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Romans 10

Paul proclaims righteousness through faith in Christ for everyone who believes, while confronting Israel’s resistance to the message.

Paul tells the Roman believers that he longs and prays for Israel’s salvation. He describes zeal for God that lacks knowledge, then contrasts seeking righteousness through the law with receiving righteousness through faith in Christ. The message centers on confessing Jesus as Lord and believing that God raised him from the dead. Paul then traces how preaching leads to hearing and faith, before citing Scripture about Israel’s resistance and God’s welcome of the nations.

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1Brothers, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God is for Israel, that they may be saved.
2For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
3For being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they didn’t subject themselves to the righteousness of God.
4For Christ is the fulfillment of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
5For Moses writes about the righteousness of the law, “The one who does them will live by them.”
6But the righteousness which is of faith says this, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down);
7or, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.)”
8But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart;” that is, the word of faith which we preach:
9that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10For with the heart one believes resulting in righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made resulting in salvation.
11For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.”
12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich to all who call on him.
13For, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in him whom they have not heard? How will they hear without a preacher?
15And how will they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!”
16But they didn’t all listen to the glad news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”
17So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
18But I say, didn’t they hear? Yes, most certainly, “Their sound went out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”
19But I ask, didn’t Israel know? First Moses says, “I will provoke you to jealousy with that which is no nation. I will make you angry with a nation void of understanding.”
20Isaiah is very bold and says, “I was found by those who didn’t seek me. I was revealed to those who didn’t ask for me.”
21But about Israel he says, “All day long I stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Romans 10:11This promise grounds Paul’s assurance in Scripture and prepares for his declaration that salvation extends across ethnic boundaries.
Romans 10:9Confessing Jesus as Lord and believing his resurrection express the faith at the center of Paul’s message of salvation.
Romans 10:12The same Lord rules over Jew and Greek, so all who call on him share the same promise.
Where this chapter reaches

Paul quotes Isaiah about trust, messengers bearing good news, and resistance to God’s message; these quotations frame both the promise of salvation and Israel’s response. Acts shares the proclamation of Jesus’ resurrection, while Galatians and Ephesians share the theme of Jews and Gentiles receiving God’s salvation through Christ.

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After reading the whole chapter

How does Paul’s prayer for Israel shape your reading of his hard words about their resistance?

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What does the link between hearing, believing, and calling on the Lord help you notice about faith?

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Questions people ask about Romans 10

What does Romans 10:9 mean about being saved?

Paul joins confessing Jesus as Lord with believing that God raised him from the dead. Verse 10 links the heart’s belief with righteousness and spoken confession with salvation. The surrounding argument places these together as expressions of faith in Christ, with the same promise offered to Jew and Greek.

What does it mean that Christ is the fulfillment of the law in Romans 10:4?

The supplied translation says Christ is “the fulfillment of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” Interpreters differ over whether the emphasis falls on the law’s goal, its endpoint, or both. Paul’s argument is clear on this point: righteousness is received through faith in Christ, and seeking to establish one’s own righteousness fails.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).