I love the Bible! A fully orbed, systematic exposition of
Scripture, not only reveals the unity, but also brings great balance to one's
theology. In Romans 9 we are faced with
the ground-shaking tsunami of God's unconditional, sovereign election of who will
be saved. The inspired writer cared
enough to deal with some of our natural objections. But as we have read on, the subject of
Israel's rejection by God cannot fully be explained by God's sovereign
freedom. God is not to blame! Romans 10:16–21 (ESV) makes this abundantly clear. For we read:
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord,
who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from
hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. 18 But I ask, have
they not heard? Indeed they have, for “Their voice has gone out to all the
earth, and their words to the ends of the world.” 19 But I ask, did
Israel not understand? First Moses says, “I will make you jealous of those who
are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry.” 20 Then
Isaiah is so bold as to say, “I have been found by those who did not seek me; I
have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.” 21 But of Israel
he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary
people.”
I'm going to use some
important words here. God's sovereign
election of the saved is the ultimate, primary cause of anyone's
salvation. But there are necessary,
secondary conditions that must be met.
The Gospel must be preached. It
must be heard. And it must be believed
(obeyed) in faith. Paul's Scriptural
proof, as it generally is, comes from the Old Testament – Isaiah 53:1 (“Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm
of the Lord been revealed?”). "The report was
Isaiah’s message of the gospel concerning the Messiah. It was brought to the
mouths of the Jews and offered to them, but that message was not obeyed."[1] We know
that the message is obeyed when one believes and entrusts himself or herself to
the content of the message.
Verse 17 is Paul's
summation: “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing
through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17,
ESV). This is a stunning verse. One must believe the message in faith, but
one can only come to faith through hearing the message. The message that Paul believes will save is
the word of Christ[2].
"Paul emphasizes the importance of proclamation;
righteousness comes by faith, and faith comes by hearing the gospel message."[3] Faith is a gift (Ephesians
2:8), but it is also a necessary condition for salvation!
Now, back to Israel. Have they heard? Yes (cf: 10:18). Now this is amazing and an important lesson
to check the New Testament cross-references.
Paul quotes Psalm 19:4 which is a psalm of David about God's revelation.
There he writes, “Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the
end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,” (Psalm 19:4, ESV).
David here is clearly referring to natural revelation. "Here he borrows language about God’s universal revelation in nature
to assert that God has revealed his special purpose in the gospel to Israel in
general."[4] (Paul does something we ARE
NOT ALLOWED TO DO J).
So we are not left hanging on this one rung, Paul also takes the reader
back to Moses, back to Deuteronomy 32:21 where God showed that He would uses
the Gentiles to provoke national Israel into jealousy. Paul's going to continue this theme in Romans
11 but for now we see "The failure of the Jews cannot be excused because
they did not hear the message, or because they could not understand it. Moses
and Isaiah contrast God’s own people with those who lack understanding (Deut.
32:21), and with those who were not God-seekers but who were brought to know
Him (Is. 65:1).[5]
"Those who lacked special revelation
and the moral and religious training God provided for Israel have proved more
responsive than the chosen people."[6]
Israel is nothing short of disobedient and obstinate. God says, "All day long I have held out
my hands . . .."[7]
How has God done that?
1. He has ". . . hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my
mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light.” (Hosea 6:5, ESV);
2. He has “. . . warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land
of Egypt, warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, Obey my voice.”
(Jeremiah 11:7, ESV);
3. He has said to them: “And now, O
inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.
What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I
looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?” (Isaiah 5:3–4,
ESV); and
4. He cried, ““O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often
would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under
her wings, and you were not willing!” (Matthew 23:37, ESV).
"The Lord God has patiently dealt with
Israel throughout history (all day long)
but she has been disobedient to His love. She is therefore guilty of spurning
the love of God, and the responsibility for her future is clearly her own."[8]
Conclusion from Chapter 10
In this and the preceding chapter it
becomes very clear that God uses a very tangible way to save men and women: the
Gospel message. But this message must be
accompanied by the influence of His graceful intention and power to save. Without His sovereign, electing grace
accompanied by the gift of faith, all of us would be as unbelieving Israel:
lost and rejected. And when skeptics of biblical
theology arrogantly attack such reality, they soon forget that everyone, like
Israel, has sufficient evidence to believe and be saved. [9]
The bottom-line? There is no excuse. To the reader: "the
responsibility of your future is clearly your own." Believe and be saved.
____________________________________________
Previous Blogs on this topic:
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1
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Romans 9:30-33
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2
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Romans 10:1-4
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3
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Romans 10:5-9
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4
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Romans 10:11–13
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5
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Romans 10:14-15
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6
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The Buck Stops Here
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Romans 10:16–21
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[1] Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.).
(1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p.
2253). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[2] "This
could mean either the word about Christ or the word proclaimed by Christ. The
former sense is somewhat favored by the fact that in Isaiah 53, which may still
be in Paul's thought, the Servant is not a proclaimer but a suffering Redeemer.
On the other hand, the second possibility cannot be ruled out. Barrett, for
example, says, "Christ must be heard either in his own person, or in the
person of his preachers, through whom his own word (v. 17) is spoken; otherwise
faith in him is impossible" (in loc.)." - Expositor's Bible
Commentary, The, Pradis CD-ROM:Romans/Exposition of Romans/VI. The Problem
of Israel: God's Righteousness Vindicated (9:1-11:36)/D. Israel's Failure to
Attain Righteousness Due to Reliance on Works Rather Than Faith (9:30-10:21),
Book Version: 4.0.2
[3] Barry, J. D., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M.,
Mangum, D., & Whitehead, M. M. (2012). Faithlife
Study Bible (Ro 10:17). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
[4] Moo, D. J. (2002). Encountering the book of Romans : a theological survey (p. 162).
Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
[5] Whitlock, L. G., Sproul, R. C., Waltke, B.
K., & Silva, M. (1995). The
Reformation study Bible: bringing the light of the Reformation to Scripture:
New King James Version (Ro 10:19). Nashville: T. Nelson.
[6] Expositor's Bible Commentary, The, Pradis
CD-ROM:Romans/Exposition of Romans/VI. The Problem of Israel: God's
Righteousness Vindicated (9:1-11:36)/D. Israel's Failure to Attain
Righteousness Due to Reliance on Works Rather Than Faith (9:30-10:21), Book
Version: 4.0.2
[7] The
Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Ro 10:21). Wheaton: Standard
Bible Society.
[8] Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.).
(1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p.
2253). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[9] Credit some of these thoughts from: Haldane,
R. (1996). An exposition of Romans
(electronic ed., pp. 524–525). Simpsonville, SC: Christian Classics Foundation.
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