Paul (a Jew/Israelite himself) continues to describe the sad state of so many of his Israelite friends who refuse to come to Jesus. And yet, he hasn't judged them or given up on them.
STOP, PRAY AND READ Romans 10
Paul longs to see his non-Christian friends trust and follow Jesus and know God personally, especially his fellow Israelites, but it seems like these guys are the least likely because of their attitude and approach to God at that time. They're relying so much on their own goodness that they miss the goodness of God. Like so many today, they trust in their own ways and their own efforts thinking there's nothing better. They're wrong. There is Jesus!
Jesus is closer than these people might think. If they stopped trying so hard to climb up and find God, they might realise that God has come down and his Spirit today is inviting them to be right with God by believing Jesus and to be rescued from sin by asking him for forgiveness.
If you're not trusting and following Jesus yet - If you don't yet have peace and friendship with God - Can you hear God the Holy Spirit's invitation even now?
Romans 10:9
...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.
What's your response? Reading the rest of this blog can wait till you're done talking to him!
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Paul is on the mission that every Christian should be on. He lives to tell people about Jesus and to send others to tell people about Jesus so everyone can hear, understand, believe and benefit from this good news from God.
Paul knows that some people will not believe. The Israelites had a massive historical advantage when it came to knowing God and they were the first to hear about Jesus but many were stubborn and hard-hearted and rejected him. Since that time and still today, the good news has been going out to everyone else. It's for everybody! If people tell us they don't want to know about Jesus, we can't force them to change their mind. We love them and we don't give up friendship with them but we also keep looking for people who want to hear, understand and believe the good news about Jesus so they too can be rescued from sin and made right with God.
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