Romans9v30to10v21: THE CHALLENGE OF THE GOSPEL

Introduction. Read Rom9v20to10v21.

This passage is really a commentary on John1v11and12. Whereas chapter nine emphasises the part played by God's sovereignty in salvation chapter ten is all about man's responsibility to declare and to accept the gospel. It divides humanity into three groups: those that accept Jesus, those that refuse Jesus and those who know nothing about Jesus. It is this last group that pose problems - problems not dealt with in the Bible.

I am going to study the passage under four headings:

(1) Rejection. see ch9v30 to ch10v7.

Jesus was a stumbling block to the Jews. Paul quotes Is8v14: See I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. Rom9v33.

(a) The Jews stumbled although they had a lot going for them.

  • They were zealous for God. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God. Paul knew from firsthand experience that this was true. As a Pharisee he had misguided zeal for God - hounding Christians in the name of that God even unto death.

  • They tried hard to be righteous. Israel pursued a law of righteousness. As William Barclay points out in his commentary this pursuit could be highly inconvenient. The Jews were not permitted to cook a meal on the Sabbath. It could also result in very real suffering. When Judea was part of the Greek Empire Eleazar the high priest in Jerusalem was done to death by Antiochus Epiphanes for refusing to eat pork.

  • Some, like the rich young ruler, sought some great thing to do by which to attain eternal life. See exposition on Luke18v18to25. Paul deals with this heroic delusion by quoting some words in Dt30v11to14 which ironically were actually written about the law! The apostle appears to be saying that salvation is not dependent upon doing anything dramatic like ascending to heaven and bringing Christ down or descending into the grave and raising Christ up. He tells the Jewish Christians, and Gentile Christians sympathetic to Judaism, that the gospel he proclaims, that they talk about and abides in their hearts, is sufficient for salvation. The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, that is the word of faith we are proclaiming. 10v8.

(b) The reason Jesus was a stumbling block to the Jews.

  • Their zeal was not based on knowledge. See 10v2. The Jews didn't know God. Jesus said of his critics - and he could hardly have said anything more damning: "You do not know me or my Father. If you knew me, you would know my father also." Jn8v19.

    Jesus said in his scathing rebuke of the Pharisees that although they were meticulous in tithing the products of their herb gardens they neglected what really pleased God: justice, mercy and faithfulness.

    We all need to remember that God's ideal man is described in the Beatitudes.

  • The ultra orthodox Jews sought to establish their own righteousness by observing the innumerable rulings that had grown up around the Law of Moses. Paul put it very aptly: They did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own. 10v3.

    The Pharisees believed they could earn God's favour. They could work their passage to heaven.

  • Jesus required men and women to submit to him. He was God's righteousness and Paul writes: They (the Jews) did not submit to God's righteousness.

    Jesus made it clear that the way to righteousness was by personal submission to him. His disciples had to surrender control to him and follow him. Jesus emphasised this in the most dramatic fashion when he called upon his supporters to eat his flesh and drink his blood. He required total, unconditional commitment. It is significant that Jesus lost much support after making this demand.

(c) The situation today.

Sadly, Jesus remains a stumbling block for millions of people in England for much the same reasons as the Jews 2000 years ago.

  • Men and women are ignorant of God and what he desires of them. Muslims blow people up in the name of Allah. Christians should not be too complacent because there was a time they burned each other at the stake in the name of God. Jesus taught: "But I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven." Mt5v44.

    Jesus was dead set against legalism. He told the Pharisees the Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath. He refused to condemn the woman taken in adultery. He allowed a prostitute to bathe his feet in her tears.

    Legalism remains a very unlovely characteristic of nominal Christians. One of the itinerant preachers who comes to Brockley chapel recounted an incident from his childhood. Maurice had been to the Sunday evening service and had a time of hymn singing round the family organ. Devotions finished he and a friend played a game of chess. At this point Maurice's grandfather came into the room, stalked across to the chess set and kicked it off the low table. "Games like that shouldn't be played on the Sabbath," he growled. What boorish, unlovely, uncouth, ungracious behaviour from an old man who hadn't set foot in a place of worship all day!!

    Jesus was the friend of publicans and sinners! The Pharisees criticised him for fraternising with the riff-raff of society. Christians surely should be careful not to demonise gay people. I am not sure it is appropriate for a Christian inn keeper to refuse them room for the night.

  • Men and women, but especially men, want to keep control of their lives. Men prefer to go it alone. They will please God by their own efforts or not at all. Surely they can merit God's favour by church attendance, giving to charity and abstaining from the grosser sins like drunkenness.

  • Many are too proud to submit to Jesus. It seems such a wimpish, unmanly thing to do. I know a very amiable, generous man who hates being treated to a meal. So for that matter does my friend Babs. I literally have to get up and run to the till in order to pay my turn when we go out for our occasional lunch together. Lots of folk hate to feel indebted.

    I read in the paper recently that research showed men prefer to drive around in circles when lost rather than stop and ask someone the way. How sad is that!

    This attitude keeps men and women from asking Jesus for help. That is what we all must do - humbly ask Jesus to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

            Ask the Saviour to help you,
            Comfort, strengthen, and keep you;
            He is willing to aid you,
            He will carry you through.

(2) Belief: the only way to be saved. See v8to13.

Paul was very concerned for the salvation of the Jews. See 10v1. He was certainly not anti-Jew as some still accuse him of being. In verses 8 to 13 the apostle highlights four aspects of saving faith.

(a) Call. .. the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 10v12and13.

In the 'Stories' section of this website I describe an encounter with a little old lady in the ancient cemetery of St Mary's church in Bury St Edmunds. See 'Little old lady story. One balmy summer's evening I was walking through the cemetery when I heard the cry, "Help me!" It arrested me - I looked around and saw a frail, grey woman sitting in the shadows. She wanted some help to get up. She stretched out a hand and I gently pulled the lady to her feet. She suffered from Parkinson's disease - and dementia.

The words, "Help me," captured my attention like none other would. Many, many lives have been changed by the simple cry, "Jesus, help me!" It certainly captures his attention. More than that, he imparts his spirit to provide the help that is so urgently needed. I have listened to several testimonies on BBC's, 'Songs of Praise,' through the years where lives have been dramatically changed on the basis of that call, "Jesus, help me!"

Jesus richly blesses all who come to him. He is able to bless all sorts and conditions of men and women. This is the amazing thing about Jesus. He can enrich the lives of professors in our universities and cleaners in city offices, of Olympic athletes and arthritic old women, of cathedral deans and members of a black gospel choir, of prisoners in their cells and princes in their palaces. See sermon on Eph3v1to13.

(b) Trust. And the one who trusts in me will never be put to shame.

The Daily Telegraph published over a series of many days the expense claims of our members of parliament. It certainly shamed many of them! Yet only two of their weaknesses were highlighted: greed and dishonesty. How easy it would be for God to shame us: to blazen a list of our sins on the sky; to post them weekly on the church notice board; to take out an advert in the Daily Telegraph!

Paul assures us that if we trust in Jesus, God will never shame us. We are forgiven.

          Gone, Gone, Gone, Gone!
          Yes, my sins are gone.
          Now my soul is free, and in my heart's a song;
          Buried in the deepest sea;
          Yes, that's good enough for me;
          I shall live eternally,
          Praise God! my sins are GONE

(c) Believe. ... if ... you believe in your heart that God raised him(Jesus) from the dead, you will be saved. 10v9.

It is vital to believe God raised Jesus from the dead because of the assurance this gives of our justification.

The resurrection demonstrates that God was satisfied with Christ's sacrifice upon the cross. He accepted it. It was sufficient. The price has been paid. The transaction has been done. Believers stand acquitted - ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven. God has pronounced us, 'Not Guilty'. Christians are no longer under condemnation.

(d) Confession. If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," .... you will be saved. 10v9.

In the final term of my teaching career, I was prowling from classroom to classroom doing my lunch time duty. I wandered into a room and lingered to chat with the children there. Just before I left I looked across at the dark-haired Sammy. She just mouthed, "I love you." This confession of affection put a seal upon our relationship. I would always give my best for Sammy.

When we express our allegiance to Jesus in words it sets a seal upon our salvation. It confirms us in the faith. Christians need to be willing to own Jesus, to stand for him and to witness for him. He is our Master and we should be proud to be his servants. See story about the, 'Two Ladies'.

(3) Responsibility. see verses 14and15.

In verses 14 and 15 Paul outlines a three-fold responsibility:

(a) The churches' responsibility. How can they preach unless they are sent. 10v15.

It is the responsibility of individual churches to produce and send out evangelists to preach the gospel.

It seems to me that in Britain the supply of evangelists by the main stream denominations has almost dried up. My own Association supports the Grace Baptist Mission. In the past the vast majority of missionaries would be primarily evangelists. Today, they have other roles: mainly support ministries. The emphasis is upon lecturing students, running courses for the indigenous pastors, distributing literature, equipping men for ministry and so on.

Yet it would be wrong to think that evangelism has all but ceased. I was very interested to read an article on the new Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles Moore in today's Daily Telegraph. In the course of the article Moore dealt with the Alpha course started by the Rev Nicky Gumbel, vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton. This is what he wrote: Instead of it being for existing believers, he and his colleagues aimed it at people outside the church. Today, the Alpha course has been taken by 19.6 million people, in 66000 churches, taught in 112 languages, and followed in virtually every country in the world. It is present in high and low - 85% of British prisons, and in Yale and Harvard.

Alpha involves no obligation - no money, no follow up courses, no membership, no assent. Its only worldly inducement is free food eaten together. It gives orthodox Christian answers to such questions such as, "Who is Jesus?" "Why did he die?" and "What is faith?"

It is obvious that a movement of this scale makes quite a difference to the world - a difference for the good, I would say. Less obvious, perhaps, it has made a difference to the people who preach it. Evangelicals of this kind have moved out of the ghetto and no longer mix with one another. The denominational boundaries of old are now completely out of date. The Alpha course has been so designed that it is exactly the same for Catholics as for Protestants. In the Vatican itself, Padre Raniero Canalamessa, the Franciscan Capuchin priest who is Preacher to the Papal household, is one of Alpha's leading advocates. Even Eastern Orthodox churches and Copts do Alpha. .... This new unity is now the biggest Christian force in the world.

I find that encouraging! Who would have thought that an Anglican church in the posh London borough of Kensington and Chelsea would be responsible for equipping so many for evangelism. It has fulfilled its responsibility in spades!!

(b) The evangelist's responsibility. How can they hear without someone preaching to them. And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? v14.

I think it is very possible to hammer away at the truth without being heard and Jesus being seen.

When Amy Tracy was at university she decided that she was gay and committed her life to women's rights. She became actively involved in the pro-abortion movement. Yet, this did not prevent her from feeling empty and sad. The Christians who marched against her displayed more anger than peace and more hatred than love. But one night in Washington D.C. Amy ran into a pro-life campaigner she had encountered at many abortion demonstrations. She made a sarcastic remark and expected one in reply. However her opponent said: "Amy, all I pray for is the chance to see you standing in church, praising and loving Jesus. Forget about the abortion debate. That's all I really want."

Amy's hunger for God grew desperate and finally she looked in the yellow pages for a Christian church. One Sunday she showed up in her pickup truck covered with rainbow flags and pro-abortion stickers. She wondered what sort of reception she would get, but as the pastor spoke and the church worshiped, Amy sensed God calling to her. It took a while, but eventually Amy committed her life to Jesus Christ. Today she is a writer for Focus on the Family in the area of public policy.

Amy says, "My prayer is that Christians will be able to see others with compassion, not as enemies; as broken and in need of restoration by the only healer of our souls, Jesus Christ."

I don't think it does much good proclaiming the gospel in the old fashioned way - by yelling it out in the open air or distributing tracts. I think Simon and Christine who serve God in Ipswich have the right idea. They make many attempts to get along side people in their community. Once they get to know their neighbours they can make Christ known.

I think it is important for the evangelist to show how Jesus is relevant to people's lives. Broken lives need Jesus the only cure for souls. In the 19th century William Booth realised this. The evangelists he used in the East End of London were men and women who had been taken out of the gutter and been saved; men who could say, "I know Jesus can change water into wine because in my house he turned gin into furniture."

When we talk with our non-Christian friends about Christianity instead of trying to prove it is all true we ought simply to say, that if their lives are ever in a mess - Jesus is there - ready and willing to help.

I heard a young man give his testimony some years ago now. He described how he got into a very dark place. In the darkness he remembered something his old headmaster said in an assembly. His headmaster said, "Young people, if you are ever in trouble, Jesus is there to help you." So this young man just called out, "Jesus, Jesus, JESUS." He was brought out of his darkness into the light.

(c) The responsibility of the hearer.

The person who hears the gospel has a responsibility to both believe in, and call out to, Jesus for salvation.

I think it is important to stress the, 'calling out'. When a person calls out to Jesus they are making a commitment. When a sinner calls out for help they are throwing themselves on Christ's mercy. When the young man mentioned above cried, "Jesus," he was admitting he could not help himself. He had come to the end of himself - his last, best and only hope was Jesus.

A man's salvation was not all cut and dried before the foundation of the earth! There is no such thing as God's unconditional election to salvation. A man's salvation is CONDITIONAL upon the church, the evangelist and the hearer exercising responsibility. Nothing could be clearer from this passage of Scripture.

(4) Condemnation. See verses 16 to 21.

Paul states that the Jews have no excuse for not believing in Jesus for salvation.

(a) The apostle asks: Did they not hear? and responds: Of course they did.

The Jews had the privilege of Christ's ministry followed by that of most of his apostles. Paul, himself, nearly always started his evangelistic campaigns with the Jews of his target city.

(b) Paul asks: Did Israel not understand? He argues that the Jews were in a much better position to understand than the Gentiles. See v20. The Jews problem was not an inability to understand but a rebellious heart. There attitude was that described by Isaiah the prophet: All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people. Is65v2.

From 1980 a whole generation of young people passed through our Sunday school. They heard the gospel, understood it and rejected it.

Anyone in Britain can find out about Jesus. Abundant resources are widely available: Bibles, Christian literature, numerous evangelical churches, believing family and friends, CDs and the riches of the Internet. It has never been easier to learn about Jesus.

The fact is, all over the world people from cultures that owe nothing to Christian influence are responding to the gospel. It cannot be difficult to understand if Amazonian Indians, Indian hill tribes, ethnic minorities in Burma, Chinese factory workers and Inuits are responding to it.

Men and women in Britain are without excuse. They are like the Jews of 2000 years ago. In spite of their immense privileges they are wilfully rejecting Jesus and all he stands for.

(c) Finally I must just mention a third group - one mentioned right at the beginning of this exposition. What can I say about all those who have never heard about Jesus? What is there fate?

I suspect Jesus' response to this question would be the same as his reply to his disciple's question about the man born blind. The disciples wanted to know whose fault it was. Jesus assured them it was neither the man nor his parent's fault but did not go on to provide an explanation. An explanation would undoubtedly have been very complex and hardly comprehensible to the disciples.

Instead, Jesus taught that the proper response to handicap was to get on and do what you could to help while the opportunity remained.

I daresay he would say much the same thing about those who have never heard the gospel. If it is something of concern the appropriate response is take the good news to those who have yet to hear it. There would be no incentive to take the gospel to those still ignorant of Jesus if they were all going to be saved anyway.

I suppose some would say, "Isn't this a very inefficient way to proceed? Two thousand years have passed and there are still people who have not been reached with the gospel." Couldn't God have sent his angels to the four corners of the earth with the good news of salvation? Couldn't he have instructed spokesmen all over the world in visions and dreams?

I think we must conclude that although the way God chose seems inefficient to us it is actually the most effective way to disseminate the gospel. The best messengers to sinful men are other sinful men; sinful men who have experienced the grace of God.

ANY COMMENTS FOR JOHN REED: E-mail jfmreed@talktalk.net

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