Reading Scripture: Romans 9–10

Marc Chagall: "Moses and His People" (1973)

People often ask: “How can there can be a God who is both just and loving given all the unpunished evil and unmitigated suffering that we witness in this world?” This question betrays a sense that God should judge the world by punishing the wicked but also show mercy by saving the helpless—which is exactly what God does though his timetable is not our timetable and his standards are not our standards. We are all guilty and we are all helpless in God’s eyes. Consider Romans 9:30–10:10:

What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved, for I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge; for, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness; for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes; for Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them, but the righteousness based on faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (i.e. ‘bring Christ down’)” nor ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (i.e. ‘bring Christ up from the dead’).

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (i.e. the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

Unlike the Jews, whose concept of Law was tied to the holiness of God, the laws of non-Jews were primarily a matter of social order not tied to the nature of their gods, who were not known for their morality. Yet more non-Jews than Jews attained the righteousness of God—how could this be?

The non-Jews who attained righteousness did so by accepting their unrighteousness and casting themselves upon the mercy of God, who justified them because: “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” The Jews who stumbled did so because they trusted in their ability to keep the Law, which could have justified them—as it did Jesus—if they were truly holy, but they of course fell short. They failed to tremble before the Law because “being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness;” and they did not appeal to God for mercy because their zeal for God was “not according to knowledge” that “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” They did not understand that justification is by faith.

In Deuteronomy 30:11-14, Moses exhorts Israel regarding the Law: “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.” Paul interprets this passage to mean that we are not tasked with something as impossible as fetching Christ from Heaven or raising him from the dead. We have only to proclaim that he is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead. By this means, Christ becomes “the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” How is this accomplished?

Though Jesus himself is justified by the Law, he is also condemned by the Law on our behalf for owning the sins of those who belong to him. The resurrected Jesus is both holy and a living sacrifice for our sins—but only if he is our Lord (because he does not own the sins of those who do not belong to him) and only if he has been resurrected (because the dead have no claim on the living). This is why Paul says: “For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

One might understandably wonder how confessing Jesus as Lord squares with the teaching that “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”? Consider Romans 6:20-23:

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The larger passage frames our options as either being slaves to sin, which leads to death, or slaves to God, which leads to eternal life. The latter option is only available by the grace of God, in which sense salvation is free to us, but being redeemed means that we now belong to God. Thus we read in 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20: “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.”

Returning to the question of how there can be a God who is both just and loving given all the unpunished evil and unmitigated suffering that we witness in this world, my own understanding is that we are learning empathy for one another and trust in God because this life is merely a period of training for the life to come when we will be tasked with something greater that demands a well-developed sense of empathy and trust.