Podcast Introduction

Our reading today is ROMANS 9-10, and I’m calling the episode “Beautiful Feet.” 

We’ll be reading about God’s grace, God’s selection, righteousness, the importance of being a preacher, and how that directly relates to you. We’ll do our “On This Day In Church History” segment, and we have another praise report.

Thoughts on Romans 9 

Chapter 9 has some language in it that causes difficulty for some people. Did it get your attention? Here it is again. Paul was quoting Malachi 1:2-3. He said, “As the Scriptures say, ‘I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.’”

What? God hated Esau? What’s up with that?

Well, as it turns out, this type of language in the Hebrew was used more in the comparative sense. God was comparing his affection of the two boys, Jacob and Esau. When God said he hated Esau, the meaning was that He loved Jacob more. It was not an active hate. 

There are other examples of this language in the scriptures. You’ve heard, “He that spareth his rod hateth his son; but he that loveth him chasteneth Him.” That’s Proverbs 13:24. In Matthew 6:24 we read, “No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other”. And the verse that so many misunderstand is when Jesus said in Luke:14:26, “If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother”.

All of these are comparative. Obviously a parent does not actively hate his child by not disciplining him. Of course, withholding discipline is not at all a good way to raise a child, but often times a parent does this because he loves the child too much. Again, this is misguided, but it is not active hate. 

Also, I wear many hats as far as the work I do. When I first began podcasting, I had a windshield repair business. I still do. But now I do podcasting, which is another “master”. I am also a professional voice artist. Another “master”. And I have this great new book. Marketing that is another master.

Guess what. I don’t have the same amount of enthusiasm for each of those things. I enjoy them all, but truth be told, I do have a favorite. That doesn’t mean I hate the others. 

And you know Jesus does not want us to hate our parents in the way that we use the word “hate”. He just meant that we must love Him more than our parents.

Now, as for why God loved Jacob more than Esau, Paul addressed that as well as it can be in the following verses of chapter 9. It sort of boils down to “God is God and we are not.” We really cannot fully understand God’s reasoning, because our minds are so much less than His. As people who trust that God is love, we have to accept His goodness as a matter of faith. And in my own life, He has demonstrated countless times that He is worthy of my faith. So I’m ok with His decisions. 

Thoughts on Romans 10

There are three different verses that I want to zero in on today, and they really encapsulate the Gospel, or the Good News. Remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 18:3 when he said: Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

In all the complexity of Romans, these three verses are so simple that even a child can understand.

The first is the last part of verse 8 and continuing through verse 9:  This is the message of faith that we proclaim: 9If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

That’s it. Boom. Dead simple. Nothing needs to be added, no works for you to do. You cannot add anything to what Jesus already did to bring salvation. It’s done. “If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

And then verse 13 shows us who this Good News is for: For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Everyone. Not those who are “good”. Everyone is included, no one is excluded. There is nothing that can keep you from the salvation that Jesus made available to you, except your own unbelief. Nothing in your past, nothing in your present. “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Verse 14 addresses the thought that if we just live as Jesus followers, people will come to know him. It addresses the thought that, “Well, I don’t want to offend people by telling them about Jesus” and other similar thoughts that seem to be popular these days: But how can they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher? 

My friend, living life as Jesus wants us to is good. It lends credibility to the fact that He has made a difference in our life, but that is not enough. One of the reasons we are here on planet Earth is to help usher others into eternal life. How can our friends, our family, our neighbors, the world be saved from an eternity without God if we do not tell them about this person, this Savior, this God named Jesus? 

When Paul said “how can they hear without a preacher?”, he wasn’t talking about the guy who stands at a pulpit on Sunday. Paul was saying “how can they hear about Jesus unless someone tells them about Him?” 

If you have had your life changed by Jesus Christ, you are qualified, and even called, to carry and proclaim the message. You are the best person that can tell the story of how Jesus changed your life. 

You might be the only preacher that some people will listen to and connect with. 

It’s a simple message. “If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 9-10 HCSB

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