Refusal! Romans 10:16-21 The Gospel, with all its glory and unspeakable, unlimited blessings, is proclaimed but refused! How can people who have been so blessed as to have received the written Word of God disobey and ignore such a glorious message? They listen to and are affected by much fewer reports every day. There are many kinds of weather reports, news reports, stock market reports, and reports that are heard and paid attention to. This report brings the greatest possible blessing one could ever have, which is to be received similarly: by faith. This news comes from the highest possible source: the Word of God.
This message is "the word of faith which we preach." This is declared so that those who hear it will receive eternal life. When it is heard with the hearing of faith, those people who heed the message are saved. It is heard worldwide. Israel heard and refused. The message from God is heard in the voice of creation and in the "goodness of God" that leads to repentance. The voice of God is sounded in the conscience of every person. It can be seen when the saints gather to "show the Lord's death till He comes." It can be seen in the "chaste conversation (manner of life)" of those who live the Christian life in silent modesty before those who watch them. It is heard in "dreams... visions... and strong pain upon the bed." Every person has heard the voice of God in some way.
Israel heard, and Israel knew the voice of God. However, Israel did not believe the good news that God wanted to restore them to covenant blessings through our Lord Jesus Christ. They were without excuse because they had heard and rejected the Gospel message that had been openly and clearly proclaimed but not obeyed.
V.17. They thought the way of their choosing and the law they were given made them acceptable to God. The fundamental principles of proclaiming the Gospel and finding salvation are faith based on hearing the word of God preached and preaching based on a right interpretation of the scripture before an application is made. Now, people all over the earth who have no understanding of God are sought out by God through His Gospel. God, through Christ, "has come to seek and to save that which was lost." The Creator is seeking the creature. The hands of God were open to Israel, and they refused.
V.18. According to Psalm 19:4, the Gospel's message has gone out to Israel and the world. Righteousness by faith is the only way to please God. Righteousness by faith gives assurance of salvation. We are motivated to preach the Gospel at home and abroad because we know the good news still brings salvation to those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. The preaching of the Gospel is essential for people to be saved by grace. “It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” Those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and confess Him as Lord with their mouth will be saved.
V.19. Jewish people may not have understood all of the Gospel, but they know more than enough to be responsible for rejecting our Lord Jesus Christ. Even Gentiles, “a foolish nation,” could understand the fundamentals of faith and had not even been seeking the Lord. Israelis know a lot about God but are disobedient and contrary to Him and His written word.
V.20. How important it is in this blessed day of grace for us to respond to the divine entreaties presented in the Gospel message. How long will God hold His hands out to those who ignore His grace? How long will this day of invitation and seeking by God continue? It has already been a long day, and people who are still disobedient and self-opinionated reject and refuse Him. Some of those who respond and accept the Savior are those who have not sought God but have been sought out by Him and accepted the truth of their guilt and inability to be righteous in themselves. When they hear that Christ bore their sins on the cross and died for them - when they hear of His resurrection and ascension into glory - they believe and are saved. The privileged ones still refuse.
V.21. When we preach the Gospel, some who seem unresponsive are the ones God has been dealing with and are willing to believe and be saved, even though they have very little understanding of the message. They believe in the Lord Jesus. Others who know the Gospel are deliberately spiritually blind because they think they have to “figure it all out” before they will simply repent of their sins to God and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We really don’t know who will be saved and who will be lost because it is their business to respond to the Savior. Our business is to preach the Gospel message, and the Spirit of God and the word of God reveal Christ to the honest and earnest seeker. The life of a believer may provoke envy and resentment, but perhaps eventually, God will use the audible and visible testimony of one of His children to bring a lost soul to the Savior.