Romans 10:1Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The Apostle is again about to accuse the Jews, and more strongly than before. Therefore he again removes from himself every suspicion of hostility and uses an extended preliminary explanation.

Do not pay attention to the words and rebukes, he says, but to the fact that I proclaim this without hostile intent.

It is not proper for the same person to desire the Jews' salvation, and not only to desire it but to pray for it, while also hating and abhorring them.

By the word "good pleasure" the Apostle here means a strong desire. Notice that his prayer also comes from the heart. He does not take great care and pray so that the Jews may escape punishment, but so that they may also be saved.

Intending to strike the Jews, he first softens the blow with a brief word, lest they think that what follows comes from hostility toward them. He speaks of the desire of his heart, that is, of his will, his intense longing, and even his prayer for the Jews, that they may not only be freed from punishment but also saved. How, he says, can I be hostile to you, when I pray to God for your salvation?

When he says, "Brethren, the desire of my heart and my prayer to God for Israel is for salvation," he begins to speak of his hope concerning the Jews, so that the Gentiles may not dare to grow proud over them. Just as the pride of the Jews had to be exposed, because they boasted in works, so also the pride of the Gentiles had to be exposed, lest they imagine that they were preferred to the Jews.

Since Paul wishes to free the Jews from the law, which is like a veil over their faces, yet does not wish to seem a hater of them, he shows his love for them and speaks well of the law. But he teaches that the time for obedience to the law has passed. By this he bears witness to his desire to help them, if only they will listen to him and not regard him as an enemy.

Here the Apostle called strong desire "good pleasure." For he says, "I earnestly desire and pray that they may obtain salvation."

In the preceding chapter (Rom 9:1-3), the divine Apostle clearly and demonstratively affirmed that he had great sorrow and unceasing grief because the Israelites, his brethren and kinsmen according to the flesh, were not turning to Christ.

He desired and prayed so greatly that they might believe in Christ and receive salvation that he himself wished to be separated from Christ, that is, from the kingdom of God.

Then, after speaking as if in passing both to their praise and to their condemnation, he returns again to the same subject. He affirms most clearly that the Israelites are his brethren and kinsmen according to the flesh, and that he desires their salvation and prays to God for it.

"My prayer to God for Israel is for salvation." The Apostle prays for the salvation of Israel, showing by this that he did not consider the rejection of the Israelites final.

"I bear them witness," the Apostle cries here concerning the Hebrews, "that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God," that is, the means of justification offered by God, "and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes" (Rom 10:1-4).

The Apostle calls Christ the end of the law in every sense. He is the end in the sense of the law's most perfect fulfillment by Christ (Mt 5:17). He is the end as the goal the law had concerning men, a goal attained only through Christ.

In explaining more clearly the Hebrews' error about the manner of justification, the Apostle Paul first expresses his sincere desire for their salvation. He then shows that the Hebrews misunderstood the matter of justification.

They wrongly thought they could be justified by their own works, mostly empty ones. They had abandoned what is higher in the law, mercy and justice. Above all, they had forgotten the goal of the whole law: justification through Christ the Savior.

It is true that the Hebrews, especially the Pharisees and scribes, could find grounds for their conviction about justification through works in the Mosaic law. There it was said, "The man who does them shall live by them" (Lev 18:5).

After the words, "because not by faith," the Jews could object: Are we not of faith? Who shows zeal for God more than we do?

The Apostle intends to explain to them that, despite this zeal, they are all not of faith, because they have directed their zeal wrongly. In this way he will pronounce a most painful rebuke against them.

Therefore he again assures them of his goodwill toward them, so as to soften the rebuke and dispose those who hear his word toward peaceful obedience.

He says, "The good pleasure of my heart," that is, my good will toward you, is not only on my tongue. My whole heart is full of it. With all my heart I desire, and I always pray to God, that all Israel may obtain salvation.