Why is Israel lost? Is she to blame? The apostle Paul declares that she heard the gospel, understood the gospel, but refused the gospel, so she is culpable in the matter.
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Israel Has No Excuse
Romans 10:14-21
In Romans 9 and 10, the apostle Paul is laboring to help us understand why the majority of Israel did not believe in Christ. Paul is broken-hearted and grief-stricken, because of the unbelief of his fellow Israelites. He says in 9:3 that they are accursed and separated from Christ. So, Paul struggles to understand why this has happened. Why is Israel lost? He gives two different reasons, which at first seem contradictory. In chapter 9 Paul says that this can be understood as part of God’s sovereign plan. He says that God has mercy on whom He has mercy. It does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. God is the Potter, and all people are vessels. Some are vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and others are vessels of mercy which He prepared beforehand for glory. Paul’s first answer in Romans 9, is that God is the one who decides who He will include in His True Israel. He includes them by calling them by His grace, from both Jews and Gentiles. In the final analysis it is up to Him.
However, in Romans 10, Paul gives us the other side of the coin. Yes, it is true that God is sovereign in who He includes in His True Israel. But it is also true that Israel is lost because of her own refusal to come to Christ. In other words, Israel has no excuse. She is to blame. She is culpable in the matter. She can never say, “God, it’s all your fault that we are lost. You didn’t choose us to be saved.” The truth is, that she is responsible for her own rejection of Jesus Christ. And, that is Paul’s burden in Romans 9:30 – 10:21. He is showing us that Israel has no excuse for her lostness. She made the deliberate, stubborn, willful choice to disobey the gospel. And you know, the same is true of every lost person today. It may be true that God has passed over certain people and not chose them for salvation, but that does not negate their blame in the matter. The truth is that they are responsible for their unbelief and stubborn rejection of the gospel. God holds all people responsible for their own sinful actions.
Now, this morning, I’m going to make three very simple points:
1) Israel Heard the Gospel
2) Israel Understood the Gospel
3) Israel Refused the Gospel
1. Israel Heard The Gospel (10:14-18)
The Context. Let’s remember the context. Paul has been explaining to Israel how simple and accessible the gospel is. They didn’t have to ascend to heaven to bring Christ down. He already came down in the incarnation. They didn’t have to descend into the abyss to bring Him up. He already came up in His resurrection. The gospel is not about man doing anything. The gospel is about what God has already done. It is about the finished work of Christ. And that message is in their heart and mouth. It is easily accessible. It is also simple. It has to do with believing and confessing. Believing that God raised Jesus from the dead, and confessing Him as Lord. This gospel is for all. 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; for whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.
The 4 How Question of 10:14-15. As soon as Paul mentions that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved, he launches into four questions that all begin with “how”. If they have to call on the name of the Lord to be saved…
- How will they call on Him in whom they have not believed?
- How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard?
- How will they hear without a preacher?
- How will they preach unless they are sent?
It will be helpful to start at the end and work backwards. What are the steps that must take place in order for a person to be saved?
- Preachers must be sent
- Those who are sent must preach the gospel
- People will hear the gospel
- Some will believe the gospel
- Those who believe the gospel will call on the name of the Lord
- Those who call on the name of the Lord will be saved
So, there are 5 steps for a person to be saved: Sending, Preaching, Hearing, Believing, and Calling on the Lord.
Has this happened with Israel? Perhaps Israel can’t be blamed for not believing the gospel, because she never heard the gospel. Is Israel off the hook because she never heard the gospel? Well, let’s read verses 15-18, “How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!” However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have; “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”
Romans 10:15. In verse 15 Paul says these preachers must be sent, and that Isaiah even wrote of this when he exclaimed, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!” Paul’s point is that God has indeed sent people to bring the good news (gospel) which speaks of good things! Paul, himself, was one such person. The Lord Jesus personally commissioned him and sent him out with this good news to preach it everywhere. Wherever Paul went, his strategy was “to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (Romans 1:16). Whenever Paul came to a new city, he would make a beeline for the synagogue where he would preach to the Jew first. If the Jews rejected his message, he would take it to the Gentiles. But Paul is living proof that God had sent people to Israel. The other apostles had gone to Israel as well. Peter was the apostle to the circumcision (Gal.2:9). John speaks of those that went out for the sake of the Name (3Jn.7). We know that there were many early missionaries, evangelists, and workers who were sent to Israel with the glad tidings, including Barnabas, John Mark, Timothy, Silas, Epaphroditus, Tychicus, Epaphras, among others. Indeed, Paul could write in Colossians 1:5-6, “because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth.” In Colossians 1:23 Paul writes, “the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven…” Yes, God had sent out dozens of preachers armed with the gospel of Christ, and they had preached to Israel.
Romans 10:17. Paul gives us three of those five steps in verse 17, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” Here we have preaching, hearing, and believing. Preaching is found in the phrase “the word of Christ.” I understand that to mean the word about Christ, which is the gospel that he mentions in verse 15. The “word of Christ” is the same gospel message that Paul has been giving us in the book of Romans. It speaks of justification by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. It is the same message he just gave us in Romans 10:9, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” So Paul is saying that faith comes when the gospel is preached. Notice that faith comes. That means that faith is not resident in all human hearts ready to be exercised at will. No! Faith comes as man hears the gospel. As the sinner hears the gospel, sometimes God gives faith. Kenneth Wuest has written, “As the gospel is preached, the Spirit engenders faith in the gospel message in the hearts of those elected to salvation.” However, faith does not automatically come to all who hear the gospel. Israel is a case in point.
Romans 10:18. “But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have; “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.” Paul is quoting Psalm 19:4. In its original context, this psalm is speaking of the heavens telling of the glory of God. In other words, all people can look into the heavens, and know there must be an all powerful, all wise Creator who made all this. The heavens preach of the greatness of our Creator, and it preaches to everyone. Well, Paul borrows that language, and applies it to the gospel. Just as it is true that the truth of our Creator has gone out through all the earth merely through natural revelation, so too, the gospel had also gone out through all the earth in Paul’s own day as God had sent out preachers to announce the good news to all. Paul’s question was, “Has Israel heard the gospel?” His answer is a resounding “Yes!” God has sent preachers to announce the gospel to all men, including Israel.
- H. Glover, author of The Progress of World-Wide Missions in 1925 wrote, “On the basis of all the data available it has been estimated that by the close of the Apostolic Period the total number of Christian disciples had reached half a million.”
Justin Martyr, who died in 165 A.D. wrote, “There is no people, Greek or barbarian, or of any other race, by whatever title or manners they may be distinguished, however ignorant of arts or agriculture, whether they dwell in tents or wander about in covered wagons, among whom prayers and thanksgivings are not offered in the name of the crucified Jesus to the Father and Creator of all things.”
Yes, Israel had heard!
2. Israel Understood The Gospel (10:19-20)
But, can Israel claim ignorance? Can the Jews claim that they did not know? Can it be that Israel heard, but did not understand? If that is true, Israel can’t be held responsible for believing something they did not understand! That’s Paul’s question in verse 19, “But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? First Moses says, “I will make you jealous by that which is not a nation, by a nation without understanding will I anger you.” And Isaiah is very bold and says, “I was found by those who did not seek Me, I became manifest to those who did not ask for Me.”
Now, what is Paul’s point in these verses? His point is that Israel was well aware of the Gentiles who were flocking to Christ. God’s intention was to use the calling of the Gentiles to make Israel jealous. The Gentiles readily received the gospel that the Jews rejected. The Jews looked at the Gentiles as blind, in darkness, foolish, and immature (2:19-20). In Romans 10:19 he says they were “without understanding.” In verse 20 he says that the Gentiles were not seeking for God or asking for Him. They were steeped in their superstitions and were being led astray by dumb idols. They were worshiping in ignorance. Yet they were able to understand the gospel. Therefore, the Jews, who were steeped in Scripture certainly could understand it as well. The gospel was not hard to understand. Even a child is capable of understanding that Christ died for sins, and rose again from the dead, and that all who believe are forgiven.
Paul’s point is that Israel has heard the gospel, and Israel has understood the gospel. Therefore, Israel is responsible and is without excuse!
3.Israel Refused The Gospel (10:16,21)
Paul has declared that Israel has heard the gospel, and understood the gospel. How did Israel respond to the gospel? Well, he tells us in verses 16 and 21.
Romans 10:16, “However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” Paul is being very generous. He says, “they did not all heed the good news.” In reality, the vast majority did not heed the good news. To heed the gospel, is to believe it. But Isaiah, writing about the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53 says, “who has believed our report?” Israel heard and understood the gospel, but did not heed or believe it!
Romans 10:21, “But as for Israel He says, “All the day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.” How does God characterize Israel? Disobedient and obstinate! The definition of obstinate is “stubbornly refusing to change one’s opinion or chosen course of action, despite attempts to persuade one to do so.”
How does Paul sum up Israel’s response to the gospel? Israel did not heed the gospel, did not believe the gospel, did not obey the gospel, and stubbornly refused the gospel! Therefore Israel is without excuse. She is responsible for her deliberate rejection of Jesus Christ. God will judge Israel on Judgment Day for rejecting Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
There are several implications of this passage for us.
1) People Who Never Hear the Gospel Will Perish
Now, why in the world would I draw that implication out of this passage? It is because of verses 14-15. If sinners who never hear the gospel will not perish, why in the world did God sent preachers to them? Jesus’ command to preach the gospel to all creation would be foolish. In fact, if the heathen who do not hear the gospel will not perish, we do a disservice to them! Once they hear the gospel they are responsible to believe and obey it. But if they never hear the gospel, some believe they are not accountable. Therefore, when we send missionaries to bring the gospel to the heathen, we are actually bringing about their condemnation. They would have been saved if we had not sent them the gospel (because of their ignorance), but now they have no excuse and will perish. This would mean that tens of millions of dollars are being squandered by sending missionaries to sinners who don’t need it, and tens of thousands of missionaries are giving up everything, and sacrificing all to bring a message to people who are okay without it. This is unthinkable! The Bible teaches that there are only two representatives – Adam and Christ, and that every person in the world has one or the other as his representative. It also teaches that all men are born into this world guilty, spiritually dead, and under God’s wrath. Therefore, a person doesn’t have to do anything to be lost. He is born lost! The only way he can be saved is by believing the gospel. Therefore, it is imperative that we get the gospel to every person in the world!
2) The Church Has Not Fulfilled The Great Commission.
It is currently estimated that there are still about 7,000 people groups who are unreached with the gospel. “Unreached” means that there are no native communities of believing Christians able to evangelize this people group.” And the sad truth is that 42% of the world’s population lies in these 7,000 unreached people groups. Folks, it is tragic that 2,000 years after Christ died and rose again, we will have 42% of the world that has little to no exposure to the gospel! All of this teaches us the importance of the church in being zealously involved in missionary activity! I love Bibles for Asia, because they are targeting unreached people groups, and seeking to get the gospel in their language ASAP. Folks, let’s either go or send missionaries. Could it be that God will call some of us here to go to another country to be a witness for Christ. It could be that the Lord would put it on your heart to move to another country to work a secular job, but labor to speak to your co-workers and neighbors about Christ, start bible studies, and lead others to Jesus. If you don’t believe the Lord is leading you to do this, the least you can do is to give generously so that others can go, and pray for them. I urge you to consider going on a short-term missions trip of one or two weeks. Our brother Anthony is heading out this Friday with Bibles for Asia. These folks go on trips a couple of times a year. Talk to Don and Joy and go with them on an upcoming trip. There is nothing like spending time in another country and meeting the local people that will give you a heart for them!
- People Who Have Heard The Gospel are More Accountable Than Those Who Haven’t
Paul is going to great lengths to show Israel that they are responsible for God for their rejection of the gospel. However, I have sought to show that even if a person does not have the gospel, they will still die in their sins and give an account to God. However, when God determines the punishment of those who perish, he will take into account the gospel light they had received. Jesus makes this very plain in Luke 12:47-48, “And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few.” Here is a principle – all men are accountable for the light they have received. My friends there are a lot of responsible people in this room today! You have heard the gospel over and over. If you die without embracing it as your only hope, you will face God and receive many lashes. Repent and believe today, right now!
- God Chooses Who He Will Save but Desires the Salvation of All
We see this strikingly in verses 20 and 21. In Romans 10:20 the Lord lets the Gentiles find Him when they were not seeking for Him. He manifests Himself to those who did not ask for Him. All of that points to God’s sovereign grace in election and calling. Yet in verse 21, the Lord is pictured as stretching out His hands all the day long to Israel, who obstinately and disobediently spurn His love. Try this – stretch out your hands and leave them stretched out for just 15 minutes. I promise you, that it is not going to be easy! You are going to feel your muscles burning by the end of those 15 minutes. Well God stretches out His hands all the day long. And this has been a 3,000 year day, that He has been inviting Israel into His embrace. When we want our children to come to us, we kneel down and stretch out our hands. When God stretches out His hands it is as if He is saying, “I want you to come, I want to hold you, embrace you, love you, and be close to Me.”
How can this be? How can the same man who wrote Romans 9 also write Romans 10? In Romans 9 Paul says it is all up to God. He hardens whom He desires and He has mercy on whom He desires. It does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. Yet in Romans 10, he says God is stretching out His hands all the day long to Israel who rejects His love. Brothers and sisters, I’m not going to explain how those two things can be true at the same time. I don’t think I can explain that. I just want you to see it, and believe it, whether or not you can understand it. I’ll show you three passages in which we see that tension most clearly.
Matthew 11:25-28, “At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” Crystal clear right? The Son is the one who reveals the Father to His chosen ones. God reveals spiritual truths to infants and hides them from the wise and intelligent. Yet the very next verse has Jesus proclaiming, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest.” He has hidden the truth from some, and invites all to Himself.
John 6:35,37, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst… All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.” All are invited to come to Christ, but the Father has given some to Christ.
Acts 13:38-39,48, “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things…” “as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.” All are invited to believe to receive forgiveness, but only some are appointed to eternal life.
Brothers and sisters, embrace the paradox of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. The Bible writers seemed perfectly content with believing both truths, though no man has the mental genius to put them together perfectly. You should be perfectly content believing everything in the Bible. You should be right at home with “God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” And you should be right at home with “so then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.” One group of Christians will reject the verses on God’s sovereignty, because they see the Scriptures that show God as inviting, and wooing, and beckoning, and they say that God can’t be sovereign over the sinner’s will. Others see the passages that show that God is absolutely sovereign in salvation, and they say that it is wrong to picture God as having His arms outstretched, inviting and calling all to come to Him. We need both of these truths! We need to know God is sovereign, so we can trust an unshakeable rock who works all things according to His purpose. But we also need to know that man is responsible, and that we should be like God in pleading and persuading others to come to Christ in tears. Be a Bible Christian. Embrace everything you see in this book. Don’t be lop-sided. Whether you can reconcile everything or not, believe it all, and embrace it all!
Let’s pray.
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