Part 3: How will they hear?

We have seen the message we proclaim, and that we proclaim it as ambassadors for Christ. In this last part of the study, Paul shows us why the gospel has to be proclaimed at all. If God is going to save people, why does He need us to speak?

We are in Romans chapter ten. We will read the first seventeen verses, in five sections, and take them slowly.

Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they are zealous for God, but not on the basis of knowledge. Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law, to bring righteousness to everyone who believes. (Romans 10:1–4, BSB)

Look at Paul's heart first. “My heart's desire and prayer to God… is for their salvation.”

Paul is speaking about his own people, the Jews, many of whom had rejected Jesus. Some of them had hunted Paul from town to town, and tried to kill him. And the only return Paul made them was to pray for their salvation. We should never have a worse wish for our worst enemy.

Evangelism begins there: with a heart that longs for people to be saved, and with prayer to God for them. Before we speak to people about God, we speak to God about people.

Then Paul says something surprising. They were “zealous for God”. They were serious about religion. And notice that Paul says this first. That is a good rule: when you have to correct someone, start by saying all the good you honestly can.

But their zeal was “not on the basis of knowledge”.

They were trying “to establish their own” righteousness, to be right with God by what they did. Many people around us are like that today. They think that if they are sincere enough, or good enough, or religious enough, God will accept them.

Israel was sincere, but sincerely wrong. And that was a tragedy twice over. First, they could never succeed: no one can keep God's law well enough to earn a right standing with Him. And second, their very effort blinded them to the way God does save. Trusting in their own goodness, they saw no need of a Saviour, and so they rejected the very Saviour God had sent.

The same is true today of anyone who hopes to reach heaven by keeping the commandments, being a good neighbour, going to church or giving to good causes. Those are good things. But if we could earn our way to God, why would Christ have died?

The good news is different. “Christ is the end of the law, to bring righteousness to everyone who believes.” Righteousness is not earned. It is received, in Christ, by faith.

For concerning the righteousness that is by the law, Moses writes: “The man who does these things will live by them.” But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down) or, ‘Who will descend into the Abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” (Romans 10:5–7, BSB)

These verses are not easy, so let us take them slowly. Paul sets two ways side by side.

The first is righteousness by the law: “The man who does these things will live by them.” In three words: do and live. It is a just law. But leave anything undone, or break it in any way, and it cannot give life. And no one except Christ has ever done it all.

The second is righteousness by faith. Paul borrows words that Moses used near the end of Deuteronomy.

Faith does not ask, “Who will ascend into heaven?”, as if we had to climb up and bring Christ down. Why not? Because Christ has already come down. God's Son became a man.

And faith does not ask, “Who will descend into the Abyss?”, as if we had to go down into the place of the dead and bring Christ up. Why not? Because God has already raised Him.

To be right with God, we do not have to do something impossible, like climbing into heaven or digging down into the depths of the earth. Christ has come down, and Christ has risen. All the hard work has been done.

Do you see what this means for evangelism? We do not tell people to do something impossible: to climb up to God, or to earn His favour. We proclaim to them what Christ has already done, and we call them to trust Him. The way of faith is not do and live, but believe and live.

But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: that 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. For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved. (Romans 10:8–10, BSB)

It is just as the Scripture says: “Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Greek: The same Lord is Lord of all, and gives richly to all who call on Him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:11–13, BSB)

Here is the message Paul preached: “the word of faith we are proclaiming”.

“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.” Believing in the heart: trusting Christ, whom God raised. Confessing with the mouth: openly owning Him as Lord. The two go together. Real faith does not stay hidden.

And see how wide the door is. “Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.” “There is no difference between Jew and Greek.” “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Think about that word “everyone”. In older English Bibles it reads “whosoever”. Suppose the Bible had said instead that if a person with your name called on the Lord, he would be saved. You might wonder whether it meant someone else with the same name. But “everyone” leaves no one out. And the promise is sure: not “might be saved”, but “will be saved”.

That is why we can speak to anyone at all about Christ, whoever they are and whatever they have done. The promise is for all who call on Him.

And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has promised, among the remnant called by the LORD. (Joel 2:32, BSB)

Paul is quoting the prophet Joel. In Joel, “the LORD”, in capital letters, stands for God's own name. And Paul applies these words to Jesus, the same Lord who “gives richly to all who call on Him”. To call on Jesus is to call on the LORD.

That is why “Jesus is Lord” is such a great confession. It means far more than “Jesus was a good teacher”. It means He is God, and He is my King.

And notice the end of Joel's verse: the saved are “the remnant called by the LORD”. People call on Him because He first calls them. We will come back to that in study four.

How then can they call on the One in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Romans 10:14–15, BSB)

Now Paul asks four questions, one after another. Each one leads back to the one before.

Let us follow the chain. To be saved, people must call on the Lord. To call on Him, they must believe in Him. To believe in Him, they must hear of Him. To hear of Him, someone must proclaim Him to them. And for someone to proclaim Him, they must be sent.

This is the whole machinery of salvation. God provides salvation in Christ, He sends someone to proclaim it, people hear, they believe, and salvation is theirs.

“How can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard?” Faith is not something you can work up by trying hard. If someone told you surprising news, you could not believe it just by deciding to. You would want to hear more, and to know why it is true. Faith comes the same way: by hearing.

And when Paul says “hearing”, that includes reading. People come to know the gospel by a conversation, a Bible, a book, a letter.

And notice something careful about this chain. It is not automatic: proclaiming Christ to someone does not guarantee that they will believe. But it is necessary: no one will believe without hearing. Someone has to have the conversation. Someone has to leave a Bible by the bed, or hand over a leaflet, or stand up and speak. One way or another, someone has to proclaim the gospel to them.

Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. (Isaiah 45:22, BSB)

Spurgeon knew this from his own life. He said that he owed his conversion to an unknown man who was not a minister at all, and who could say little more than the words of this verse from Isaiah: “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth.”

God did not need a great preacher to save the young Spurgeon. He used an ordinary man who passed on the message.

So who should proclaim the gospel? Everyone who knows it. The verse does not say, “How can they hear without a famous preacher?”, or “without a doctor of divinity”. It says, “How can they hear without someone to preach?” If you know the gospel, you can make it known.

But what about the last question: “how can they preach unless they are sent?”

In the first place, Paul means preachers and missionaries sent out by the church. We will see that in study nine, when the church in Antioch sends out Paul and Barnabas.

But there are lessons in the word “sent” for every Christian. Someone who is sent has a message given to him: we do not make it up as we go. Someone who is sent feels an inner drive to go: real love and pity for people that will not let us stay silent. And someone who is sent is given power for the work: we need the Holy Spirit, and we must ask for Him.

And remember who wrote these words. The same Paul wrote Romans chapter nine, about God's sovereign choice, and Romans chapter ten, about our need to proclaim the gospel. He saw no contradiction between them. God chooses whom He will save, and He calls them through the words of His people. We will look at that more closely in study four.

Many people ask: if it is God who saves, why should I do anything?

Think of a father building a model with his young son. The father is really building it. But he lets his son help, and he guides his hands, and he delights in doing it together. God saves. But He is pleased to use us.

But not all of them welcomed the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. But as for Israel he says: “All day long I have held out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.” (Romans 10:16–17, 21, BSB)

Paul is honest. “Not all of them welcomed the good news.” Even when the message is proclaimed clearly, many do not believe. Isaiah knew that too: “Lord, who has believed our message?”

Why not? Paul answers at the end of the chapter. Had Israel not heard? They had. Had they not understood? They had. Listen to the last verse: “All day long I have held out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.” The problem was not that God had not spoken, but that they would not believe. God holds out His hands all day long. People themselves are responsible for turning away.

We must expect that some will not believe. It is not a sign that we have failed, or that the gospel has lost its power. Only God can open hearts, as we will see later in the course. God does not call us to convert people. He calls us to proclaim the gospel to them.

And notice that Isaiah takes his question to the Lord: “Lord, who has believed our message?” Someone who is sent on an errand always reports back. When we have spoken to someone about Christ, we should go back to our Lord and tell Him about it, and pray for that person by name.

Then comes the great conclusion: “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” God gives faith through the message about Christ. So we must proclaim it.

When Paul says, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news", he is quoting Isaiah. In Isaiah, the messenger comes running over the mountains with news of peace and salvation. His feet are dusty and tired. But to those who hear his news, they are beautiful. (Isaiah 52:7, BSB)

That is how God sees those who carry the gospel.

Let us gather up this first study.

Evangelism is proclaiming good news: the news of Christ, who died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and was raised on the third day. It is a message we received and pass on, without changing it.

We proclaim it as ambassadors for Christ, sinners who have been reconciled to God, pleading with others to be reconciled too.

And we proclaim it because faith comes by hearing the word of Christ. People cannot believe in someone they have never heard of.

To finish, some questions.

Is there someone you pray for, longing for them to be saved, as Paul did? If you wrote down one or two names in the Introduction, pray for them now.

What are the ways people around you try to make themselves right with God?

Who first proclaimed the gospel to you? Thank God for them.

And where might you be sent this week: at home, at work, among your friends?

In the next study we will look closely at the message itself, piece by piece: what exactly is the good news we share?