Book of Common Prayer

10 My dear family, the longing of my heart, and my prayer to God on their behalf, is for their salvation. ² I can testify on their behalf that they have a zeal for God; but it is not based on knowledge. ³ They were ignorant, you see, of God’s covenant faithfulness, and they were trying to establish a covenant status of their own; so they didn’t submit to God’s faithfulness. ⁴ The Messiah, you see, is the goal of the law, so that covenant membership may be available for all who believe.

The fulfillment of the covenant

⁵ Moses writes, you see, about the covenant membership defined by the law, that “the person who performs the law’s commands shall live in them.” ⁶ But the faith-based covenant membership puts it like this: “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who shall go up to heaven?’ ” (in other words, to bring the Messiah down), ⁷ “or, ‘Who shall go down into the depths?’ ” (in other words, to bring the Messiah up from the dead). ⁸ But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we proclaim); ⁹ because if you profess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ Why? Because covenant membership comes by believing with the heart, and salvation comes by professing with the mouth. ¹¹ The Bible says, you see, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, since the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich towards all who call upon him. ¹³ “All who call upon the name of the Lord,” you see, “will be saved.”

The call to the world, and the failure of Israel

¹⁴ So how are they to call on someone when they haven’t believed in him? And how are they to believe if they don’t hear? And how will they hear without someone announcing it to them? ¹⁵ And how will people make that announcement unless they are sent? As the Bible says, “How beautiful are the feet of the ones who bring good news of good things.”

Other parables

⁴⁴ “The kingdom of heaven,” Jesus continued, “is like treasure hidden in a field. Someone found it and hid it, and in great delight went off and sold everything he possessed, and bought that field.

⁴⁵ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a trader who was looking for fine pearls, ⁴⁶ and who found one that was spectacularly valuable. He went off and sold everything he possessed, and bought it.

⁴⁷ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea, and collected every type of fish. ⁴⁸ When it was full, the fishermen brought it to shore. They sat down and selected the good ones, which they put into a bucket; but they threw out the bad ones. ⁴⁹ That’s what it will be like at the close of the age. The angels will go off and separate the wicked from the righteous, ⁵⁰ and they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

⁵¹ “Have you understood all this?” asked Jesus.

“Yes,” they answered.

⁵² “Well, then,” he said to them, “every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his storeroom some new things and some old things.”