Equally Needy

Although everything Paul has written in chapters 9 and 10 has been leading up to it, his statement in verse 12 still must have been stunning to his first-century readers. He writes, “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek.” The Jews were God’s chosen people, the recipients of the manifold blessings Paul outlined in Romans 9:4–5. Though scattered about the cities of the empire, the Jews maintained a certain separation, an insularity. They were in the habit of avoiding gentiles lest they become ritually unclean, and gentiles were used to being avoided by Jews. No distinction? Everything in the history of the Jews, everything in their way of life, suggested an enormous distinction. And yet, Paul is able to support his argument with two irrefutable facts.

First, there is no distinction between Jew and Greek because there is only one God. “The same Lord” is the God of the Jews and of all other peoples. Of course, the various gentile kingdoms and cultures recognize various other gods. But those gods can do nothing. It is the God of Israel, the one true God, who creates and sustains all people, both Jews and gentiles—just as Paul declared in idol-filled Athens: “ ‘In Him we live and move and have our being’ ” (Acts 17:28a). And this one God does not offer salvation only to Jews, and neither does He offer varying ways to be saved. “Because there is only one God, it is reasonable to expect that in matters of salvation this one God will treat all His creatures on an equal basis,” Dr. James M. Boice writes. Second, there is no distinction between Jew and Greek because all stand lost and helpless before Him. Paul communicates this truth by noting that God richly blesses those who call on Him. “ ‘Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved,’ ” he writes, quoting Joel 2:32. Anyone who will do so is free to call out to God for salvation, and all who would be saved must do so. The distinction is between those who call and those who do not, between saved and lost.

What does it mean to call on the name of God? Boice notes that in the Old Testament it is used of worship (Gen. 4:26), prayer (1 Kings 18:24), and praise (Ps. 116:13), but in the New Testament it means to believe or trust Jesus (Acts 9:14–21; 1 Cor. 1:2). The gospel offer is made to all—call to God with faith in Christ, and you will be saved.