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THE GOOD NEW (ROMANS 10:5-13)

REFLECTION

The “Good News” is the theme for our reflection. Good news for someone generally means something new that will be useful or pleasurable to someone, however, “Good News” is another word for the Gospel. It is Good News because it tells us about God’s plan of salvation and how humanity must be saved or attain eternal life. We shall reflect on the fact that the Good News is that no one can be saved through righteousness that is given through obedience to the law but everyone will be saved through faith in Jesus Christ.

Beloved in the Lord, Paul spent so much time and energy correcting the erroneous teaching and impression that one can made righteous thereby pleasing God and attaining eternal life by strict adherence to the law of Moses.  Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.” 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) (Romans 10:5-7) In other words, faith in Christ complete the work of Salvation, therefore, no other person must be expected to bring any new law from heaven or the rise from the dead to bring us any new law that will require to follow to attain righteousness and salvation. All we need is faith in Jesus Christ who fulfilled the law on our behalf.

This Jesus is not far away from us, therefore Paul reminds us that “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. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” (Romans 10:8-11). In other words, the Good News is summed up in John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16-17). Repentance and faith in Christ sanctify us and make us righteous before God and not our effort to attain righteousness by following the law of Moses. Paul further clarifies the Good News, when he earlier wrote in his letter to the Romans, “But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known (to those of the Old Testament), to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe (from Jesus’ time and beyond). There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:21-24) Dear friends, if God had asked us to do something that requires our energy and time to be saved we would do it. Still, the Good News is that we have not been asked to sacrifice anything but to repent, accept and believe in Jesus Christ, become His disciple and follow his teachings and examples to be saved. Jesus has fulfilled the law on our behalf and completed the work of salvation on our behalf. All that is required is repentance, faith and a life of total submission to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

In summary, we have learnt that the substance of the Good News is that no one can be saved through righteousness that is given through obedience to the law but everyone will be saved through faith in Jesus Christ. Shalom.

PRAYER

Holy Spirit, empower the church to be an agent of the Good News in the world so that many will come to the saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.