Grateful Witnesses
Romans 10:13-15
Pastor Ryan
Part of Romans—How God Does the Impossible
November 19, 2023

As we dig into Romans 10:13-15 this Thanksgiving week, there is a distinct opportunity for us give thanks for something specific that our text will lead us to today.

• Ultimately, this section reveals how God has used the Jewish rejection of Jesus to bring clarity to God’s

in the Gospel. The key verse is Romans 10:12. As Israel stumbled over the Messiah, the Gentiles embraced the Messiah. God did not withhold any of the of salvation from them.
• In God’s perfect design, the Gospel is a message to be and for salvation to occur, it must be received. The end result of one who receives the Gospel truly is that it turns them into a grateful witness.

Romans 10:13-15

13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
• Paul quotes Joel 2:32 to emphasize that God’s plan has always been for everyone to have

to salvation. With the promises, covenants, and the Law coming through the people of Israel, the universality of the offer of salvation had gotten lost. But this had always been God’s plan.
• Calling on the name of the Lord means in the character of the Lord, that He is able to save us from our sins. But as Paul makes this connection, his mind is drawn to a harsh reality: salvation is not automatic. Even if you believe what Romans 9 says about the sovereign election of God, according to Paul’s experience and calling, there is another factor or variable that is at work. The other factor is: The Gospel is Good News that must be .

14 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? 15 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!”
• This train of cause and effect is Paul tracing the

of how individuals come into a relationship with Jesus.
• With a series of rhetorical questions, Paul considers the chain of events generally necessary for a person to be saved. Verse 14 is linked to v. 13 with the word call.
• Call…believe…hear

// Call = cry out, ask for forgiveness and salvation, a

of trust; to call on someone you must believe certain things about them
// Believe = intellectually and affirm what has been spoken about the individual; in order to believe in someone you must have heard of them
// Hear = to be to a person in terms of hearing truths or facts about them and what they can do; hearing cannot happen without someone speaking out of their own knowledge and experience

the order and you get the evangelistic formula: people hear the Gospel, they believe the message, and they respond by calling on God to ask for forgiveness and salvation.
• However, Paul doesn’t stop there. The Gospel is Good News that is embodied in that grateful witness >> Preach…sent

// Preach = to

with certainty and conviction; the word conveys that the messenger or a herald is an ambassador or representative announcing an invitation from a king.
// Sent = or heralds are sent by a king who offers something to those who are in need

• Our witness is fueled by our

.
• So, the healthy church is one that cultivates grateful witnesses by pointing to the fact that we have all been by the king to bear witness. Our response to the calling of the king means other people have an opportunity to respond to the king.

Do you remember the first time you heard the Gospel? Who was the messenger? What was the situation?

• Aren’t you grateful that someone shared with you? Who has God put in your life that needs to hear? You may not be the only messenger, but the message you declare is important.

• Be the reason someone is grateful this Thanksgiving season.

Four questions?

• Do they need to hear? Are you persuaded that people need to hear the Gospel and that they are

without Christ?
• Have you really been sent? Are you persuaded that God has empowered you with His Spirit for the purpose of being a ?
• Do they really need to believe? Are you persuaded that the Gospel really has the power to save ?
• Aren’t you glad that someone the call so that you could believe?