“How Can They Call?” Part 1

Romans 10:14–21 CSB

14 How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without a preacher? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. 16 But not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our message? 17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ. 18 But I ask, “Did they not hear?” Yes, they did: Their voice has gone out to the whole earth, and their words to the ends of the world. 19 But I ask, “Did Israel not understand?” First, Moses said, I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that lacks understanding. 20 And Isaiah says boldly, I was found by those who were not looking for me; I revealed myself to those who were not asking for me. 21 But to Israel he says, All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and defiant people.

PRAYER

Introduction

Three facts concerning the Gospel are clearly presented in Chapter 10:

1. The Gospel is WITHIN REACH of All! - (v.8)

2. The Gospel is OFFERED to All! - (vv.11-13)

(v.13) is the BASIS of Paul’s argument in (vv.14-21)!

3. The Gospel is NOT OBEYED by All! - (v.16)

The HEART of the message of (vv.14-21) is going to “set up” the great discussion of Chapter 11, “…has God rejected his people?” - (v.1)

BUT FAR MORE than simply an intellectual explanation or PREFACE for Chapter 11, our passage this morning (and next week) has a message for us—AND a WORK that God calls every person in this room to do!

“How Can They Call?”

The TITLE of our message, “How Can They Call?” is from the first part of (v.14):

“How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in?…”

We will look at THREE THINGS this week and next:

I. The OPPORTUNITY Must Be GIVEN! - (10:14-15)

II. The NECESSITY of OBEDIENCE! - (10:16-17)

III. The OBJECTIONS on the Part of ISRAEL - (10:18-21)

We begin with…

I. The OPPORTUNITY Must Be GIVEN! - (10:14-15)

FOUR “NATURAL” QUESTIONS in these two verses, each one building on the key verb from the preceding question.

They are also unusual in that instead of being PROGRESSIVE: “…its links follow one another in historical, cause and effect, manner” (W. Hendricksen), “…the chain is REGRESSIVE: it proceeds from effect to cause, and is comparable to the series 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.”

John Stott - “The essence of Paul’s argument is seen if we put his six verbs in the opposite order: Christ sends heralds; heralds preach; people hear; hearers believe; believers call; and those who called are saved.”

AND while I can appreciate the desire for clarity/understanding, I believe there is also an importance in keeping the order as written!

So like Paul, we will BEGIN WITH THE END IN VIEW!

A. The Gospel REQUIRES a RESPONSE! - (v.14a)

(v.14a) - “How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in?…”

Paul COMBINES the verbs of (v.11) - “…believes on” (πιστεύων), and (v.13) - “…calls on” (ἐπικαλέσηται) in one question.

Q: “Are they separate actions?”

A: According to (v.10), YES! “One believes with the heart […] and one confesses with the mouth…”

They are SEPARATE ACTIONS!

The POINT: The “…message of faith” (v.8b) DEMANDS a RESPONSE!

When Paul was preaching in the Areopagus in Athens, he had this to say…

Acts 17:30–31 CSB

30 “Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

FOLKS, all Gospel preaching should have as it’s GOAL the salvation of the hearers manifest in the CONFESSION, “Jesus is Lord,” and in BELIEF “…that God raised him from the dead” - (v.9).

The notion that one “doesn’t have to do anything in order to be saved” is certainly NOT Biblical, nor was it the practice and understanding of the early Church!

Acts 2:37–41 CSB

37 When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” 38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” 40 With many other words he testified and strongly urged them, saying, “Be saved from this corrupt generation!” 41 So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them.

Acts 3:19 CSB

19 Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out,

Peter was not advocating some form of “works righteousness” or suggesting that they were somehow EARNING their salvation by responding in faith!

To “call on the name of the Lord” became synonymous with being in a saving relationship with Jesus!

Acts 22:16 CSB

16 And now, why are you delaying? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’

1 Corinthians 1:2 CSB

2 To the church of God at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called as saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord—both their Lord and ours.

2 Timothy 2:22 CSB

22 Flee from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

Q: “Does this mean we are going to include an invitation at the end of the messages?”

A: IT BETTER, if I am going to practice what I preach!

B. The Gospel REQUIRES a MESSAGE! - (v.14b)

(v.14b) - “…And how can they believe without hearing about him?”

And notice, the message is “…about him”—about JESUS!

Romans 10:17 CSB

17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:5 CSB

5 For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’s sake.

Of all the things we do as a church, this is one we need to GET RIGHT!

“WHY?” - Because…

John 14:6 CSB

6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

2 Corinthians 5:17 CSB

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!

2 Corinthians 5:21 CSB

21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Which leads to Paul’s THIRD QUESTION:

C. The Message REQUIRES a MESSENGER! - (v.14c)

(v.14c) - “…And how can they hear without a preacher?”

“…without a preacher?” translates the preposition, χωρὶς - ‘separately, without, apart from’ and the verb, κηρύσσοντος - ‘proclaiming, preaching, heralding, announcing, telling, declaring?’

Because the verb is in the active voice, the majority of translations (CSB, LSB, NASB95, KJV, NKJV) interpret the verb as a noun - “…a preacher.”

Because the verb is also a participle (a verbal adjective - an “ing” word) a few translations (NIV, Net) read, “…without someone preaching to them?”

I like that because the Lit., ‘without preaching’ emphasizes the message, and not the messenger!

This passage is DEFINITELY NOT referring to professional clergy or missionaries, but rather to ALL OF US!

NOTICE the PLURALS:

2 Corinthians 5:18–20 CSB

18 Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. 19 That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”

If you are reconciled through Christ, then you are an ambassador for Christ!

D. The Messengers MUST BE SENT! - (v.15a)

(v.15a) - “And how can they preach unless they are sent?…”

From ἀποσταλῶσιν - (verb,3rd, plural, aorist, passive, subjunctive) - ‘they might be delegated’

Q: “Who sends messengers?”

A: The TRIUNE GOD—ALL OF THE TRINITY!

1. God the FATHER - (v.15b)

“…As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.”

Isaiah 52:6–10 CSB

6 Therefore my people will know my name; therefore they will know on that day that I am he who says, ‘Here I am.’ ” 7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the herald, who proclaims peace, who brings news of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” 8 The voices of your watchmen— they lift up their voices, shouting for joy together; for every eye will see when the Lord returns to Zion. 9 Be joyful, rejoice together, you ruins of Jerusalem! For the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The Lord has displayed his holy arm in the sight of all the nations; all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.

BTW - From the context of Isaiah, this doesn’t mean being sent will be EASY!

(Isaiah 50:4-11; 51:1-8, 16)

2. God the SON - (John 20:19-21)

John 20:19–21 CSB

19 When it was evening on that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because they feared the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 Having said this, he showed them his hands and his side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.”

“How did God send Jesus?”

Luke 19:10 CSB

10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”

We have the SAME MISSION as Jesus: “…to seek and save the lost.”

3. God the HOLY SPIRIT - (John 20:22-23)

John 20:22–23 CSB

22 After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

When we go out in the PEACE of Christ, the POWER of the Spirit, with the message of FORGIVENESS, when they respond in faith, we can declare with the authority of Jesus, “You are FORGIVEN!”

The Holy Spirit also sends in a more SPECIFIC way in the CHURCH:

Acts 13:2–4 CSB

2 As they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off. 4 So being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

SOMETIMES, the Holy Spirit directs where and when the Gospel is preached!

Acts 16:6–10 CSB

6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia; they had been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 When they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 8 Passing by Mysia they went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision in which a Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, “Cross over to Macedonia and help us!” 10 After he had seen the vision, we immediately made efforts to set out for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Acts 20:22 CSB

22 “And now I am on my way to Jerusalem, compelled by the Spirit, not knowing what I will encounter there,

NOTE: in the passages we just read, it was God the Father, the Spirit of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit working together!

Q: Can you explain the differences?

A: NO!

What I can tell you is that God has “…called us to preach the gospel!”

CONCLUSION to Part 1

Romans 10:9–10 CSB

9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.