Obedience and desobedience
TEACHER
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Lesson 8
BASIC BIBLICAL TEXT
Romans 10.1-12
BASIC BIBLE TEXT
1 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.
2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.
3 Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.
4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
5 Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.”
Romans 10:1-5
BASIC BIBLE TEXT
6 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)
7 “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim:
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
Romans 10.6-10
BASIC BIBLE TEXT
11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”
12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him.
Romans 10.11,12
GOLDEN TEXT
Romans 10.13
For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
AIMS
* Understand the importance of God's righteousness by faith in Christ;
* Understand that disobedience to God always brings undesirable and tragic results;
* Express themselves correctly concerning the characteristics of God's righteousness.
INTRODUCTION
In Romans chapter 10, Paul returns to the main theme of the epistle: the righteousness of God.
Israel's refusal to accept justification by faith placed them in open disobedience to the way God established to implement His righteousness and thus save lost humanity. Both Obedience and disobedience will always be followed by consequences.
1. OBEDIENCE TO GOD
1.1. Obedience meaning
To understand what obedience is, it is necessary to understand the meaning and scope of the word, in addition to the context in which it is inserted.
Obedience is classified as a human virtue and can be defined as a procedure in which one person (or more than one) accepts the orders of another (or others).
Obedience is related to authority. We must obey those in authority over our lives, especially because the authorities are established by God (Rom 13:1,2 and 1 Pet 2:13,14).
1.2. Obeying the Law without fully implementing it
The people of Israel saw the practice of the Law of Moses as the only way to obtain salvation.
There is no doubt that most of the Israelite nation, in Paul's day or even when Moses lived, were confident that they could not only obey the Law but also receive salvation through its observance properly. This was something that predominated in the imagination of the people.
1.2. Obeying the Law without fully implementing it
In fact, there was a general ignorance among the Israelites about the function of the Law. Almost everything was understood legalistically.
Paul showed in Romans that this was a misunderstanding of the nation of Israel.Paul had already shown that all were under the cruel power of sin and therefore destitute of the glorious presence of God (Rom. 3:23).
1.3. Obeying God
The Christian must learn to obey God directly, through His Word.
The walk in obedience begins when a person believes in the righteousness of God and is done by confessing the name of Jesus as Lord and believing that God raised him from the dead (Rom. 10:9).
Only obedience to God can lead the life of the redeemed person to well-being and happiness. After reminding the people of the covenant made at Sinai, Moses proclaims the blessings that flow from obedience, as can be seen in Deuteronomy 28:1-13.
2. RESULTS OF OBEDIENCE TO GOD
walking with God
2.1. Obedience to God brings blessings
Israel was a nation prone to disobedience and apostasy. However, Moses had given a long account of blessings if they would heed the voice of the Lord and be careful to keep all his commandments (Deut. 28:1).
Another character marked by a tremendously blessed life by God was Abraham. His unconditional obedience yielded blessings that would reach his family, the nation of Israel and future generations (Gen 22:17,18).
Obedience and faith are not to be understood separately.
In Romans 10:2,3 Paul declares that the Jews have a zeal for God, he means that just care and faithfulness in the practice of a religious tradition is not enough to win the favor of the Most High. For this, it is necessary to have faith and obedience. In the name of a zealous life in the practice of the Law, the Jews became proud and distant from salvation. Human works cannot replace obedience and faith.
Paul's effort was for them to understand the great mystery of Christ's grace. The apostle earnestly desired them to understand that Christ is both the aim and end of the Law itself.
2.2. Obedience to God is a reflection of faith
For a Jew, it was very difficult to believe in salvation open to all people without distinction and regardless of the practice of the Law. This made them people who have a zeal for God, but this zeal was based on legalism and not on knowledge and experience, as the apostle Paul testifies in Romans 10.2.
2.3. Obedience to God is the result of Salvation
3. Disobedience to God and its consequences
Israel has always been resistant to obedience to the Lord's commandments. Therefore, the people went through painful experiences. They rejected God's righteousness as a means of salvation. The Israelites had two paths before them: salvation by the works of the Law or the salvation preached by Paul, which was solely through grace and faith in the risen Christ.
3.1. Israel's disobedience
3.1.1. The Jews made themselves guilty by rejecting the righteousness of God through faith in Christ
Unbelief led the Israelites to establish their own way of salvation.
3.1. Israel's disobedience
3.1.2. The Jews rejected salvation, but not for lack of opportunity
However, only the justice of God - rejected by them - can save the human being. Establishing self-righteousness, they turned their backs on the teaching of Scripture concerning the gospel of grace (Eph. 2:8, 9).
The Old Testament Israelites did not accept the Lord's message through the prophets. The people of Israel, in Paul's time, also rejected the righteousness that comes from God, as the apostle said: Because, not knowing the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to the righteousness that comes from God (Rom 10.3 ARA).
4. CHARACTERISTICS OF GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS
The Jews heard the good news of the righteousness of God in Christ (Rom. 10:18) and understood the content of the message (Rom. 10:19, 20). ). However, they did not believe what they heard and deliberately disobeyed (Rom. 10:16). The Jewish people's rejection of Jesus' message can be considered the greatest tragedy in the history of Israel. And the failure of the Israelites can only be their own fault. They had all the conditions to know salvation, but they ignored it.
In verse 12 of Romans chapter 10, Paul presents one of Jehovah's most amazing attributes: He makes no distinction between persons. His redemptive plan involves everyone, regardless of cultural, racial, gender, age or color issues. He is Lord of all and rich to all who confess him and call on his name.
4.1 God’s righteousness does not show favoritism
Although it is necessary to study the texts of the Bible carefully and in depth in order to arrive at a safe interpretation of its teachings, understanding the message of the cross, that is, the righteousness of God imputed to the sinner through repentance of sins and by faith, is something totally simple, objective and accessible to anyone. Just believe in the message of redemption and call on the name of the Lord to be saved (Rom. 10:11,15).
4.2 God’s righteousness is simple and objective
The proclamation of the gospel of grace is a responsibility of the Church of Christ and its members. The message is very simple: only the atoning work of Christ can solve the problem of the fall of the human being and restore him to his original condition, with the cancellation of his debts and the proper registration of his name in the Eternal Book.
The message of the application of divine justice through God's infinite love and consequent salvation, without personal merit and solely by God's immense grace, needs to be spread to the world (Rom. 10:14,15).
4.3 Everyone who has experienced it has a responsibility to spread it (Rom 10:14,15)
The prophet Isaiah is known as "the Messianic prophet". Paul quotes several times from this Old Covenant prophet. At the end of verse 16, in Romans 10, he quoted Isaiah 53:1, which said: Who has believed our preaching? And to whom was the arm of the Lord revealed? In Romans 10:20, again, the apostle uses an expression of the Messianic prophet, who said: I was sought after by those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who sought me; to a people that were not called by my name he said, Here I am (Is 65:1).
4.4 Gentiles and other peoples will gladly welcome it (Rom 10:20)
CONCLUSION
In this lesson, aspects of obedience to God and disobedience in relation to his righteousness in Christ were discussed. Obedience to God is a journey that begins with conversion to Christ and must permeate the Christian's life until the end.
God bless you!
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