The People of God Pt. 6: Rom. 10:11-15

As the countdown to the Super Bowl winds down many people are gearing up for all of the excitement that will ensue before, during, and after the game. As I anticipate what I will probably see tonight when I watch this spectacle, I couldn’t help but consider all of the different presentations that will be showcased as everything unfolds. There is a presentation of each team when they come onto the field, a presentation of the colors, the national anthem, coin toss, coach interviews, analysis, half-time show, and trophy presentation thereafter. It will be an evening filled with all kinds of presentations, each carefully designed to gin up as much excitement as possible for the viewers at home. Romans behaves in much the same way for Paul’s original audience. Paul has made presentation after presentation in the grand spectacle that is this theological treatise, each with its own significance, message, and hype. Today’s passage is no different. In Romans 10:11-15, Paul gives TWO presentations concerning the scope and spread of the gospel that will leave us encouraged and challenged to show up and perform well for the glory of God.

a) Compendium of Salvation Candidates-10:11-13

Now that Paul has explained HOW people are saved, he moves on to catalog the candidates for salvation, thereby answering “who can execute this procedure and have salvation applied to them?” Paul argued in verses 9-10 that those who confess “Jesus is Lord” and “believe in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead” will be saved. With only this to go on, it would seem that salvation is open to anyone who follows this process in faith. Paul verifies this in verse 11 with an Old Testament proof text—“For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed,…” (10:11). This quote from Isaiah 28:16 was also used by Paul in 9:33. There, Paul was referring to the stumbling stone of offense and claimed that anyone who dares to believe in the rock that is Christ will not be disappointed. Here, Paul applies the same quote to the potential scope of salvation and adds a word to the Isaiah reference to this end “pax” (everyone/whoever). Neither the LXX nor the MT of Isaiah 28:16 contains this verbiage, meaning that it is from Paul. Progressive revelation, under the control of the Holy Spirit has determined that it is appropriate to reveal here that “Whoever believes in Him (and follows the process indicated in vv. 9-10) will not be disappointed.”

There is another important comment to make here concerning the connotation of the verb “disappointed.” This word implies shame. Here, Paul says that believers are not ashamed. A lack of shame and embarrassment can be promised to believers because Jesus took on the shame of sin on their behalf. Even further, Jesus overwhelmed the shame of His humiliating death by means of the empty tomb. Shame is no longer possible for those who place their trust in Christ!  This is why Paul says earlier in Romans “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes…” (1:16). Though, to be sure, a psychological benefit is possible for the believer given what Christ has already done, what is also true because of the empty tomb is a future vindication at the final judgment. Those who put their faith in Jesus as the resurrected Lord know present freedom from the shame that sin creates AND future victory from the condemnation to which sin inevitably leads on the Day of Judgment (Schreiner, Romans, 561).

In both 1:16 and 10:11, there appears to be universal efficiency inherent within the gospel. In other words, everyone is able to know the freedom of shame and sin by trusting in Jesus.

Just to be sure he was clear, Paul reframes his point in terms of ethnicity and heritage in verse 12—“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,…” (10:12). Paul probably believed that this had to be said given the unusually acute Jewish pride among many in his audience. Here, Paul reminds the Jews that Jesus is the God of all people. As such, He can provide salvation to anyone who believes.

Romans 2:11-“For there is no partiality with God.”

Romans 2:28-29-“A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person's praise is not from other people, but from God.”

After all…

Romans 3:22-23-“This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,…”

And

Romans 3:29-30-“…is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.”

These verses and many others indicate what Paul says in verse 12—“the same Lord is Lord of all (that is all people), abounding in riches for all who call on Him…”. His grace exists in superabundance—it is not limited to one people group or tradition. All who call on Him, Jew or Gentile, can experience His benefits.

To drive the point home, Paul picks up the same word he introduced in verse 11 (pax/whoever) and borrows “call” in verse 12 to say the following in verse 13—“whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (10:13). There is a beautiful parallelism that exists between verses 11-13 and verse 9-10. In 9-10, one was encouraged to “confess” and “believe” to be saved for “belief” results in righteousness and “confession” leads to “salvation.” Here, in verses 11 and 13, we have Paul explaining the scope of salvation with similar themes. In verse 11 Paul says “whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed” and in verse 13 he reveals “‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved,’”. Therefore ANYONE who believes and confesses, trusts and professes, will be saved. What an encouragement!

b) The Process of Receiving the Gospel-10:14-15

After arguing that everyone regardless of background or ethnicity is a potential candidate for salvation, Paul gives a presentation of the process by which the gospel message is transferred to these candidates. This presentation is given in reverse order, beginning with the terminus and moving back to the inception (i.e. describing how the process concludes and then providing the logical depiction of the steps that lead to that end). What is communicated in these verses is equally applicable to both the Jews and the Gentiles as these steps of the chain must be realized if ANYONE is going to call on the Lord and be saved (Schreiner, Romans, 567).

The last two links of the chain described (offered first by Paul) take people from belief to confession. Paul asks “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed?” (10:14a). This is the first in a series of rhetorical questions that all demand the same answer—“They can’t!” or “They wouldn’t!” Paul’s point is this: how will people confess Jesus is Lord if they do not believe this in their hearts first? After all, “out of the heart the mouth speaks.”

Here, confession is more than just a trivial statement made on a whim; it is a pledge of allegiance to the proposition that Jesus is Lord and to the person of Christ who is God made flesh. Such confession cannot be made from a heart that does not believe in Jesus first.

Next, Paul wonders ‘how will they believe in Him whom they have not heard?...” (10:14b). As Paul will say a bit later “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God” (10:17). However, this “word” or the contents of what is heard is what is supremely important. The message that must be heard is the word about Christ—His deity, death, and resurrection. In fact, the noun “hearing” ‘can refer both to the act of hearing and to the message that is preached (as in the case of a judge awarding someone a hearing).Therefore, belief is dependent on the quality of the message going forth –a robust gospel message—and the apprehension of that message—hearing and receiving it. One cannot expect that people will believe in the gospel if they have not heard that gospel.

This also means that general revelation is not enough to save. In fact, in Romans 1, Paul was very cynical about the capacity for general relation to move anyone in God’s direction. In fact, “he does not contemplate the possibility that people will be saved by responding positively to natural revelation” at all (see Romans 1:18-32) (Schreiner, Romans, 567). Rather than be turned on to God, the lost who see God’s general revelation are prone to idolatry.

Romans 1:20ff-“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.”

This is why what Paul says in Romans 10 is so important. People cannot believe the gospel rightly if they are not made aware of God’s special revelation as found in Jesus Christ and witnessed in His completed work!

Paul continues his presentation of how the gospel is received in the last part of verse 14 when he says “and how will they hear without a preacher?...” (10:14c). Taken with 1:18-32, it is reasonable to conclude that people are not typically saved apart from the proclamation of the gospel. Though there are exceptions, the ordinary means of salvation involves the preaching of the Word. Calvin puts it this way, ”The gospel does not fall from the clouds like rain, by accident, but it brought by the hands of men to where God has sent it.” (Calvin, The Epistle, 231).

This ought to provide a sense for why the church ought to be so passionate about local, regional, and global missions. We cannot expect people to respond to a gospel that they have not heard and we cannot expect people to hear it when people are not preaching. This is just as true for that neighbor down the street as it is for the pigmy in Papa New Guinea. In fact, both are just as lost and in increasing numbers both are just as ignorant of the gospel. Gone are the days in our country where we can assume that the majority of people have an awareness of Judeo-Christian values, let alone Bible stories, let alone the person and work of Jesus and its corresponding implications. Unfortunately, instead of hearing the truth proclaimed by faithful followers who know the gospel inside and out, the vast population is being told what to believe about Jesus from the history channel, mainstream media, and/or television personalities with no business behind the pulpit!  

Paul understood this in the first century. In Rome, Christianity was an infant movement in a brave new world. In his day, people didn’t know about Jesus because He was a new phenomenon and word had not yet spread about His ministry and accomplishments. In the brave new world that is 21^st century America, people don’t know about Jesus because He is “old news” and people could care less! Both contexts require preachers armed with the truth to share that truth in compelling ways so that people hear it, believe it, and confess it. However, Paul asks “How will they preach unless they are sent?” (10:15a).

A missionary does no good if he/she doesn’t make it to the mission field. Your witness and my witness will not be used if we fail to take that walk down the street, make that call to that loved one, or write that letter.

As shared earlier, many will gather together to watch the spectacle that is the Super Bowl. During the game, in between clever commercials, analysis, replays, and time-outs, you will witness two scenes if you choose to watch it—the huddle and the actual plays. The score that will adorn the jumbotron at the end of the game is ultimately not going to be a reflection of what happens in the huddle, but what is actually accomplished as players are sent to their positions and execute their respective roles. The same is true of the church. Imagine a church that was content with meeting, singing, praying, preaching, teaching, and very little else. This would be akin to a football team meeting, practicing, scheming, and even making it to the huddle, only to then return to the sideline and wait for something to happen! Both scenarios are ridiculous!

This first step, shared last by Paul, is the step that so many forget about—being sent. Just as Jesus was sent and then sent the twelve so too are we to be sent in our respective worlds to accomplish our role of preaching the truth of gospel in whatever ways make sense for each of us. Then, and only then, can the gospel be received by those who will embrace it.

In a celebration of this crucial first step Paul writes “how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!...” (10:15). This statement is adapted from Isaiah 52:7 in which heralds were celebrated for having spread the news that the return from exile was at hand.  There, salvation for the Jewish people involved returning to the land of promise. Applied to Romans 10, salvation for all people involves hearing, receiving, believing, and confessing the preached gospel. How wonderful are the feet of those who share this gospel!

So What?

In this passage Paul gives two important presentations—a presentation of potential salvation candidates and a presentation of how the gospel is received by these candidates. In so doing, Paul has provided reassurance and a challenge. First, people everywhere can be reassured that God does not play favorites when it comes to those who are saved. All have sinned and are, without distinction, in need of salvation. Similarly, people everywhere, no matter what they look like or what tribe they come from, can receive the grace of God that is found in the gospel. However, we also learn that for people to receive the grace of salvation people have to be sent to preach the truth. This truth must be heard, believed, and confessed thereafter. This ought to propel us from our seats and into our mission field. As those who have been guided through this process ourselves by the grace of God, we are called to be God’s instruments through which the gospel enters our world and is proclaimed to those around us. It is game time!