Matthew Henry Commentary Romans 10

The Jews built on a false foundation and refused to come to Christ for free salvation by faith, and many people in every age do the same in various ways. The strictness of the law showed people their need for salvation by grace, through faith. And the ceremonies foreshadowed Christ as fulfilling the righteousness and bearing the curse of the law.

So, even under the law, all who were justified before God obtained that blessing by faith, by which they became partakers of the perfect righteousness of the promised Redeemer. The law is not destroyed, nor is the intention of the Lawgiver thwarted; but full satisfaction having been made by the death of Christ for our breach of the law, the goal is accomplished.

That is, Christ has fulfilled the whole law; therefore, whoever believes in him is counted as righteous before God, just as though he had fulfilled the whole law himself. Sinners could never persist in vain imaginations of their own righteousness if they knew the justice of God as a Governor, or his righteousness as a Saviour.

The self-condemned sinner need not perplex himself about how this righteousness may be found. When we speak of looking upon Christ, and receiving, and feeding upon him, it is not Christ in heaven, nor Christ in the deep, that we mean; but Christ in the promise, Christ offered in the word. Justification by faith in Christ is a plain doctrine.

It is brought before the mind and heart of everyone, thus leaving him without excuse for unbelief. If a man confessed faith in Jesus as the Lord and Saviour of lost sinners, and really believed in his heart that God had raised him from the dead, thus showing that he had accepted the atonement, he should be saved by the righteousness of Christ, imputed to him through faith.

But no faith is justifying which is not powerful in sanctifying the heart, and regulating all its affections by the love of Christ. We must devote and give up to God our souls and our bodies: our souls in believing with the heart, and our bodies in confessing with the mouth.

The believer shall never have cause to regret his confident trust in the Lord Jesus. Of such faith no sinner shall be ashamed before God; and he ought to glory in it before men.

There is not one God for the Jews who is more kind, and another for the Gentiles who is less kind; the Lord is a Father to all people. The promise is the same to all who call on the name of the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, as God manifest in the flesh. All believers, therefore, call upon the Lord Jesus, and no one else will do so humbly or sincerely.

But how could anyone call on the Lord Jesus, the Divine Saviour, who had not heard of Him? And what is the life of a Christian but a life of prayer? It shows that we feel our dependence on Him, are ready to commit ourselves to Him, and have a believing expectation of all things from Him. It was necessary that the gospel be preached to the Gentiles.

Someone must show them what they are to believe. How welcome the gospel ought to be to those to whom it was preached! The gospel is given not only to be known and believed, but also to be obeyed. It is not a system of mere ideas, but a rule of practice.

The beginning, progress, and strength of faith come by hearing. But it is only hearing the word as the word of God that will strengthen faith.

Did not the Jews know that the Gentiles were to be called in? They might have known it from Moses and Isaiah. Isaiah speaks plainly of the grace and favor of God, as taking the initiative in receiving the Gentiles. Was not this our own case?

Did not God begin in love, and make himself known to us when we did not seek him? The patience of God towards provoking sinners is wonderful. The time of God's patience is called a day, light as day, and suitable for work and activity; but limited as a day, and there is a night at the end of it.

God's patience makes man's disobedience worse, and renders it more sinful. We may wonder at the mercy of God, that his goodness is not overcome by man's badness; we may wonder at the wickedness of man, that his badness is not overcome by God's goodness. And it is a matter of joy to think that God has sent the message of grace to so many millions, by the widespread reach of his gospel.