Romans 10
One day in 1786, a young Baptist pastor from Moulton in Northamptonshire went along to the local Baptist ministers’ association meeting in Northampton. The meeting had finished and the ministers were standing around chatting when John Ryland, one of the older ministers in the association came into the room. He bailed up the young minister, whose name was William Carey, along with a friend that he was talking to, and suggested that the two young ministers propose a topic for general discussion. They both hesitated but Ryland insisted, so eventually Carey proposed the question: 'Whether the command given to the apostles to "teach all nations," was not obligatory on all succeeding ministers to the end of the world, seeing that the accompanying promise was of equal extent?'

Ryland was appalled, and as soon as he could regain his composure he said to Carey, famously: "Young man, sit down; when God is pleased to convert the heathen, He will do it without your help or mine." But Carey didn’t let go of the issue; several years later he had published a pamphlet with the catchy title: "An Inquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens." And then not long after that, twelve local Baptist pastors including William Carey joined together, chipped in £13 2s. 6d, formed the Particular Baptist Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Amongst the Heathen, and then the following year, 1793, sent William Carey himself as their first missionary to India.

John Ryland is not the only person over the years who has read chapters of the Bible like Romans 9, the chapter that we looked at last week, and drawn the conclusion that if God chooses who is going to be saved, then ultimately you and I are not responsible. We are not really responsible for our own decision about whether or not to believe the gospel, and we are not really responsible for doing something to tell other people the gospel. After all, God knows who he has chosen for salvation; if he wants to save them then he doesn’t need us to help him; and if someone is not predestined by God for salvation then they are incapable of true repentance; they have no duty to do something that they’re not capable of doing; that means we can’t call on them to repent, and we can’t offer them the forgiveness of God if they do.

That’s the logic of hypercalvinism, and it has a certain perverse persuasiveness to it. The problem is it’s not the logic of the New Testament. And Romans chapter 10, the chapter that we’re looking at together this week, is one of many, many places in the Bible that makes that clear.

In the previous chapter, in Romans 9, Paul talks about the tragedy of Israel’s unbelief, and he looks at it from the vantage point of God’s sovereignty and God’s ultimate control over all things. And so he says in chapter 9, God has the right to have mercy where he wants to have mercy; if God chooses to give some people justice and other people far, far better than justice, then surely that is his prerogative. He doesn’t back away from the fact that God chooses who he is going to save; he simply says at this point, that is because God is God, he is the potter and we are the piece of clay.

But then having held that line in chapter 9, Paul goes on to say in chapter 10: Don’t think that means we don’t make real choices and decisions that we are accountable for; don’t think that God’s normal way of carrying out his plans is to completely bypass human means, human decisions, human will. Don’t think that we are not responsible.

And so in Romans 10 Paul looks at that same issue of Israel’s unbelief but he looks at it this time not from the perspective of God’s sovereignty but from the perspective of human responsibility. In Paul’s mind the two perspectives are not mutually exclusive but entirely complementary. It’s a bit like he writes one chapter on Shakespeare’s purposes and themes in Othello, and then another chapter on Iago and Desdemona and Othello’s motivations. The two perspectives aren’t in conflict; they just look at the same question from two different angles.

So Paul asks in Romans chapter 10: What was it in Israel’s response to God that meant they ended up stumbling so badly and falling into God’s judgement? Why did Israel stumble?

Why did Israel stumble?
* The question: How did Israel miss what even Gentiles obtained? (9:30)
Paul poses the question in the opening verse of the passage that we’re looking at today, at the end of Romans chapter 9. Romans 9 verse 30: “What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.”

That’s the issue. Paul writes it as a statement but it’s the kind of statement that demands to be asked as a question: How is that that Israel missed what even Gentiles obtained? Gentiles who weren’t even pursuing righteousness? They weren’t ‘seekers’ looking for the true God. They were just busily sinning away, living for the moment, worshipping all sorts of idols, indulging in all kinds of impurities, chasing after money and power, doing what Gentiles do; and then God comes to them and he pursues them with the gospel of Jesus and he calls them to repent, and they do! And they find the saving, delivering, pardoning righteousness of God. Gentiles enter into relationship with the God of Israel.

Gentiles, who weren’t even pursuing, obtained, and Israel, who were pursuing, did not attain the thing that they were chasing. How can that be?

* The answer:
- the way that Israel pursued (9:31-32)
To being with, Paul says in verse 31 and 32, it’s about the way that Israel pursued what it was pursuing. Verse 31, it’s the fact that then thing Israel devoted themselves to pursuing was “a law of righteousness”. They viewed righteousness - right relationship with God - as something that was entirely wrapped up in the pages of the law of Moses - entirely a matter of law and law-keeping. They pursued a law of righteousness. And so the way that they pursued it - verse 32 - was not by faith but as it were by works. They were convinced that right relationship with God was something to be achieved by their good deeds, in their ability, by the quality of their law keeping.

Now Paul isn’t saying that this was the case for every single Jewish person in his own day or in the Old Testament or in our day either. That’s not the point he’s making. He’s talking in generalisations, and he’s talking about the nation as a nation, and in particular about the religious leaders of the nation, the scribes and the pharisees. And Paul ought to know this, because he was a Pharisee himself before his conversion. They pursued a law of righteousness, and they pursued it, as it were, by works.

- the rock that Israel stumbled on (9:32-33)
So it is no surprise that they stumbled, as Paul says in verse 32, over Christ. Verse 32: ‘They stumbled over the “stumbling stone.” 33 As it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”’

Paul is combining together two different verses from the Old Testament - one of them from Isaiah 28 about God laying in Zion a chosen and precious cornerstone - a stone of promise and faithfulness - and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” That’s one verse. The other verse is from Isaiah chapter 8, about “a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” And Paul says, the two stones are actually the same one in the end. The cornerstone - the stone of promise and sanctuary and faithfulness - is at the same time the stumbling stone. God puts himself in Israel’s path as they race off headlong in this futile pursuit of ‘a law of righteousness’ - he puts himself in Israel’s path and says: “Just stop and trust in me.” But they will not - they are much more interested in pursuing their own righteousness. And so Christ, the cornerstone, the stone to build on by faith, becomes the stumbling stone whom they reject and oppose and crucify - and so condemn themselves. They stumble over the stumbling stone.

Two kinds of righteousness
What it all boils down to in the end is two conflicting views of righteousness - that is of right relationship with God.

The first is a Righteousness that is pursued by works (9:32); something that we ourselves establish (10:3); the kind of righteousness that is based on the Law (10:5) and on our ability to keep the law. Paul describes it in Jewish categories - this is the story of Israel, the law is the law of Moses, and so on. But this is not just a Jewish understanding. It’s an almost universal pattern of how human beings do religion. It’s just as much a Buddhist or a Hindu or a Muslim way of viewing things as it is a Jewish way. And it is also depressingly common in churches as well. It might be the way you view things. Christianity is at its heart a kind of moral code, a system of values, an ethic to aspire to. And if you keep the code well enough, if you live out the values at least most of the time, then you can establish a certain righteousness for yourself.

That’s the first view of righteousness that Paul describes in these verses. But there is also another view, a radically different view, that Paul describes in these verses as well. Listen again to the way Paul describes it in the opening verses 2 of chapter 10, and notice the contrasts that he draws. Verse 1: ‘Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. 3 Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.’

What kind of righteousness is Paul describing? Well, it’s a Righteousness that is by faith (9:30); it’s a righteousness that is ultimately about God’s righteousness, not ours (10:3); and it is a righteousness that is for everyone who believes (10:4).

Paul is describing two sharply contrasting views of righteousness in these verses; one of them deeply religious but utterly futile; the other one placing no reliance at all on religious observances and rituals and law-keeping, but trusting instead in the goodness and the grace and the trustworthiness of God, and committing your whole life into his hands.

And both base themselves on words of Moses!
Two sharply contrasting views of righteousness - and both base themselves on words of Moses!

- Righteousness by law (in Moses’ words) (10:5; Leviticus 18:5)
Those who believe in righteousness by works and law-keeping appeal to Moses - to verses like Leviticus 18:5 - “The one who does these things will live by them.” Paul quotes the verse in chapter 10 verse 5, as an example of the way that Moses describes the righteousness that is by the law.

- Righteousness by faith (in Moses’ words) (10:6-8; Deut 9:4, 30:12-14)
But Paul goes on to say in verses 6-8: That is not the only word that Moses has to say about righteousness. Because wrapped around the commands and rewards and punishments of the law of Moses back in the old Testament - wrapped around the words of the law were even more foundational words about God’s grace, about God’s salvation and God’s undeserved kindness.

So in Deuteronomy chapter 9, before they enter the promised land, the land of Canaan, Moses says to the people of Israel: ‘After the LORD your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, “The LORD has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.”...It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land.’ That’s what Moses says in Deuteronomy chapter 9.

And at the end of Deuteronomy, in Deuteronomy chapter 30, in the verses that Paul quotes here in Romans 10, Moses says: ‘Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.’

In other words, Moses is saying the people of Israel: the land that God is giving you - Deuteronomy chapter 9 - the land that God is giving you is a gift of God’s grace, not something that you are going to earn by your goodness. And even the law itself - Deuteronomy chapter 30 - even the law itself is a gift of grace. There is no heroic effort that Israel had to go to in order to get themselves the law of Moses. It was simply a gift from God that he brought to them, and that ought to have set the whole pattern for how they approached it - it’s a law that they ought to have lived out not as a matter of works - as a matter of human achievement - but as a matter of faith, of trust in God, from start to finish.

Is Moses opposed to Moses?
The point that Paul is making is not that Moses is opposed to Moses; that Leviticus is in conflict with Deuternomony. He’s simply saying that the law as law was never intended by GOd to be a self-contained, self-sufficient way of pursuing and establishing for yourself a right relationship with God. It was always meant to be set in a framework of God’s grace and God’s salvation, and it was always meant to be pursued not by works and self-reliance but by faith in God.

The ‘word of faith’ in OT and NT (10:8-13)
That’s what Paul can talk in verses 8 to 13 about ‘the word of faith’ in both Old Testament and New testament. IN both the Old Testament and the New Testament, Paul says, the basic message from God, the foundational word, was a word of faith. In the Old Testament it was expressed in words like those ones from Deuteronomy which were the frame and the context and the foundation of the law of Moses. In the New Testament it is expressed in the message of the gospel, the message about Jesus and his resurrection from the dead. ANd in both testaments, Old and New, the bottom line is the same: “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Is Israel responsible?
If that is the case, Paul argues in the remainder of the chapter, it is not hard to see why Israel is responsible for the way in which they responded to the word of God.

What do you need to call on God? (10:14-15)
So Paul asks, in effect, in verses 14-15: “What do you need to call on God?” If calling on God is what you need to do in order to be saved, what are the preconditions that you need to have before you can do that. Well if you’re going to call on God, verse 14 - if you’re going to genuinely call on God in your heart to save you - you’re going to need to believe in him and trust him; and if you’re going to believe in him then you need to hear about him; and if you’re going to hear about him you’re going to need to have someone preach to you, someone to tell you about GOd and his salvation; and if someone is going to preach they have to be sent. That’s the list of fairly obvious deductions that Paul draws in verses 14 and 15.

So what was Israel’s problem? (10:16-21)
And if that list stands, then Paul wants to know in the last paragraph of the chapter, where in that whole chain did things go wrong for Israel? What was Israel’s problem?

Well, Paul says, They didn’t believe (verse 16). Now faith comes from hearing (verse 17). And they did hear (verse 18 - the word has gone out to the ends of the earth, so it has certainly reached as far as Israel). They heard, and they didn’t just hear, they understood, verses 19-20. God can describe the pagan nations in verse 19 (quoting from the old testament) - God can describe the pagan nations as nations that are without understanding, but he doesn’t describe Israel that way. They understood. What was the problem then? Well, the bottom line, verse 21, the bottom line was just obstinacy. The bottom line was the ordinary, normal, everyday pride of the human heart. They wanted to believe that their goodness was good enough, that they could pursue righteousness by law-keeping, that they could make the journey under their own steam. And even though it came in the most devout and religious and zealous of packaging, in the end, Paul says, it was actually just disobedience and obstinacy; it was a rejection of God’s grace.

Am I responsible?
Well, that was Israel’s story. But as Paul says in the following chapter, in ROmans 11, this is not just a story for Israel to learn from. This is a story that is full of relevance for us. It’s a story that reminds us that God takes human hearts and human attitudes and human response to the gospel incredibly seriously - not as the way in which we earn our salvation, but quite the opposite, as the way in which we receive and respond to and live out the salvation that God extends to us by his grace.

The God who uses means (10:14-15)
I think there are at least two major ways in which this chapter speaks to us and challenges us this morning in our response to the gospel. IN the first place, verses 14 to 15, it’s a reminder that the God who chooses and predestines those whom he is going to save is a GOd who carries out his plans and purposes by using human means. The fact that God is predestining God doesn’t mean that we get cut out of the loop in the way that people get saved. Quite the contrary, GOd delights in using human beings as the ones who carry his message of salvation and who speak it to others.

IN fact, Paul implies in his sequence of questions in verses 14-15, this is not just a way that God might choose to work but the way that God does work. Verse 14: ‘How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent?’

God is perfectly free to make exceptions, of course. He can save people in isolated villages in the backblocks of Yemen by giving them a vision of Jesus in their dreams at night. He can spread the word of salvation any way that he wants to. But the standard way in which he chooses to do it is through devoted, sacrificial, faithful human messengers, who go and are sent and take the message of the gospel. And so Paul writes in verse 15, quoting from Isaiah: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” God loves the feet of people like William Carey who believe the good news of Jesus with all their hearts and are prepared to go somewhere to take it with them.

The God who saves those who believe (10:9-10)
That’s the first challenge that these verses leave us with this morning - the challenge to get involved in taking the gospel to where it hasn’t yet been heard, or where it hasn’t yet been believed. If we really believe that the message of the gospel is true, we can’t be complacent or inactive about taking it to others.

The second challenge is even more basic, and it’s the reminder from verses 9 and 10 that the people God saves are the people who believe - the people who put their trust in him. It’s not the good people, the upright citizens, the well-brought-up people, the people who have some sort of righteousness of their own that they have established for themselves to stand on - in the end, those are not the people that GOd says he will save. In the end, the people that God saves are the people who put the trust of their hearts in Jesus and call on him to be their saviour. And if you’ve not yet done that, I want to urge you and call on you to do that very thing this morning. In a minute I’m going to pray a prayer that is the sort of words that you might say to God in your heart to do that, and if that is what you know you need to do this morning, I would invite you to just silently say those words to God in your heart this morning, Let’s pray.