Romans 10:14-15

How, then, can they call on the One they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news" [Isaiah 52:7]!

Let me point out four ways that Israel is practically a visible illustration of our own lives before God: (1) Israel has the law written down in history for all to read; we have the invisible law of God written on our hearts; (2) Israel fails to live up to its visible, written law for all to see; we fail to live up to our invisible law; (3) Israel is condemned by God visibly and publicly; we are condemned by our conscience as an echo of God’s severe wrath and just judgment; (4) Israel is given a remedy by faith in the Messiah, Jesus, who provides a righteousness that they could not provide for themselves; we are given that same remedy. So Israel’s historical story and our internal, personal story connect in Jesus. Their history was pointing to Jesus, and our spiritual struggles point to Jesus. And this connection continues to a fifth point made by Paul in Romans 9-11: (5) Israel missed the provided remedy (Christ), so that we would not miss it. That’s where Paul is going in this 3-chapter span in Romans. The Old Testament pointed to salvation by grace through faith, just as the New Testament does. And Paul’s audience might ask, “If the Scriptures teach salvation by grace through faith, then how did the Jews miss it? How did Israel fail to grasp it?” So Paul explains how and why they missed their Messiah and rejected the Gospel in this passage. Notice that Paul asks 4 questions in v14-15, gives 4 answers in v15-21 (skipping v17), and gives 2 important details regarding saving faith in v17.

Paul has just said in v13 that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. No nation in all of human history has called on the Lord like the Israelites. How is it, then, that they are not all being saved? Paul is asserting that the Israelites are not really calling on the Lord, because they’re not calling on Jesus Christ with saving faith. They may be crying out to God the Father, but they show that they do not really know God the Father, because they fail to cry out to His Son. In Romans 10:9, we saw that “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Luke 10:22 “All things have been committed to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.” It’s more than intellectual assent to the facts, and that’s what Paul wants to show. So he asks 4 diagnostic questions in v14-15 forcing his audience to get to the heart of the matter, to focus on the core of the problem.

First, they cannot call on the Lord Jesus Christ if they don’t really believe Jesus Christ is Lord. Second, they cannot believe that Jesus Christ is Lord unless they hear the Gospel. Third, they cannot hear the Gospel unless it is preached to them. Fourth, the Gospel cannot be preached unless preachers are sent by God. So Paul is asking his audience to focus on the problem. Why is it that people reject the Gospel? And we'll look at the answers to these questions next time.