"For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord overall is rich unto all that call upon Him." Romans 10v12
Having explained in verse 10 the result of faith in Christ (namely a right standing with God); and in verse 11 the object of that faith (namely Christ in all His trustworthiness); he now proceeds in verse 12 to declare the scope of this faith, which is that it applies to everyone without exception. This verse is an explanation of the "whosoever" of verse 11. There is no-one outside the scope of divine mercy, there is no-one who cannot benefit from the work of Christ, but it requires co-operation with God as we shall see in the next verse. Paul begins with what has been his topic from the very beginning; that there is no difference between the Jews, whom God used as a sample of humanity (and in the process of which, they received special blessing) and the other nations of men who were temporarily outside of the blessing of God. He has made this a foundation truth of the Roman epistle from chapter 1 onwards: Chapter 1v16: Chapter 2v9: Chapter 2v10: Chapter 3v29: Chapter 9v30-31: Chapter 10v12: Chapter 15 v8-19. In these occurrences the apostle, continually returns to this theme that in the gospel of Jesus Christ, God is now dealing with all men on exactly the same basis; there is no difference.
The other occurrence of this phrase is in chapter 3 v 22-23 where he has said "there is no difference for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." There Paul says that all men need to be saved and now here in chapter 10v12 he says there is no difference, for all can now be saved. If we make chapter 3 v 22-23 as applying to all men without exception, we must also apply the same teaching concerning their salvation. All men are sinners, all men can be saved. There is no other explanation of the word "whosoever." Again, Paul continues "the same Lord over all, is rich unto all that call upon Him." The existence of those two little words "over all" makes it clear that he is speaking here of all men without exception. Is he not Lord over all with out exception? Yes indeed He is. To that same group of people, all men over whom He is Lord, He is also rich unto them who call upon Him. There is no limitation whatsoever in the divine offer of mercy, the only limitation is in the refusal of the human heart to recognize the mercy of God.
The New Testament describes the offer of righteousness to all mankind in terms of incalculable riches; "unto me who am less than the least of all saints is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." Ephesians 2v8 The only other place where this word "unsearchable" appears is in Romans 11v33 where the same writer says "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgements and His ways past finding out." The phrase "past finding out" is the same word used in Ephesians 2v8 to describe the divine offer of grace to the world. Beyond human computation, untold riches beyond imagination, is what it all means. In a world dragged down by merely material considerations, sadly this appears to mean very little; but when we consider that all material things are going to finally evaporate into nothingness, we begin to understand the value of God's rich mercy and grace toward sinful man. "The same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him," A generous God, generous beyond human understanding is offering to the world a currency beyond this world that is of eternal value. Later on in chapter 11 of this epistle Paul describes the fall of Israel from the grace of God like this "Through their defection, salvation is come unto the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fullness?" Romans 11v11-12 Did we catch what Paul is saying? The Lord is offering to the nations of the world what he describes as RICHES.
In a materialistic world, could we possibly grasp the fact that there are riches beyond the material, from the hand of the very One who made all things which are in existence. The wonder of it all is that in material terms it will cost you NOTHING. The riches of heaven are offered by the Lord of heaven to all that call upon Him. What is that going to cost you? Open your mouth and call upon Him because He wants to start you on the road to untold spiritual riches beyond anything that this world has to offer.
Next we shall consider what it means to "call upon Him."
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