Time in the Scriptures
Pray: Ask God for strength to be honest with yourself
Paul struggled with the rejection of Jesus by most Jews, and with the need to connect Christian ways of worship with the Scripture’s emphasis on sacrifice and the Law. In Romans 10:5-9 he uses Jewish rhetoric to get from the Scripture to his point.
Read: Romans 10:5-13
Part of Jewish worship was confessing the mighty deeds of God (remember Deuteronomy 26). We often associated “confessing” with sin, but the word means “to openly state or admit.” In your own words, what does “Jesus is Lord” mean?
Another part of Jewish worship/service was obedience to the Law, as we have read many times this week. What does Paul stress as being important in our salvation as Christians? As you read verses 10 and 11, do you think Paul counts obedience as being very important to our salvation?
In verse 11, Paul quotes from Isaiah 28:16. Read the verse in its context (Isaiah 28:14-18). Do you need to change your answer to the previous question?
Christian worship involves the confession that Jesus Christ is Lord—we do so through word, through prayer, through song, confessing both Christ’s rule and our successes and failures in following. It also involves faith: trusting that Christ is alive and able to work in and through us. For Paul, such a faith necessarily results in action. People who speak “Lord, Lord” with their lips, but disobey God in their lives, clearly have no faith—at least not at those times, places, and points where they disobey.
How well does your life confess the faith that you profess?
Intercessory Prayer
Spend time in prayer for the following activities and people:
- Local leaders, that they might put in place policies that provide justice to all.
- Global leaders as they deal with the invasion of Ukraine.
Caring through Action
“Confess with your lips.” Share a story with somebody of one way that Jesus is Lord in your life.