in the New York City, we can virtually reach out to the every tribe in the world. We are called to share the message of God’s salvation. Life as a missionary and Bible teacher is not easy. But it is truly a beautiful and blessed life. That’s why Isaiah cried out, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” Isaiah cried out not because our feet are the most beautiful part of our body. Actually, our feet don’t look good. They can be very smelly. So people want to cover their feet with wonderful shoes. But our feet can be truly beautiful when we carry the good news to everywhere it is needed. May the Lord help us to renew our calling as Bible teachers and missionaries, so that we may reach out to all campus souls in New York, the US and the whole world. “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (15)