The larger question in Romans 9 -11 is, “why are the Jews rejecting the gospel”?  And we know v14-17, our key verses for today, connect to this message because of the way Paul begins, “How then (therefore) will they call on him….”

As the gospel was going out, Gentiles were flocking to the church, which confused people and enraged the Jews. With the Jews, Paul has two main issues he addresses in these chapters: their adherence to obtaining righteousness through works, the pursuit of the law through self-effort, self-worship, produced the needed justification to stand before God (Romans 9:32); and, their hatred of the fact the Gentiles were being included in the gospel.  As we approach our Scripture for today, Paul leads with, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13) which no doubt infuriated the Jews, given this hatred for the Gentile inclusion  Then, Paul effectively moves into a subtle rebuke regarding this hatred.

Paul’s argument began in the earlier versions of this section of Romans 10, which we covered in part one, where he teaches that there is A Call from Scripture (v11) for everyone.  Quoting from Isaiah 28:16, Paul, in Romans 10:11, reminds the Jews, ”For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put so shame.’” This makes no mention of works, but is a reminder of a call to faith in Christ, the trusted, precious cornerstone.  Do not trust in your own philosophies, traditions, superstitions, foolish wisdom…effectively, trust not on yourself.  With this faith in Christ, you will have within you assurance of your belief, you will not be put to shame, you will not be disappointed.

We then examined that there is A Call to Everyone (v12-13).  With God, no soul is more important to than another, he is Lord of all.  In Christ, with God’s love, there is no prejudice.  All that God does, including the election of Israel, is done through God’s extension of mercy; however, the Jews did not understand this, which blinded them to see that God was free to extend His mercy to all.  Without prejudice all who call on the Lord will be saved.  This call is a call to worship, a call to salvation, and to all who turn in this way, to solely worship and serve Him, will be saved, delivered from eternal condemnation, our enslavement to sin.  Deliverance is this grace God grants us through our justification in Jesus Christ. 

As we move into our section of Scripture for today, Paul begins to address with the Gentiles how one is saved, how it is accomplished.  Today, we learn that a person becomes the “whosoever believes” through a Preacher, that happens because of “A Call from a Preacher”.

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14  How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed?  And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?  And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

15  And how are they to preach unless they are sent?  As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

16  But they have not all obeyed the gospel.  For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?”

17  So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

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A Call from a Preacher (v14-17)

God sends a messenger (v14-15)

Salvation is a result of a calling and that calling is on the name of the Lord.  What is this message and how is it sent out?  The message is the gospel and it has to come from a messenger.  A messenger is necessary to take the gospel to someone else because truth precedes faith: information must be conveyed before it can be believed.  In order to understand what is being communicated in verse 15, we have to understand the questions Paul asks.

Faith is the calling of God, who opens the eyes and the heart of the mind of the person so they might believe; but, before that call comes, they have not believed.  Note the word for “believed” in this text is not the word for saving faith, but rather information that is conveyed.  The person has to understand the facts, the truth, the reality of what they are calling upon before they can call upon it.  Therefore, the message of Christ has to go out, it has to be conveyed.  The ability of Christ to save, to help, has to be understood.

This is God’s divine mind and design.  He gave us His truth and this truth is taken up by a person (a messenger) and that person then goes and delivers the gospel message to somebody else, which then allows that person to call upon the name of the Lord.  The one called must first have the information.  How can they call on the name of the Lord without the information of the gospel message?  Obviously, they cannot.

“How will they believe in him whom they have never heard?” (LSB).  The message of Christ has to be given and the message must be audible, it has to be spoken.  The recipient needs to hear Christ.  What are the implications of this statement?  Jesus is present when the message is being given and Jesus has to be heard through this preacher, this messenger.  Christ is behind the message.  Christ is behind the preacher.  Christ is with the gospel as it goes out.  In the giving of the message, the audible voice of Christ is heard!  We must be diligent to deliver the message according to the truth of Scripture in a way that honors and glorifies God because in the end, the recipient is hearing Christ, not you!  If they submit to the call, they are submitting to the call of Christ coming through the messenger.

The Scriptures are reverent and they must be presented as from Christ.  With great fear and trepidation is truth taught from the pulpit and the same way is the message of salvation delivered to the unbeliever.  Therefore, Listen to what Christ is saying through the person, God’s messenger.  See and hear Christ in the messenger, taking your eyes off the imperfections of the one who is delivering the message.

The preacher must present this information so that the person might be able to call on the name of the Lord.  This preacher is a person with strengths, weaknesses and his own personality. And God always presents His truth mediated through the personality of the messenger, which we find in 2 Peter 1.21, “No prophecy was ever produced by the will of man but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”  Again, this is God’s design.  And in this design, we are able to set aside the weaknesses of the messenger because of the truth that is being presented so that the power of the message is God in God’s word in spite of the weakness of the person. Why is this so good?  Because God, not man, then gets the glory.  God chooses weak vessels for this very reason, Paul being a model example.  Not known for being an eloquent speaker, God used Paul to do profound things for His kingdom.  We need to love God’s messenger, the one who is truly delivering God’s truth, regardless of what we think of the person delivering it.

As we look at the word “preach”, in the Greek, “kerysso”, which means “proclaim, herald, preach”, we find it to be a formal, public proclamation of the truth of the gospel.  It is the same idea as to what is done from the pulpit of our church each Sunday.  It is “proclaimed truth”.  The people of Rome hearing Paul’s message would have understood the significance of this word because Caesar would issue decrees then send out heralds who would give to the people the words of the decrees.  To err in any way in delivering this decree would result in the death of the herald.  This weighty implication  carries over to the messenger who is delivering God’s truth: it is to be communicated in a very specific way.  We must get this right!

Why is this important as Paul is talking with the Jews?  This truth from God has been formally proclaimed to them.  It is Christ behind these preachers and it is God who has ordained them to communicate it to you.  “How are they to preach unless they are sent”?  The preacher is recognized by the church, but the person also has this inward call, this God-given desire that they know they have the need to proclaim the truth of the gospel.  As this call surfaces, as the inward “roar of the lion” echoes and grows and never ceases, the church recognizes and confirms this calling, the church leaders lay hands on that person and send them out.  (See Acts 13:1-2)  As an aside, failure of the one called to obey it will yield consequences; but, it is not uncommon for the person called to begin to experience such consequences before submitting to the call..

This commissioning is how the gospel is spread, how the kingdom grows, how people come to know the Lord.  This is God’s design, both an internal and an external call.  The Jews have sat under this formal preaching, teaching of the gospel and they continue in their rejection of Christ.  That is the thrust of the teaching and there is a warning to them, as we will see in the later verses of Romans 10.  The underlying principle in this message is that every believer is effectively a preacher, called to share the gospel with his family, friends, coworkers, all who are in the sphere of that person’s influence.  Do not miss this point!

Additionally, do not miss the point that the gospel must be heard before someone can be saved!  Acts 4:12 tells us, “And there is salvation in no one else (but Jesus), for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”  In that, we must trust in the sovereignty of God.  Every Christian is a herald, a proclaimer, a messenger of the truth with a responsibility to share this truth with other people.  There are consequences in failing to fulfill this responsibility.  This, too, is God’s design. God wants His people to verbalize His truth so that His chosen can respond and call on the name of Jesus.  The gospel must go out to those that stand condemned in their humanity, those who exist outside the kingdom of God and are accountable to God in their knowledge and what they do with that knowledge.

This beautiful message must go out!  In Romans 10:15, Paul again leads with a quote from an Old Testament prophet, using Isaiah 52:7, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” Paul continues to remind Israel that her prophets have already said this.  The gospel has been proclaimed since the Patriarchs.  Israel is not ignorant of this truth. God is doing what He has always done: proclaiming His message, His truth, to His people. Yet, Israel, God’s chosen people, rejected Christ, a rejection that continues to this day, which accounts for Israel’s ongoing, current troubles.  Israel, by God’s design, was to be God’s messenger to proclaim His gospel; yet, Israel rejected the message

As Paul is quoting this passage, speaking of the beauty of the feet of the messenger, it is with a deep affection, a deep emotion of love.  What an overwhelming relief, what inexplicable joy it is that we have this good news, so that we can call on the name of the Lord and have salvation!  This messenger comes with such beautiful feet because of the good news he carries.  One day, God will reward those beautiful feet (1 Corinthians 3) for being stewards of the message He granted them to take.

Consider: how beautiful are your feet?  When you understand the reality of the gospel, the joy and reconciliation to be had with God and the shame to be reconciled (by the new believer who responds to the call!), when you understand the God you worship, your feet should be “running” with the good news! God is watching.  To what are you running (or running away from!)?

Practically speaking, regularly opening and ingesting God’s word is a form of readying your feet (to be beautiful!), preparing them to run with the good news.  It changes your mind, it changes your thoughts.  It is Romans 12:1-2 in action.  As we age, and we begin to slow down, our running might begin to look more like a steady walk, we should be encouraging others to run and run faster.  Find someone that you can mentor.  

This leads to our second point for today, which is.

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God gives the message (v16-17)

We are supposed to call people to obedience to the gospel.  Repentance is commanded.  People to whom the gospel is given are not worshiping God, but themselves are they worshiping.  Evangelism is a call to obedience.  To call on the name of the Lord is to be obedient.  Baptism is the second step of obedience; responding in faith and obedience to the gospel is the first.  Repentance is a call to worship Christ and Christ alone.  It is a very specific command and our evangelism has a very specific focus of worship.

Unfortunately, we have to take with us the very certain reality that only a few are going to obey.  Not all who hear the gospel will obey.  As it was with the prophet Isaiah when he delivered God’s message to Israel, so it is for us.  Regardless, our running should be no less fervent.  Our obedience should be unwavering.  The focus of evangelism must be full-stop the glory of God, His glory alone and nothing else.  As worshipers of God live out their lives in worship to Him, giving Him glory, we call other people to worship Him, to give glory to Him, too.  When we are faithful to God, He is glorified through us.

As we close out with verse 17, note that “the Word of Christ” that is heard is “rema”, which means it is the word spoken audibly about who Christ is.  We must audibly speak the gospel to the world, calling them to worship God and God alone.  Now, is it not easier to understand what Paul was communicating when he said that he was determined to know nothing but Christ and to preach nothing but Christ because Christ alone is what saves?  This is what saves and this is to what we are accountable before our God

We preach Christ, we share Christ crucified and resurrected.  This is our commission.  This is our calling.  May God find each of us faithful in that calling.

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Selah

1. As you reflect on the messengers of God’s truth in your life, did you find that there are times when you allow the imperfections of the messenger to blind you to the fact the messenger truly is the audible voice of Christ?

2. Before today, did you see yourself as God’s messenger for His truth?

3. How beautiful are your feet?  Are they running towards God delivering His message to the world around you or are they mired in mud?

4. Do you understand the significance of the truth that has been given to you, granted to you by God’s grace, and do you understand God’s expectations of you as His herald, His messenger of that truth?