The book of Romans presents the need for the gospel by all peoples, Jew and Gentile, in a straightforward manner that emphasizes the necessity of putting faith in Jesus Christ and following the gospel message instead of adhering to self-determined religion or the Law of Moses. The Jews had assumed a natural right to a relationship with God, but Paul informed them that Jew and Gentile both had to go through Christ to have this relationship. Indeed God will accept people only on this basis and will reject all that refuse to accept Jesus according to His word (Rom. 11:22ff). Therefore, being "Israel" is a matter of having the right relationship with God rather than having the "proper" lineage. It is in this context that Paul quotes from Isaiah 59:20, "And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob" (Rom. 11:26).

The word Paul uses in this instance is a participle from the Greek verb ruomai meaning, "the One who rescues." In the Septuagint it translates two different Hebrew words-ga'al, which is usually translated redeem with an emphasis on those who are rescued, and natsal, which emphasizes the act required to deliver. The Greek word differs from Redeemer and Savior in that Redeemer refers to the cost and Savior to preservation. Ruomai has in mind the rescuing act by which a person is snatched from the clutches of imminent danger. Therefore, though the person might be both redeemed and saved in a particular situation, when ruomai is used the author is thinking of the danger survived. For this reason, this word is used by the mockers in reference to Christ on the cross (Mt. 27:42), to refer to being saved from enemies (Lk. 1:74), and to escaping persecution (Rom. 15:31; 2 Co. 1:10; 2 Th. 3:2; 2 Tim. 3:11; 2 Tim. 4:17-18; 2 Pet. 2:7).

But when God sent Christ to be our Deliverer, He had much greater horrors than these in mind. As souls who have transgressed God's will, we had placed ourselves in a precarious position, teetering on the brink of spiritual disaster. We needed someone to deliver us from the surety of our fate as we allowed sin to reign in our bodies (Rom. 7:24). We needed someone to pry the hands of the evil one from around our necks (Mt. 6:13; Lk. 11:4). We needed ever so desperately for someone to step in among those of us who proved our own weakness and free us from the power of darkness (Col. 1:13). We, who through our own sin had separated ourselves from God (Isa. 59:2), needed someone to reach out to us to deliver us from the wrath to come (1 Th. 1:10). We needed someone to pull us out from the death grip temptation seemed to have on us (2 Pet. 2:9). We needed a Deliverer. We needed Jesus Christ. Before He came, it was as if we had marched off into battle only to be captured and tortured due to our own folly. But thanks be to God for knowing of our need and caring for us despite our folly. He sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins, to provide release from the bonds that held us, to be the Deliverer.