Two Problems Romans 10:14-21

-If all who believe are saved, why aren’t all people saved?

For more than 20 years Professor Edwin R. Keedy of the University of Pennsylvania Law School used to start his first class by putting two figures on the blackboard 4 2.

Then he would ask, "What's the solution?"

One student would call out, "Six." Another would say

"Two." Then several would shout out "Eight!" But the teacher would shake his head in the negative. Then Keedy would point out their collective error. "All of you failed to ask the key question: What is the problem? Gentlemen, unless you know what the problem is, you cannot possibly find the answer."

I. Ignorance of the Gospel vv. 14-15

Paul gives the beautiful news in v. 13 that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved, but in v. 14, he asks us to wrestle with a really fundamental question: If the Gospel is good news and its available to all who call on the Lord, why aren’t more people saved

The first reason that Paul gives is ignorance. He outlines a chain of failure:

They cannot call on the name of the Lord because they do not believe in the Lord

They cannot believe in the Lord, because they have never heard of Him

They cannot hear of Him, because no one has proclaimed Him to them

They have no messenger, because no one has sent them

It turns out that ignorance of the Law of God is no excuse

In chapter 1, we saw that the revelation of Creation was sufficient to condemn

However, it is not sufficient to save

We must have knowledge of the Lord and the hope He offers in Christ.

There is a responsibility to God has given to the Church to go and to tell the Gospel

There is a powerful double-edge to this sword:

The feet of the Gospel proclaimer are beautiful

However, there is nothing more terrible than the reality that we are not sending, giving, praying, and going ourselves; it betrays what we really believe!

1000 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching Worth More than a Navy

Decades ago a British naval officer, Admiral Hunter, was court martialed for allegedly “endangering one of his vessels.” At the trial, evidence was presented that the particular ship had been seriously damaged. The admiral’s defense was: “Gentlemen, all the evidence you have heard is true, but you have not heard the reason why the vessel was injured. I ordered the vessel to be put about. Why? There was a man overboard, and I had hoped to save him; and, gentlemen, I deem that the life of an individual sailor in Her Majesty’s navy is worth all the vessels that float upon the seas.”

II. Rejection of the Gospel vv. 16-21

However, ignorance is not the only reason that people do not call on the name of the Lord

The Gospel, we find is a call to obedience; believing it is a matter of heeding the Word of the Lord and submitting our lives to it

Faith comes from hearing the Word of God, but faith is not present without a willingness to listen and to obey

Why do they reject the Gospel?

It is not out of ignorance of God:

They have heard the Word of the Lord

The message has gone out to them and they have not heeded it

It is not out of ignorance of the consequences:

The consequences here are not just personal, although they have personal application

As a nation, they lead to rejection from God and a supplanting that takes place

This is the heartbreaking truth:

The people who were closest to the message of the Gospel missed out on it completely

Meanwhile, a people who were far away are being brought near in Christ

It did not have to be that way, but the problem is the problem of sin

The Lord calls Israel a “disobedient and contrary” people

Could the same be said of us?

Back when the Old West was being settled, pioneers flocked across the country to California and Oregon. In one particular spot on the Eastern slopes of the Rockies there was a large, dirt covered rock protruding in the middle of the trail. Wagon wheels were broken on it and men tripped over it. Finally someone dug up the odd stone and rolled it off trail into a nearby stream. The stream was too wide to jump over, but people used the stone as a step to cross the cold creek. It was used for years, until finally one settler built his cabin near the stream. He moved the odd stone out of the stream and placed it in his cabin to serve as a doorstop.

As years passed, railroads were built and towns sprang up. The old settler’s grandson went East to study geology. On a visit to his grandfather’s cabin, the grandson happened to examine the old lump of stone and discovered within that lump of dirt and rock was the largest pure gold nugget ever discovered on the Eastern slope of the Rockies. It had been there for three generations, and people never recognized its value. To some it was a stumbling stone to be removed. To others it was a stepping-stone, and to others it was just a heavy rock. But only the grandson saw it for what it really was--a lump of pure gold.