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Weekly Devotion
Deut. 6:4-5
4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Rom. 3:29-30
29 Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.
The Shema is the central confession of Israel’s faith, drawn primarily from Deuteronomy 6:4–5. It was ancient Israel's creed, the closest thing they had to a formal statement of faith. It also served as a declaration of monotheism — “the LORD is one” distinguishes Israel’s God from the many gods of the surrounding nations. Lastly, it was a call to covenant fidelity — love expressed through exclusive devotion and obedience.
Some scholars believe that Paul's statement, "God is one," in Romans 3:30 is an allusion to the Shema. And that is the force of Paul’s argument. He takes one of the most basic and important Jewish beliefs (monotheism) and turns it against Judaism. In this paragraph Paul makes clear that the Torah and other covenant markers (like circumcision) no longer function as the dividing wall between those who are outside (Gentiles) and those who are inside the sphere of God’s people.
In other words, there is only one universal God. He is the Creator of all people. He is also Yahweh, the personal God of the Jews. Nevertheless, if God is a universal God, then must provide a universal way of being made right with him. That way is through Christ by faith. God’s one provision is the redemptive work of Christ Jesus for all people. It does not matter whether one is a Jew or Gentile, all are justified and accepted by God in the very same way: in Christ alone, by faith alone.