The gospel has been near unto them, it’s been offered unto them, but it has not been believed by them. Because they would not believe, judgment came on them and they could not believe. God has sent the messengers, the messengers have proclaimed the message, the Jews have heard the message, but they have not believed or called on the name of the Lord to be saved. There is the whole of the thorny subject of the relation of faith and works packed into a nutshell. And later missionaries were astounded at the way in which God had prepared these people for one of the greatest mass conversions in history! Rhema is used to refer to "the thing spoken of", an object, a matter, an affair or an event. If you hear, with a willing heart, the good news, that Christ died for you; that He was buried; that He was raised from the dead: by truly "hearing" faith will "come" to you. As proof of this he again quotes from the Jews’ own Scripture as recorded in Isaiah 53:1 Lord, who hath believed our report? When Paul says that “not all” heeded the good news, he is using understatement to mean, “most” did not obey the gospel. Clearly, as Paul has just said in Ro 10:16, not everyone who hears the Biblical gospel will be saved. Mark 1:15 summarizes Jesus’ message: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Repent and believe are commands. — Thomas Fuller, Let the acts of the offspring indicate similarity to the Father. For it is one thing to say, "Lord, Lord," and quite another thing to obey the Lord's commandments. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made (Creation testifying to the assurance that their is a Creator), so that (conclusion) they are without excuse. Who has believed our report? 15:24, 28). (1Pe 2:7, 8-note), Comment: BKC = To disobey the message (cf. The argument does not run quite smoothly. — C. H. Spurgeon, Faith and obedience are bound up in the same bundle. Since Paul goes on to cite Isaiah 53:1, “Lord, who has believed our report?” why doesn’t he say, “However, they did not all believe the good news”? « Romans 10:16. Garland takes a literal approach to Scripture, and his love for the Jews and passion to see them saved comes through very clearly in these 12 hours of teaching! Charles Hodge writes that the preceding quotation in Ro 10:16 from Isa 53:1 "speaks of a “message,” something addressed to the ear. is a mode of saying emphatically that few or none had done it. (3PAAI) menounge, Eis pasan ten gen exelthen (3SAAI) o phthoggos auton, kai eis ta perata tes oikoumenes ta rhemata auton: Romans 10:18-21 gives three results of Israel's rejection of the "word of Christ", and each result is supported by an OT quotation. Paul verifies this by a further appeal to scripture; this time the passage is from the Septuagint of Isaiah 53.1. True faith is verified in obedience. When the good news is preached, some hear it, believe it, and call upon the Lord to save them (Ro 10:14). By extension, it applies also to unbelieving Gentiles, but Paul’s focus here is on the question of why most of the Jews were rejecting Christ. Faith is confidence in God's self-revelation as found in the Holy Scriptures. Just as it is written, " How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things !" and why the Messiah would be rejected. Here are some representative uses (note the preponderance of uses in the Psalms)…. Victor ), J Vernon McGee quips "While we are amazed at the great number of folk who tell us that they have received Christ because of our ministry, when we look at the total picture, it is a very small minority. Of course not! Don't delay… you may not have tomorrow!) And people hear the Good News when someone tells them about Christ. Hearing (189) (akoe from verb akoúo = to hear) is literally the ability to hear and then can refer to the act of hearing (i.e., listening) and finally to what is heard (as in the previous verse = Ro 10:16). He that obeys God, trusts God; and he that trusts God, obeys God. 2:38; 3:2). But if you do not believe in Christ and reject His gracious offer of salvation, you are completely to blame. Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible. It describes who Paul is and how he gets his authority. (Listen to his gravelly voice on Mp3 - Romans 10:16-21). www.easyenglish.bible. It presents the content of the gospel and its implications for Paul’s addressees, and it … Continue reading "Commentary on Romans 1:1-7" People's Bible Notes for Romans 10:16. Israel heard, but she refused to heed. Conceivably, there may be some English speakers who have not heard, but it would be their own fault. The form of expression, "Who hath believed?" Someone has once quipped that the definition of a jury is: “twelve people chosen to decide who has the best lawyer.” With the current state of litigation in America, it’s no wonder that people are openly skeptical about truth and justice in our law courts. In other words, if you believe in Christ, it is only because God had mercy on you. —John Calvin, If we would know whether our faith is genuine, we do well to ask ourselves how we are living. How Shall People Be Saved? is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. (Romans Chapter 10) (Bolding added). In either case the gospel is in view. ', Does your faith work? (ESV), ICB: But I ask: Didn't people hear the Good News? The quote from Isaiah (Ro 10:16), plus the ministries of all the prophets, of Paul, and even of the Lord Jesus Himself, show that many hear the good news but reject it. “Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom!” (Luke 23:42). ', Are you confused about God's plan for Israel? To those who receive the gospel, it is glad tidings. In Isaiah’s day, the people did not believe God’s Word, nor did they believe when the Living Word was in their very midst. Indeed they have; ‘Their voice has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.’” Paul cites Psalm 19:4 to show that the Jews have heard the good news. Because of sin, all disobedient unbelievers are destined for a “stumbling,” which will lead to eternal condemnation. Evolution is the most preposterous myth ever foisted on the human race. — Thomas Chalmers, Obedience to the faith is very important to God. 12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors. - Paul's rhetorical question in the original Greek construction expects a negative answer. Maranatha! Hebrews 2:5 (note) For He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. Finally, recalling a verse he had learned in his childhood in a Russian Orthodox church, he cried. Man's faith must fix itself upon God's facts and God's facts are found in the Word of God. (SN). It is the means of communication, it is the channel through which the grace which is the life, or, rather, I should say, the life which is the grace, comes to us. The power is in the Word of Christ, the Word of God, the Word of grace (Acts 20:32), the Word of the Cross (1Cor 1:17, 18). Do not imagine men will be saved in any other way. There are many other brands of faith being displayed in our world today. They wanted a conquering king to defeat all their enemies and provide a comfy life for them. Discussion of Romans 10:16-11:10 Romans 10:16. Surely they have never heard - With this rhetorical question Paul anticipates an objection from some of his Jewish readers. Earnest, prayerful Cornelius is commanded (and that by an angel) to send for. That is the mother tincture; everything will flow from that. Perhaps I should ask other people rather than you. Greek: alla lego, (1SAAI ) me ouk ekousan? (NLT - Tyndale House), Phillips: Yet all who have heard have not responded to the Gospel. Take notes on the tapes as the transcripts are a very abbreviated version of the audio messages. For Esaias saith, Lord, who Believed our report? how important is the gospel ministry - (although it must be admitted, that all have not obeyed, for this was predicted also by Isaiah, etc. Dr. E. Meyers Harrison, veteran missionary and professor of missions, says that there are four reasons why the church must send out missionaries: (1) the command from above—“go ye into all the world” (Mark 16:15), (2) the cry from beneath—“send him to my father’s house” (Luke 16:27), (3) the call from without—“come over and help us” (Acts 16:9), (4) the constraint from within—“the love of Christ constraineth us” (2Cor. Fill me, Radiance Divine, Who has believed our report? The gospel has been so widely proclaimed in English through so many different media for such a long time that any English speakers who have not heard must be deliberately avoiding it. It is for having true faith, that is, obedient faith, that Paul goes on to commend the Roman believers… Together, faith and obedience manifest the inseparable two sides of the coin of salvation, which Paul here calls the obedience of faith. (Jeremiah 23:28,29), The writer of Hebrews in the context of warning to all who have heard the gospel to enter the "rest" God provides writes these famous words…, For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Note that hupakouo implies an inward attitude of respect and honor, as well as external acts of obedience. They are believed to be inconsistent and contradictory; but they are not. The Witness of Creation, 1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God (The Name El = the strong One - used in vv 1-6); And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Romans 10:17 goes back to and connects logically with Romans 10:15, while Romans 10:16 anticipates Romans 10:19; Romans 10:21. Finally he said, "Those rules were written by one of the firm. He was supposed to read two verses from the Sermon on the Mount, remove his gown, and cry out, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Faith is a miracle; it is the ability God gives to trust His Son, and anything that does not result in action in accord with the will of God is not faith but something else short of it. Psalm 19:4 Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world (Hebrew = tebel = inhabited world; Lxx = oikoumene). It literally is, "saying," "speech, " as in Jn 3:34; 14:10; Acts 11:14. Little wonder that Jesus so often declared to the crowds “He that has ears to hear, let him hear!” (cp Mt 11:15, Mk 4:9, 4:23, 7:16, Lk 8:8, 14:35). These questions drive much of the theological deliberation in Romans 9-11. Shining to the perfect day. Then I highly recommend Tony Garland's 12 Hour Course on Romans 9-11 in which he addresses in depth the question of What Will Happen to Israel? (SN) (Pictures the universality of the non-verbal testimony of God the Creator - can you see why the assault on creation by evolutionists is a frontal assault on God Himself and how evolution is ultimately a spiritual issue intended by the Adversary to blunt the clear witness of Jehovah God! By their line is probably meant the measure of their domain which, together with their testimony, has gone out to the utmost end of the habitable earth. In the time of Isaiah this fact existed; and it was not a new thing that it existed in the time of the gospel. (Luke 11:28) — The Lord Jesus Christ when someone sought to bestow blessing on his mother Mary, Faith is the fountain, the foundation and the fosterer of obedience. Rather, unbelief is active, driven by a dark dynamism (Ed: Called Sin and flesh). He will judge the world (Hebrew = tebel = inhabited world; Lxx = oikoumene) in righteousness, And the peoples in His faithfulness. To gracious souls the voices of the heavens are more influential far, they feel the sweet influences of the Pleiades, and are drawn towards their Father God by the bright bands of Orion. No. (NASB: Lockman). a. I commend to you Phoebe our sister: Paul certainly knew the value of what women could do in serving the church. The hearing is the hearing of the Word of God. Jesus said, ‘Never mind about Works. All this showed the necessity of preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles, on which Paul had been insisting, according to which there is no such thing as saving faith among heathens who have not heard of Christ. But they have not all obeyed the gospel. "Simon whose surname is Peter, who shall speak t-o thee words by which thou shalt be saved" (Acts 11:14). He has neither wisdom nor judgment. C. H. Spurgeon put it (Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit [Pilgrim Publications], 4:337): “That God predestines, and that man is responsible, are two things that few can see. 1985. 1:24). Paul practiced what he wrote so to speak for he preeminently preached the Word of Christ…, For indeed Jews ask for signs, and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Dark and cheerless is the morn, The Greek word means literally, our hearing. The objection and answer may stand thus: "You tell … 1Pe 4:17-note) is to reject it; and to obey it is to believe (cf. (Dobson, E G, Charles Feinberg, E Hindson, Woodrow Kroll, H L. Wilmington: KJV Bible Commentary: Nelson ), Haldane - Faith, then, never comes but by hearing, that is, by the word of God (word of Christ). These two verses show the way to a strong and lasting faith: Get acquainted with God through reading the Scriptures, and faith will come naturally…, Study the Scriptures and you will find that we are not going to have more faith by counting the promises of God. You've probably heard the argument "what about all those who have have never heard." AND HEARING BY THE WORD OF CHRIST: e de akoe dia rhematos Christou: faith rests not primarily upon promises, but upon character. So that word hearing (two times in Ro 10:17) is the same Greek word as the word report in Ro 10:16. 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. Stated another way, eternal salvation comes only through belief in Jesus Christ and no other way. For Isaiah says - In this passage Paul quotes from the great chapter on "The Suffering Servant"…, Who has believed our message? In other words, the gospel has been proclaimed sufficiently among even the Gentile world to such an extent that almost all of the Jews have heard the message. (2 Co 5:19b), "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled (katallasso in aorist imperative = Urgent charge! But if it is to be saving faith, he says, it must be a word about Christ. But for those who disbelieve, "THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED (Ps 118:22), THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone, a STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE” (Isa 8:14, cp Ro 9:32, 33-note) for they stumble because they are disobedient (cp Acts 19:9) (apeitheo in the present tense = as their habitual response) to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed. Even though you’ve sinned against the holy God and deserve His judgment, He offers a complete pardon to anyone who will receive it. It snapped shut on a man's heart like a trap. Paul proves not all of Israel would obey His Word. They reject God's righteousness (Ro 10:3-note). Faith rests upon character. THE CONTEXT As we look at verses 5-15, we must remember how they relate to the rest of the chapter. Perhaps one of the most beautiful, yet simple, universal declarations of the good news of the gospel of grace, is found in the book of Joel.. that whoever will call on the name of the Lord, will be delivered.. The force of this verse, perhaps, may be best seen by including it in a parenthesis, "How beautiful are the feet, etc." The sense is that one understands and responds accordingly. Genuine saving faith is the root that necessarily bears the fruit of godliness. ", Hebrews 1:6 (note) And when He again brings the first-born into the world, He says, "And let all the angels of God worship Him.". Let us beware that the Jesus we "accept" is not one we have created out of the dust of our imagination and formed after our own likeness. Here it is, the message preached by us, but heard by those who listened to it. It is that God has sent the Savior to die for your sins. It would be the same as if I said that everyone who speaks English has heard the gospel. Matthew 24:14 "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come. Note that when you click the preceding links, each link will in turn give you several choices including an Mp3 message and brief transcript notes. Part 2. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our message?" These and twenty-five other incredible-but-true stories prove the truth of the words in Ecclesiastes: "He (God) has also set eternity in the hearts of men." Paul is not saying in this section that the Gospel was present in the stars or in the Creation (you may have heard this taught but it is absolutely incorrect). Israel of God - Is God "Finished" with Israel in His prophetic plan? But not all have “obeyed” (Greek: hupakouo; 10:16) it. Obedience on the part of children consists in listening to the advice given by parents. Their words to the ends of the world - This declaration again emphasizes the universal scope of natural (general) revelation. (Isaiah 53:1), What is the "report" Isaiah is referring to? God sends messengers with the best news in the world, that God is ready to pardon any sinner who will receive His offer of grace and kindness. Jesus Christ is our all in all. The apostle records that when Jesus addressed those Jews "who had believed him" (John 8:31), their subsequent actions demonstrated that their belief was not genuine. It is a moral thing, not a mental one. "Let God be true, but every man a liar" is the language of true faith. To escape the error of salvation by works we have fallen into the opposite error of salvation without obedience. 665-666). Hence, in the fifty-third chapter he proceeds to give the reasons why the report would not be credited. Unbelief says: Some other time, but not now; some other place, but not here; some other people, but not us. If we should follow his directions, we would ruin a good part of the work." The Romans used oikoumene in their secular writings to refer to the Roman Empire, for to them their empire equated with the whole world. His story is yet another example of how the concept of a supreme God has existed for centuries in hundreds of cultures throughout the world. And fear came on all those living around them; and all these matters [rhema] were being talked about in all the hill country of Judea. How will they preach unless they are sent? Conclusion - So what is your response to the greatest news in the world? 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. He wants to show that the Jews’ rejection of Christ, as well as the Gentiles’ reception of Him, should not be surprising, since it was predicted centuries before in the Scriptures. Without it there could be no basis for faith, nothing on which faith could rest. Faith is a gift of God to a penitent soul and has nothing whatsoever to do with the senses or the data they afford. —John R. W. Stott. Jesus explained (John 5:25), “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” Or, as Acts 16:14 explains, as Paul spoke the gospel to the Jewish women who gathered by the river in Philippi, “the Lord opened [Lydia’s] heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.” That’s the difference. Luke 21:26 men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Heed means to submit to or obey (Paul used this word in Rom. It is the foundation of all true work; even in the lowest sense of the word we might almost say that. Notice that the results of letting the Word of Christ dwell in us richly parallel the results of being filled with the Spirit in Ephesians 5:18-31. 7 The law of the LORD (Name now switches to Yahweh or Jehovah stressing His covenant relationship to Israel. Indeed the very essence of faith is moral. SO FAITH COMES FROM HEARING: ara e pistis ex akoes: So then faith from hearing, but hearing through the word of Christ (Literal), Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Is not he as much guilty of his own death that rejects a medicine as he that cuts his own throat? (NIV - IBS), NKJV: But they have not all obeyed the gospel. —Harry Ironside, In His Word, God tells us again and again that as believing children we are to live by faith and we are to walk by faith. The point is that when they would hear Isaiah's prophetic message, God explained that they would become even more hardened against the Lord. Here it is, the message preached by us, but heard by those who listened to it. It realigned all life's actions and brought them into accord with the will of God. Traditionally and tragically, Jewish scholars have misapplied (cp suppressed the truth in unrighteousness = Ro 1:18-note ) the truths of Isaiah 53 to the nation of Israel rather than to an individual Person, the Messiah. Although Israel heard, they did not exercise saving faith in Christ - making them (and us) all the more responsible. They were required to receive it and depend upon it as true. 8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living, For the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due? 5:14). Paul’s letter to the *Romans. Euaggelion was commonly used in the Greco-Roman culture as "a technical term for "news of victory." One could paraphrase it "and hearing by the spoken word of Christ". - John Walvoord, The Jewish People, Jesus Christ and World History - S Lewis Johnson, Romans 9:1-5 Paul's Sorrow Concerning Israel, Dobson, E G, Charles Feinberg, E Hindson, Woodrow Kroll, H L. Wilmington: KJV Bible Commentary: Nelson, The United Bible Societies' New Testament Handbook Series, Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., et al: The Bible Knowledge Commentary. 10:3 "God's righteousness" In the context of Romans 9-11 this phrase referred to God's imputed right standing (Romans 4) with Himself based solely on 8:31; Isa. Both meanings could have been in Paul’s mind. People's Commentary (NT) Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) Scofield: Definitions: Interlinear: Library: Topical Studies: X-References: Romans 10:15 : Romans 10:17 >> Interlinear Bible for Romans 10:16: But alla (#235) they have not hotou (#3756) all pas (#3956) obeyed hupakouo (#5219) the xurao (#3588) gospel. — John MacArthur (Romans), Faith is the starting-post of obedience. But they have not all obeyed — This seems an objection of the Jews to what St. Paul had said, which he answers in this and the following verse.