14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? 15 And how will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim good news of good things!”
16 However, they did not all heed the good news, for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
18 But I say, have they never heard? On the contrary, they have;
“Their voice has gone out into all the earth,
And their words to the ends of the world.”
19 But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says,
“I will make you jealous by that which is not a nation,
By a nation without understanding will I anger you.”
20 And Isaiah is very bold and says,
“I was found by those who did not seek Me,
I became manifest to those who did not ask for Me.”
21 But as for Israel He says, “All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.” Romans 10: 14-21 LSB
Romans 10: 14-21
V. 14 How will they call on Him in whom they have not believed - Christ has to be presented, the Gospel preached, and in order to do this one must know the true gospel. What is the gospel? It is that there is God, the uncreated Being, there is man, created in the image of God, but fallen. The gospel tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and it calls us to repent and believe in the One God sent to reconcile us to Him. Sadly, we are warned that there are those out there who will preach another gospel, one that doesn't convict men of sin and of God's righteousness, one that preaches another Christ, one that doesn't save. The gospel is received by faith, which is a gift of God and not of works. The most reluctant evangelist of all time was Jonah, and he did not want to tell the people of Nineveh to repent because he was afraid they might, and so he would have left them without a preacher, but God changed his mind.
5And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least. 6When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let no man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink.…
…8Furthermore, let both man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and have everyone call out earnestly to God. Let each one turn from his evil ways and from the violence in his hands. 9Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.” 10When God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—He relented from the disaster He had threatened to bring upon them.…
Jonah 3: 5-10
…5By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. 7By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.… Hebrews 11: 5-7
…3I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ. 4For if someone comes and proclaims a Jesus other than the One we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the One you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it way too easily. 5I consider myself in no way inferior to those “super-apostles.”… 2 Corinthians 11: 3-5
6I am amazed how quickly you are deserting the One who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7which is not even a gospel. Evidently some people are troubling you and trying to distort the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be under a curse!…
…9As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be under a curse! 10Am I now seeking the approval of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. 11For I certify to you, brothers, that the gospel I preached was not devised by man.… Galatians 1: 6-11
V. 15 And how will they preach unless they are sent - Every believer is a sent one, to your family, to your friends, to your place of work, and if you are unwilling to proclaim the gospel there then you would not be much of a missionary elsewhere. If you won't proclaim the good news to those closest to you, then I dare say that you do not love them so much as you want them to like you. Of course there will be trepidation, for people are proud and don't want to be convicted of sin, the very first part of the gospel is the most repelling thing to them. It's okay to be afraid, but it is not okay to live there. Turn to God in prayer, pray for the courage and strength to speak but also to live up to what you speak. As a Calvinist I know that salvation is of the Lord, but that same Lord has also divinely instituted the means. His Scriptures tell us that faith, which is a gift of God, comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. So study the word of God, live what it teaches, and then I pray that we will be ready to give an answer for the hope that is in us, to everyone around us, otherwise all our talk of empathy and compassion is really just the cruelest fiction.
MacArthur sums up Ro 10:14, 15 noting that "Paul’s main point in this series of rhetorical questions is that a clear presentation of the gospel message must precede true saving faith. True faith always has content—the revealed Word of God. Salvation comes to those who hear and believe the facts of the gospel." - Precept Austin
…18All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God.… 2 Corinthians 5: 18-20
V. 16 However, they did not all heed the good news - People's response, even their hostility, does not dictate whether we share the gospel or not. In fact, Jesus' rejection and death was prophesied by Isaiah 700 years before it happened.
…25“I already told you,” Jesus replied, “but you did not believe. The works I do in My Father’s name testify on My behalf. 26But because you are not My sheep, you refuse to believe. 27My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.… John 10: 25-27
Vs. 17-18 Hearing by the word of Christ - It is not about you, your charisma, your great argumentation, no, it is about the Holy Spirit working upon the hearts of those who God set His affection on before time began, and called to believe in His gospel.
So faith comes from hearing - The gospel is preached in the power of the Holy Spirit and is heard. The same Spirit births faith in the gospel message in the hearts of the elect. This is a supernatural transaction which saved sinners have the awesome privilege to participate in and cooperate with God's Spirit, by obediently speaking forth the word of truth by which God brings new birth! (cp Jas 1:18-note, Jn 3:7, 8) - PA
13But we should always thank God for you, brothers who are loved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning to be saved by the sanctification of the Spirit and by faith in the truth. 14To this He called you through our gospel, so that you may share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15Therefore, brothers, stand firm and cling to the traditions we taught you, whether by speech or by letter.… 2 Thessalonians 2: 13-15
Into all the earth - This phrase appears first in the sentence to emphasize the universal accessibility of general revelation. Creation gives worldwide, ample witness of the Creator so that it is little wonder that those who desire to suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Ro 1:18-note) advocate natural evolution and abhor supernatural creation!
F F Bruce comments that "This might seem an exaggeration: the gospel had not been carried throughout all the earth, not even to all the lands that were known to the inhabitants of the Graeco-Roman world. Paul was well aware of that; at this very time he was planning the evangelization of Spain, a province where the name of Christ was not yet known (cp Ro 15:18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24-note). But But by now the gospel had been carried to most parts of the Mediterranean area where Jews were to be found; and that is all the argument requires." - PA
Vs. 19-20 Did Israel not know - The Jews had been told that Messiah would come, would be rejected by His own, and that Gentiles would be called in. Israel was actually supposed to be a light to the other nations. Some look at Scripture, especially new Christians and they say, "How is it possible that Israel did not believe, did not accept the Messiah, given what was foretold about Him by Moses and the prophets, you see, look at it, I believed without knowing all that they had before them." If you truly believed then it was because you were born of the Spirit. One can know a lot of facts, memorize many things that God said, but unless you are born again you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
…20He said: “I will hide My face from them; I will see what will be their end. For they are a perverse generation—children of unfaithfulness. 21They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation without understanding. 22For a fire has been kindled by My anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol; it consumes the earth and its produce, and scorches the foundations of the mountains.… Deuteronomy 32: 20-22
I will make you jealous by that which is not a nation - In other words Gentiles will be saved and Jews will become jealous of their salvation. This is amazing grace and justice combined to bring about God's intended purpose of redemption of the world. When Israel rejected the Messiah, God sent the Gospel to the Gentiles so that they might be saved which is what Moses had predicted (Dt 32:21). Paul had alluded to the truth of Gentile salvation in Romans 9 (see Ro 9:22, 23, 24, 25, 26).
One reason why God sent the Gospel to the Gentiles was that they might provoke the Jews to jealousy (Ro 10:19 11:11). It was an act of grace both to the Jews and to the Gentiles. The Prophet Isaiah predicted too that God would save the Gentiles (Isa 65:1). The very calling of the Gentiles, predicted and interpreted as it is in the passages quoted, should itself have been a message to the Jews, which they could not misunderstand; it should have opened their eyes as a lightning flash to the position in which they stood—that of men who had forfeited their place among the people of God—and provoked them, out of jealousy, to vie with these outsiders in welcoming the righteousness of faith.” - PA
V. 21 All day long I have stretched out My hand to a disobedient and obstinate people - It is like the proverbs about wisdom crying out in the market place but everyone is too busy and disinterested to hear her. God had not been closer to, or made Himself more known to a people than the Jews. He has punished their wickedness and heard their repentance all throughout history, but it was always and only by the power of His own hand that they heard or repented.
…46And He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47and in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things.… Luke 24: 46-48
…3because of the evil they have done. They provoked Me to anger by continuing to burn incense and to serve other gods that neither they nor you nor your fathers ever knew. 4Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets again and again, saying: ‘Do not do this detestable thing that I hate.’ 5But they did not listen or incline their ears; they did not turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods.… Jeremiah 44: 3-5
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