The visitors made a promising start as Magnus Eikrem put them ahead in the 26th minute, but they were pegged back by Mitchell Donald's goal just seven minutes later.
Roda then went ahead on the hour mark as Krisztian Nemeth struck before Alfred Finnbogason made it 2-2 with his ninth goal of an incredible start to the new season.
And, though Joey van den Berg followed that up by putting Heerenveen 3-2 ahead in the 67th minute, Guus Hupperts' reply soon after ensured that the points were shared.
That result allowed FC Twente to climb up to second place as they earned a comfortable 3-0 away win over Heracles.
Goals from Rasmus Bengsston and Kyle Ebecilio allied to a late Dusan Todic penalty helped Michel Jansen's side to all three points.
Groningen also moved up the table on Saturday, settling in sixth place after thumping RKC Waalwijk 4-1 at home.
Incredibly, the first of the game's five goals came in the 68th minute when Nick van der Velden struck before Genero Zeefuik added a second just two minutes later.
And, despite Aurelien Joachim reducing the deficit to one goal soon after, the hosts pulled away thanks to further strikes from Krisztian Adorjan and Michael de Leeuw.
At the other end of the league, the Eredivisie's bottom two teams, ADO Den Haag and NEC, shared a 1-1 draw that did little to help either side.
Mathias Gehrt gave the hosts the lead in the second half, but Christoph Hemlein equalised with just over a quarter of an hour to go.
