For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Rom. 10:13-15).
Chapter 10 of Romans can be divided into two parts. For this article, we will look at the second part, specifically at verses 13 – 15. I believe this second section is not complete unless we include verse 13, so we will add verse 13 to this second section. The Christian should read verses 13 – 21 to get the full impact of Paul’s teaching on this subject.
In the second part of chapter 10, the apostle writes an effect-to-cause order about the importance of salvation to the Jew and Gentile as preached by an authorized preacher. To reject this preaching is to reject Christ Himself. The believer must listen to an authorized preacher of the Gospel of Christ and do what he teaches.
Christians know regeneration is the first step in their personal salvation: being born again (John 3:3). However, after a person is regenerated, they must go through the six steps identified in Romans 10:14, 15. Paul quotes the Old Testament in the last half of verse 15 to show how important individual salvation is (Is. 52:7; Nah 1:15).
The Bible clarifies in Romans 10:13 that anyone, both Jews and Gentiles, can be saved. Technically, one must complete step five, but to do this, a person must complete steps 1-4, and then step six is performed by God. All are called to come to Jesus, but only the elect receive regeneration and can accept Jesus’s call.
The sixth step is justification and adoption, which are steps of salvation—not salvation itself, but two external acts of God. The plan of salvation is finally consummated on the Day of Judgment when Jesus returns the second time and saves all the elect.
So, what are the six steps? We find them in the following two verses.
In verses 14 and 15, we find the six steps to salvation.
- Godsends a preacher
- God sends you someone. It doesn’t have to be a professional pastor.
- It is God’s prerogative to send preachers (Matt. 9:38).
- The preacher preaches the gospel of Christ
- Preach the gospel to the person to be saved.
- A preacher must tell the hearers what they are to believe.
- A preacher tells the hearers about the Gospel of Christ with skill and faithfulness.
- A person hears the gospel of Christ
- It is the word of reconciliation between God and man; the Gospel of peace
- A person must hear the gospel personally. The believers become sorry for their sins and repent of them before they believe and call on Jesus Christ
- A person believes the gospel of Christ
- Knowledge is not belief. The hearer must receive saving faith from God to believe in Jesus Christ.
- The hearers respond with willingness and obedience.
- A person calls on Jesus Christ
- The person has to believe in Christ and pray that God accepts the belief as genuine.
- And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him (Heb. 11:6).
- The person is saved.
- The believer is justified and adopted by God and promised salvation on the Day of the Lord.
Jews and Gentiles who hear properly authorized preaching about the Gospel of Christ are blessed in abundance. As Paul quotes from the Old Testament, the feet of those preachers are indeed beautiful (Rom. 10:15 quoting from Is. 52:7).
Paul’s argument here is “founded on the principle that if God wills the end, he wills also the means; if he would have Gentiles saved, according to the predictions of his prophets, he would have the gospel preached to them.”[i]
If the Gentiles, through saving faith, believed (were called on) in Christ, then they must have heard the gospel message. If they heard the message, there had to be someone preaching the word; thus, preaching must have been a mission from God.
The preaching of the gospel to all people, Jew and Gentile, is according to the will of God, regardless of whether some people accept the gospel and others don’t. In fact, some people predicted and expected disobedience to the gospel message. As Henry wrote, “This extent, this undifferencing extent, of the promise both to Jews and Gentiles he thinks should not be surprising, for it was foretold by the prophet, Joel 2:32.”[ii]
FINAL THOUGHTS
Why did the Apostle write this section, particularly verses 14 and 15, in a regressive format that had the effect happening before the cause? Hendriksen writes, “the apostle has so arranged the series that the reference to God—or, if one prefers, to Jesus Christ—who commissioned the preacher, would be mentioned last of all, in order that all the emphasis might fall upon him!”[iii] He is referring to the audience to whom the book is written.
This article reverses Paul’s regressive order and puts it in the order the audience experiences in their walk towards salvation. We deal with the steps one experiences and do not refer to theology, doctrine, or soteriology in general.
[i] Hodge, Charles, A Commentary on Romans, p. 346. The Banner of Trust, Edinburgh, 2009.
[ii] Henry, Matthew, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, vol. 6 (Hendrickson 1991), p. 356.
[iii] William Hendriksen, Romans: New Testament Commentary (Baker Books, 1980, 1981), pp. 349-50.
