While Paul maintains his focus on unbelieving Israel (10.16), he makes some general observations about the process of salvation that are universal. The main theme of this paragraph (10.14-21) is an explanation of why Israel failed to understand that God’s righteousness resides in Jesus who is God’s Messiah. Israel’s unwillingness to believe the good news is rooted in their lack of knowledge about God’s righteousness (10.4). The gospel had been preached to Israel. They heard the gospel, but they failed to believe. The testimony of the law, the prophets and the writings were part and parcel of their heritage. Moreover, many had seen the works of Jesus and listened to his preaching and, if this was not enough, they had been confronted by the witness of Paul and the other apostles.
GOSPEL PREACHING (10.14-15)
Paul has emphatically declared that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (The implications for Paul’s Christology ought not be overlooked in this passage: in the Old Testament one called on Yahweh to be saved, but now it is Christ upon whom one calls to be saved. The point may be subtle but it is important.) The cause and effect process whereby one comes to faith is outlined by a succession of rhetorical questions. Whether it is a member of your family, a coworker or an unreached person on the other side of the planet, the process is the same. There is no distinction between persons (particularly the Jew and the Greek): the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. So whether one is an Israelite or a Gentile, each one comes to Jesus in the same way. Paul mentions five steps in the process of propagating the gospel: 1) a preacher must be sent; 2) he must preach the good news; 3) the gospel must be heard; 4) the gospel must be believed; and 5) the believer must call on God to be saved. In verse 17 Paul summarizes these five steps: So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ, that is, believing follows hearing the word of Christ which is preached. The word of Christ is the very gospel that Paul has been writing about throughout his letter (3.21-26; 5.1-8; 10.9-10).
Paul reverses the chain of events that leads to salvation. That is, he works from one effect to its cause and then from another effect to its cause until he comes to the first action: that of the preacher being sent. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will receive the righteousness of Christ. This righteousness is faith dependent, not works dependent (Philippians 3.4-10). Calling on Jesus is the very thing unbelieving Israel would not do. The model of calling on the Lord and living in faith dependence on him is clear in the Old Testament. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies (Psalm 18.3). To you, O LORD, I [David] call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit (Psalm 28.1). Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel also was among those who called upon his name. They called to the LORD, and he answered them (Psalm 99.6). Then I called on the name of the LORD: O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul! (Psalm 116.4). The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth (Psalm 145.18). In the New Testament Christians are identified as those who call on the Lord: To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours (1 Corinthians 1.2). Calling on the Lord is what believers do as a matter of course. The Canaanite woman who cried out to the Lord on behalf of her demon-possessed daughter would not be put off by the rebuke of the disciples, she was not even put off by the stern reply of Jesus. She continued to call out to him until she received a favorable response: “O woman, great is your faith! Bet it done for you as you desire” (Matthew 15.28; Mark 10.46-52).
SAVING BELIEF (10.15)
The belief of which Paul speaks is a saving faith; it is a gracious gift of God whereby the elect are able to believe the gospel message to the saving of their souls. This work of grace is typically brought about by the preaching of the Word of God, through the prayerful witness of the Christian community (2 Corinthians 4.13; Ephesians 2.8; Romans 10.14,17; Luke 17.5; 1 Peter 2.2; Acts 20.32). “The principle acts of saving faith have immediate relation to Christ, accepting, receiving, and resting upon him alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life, by virtue of the covenant of grace (Acts 24.14; Psalm 19.7-10; 119.72; 2 Timothy 1.12; John 15.14; Isaiah 66.2; Hebrews 11.13; John 1.12; Acts 16.31; Galatians 2.20; Acts 15.11)” (London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689, Chapter 14).
Many people call on the Lord in crisis. They cry out to be saved from their pain and the exigencies of life, but they do not honor Jesus as Lord in their hearts. And it is the belief that Jesus is Lord that must precede calling out to God for salvation. Paul is clear that only the person who honors Jesus as Lord in his heart and believes Jesus is God’s Son will be saved. Remember my earlier point about Paul’s Christology. That truth is central to a saving faith. Jesus is not merely Lord in crisis, he is Lord in everything. Paul writes in another place: Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12.3). It is impossible to experience a saving faith in Jesus without an acknowledgment that he is Lord of one’s life. Now it may be that one does not experience a great deal of change when he or she first becomes a Christian, but the longer one walks with the Lord the greater will be the life-transforming power of the Spirit’s work in his or her life.
One who knows Christ as his Savior must know something about the biblical witness to the saving work of Jesus. There are a number of gospel summary statements in the New Testament. Eugene Peterson paraphrases Paul’s summary of the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15.1-11 in this way: The first thing I did was place before you what was placed so emphatically before me: that the Messiah died for our sins, exactly as Scripture tells it; that he was buried; that he was raised from death on the third day, again exactly as Scripture says; that he presented himself alive to Peter, then to his closest followers, and later to more than five hundred of his followers all at the same time, most of them still around (although a few have since died); that he then spent time with James and the rest of those he commissioned to represent him; and that he finally presented himself alive to me. … But because God was so gracious, so very generous, here I am. And I’m not about to let his grace go to waste. Haven’t I worked hard trying to do more than any of the others? Even then, my work didn’t amount to all that much. It was God giving me the work to do, God giving me the energy to do it. So whether you heard it from me or from those others, it’s all the same: We spoke God’s truth and you entrusted your lives. These are Paul’s words about the gospel and his own response to the very gracious work of God in his life.
The Christian believes that God is at work in his life, conforming him into the image of his Son Jesus (Philippians 1.6; cp. 1 Corinthians 13.12). Thus, his belief in God’s redemptive work is more than an acknowledgment of the facts of Jesus’ saving work and resurrection (even the devils know that much [James 2.19]). An unsaved person may berate himself and demonstrate sorrow for sin without ever forsaking the sin itself. Balaam did this when he presumed to speak as God’s prophet in defense of the Israelites, all while looking for a means to betray them to Balak the king of the Moabites (Numbers 22). Judas regretted his betrayal of Jesus, but he demonstrated no contrition (Matthew 27.3; cp. John 21-15-21). But the saving faith of the Christian rests in the promises of God: Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matthew 11.28-30; cp. 2 Corinthians 12.9-10; Hebrews 4.8-10).
Saving faith means that one puts his whole-hearted trust in the mercy of God. It is the product of despair over personal sin. It has abandoned all manmade religions, every form of self-help, and puts no confidence in personal moral rectitude. It depends solely on God. Saving faith is “That faith which secures eternal life; which unites us to Christ as living members of his body; which makes us the sons of God; which interests us in all the benefits of redemption; which works by love, and is fruitful in good works; is founded, not on the external or the moral evidence of the truth, but on the testimony of the Spirit with and by the truth to the renewed soul” (Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, vol. 3, p. 68).
PERSISTENT UNBELIEF AND THE PROPHETIC WITNESS (10.16—21)
Paul lists those things which are essential for the propagation of the gospel but he interrupts this flow of thought in verse 16 with the comment: they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” Though Israel is not mentioned by name until verse 19, it may be assumed he has his Jewish brothers in mind. “While Paul has been speaking generally of all people in vv. 14-15, here he probably focuses especially on Jews. The verse therefore is central to Paul’s argument in vv. 14-21 and, indeed, in (9:30-10.21), reasserting as it does Paul’s basic accusation of his Jewish brothers and sisters (see also 9:32 and 10:3). The ‘not all’ is a litotes [understatement]: ‘only a few.’ One of the reasons Paul chooses to put the matter this way is to echo the ‘remnant’ theology he has introduced in 9:6b (cf. also 9:27): ‘not all those who belong to Israel are Israel’” (Douglas Moo, Romans, p. 664). In verse 17 Paul returns to the effect / cause chain of events by summarizing what he has said thus far: So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
The fact is Israel has heard the message – indeed, the whole world has heard it (most likely Paul is using hyperbole and is referring to the Roman Empire or the Jews and the Greeks). The bottom line is that Israel has heard the message of the gospel and yet they persist in their disobedience (10.21; cp. 1.5). Moreover, the mass conversion of the Gentiles from unbelief to faith ought to have softened their hearts, but it did not. Despite Israel’s disobedience through unbelief, God holds out his hands to them all the day long. This statement brings into sharp relief two truths of Scripture: God’s absolute sovereignty over man’s salvation and man’s responsibility to choose God.
Some people would say that it is a misrepresentation of God to portray him as lovingly stretching out his arms with an invitation for all to come to him, if at the same time man is ultimately not able to do so without God’s sovereign intervention. This is a mistake, because it rejects both biblical truths: God’s loving sovereignty and man’s moral obligation. The juxtaposition of God’s sovereignty in salvation coupled with his open invitation is a common occurrence in Scripture. Consider the following: “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children, which is followed two verses later with Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11.25, 28). Also in John 6.35 we read: Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. This is followed by v. 37, All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. That is, all are invited to come to Christ and it is the Father who gives some to Christ. Lastly, consider the preaching of Paul in Pisidian Antioch: Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses (Acts 13.38-39. This is followed in verse 48 with this statement: And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. So all are invited to believe and be forgiven, and as many as were appointed to life did believe.
This is the truth of Scripture: God is the potter man is the clay. But it is equally true that God desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2.4). So he holds out his hands all the day long to the Jews just as he holds out his hand to you.
