Romans 10:14-17 "The Necessity of the Word"

Introduction:

Christianity is not just a subculture in the greater culture of America. Biblical Christianity goes far beyond that. Biblical Christianity is building the Kingdom of God through gospel proclamation.

This is why an invitation to a church worship service is not the gospel. There are many churches and many messages that get declared in churches today that are not the true gospel.

When it comes to salvation the word of God is necessary in order to communicate the true gospel. It is not our words but the words we speak from the word of God. Those words are relaying the content of what the Bible teaches about Christ and God uses those words to work salvation.

The Apostle Paul understood this and it is not the equivalent to theological rocket science. But there is an obvious sequence behind his rationale as we see in verses 14-15. Look back at your text:

I. The Rationale (14-15).

There are a sequence of questions being asked by the Apostle Paul in these verses. The questions are rhetorical in nature as they cause us to draw a particular conclusion.

The questions deal with the salvation of the lost and how it is that they come to call on the name of the Lord for salvation on the final day of the Lord’s coming.

So the series of questions establish a certain rationale in the mind of the Apostle Paul as he is writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In every question the answer is, “they can’t” or “they are not able.”

Question 1- “How can they call on Him if they have not believed?” (14a).

They can’t, because you can’t call on one for salvation without first having belief in Him and in His ability to save in the first place.

Question 2- “How are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard?” (14b).

They can’t, because you can’t believe in someone if you are not even aware of the reality of their existence.

Question 3- “How are they to hear without someone preaching?” (14c).

They can’t, because you can’t hear about Christ unless you are told about Him by someone that is preaching about Him.

This term for preaching in the Greek language referred to making official declarations in ancient times. Like official edicts of Kings or other rulers that were made in the public square to inform the people of official rulings of their civil authorities.

This is the term that the N.T. uses to describe preaching. At the very least, in the general sense it means to declare or make known.

And Question 4 is seen in verse 15- “And how are they to preach unless they are sent?”

They can’t, because they don’t know to go and declare if they are not sent to go and declare the message of the truth of God’s deliverance.

We know it is God’s deliverance the Paul has in mind here because he quotes Isaiah 52:7 --How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

Once again Paul is quoting the prophet Isaiah. This is not the first time in the last few chapters that he has quoted or derived truths from the O.T. prophets.

The feet of the preacher of good news are beautiful not because they soak their feet in salt water. Nor are they beautiful because they get weekly pedicures and wear polish on their toe nails.

The feet of those who declare the good news are beautiful because those feet carry the preacher into the vicinity of the hearers in order that the good news of God’s deliverance might be declared to all people.

Christian it is not just the pastor that is to preach good news, it is all believers in Jesus Christ because we have all been commissioned to make disciples.

I almost entitled this sermon “A Church with Beautiful Feet.” I didn’t but that is exactly what we want to be known as here at Crete Church.

So if we take Paul’s rationale and turn it around then we learn that we have to embrace the fact that we are sent to proclaim so the lost will hear and believe (exercise faith for justification) in Christ so that they will call on Him in the day of their salvation.

But we know that hearing doesn’t necessarily guarantee obedience to the good news. This is not a formula initiated by men, but a process that God uses to work in the lives of lost sinners in order to bring them to Him.

This is the Conclusion that Paul comes to in verses 16-17. Look back at your text:

II. The Conclusion (16-17).

Not everyone who hears believes. This is true today as it was in the days of the O.T. Paul makes reference once again to Isaiah, specifically to Isaiah 53:1 --Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

And if you know anything about Isaiah 53 you know that it is an explicit prophecy concerning the suffering servant of God that only has fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. It was given about 700 years before Christ.

And what was prophesied by Isaiah was historically lived out in the life of Christ. Isaiah 53 is explicitly christological at its core.

The message that O.T. Israel had heard was the prophetic message of Christ that was proclaimed by the prophetic preacher Isaiah. But Israel as a people rejected the Son of God as their Messiah.

Because as we saw some weeks ago they tried to establish their own righteousness as the basis of their acceptance before God. They didn’t see the righteousness of God as being something they needed. The were blind.

But the righteousness of God in Christ points us away from ourselves and our abilities and in the direction of Christ and to God’s work of grace.

If I perceive myself as righteous on my own and that I have established my goodness on my good works in the relative sense, I will find the gospel is offensive news instead of good news.

This is why so many trip over the Cornerstone. They can’t handle the good news because it is contextualized by bad news first. That all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory and are justly deserving His wrath. There is none good before God all have turned and gone their own way (Romans 3).

It is the good news about Christ that confronts the darkness of our sin and the hopelessness that comes because of it. Confidence in our human ability in the face of a Holy and righteous God is rooted in the depths of human pride.

Pride is infatuated with self love and seeks hard to attempt to affirm ourselves using self as a way of validation as to relieve ourselves of shame and guilt.

What if I told you that there is a love much better than self love to undergird and validate your value and identity as a human being in this world?

What if I told you there is One more supreme than you are who is righteous and Holy, One in whom there is no darkness, One who is free from fickle emotions and is never distorted in His judgments?

And what if His plan of restoring you to Himself is of Him initiating transformation in you by His grace? What if I told you that the means by which He uses to work this transformation has once again been proclaimed in your hearing this morning?

Faith comes from hearing is telling us that belief for justification (salvation) comes to us from hearing. This hearing is not just a physical act but it is primarily a spiritual one that takes place by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit uses the word of Christ contained in the Bible to speak to us as He works through that word to open our eyes to see our need of salvation before God.

In that dynamic is where new birth emerges and we are empowered to believe the gospel.

Conclusion:

Talking to the Chaplain at Pacific Garden Mission: Man heard the gospel thousands of times over the years.

Chaplain confronted the man about how many times he had heard the gospel.

One day he walked in and said “I got it.” Chaplain said he never saw him again after that.

My friend what about you? Do you got it? Do you have a transformed life by the Holy Spirit having opened your eyes to faith in Jesus Christ for salvation?

If not, maybe today is the day that God will work His saving grace in you by faith alone in Christ. Believe the gospel of the good news of Jesus Christ.

Believer this truth informs us in the necessity of the word of Christ to be conveyed in our proclamation of the gospel. Most will never stand in a pulpit. Most of us will have opportunity in smaller settings like maybe one to one.

It will be in sowing seeds of truth about Christ that the Holy Spirit will use to bring forth a harvest of souls for His kingdom.

Christian what a love He loves us with and what an amazing grace that He is working in and through us. Rest in Him and confess your sin and know that He is faithful and just to cleanse us of all our unrighteousness.

Christian you are loved by your God! Lets Pray!