THE HEARING THAT LEADS TO FAITH
Romans 10:1-21
This
chapter begins in a way similar to the beginning of chapter 9. Chapter 9 began with Paul expressing his
concern for his fellow Jews. He said
that he could have wished himself to be “accused, separated from Christ”
for the sake of his fellow Israelites (9:3).
Now in chapter 10, he begins by saying that his heart’s desire and
prayer for
And yet, as we come to this
chapter, there will be a distinct change of emphasis. The issue in chapter 9 was the sovereignty of
God. The issue now is
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Romans 9 |
Romans 10 |
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Emphasis upon
the sovereignty of God in electing some to be saved |
Emphasis upon
the responsibility of man in believing the gospel. |
PAUL’S HEART AND PRAYER
Brethren,
my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for
their salvation. (Romans 10:1).
Paul
ended the last chapter by pointing out that Jesus was to the Jewish unbelievers
a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.
But Paul was not pleased with this fact.
His heart was for their salvation.
And I would suggest that his heart mirrors God’s heart.
This
is important. We should never hold to
the doctrines of election and predestination in such a way as to teach that God
rejoices over the fact of unbelief. God
takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked.
Say
to them, “As I live!” declares the Lord God, “I take no pleasure in the death
of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live.” (Ezekiel
33:11a).
God
calls all men to repent and to turn to Him (Acts 17:30). This is not nullified by the fact that He has
specifically chosen some to salvation.
For I
testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with
knowledge.
For
not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they
did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. (Romans 10:2-3).
The
Jews were sincere. But they were
sincerely wrong. They were wrong in that
they did not understand about God’s righteousness. They thought that they could attain to God’s
righteousness through keeping the Law.
And because of this, they did not subject themselves to the
righteousness of God as it was revealed in Jesus Christ.
FAITH
AND THE LAW
1. The End of the Law.
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
who believes. (Romans 10:4).
What does it mean that Christ is the end of the law? The Greek text omits the definite
article. Thus it is not literally THE
end of THE law, but rather, “an end of law.”
The antinomian position is that this means the Mosaic
Law has been completely abolished and nullified and that the Christian never
ought to refer to it except as a relic of a past age. Jesus Himself contradicted this position when
He categorically stated that He did not come to abolish the Law or the
Prophets, but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17).
It IS true that we are not under the Mosaic legal
system as a means to approach God. But
that system was never meant to be a means to approach God, for Paul has already
gone to great lengths to give the examples of Abraham and of David who
approached God through faith and apart from the works of the Law.
In what way is Christ the “end of
the Law”? There are two ways:
a. As the Law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ
(Galatians 3:24), once a person has believed in Christ, the Law has
accomplished its TELOS - its purpose and its goal.
The purpose of a sign is to point. When you read a sign and follow its
instructions, the sign has fulfilled its mission toward you. The Law was such a sign. It pointed at us and showed our need and it
pointed to Christ and showed that He is the answer to our need. Its mission was accomplished when we
believed.
b. Christ fulfilled the Law on our behalf and He is our
fulfillment when we believe in Him and when His perfect righteousness is
imputed to us.
The Law pronounced a curse upon all who broke the Law. But Christ became a curse for us. He bore the penalty of the broken Law on the
cross. His death was a fulfillment of
the Law on our behalf. And His
righteousness which is imputed to us is also a fulfillment of that Law.
2. The Testimony of Moses.
For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness
which is based on law shall live by that righteousness. (Romans
10:5).
Paul seems to be referring to Leviticus 18:5 where the
Lord says that those who keep His statutes and His judgments will be permitted
life. Here is the principle. Keeping God’s Laws leads to Life. There is only one problem with that
principle. The problem is that none of
us has ever kept all of God’s Laws. Do
you see what Paul is doing? He allows
for two possible means of salvation.
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First means of
salvation |
Second means of
salvation |
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Through keeping of the Law. |
Through faith in Christ. |
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If a person will practice
the righteousness which is based upon the law, he will live by that
righteousness. |
If a person will trust in
Jesus as Lord and Savior, he will live on the basis of the righteousness of
Christ. |
Two methods of salvation? Yes! But Paul has already gone to great lengths to
show that no one has been able to accomplish the first method.
3. The Righteousness of Faith.
But
the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “Do not say in your heart,
‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring
Christ down), 7 or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to
bring Christ up from the dead).” (Romans 10:6-7).
Paul continues to quote from the Old Testament. The quote is from Deuteronomy 30:11-13. Moses is speaking to the children of
Moses is now speaking to the next generation. He charges them to follow the commandments of
God, saying, “Those commands are not too difficult for you to obey.”
“For
this command which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it
out of reach.
“It
is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us to get
it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’
“Nor
is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us to
get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’
“But
the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may
observe it.” (Deuteronomy 30:11-14).
Notice the way in which Paul has used the Deuteronomy
passage. It is not a direct quote. It is more of a paraphrase, borrowing the
language of the Old Testament passage to teach a New Testament truth.
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Deuteronomy
30:11-14 |
Romans
10:6-8 |
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“It is not in heaven,
that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and
make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ |
But the righteousness
based on faith speaks as follows: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend
into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down)” |
|
“Nor is it beyond the
sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and
make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ |
“Or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that
is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” |
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“The word is very near you, in your mouth and in
your heart” |
|
Here is the point that the Lord was making to
Because God did the impossible, salvation is no longer
unreachable. It is not a matter of
hoisting yourself up to heaven and getting Christ and bringing Him to
earth. It is not a matter of going down
into the grave to dig Jesus up and bring Him back to life. It is not through any works that you might try
to accomplish. It is through faith.
But
what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” ‑‑
that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as
Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be
saved; 10 for with the
heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he
confesses, resulting in salvation. (Romans 10:8-10).
Having pointed out what the Scriptures do NOT teach,
Paul continues to show what they DO teach.
This section is presented in a chiastic formula.
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Old Testament: The word is near you, in your mouth
and in your heart. |
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Old Testament:
Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed |
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↓ |
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↑ |
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If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord |
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With the mouth he confesses |
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↓ |
↑ |
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And believe in your heart |
→ |
With the heart man believes |
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Paul’s view of faith is one that affects both heart
and mouth. The heart is the seat of
man’s very being. It includes his
emotions, his will and his intellect.
The mouth is the practical outpouring of the heart. It tells what the heart is doing.
Notice what is described as the two essential elements
which must be believed and which must be confessed.
·
Jesus is Lord.
·
God raised Him
from the dead.
These are the two essential elements of the
gospel. They answer two questions:
Who is Jesus?
What did Jesus
do?
(1) Jesus as Lord (10:9).
The proclamation that Jesus is Lord had great
significance both to the Jews as well as to the Gentiles.
(a) Jewish significance.
The word here translated “Lord” is the same word which
is used in the Septuagint to describe Yahweh,
the name of God which has been transliterated as Jehovah. The statement that Jesus is Lord would be
nothing less than a claim for the deity of Christ.
(b) Gentile significance.
The world of Paul’s day was a Roman world. The
The oath of loyalty to the emperor was that “Caesar is
lord.” Indeed, this accounted for the
Roman persecution of the church in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Christians refused to acclaim that anyone
besides Jesus is Lord.
(2) God raised Him from the dead (10:9).
To believe that God raised Jesus from the dead is to
believe that Jesus died and, not only that He died, but that He died for our
sins. The resurrection is God’s final
stamp of approval upon Jesus as the Messiah.
Notice the emphasis both on heart as well as on
mouth. Paul describes confession as
characteristic of the redeemed. There is
no such thing as a secret Christian. A
Christian is one who believes in Christ and who makes a profession of Christ to
others.
FAITH
- THE UNIVERSAL REQUIREMENT
For
the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
For
there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of
all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for “whoever will call on the name of the
Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:11-13).
Paul
quotes twice from the Old Testament in verses 11-13. His first quote is from Isaiah 28:16. He has already quoted this same passage back
in Romans 9:33. Now he quotes it again.
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Romans
9:33 |
Romans
10:11 |
|
Verse is used to contrast
those who are offended (the Jews) with those who are not disappointed
(Gentile believers) |
Verse is used to compare
Jewish believers with Gentile believers and show that there is no difference. |
The
point that Paul is making is that the gospel is universal. It is the same gospel both for Jews and for
Greeks. There was not one gospel in the
Old Testament and another gospel in the New Testament. There is not one way of salvation for Jews
and another way of salvation for Gentiles.
There is only one way of salvation in the same way that there is only
one God.
Paul’s
second quote is from Joel 2:32. It is
the same passage to which Peter alluded on the day of Pentecost when the Spirit
came and the sign of tongues was given to the church. It also stresses the universality of the
gospel.
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Verse 11 |
Verse 13 |
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Quotes from
Isaiah 28:16 |
Quotes from
Joel 2:32 |
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“Whoever
believes in Him will not be disappointed.” |
“Whoever
will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” |
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Emphasis on the
negative - “not disappointed” |
Emphasis on the
positive - “will be saved” |
Notice that believing in Him
and calling on the name of the Lord are identical. They are two ways of describing the same
action. Everyone calls upon something.
·
Pagan statues.
·
Church
membership.
·
Science.
·
Their own good
works.
The
Jews had come to the point of calling upon their Jewish heritage and upon their
keeping of their traditions and their laws.
But only the Lord saves.
EVANGELISM
- THE PATH THAT LEADS TO FAITH
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?
How
will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful
are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!” (Romans 10:14-15).
There
is a path which leads to salvation. Paul
began with the last step of that journey in verse 13. Now he works his way back down the staircase,
following the path backwards to its origins.
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Call upon the name of the
Lord Salvation (13) |
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To call, they must first
BELIEVE (14) |
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To believe, they must first
HEAR (14) |
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To hear, there must be a
PREACHER (14) |
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For a preacher to preach,
he must be SENT (15) |
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Those who are sent must GO
(15) |
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Each
of these steps is presented in the form of a question. This is not a repetition of the Great Commission. There is no command given. Instead, we have in these steps the REASON
for the Great Commission.
1. BELIEVE (14).
This is not mere faith in itself. Neither is it faith for the sake of
faith. It is faith with content. It is faith in the facts of the gospel and a
commitment to the person of the gospel.
2. HEAR (14).
God didn’t come to most of us personally. We had to hear the message of the gospel
through an intermediary. We had to hear
it in our own language. We had to hear
it in an understandable way.
3. A PREACHER (14).
This is not necessarily a professional preacher. The word translated “preacher” simply
describes one who proclaims a message.
Most of us are not saved apart from the ministry of a
preacher. Someone probably explained to
you the good news of the gospel. You
heard it and you believed it and you called upon the name of the Lord.
4. SENDERS (15).
This is the call for missionaries. A missionary is someone who is sent. They might be sent across the street or they
might be sent across the world. The
point is that they are sent to proclaim the gospel to those who have not yet
heard it.
One of the things that I have done in the fire
department is rope rescue and rappelling.
When you rappel, the first thing that you do is
to make certain that you have enough rope to reach the ground. It would be both dangerous and downright
embarrassing to rappel halfway down a building, only to find that there was not
enough rope to continue to the ground.
There is a need for missionaries so that we do not
come up too short on the proclaiming of the gospel.
THE
UNBELIEF OF
1. The Fact of
However,
they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed
our report?”
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
(Romans 10:16-17).
Paul has just pointed out that everyone can
believe. This includes
The passage goes on to say that there was no outward
reason for people to believe in him. He
had no “stately form or majesty.” There
was nothing about His appearance which would attract people to Him.
If there is no outward reason for anyone to believe in
him, then why did ANYONE believe? It is
because of the preaching of the gospel.
It is because of the process which Paul has just described in the
previous verses. It is because faith
comes by hearing and hearing comes by the word of Christ.
2. The Reason for
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It is NOT because of a lack of telling. |
But I say,
surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have; “Their voice has
gone out into all the earth, and their words to the
end of the world.” (10:18). |
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It is NOT because of a lack of knowing. |
But I say,
surely |
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It is NOT because of a lack of seeking. |
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.” (10:20). |
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It IS because of disobedience. |
But as for |
a.
But I
say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have; “Their voice
has gone out into all the earth, and their words to
the end of the world.” (10:18).
When Paul arrived in
“But
we desire to hear from you what your views are; for concerning this sect, it is
known to us that it is spoken against everywhere.” (Acts
28:22).
News of the gospel had preceded Paul’s coming to
It is true that there are places where the gospel has
not been preached for a very long time.
But the reason is because rebellion and unbelief has caused the gospel
to be shut out.
b.
But I
say, surely
c.
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.” (10:20).
In the same way that the Gentiles did not know about
God before they were given the gospel, it is also true that the Gentiles were
not seeking for God. They weren’t even
interested in God. They didn’t look for
God. God came looking for them.
d.
But
as for
Why did so many Jews reject the gospel while many
Gentiles were turning in faith to the Messiah?
There are two answers given in the book of Romans.
The first answer was the one we saw in chapter 9. It is because of divine election—the
sovereign choice of God. The second
answer is seen in this chapter. It is
because of
Although our focus in this chapter is upon the
unbelief of
Men are not lost because they have not heard enough or
searched enough or known enough. Men are
lost because they are rebellious against God.
For this reason, they are “without excuse.”
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