Man’s Responsibility

Paul’s assuring words in the end of the last blog were, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved,” Romans 10:13. Thereafter Paul launches a series of questions to show what is our responsibility to so great an offer from the Lord, our God.

Paul’s first question is how can anyone, especially the Jew, call on God in response to His offer of salvation, if they have not believed in Him? The second question, which is a corollary to the first one is, how can they believe in the One, if they have not heard of Him? The third question is how can they, the Jews, hear about God’s Son and His offer of salvation, unless someone preaches the good news to them?

Here lies the importance of the need for people to spread the gospel and take the good news to people who have not heard about it. That is evangelism, the proclamation of the Good News. What is this Good News? It is that Jesus Christ has the power to forgive sins of the people, whoever believes in him and seeks forgiveness from Him and it will be granted unto them.

Paul’s next question is how can they (the evangelists) preach unless they are sent? A preacher can preach only when he is sent. In Old Testament times, Israel was the chosen instrument of God, Yahweh, to spread His glory among the people of the world. But they failed in that task; so, God turned to the Gentiles to spread the good news to all the world. 

With the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the command was given to his disciples to take his teachings to all over the earth. Matthew 28:19-20. We are the Ambassadors of Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:20. We are to be his witnesses all over the world. Acts 1:8.

Paul quotes Isaiah 52:7, saying, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news?” The believers are to be the bearers of the good news about Jesus, which every unbeliever must hear, whether in our families, or in our friends’ circle or in the places we work.

Even if it is not direct preaching, we at least need to show the people around us, the difference that Jesus Christ has made in our lives. Our testimonies and life style will have to reflect the Good News of Christ.

What Paul is trying to tell the Jews by all these questionings is that they cannot give an excuse that they have not heard the good news. Messenger after messengers have gone to them carrying the good news. But not all the Israelites have accepted the good news.

A quote from Isaiah 53:1 is made by Paul. “Lord, who has believed our message?” Jews had refused to believe the messages from the prophets sent by Yahweh, and are repeating the same rebellious attitude now also. The obvious conclusion would be, Israel was rejected, not because God did not give them the opportunity of salvation, but because they refused to listen to it when it was given.

Faith is built in a person by hearing the message of Good News and the message itself is heard though the word of Christ. Paul asks again, did the Jews not hear the message? Of course, they heard it. God’s voice had gone out into all the earth, to the very ends of the world, Paul says, quoting Psalms 19:4.

May be, one could say that the Israel did not understand the message? What if the message was difficult to understand and grasp? To that objection Paul answers saying Israel might have failed to understand it, but the Gentiles who were not a nation selected by God, and a nation with no understanding, understood it. Even there Jews have no excuse. 

Paul is saying this by quoting Moses in Deuteronomy 32:21, where Moses warns Israel that God will transfer His favors to another people, because Israel was disobedient and rebellious; so that Israel would become jealous of that nation which was no nation at all and had no understanding, and as a result follow God.

Gentiles were not a nation elected by God, and were not exposed to the truths about God through prophets. Still when the message was given to them, they understood the truth behind the message, accepted it by faith and became righteous in the sight of God. Israel, who had all the privileges of being God’s people, can have no excuse for not understanding the message.

This will apply to us also; as Christians who are born in Christian families, we have all the advantages of teachings in the church and the easy availability of the Bible, the Word of God, but still do not live as expected of children of God. We show no great zeal for reading, studying and understanding the Bible, whereas a newly converted Hindu or a Muslim shows greater zeal and enthusiasm to understand God’s words. We need to be provoked to better devotion by observing them.

Again, quoting Isaiah 65:1, Paul says, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.” God has been stretching His hands to Israel throughout the history, but Israel had been rebellious and disobedient. Isaiah 65:2. Now God was found out by those who sought Him, the Gentiles, and to them He revealed Himself.

Isaiah the prophet, announces to the Jews that they as the Servant of God, Yahweh, had a mission, to carry the news about God’s salvation to the Gentiles. Jews neglected it, did not do it, for they did not even understand it. They rejected the Messiah, Jesus Christ, when he came. Now God has turned to the Gentiles, so also Paul.

In Acts 18:6 Paul, when opposed by the Jews who became abusive, shook off his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” Jews willfully rejected Christ and His Apostles; they cannot say they had not heard the message or did not understand it. It was willful disobedience.

We need to be careful not to be disobedient to the call of Christ, to be either his messenger or to help send someone to preach the Good News. We have our responsibilities. We need to do that with the help of God through the Holy Spirit.

Amen.