The Pathway of Salvation - Lectionary Reflection for Lent 1C (Romans 10)

Romans 10:5-15  NewRevised Standard Version

⁵ Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that “the person who does these things will live by them.” ⁶ But the righteousness that comes from faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷ “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸ But what does it say?

“The word is near you,

    on your lips and in your heart”

(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); ⁹ because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. ¹¹ The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.”   

¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. ¹³ For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

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                The season of Lent has begun. It is a season of reflection, contemplation, and confession. That is, it is a season that offers Christians to take stock of their lives before God. The Gospel reading from Luke on this First Sunday of Lent takes us into the wilderness, where Jesus fasts for forty days and nights. There he is tested but holds firm in his relationship with the Father (Lk 4:1-13). Whether we fast or not during Lent (I will confess that I am not given to fasting, but I understand the meaning of fasting—my Muslim friends have reinforced its value during their Ramadan observances), we can find ways of taking stock of our lives.

                The Second Reading for the First Sunday of Lent (Year C) takes us to Paul’s letter to the Romans. In this brief reading from Romans, we hear Paul lay out the way of salvation. The reason Paul does this is because he understands that sin is pervasive, and Lent gives us the opportunity to both lament our sins and repent of them so we can get back on track with God. That is a primary message of this letter—making sure we stay on track with God.

                Earlier in the letter to the Romans, Paul speaks of the righteousness of God coming through faith “since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; ²⁴ they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:23-24). Paul picks up on that message once again here in Romans 10. In doing so, he offers us a word about a pathway to salvation that emphasizes faith rather than keeping the law. Now, that doesn’t mean Paul rejects the law or is advocating some form of antinomianism so that to be Christ gives you a “get out of jail free” card. It’s that the pathway leads through God’s grace, and for many of us, that is good news!  

                To understand Paul’s message here in Romans 10, we need to remember that he wrote this letter to a Christian community he’d never visited. This isn’t one of his congregations. In fact, we don’t know the origins of the church in Rome. So, in many ways, this is Paul’s letter of introduction. He wants this congregation to get a sense of the message he had been preaching on his missionary journeys. So, he’s not writing this letter to correct practices or actions deemed inappropriate, as he did in the Corinthian letters. Unlike Corinth or Galatia, he didn’t have any real authority, except by reputation. While he’d never been to Rome it does appear that he is acquainted with a number of people in that church (see Romans16). 

                Our reading falls in the middle of a section of the letter in which Paul addresses the way he sees the relationship of Jews and Gentiles in the Christian community. In these chapters, he addresses the question of whether God abrogated the covenant made with Moses in the ministry of Jesus. Paul’s answer is, no, God has not rejected God’s people. Nevertheless, he also doesn’t believe that the Law is a sufficient tool to overcome sin. That takes faith in Jesus, whose death on the cross provides the foundation for salvation, though Paul doesn’t mention the cross in this passage. It’s all rather complicated, but the point is, in Paul’s mind, salvation is available to everyone, both Jew and Gentile. And this offer of salvation is rooted in a confession of faith that God raised Jesus from the dead.

                When the creators of the lectionary made their choice for the reading of the epistles, they chose to begin with verse 8b, rather than in verse 5, which provides the context for the opening statement taken from Deuteronomy 30:14 (the verses that precede this word from Deuteronomy 30, appear here in italics (Rom. 10:5-8a). Those verses draw on verses taken from Deut. 30:11-13. I’ve included them for context.

                The passage itself could be well known to many readers as it is the basis of an evangelistic formula that many use in their evangelistic efforts. In this method, prospects for conversion are invited to confess that Jesus is Lord and that they believe God raised Jesus from the dead. If they do this, they will be saved. This formula is rooted in the larger context that speaks of justification coming through God’s grace and received by faith, for the righteous live by faith. You just have to believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. It’s a rather simple creed. You don’t have to memorize the Westminster Catechism.

                Now, you may ask, what does it mean to be saved? Or perhaps you might be wondering: Why do I need to be justified? That’s a good question. Earlier in the chapter, Paul talks about whether keeping the law is a sufficient basis for one’s relationship with God. One of the messages of Romans is that sin has broken the divine-human relationship and that the Law (Torah) is insufficient to heal the broken relationship. Paul’s message is that he discovered that the path to healing (salvation) comes through faith in Jesus. He believes that he has found the key to this process of salvation in Deuteronomy 30. Yes, “the word is near you.” In fact, it is “on your lips and in your heart.” All you need to do is believe, that is put your trust in, Jesus. If you do this, you will experience the righteousness of God. Paul takes this reference from Deuteronomy 30:14 as a call to make a confession of faith that God has raised Jesus from the dead, which would reflect the trust one puts in God with the heart. For those who have been following the lectionary, we can look back to the readings from 1 Corinthians 15 that place the resurrection of Jesus at the center of Paul’s proclamation.  If we understand that Paul’s message has Jewish origins, believing and confessing are essentially a parallelism. What we speak with our lips reflects what goes on in the heart.

                The second half of the reading begins with a reference to Isaiah 28:16— “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” Now, remember Paul is quoting from the Septuagint (or other Greek translation) and not the Hebrew Bible, so the reference in Hebrew is a bit different— “One who trusts will not panic.” The message Paul delivers here by quoting from Isaiah 28 is a word of comfort. If you believe you won’t suffer shame. That message leads to Paul’s main point here, that God doesn’t make a distinction between Jew and Greek (Gentile). Salvation comes to Jew and Greek through faith and nothing more and nothing less. The way of salvation is open to everyone. That doesn’t mean universal salvation, but it doesn’t rule it out either.

                Assuming that Paul is writing to a congregation made up of both Jewish and Gentile Christians, he is simply offering up what he believes is the central message. Since he’s not visited the congregation before, he’s not attempting to resolve conflicts, just reiterating his theology, in case anyone wonders. In doing this he offers a path for harmonious relationships within the congregation. Now, that doesn’t mean Paul is demeaning or undermining Jewish beliefs and practices. He’s not rejecting them; he’s just putting Jew and Gentile on the same level when it comes to living in God’s realm. To be a Christian, therefore, whether one is Jew or Gentile involves following the ways of Jesus.