“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?” (Romans 10:13–15, KJV 1900)
Imagine for a second, that you met someone that said, “Look I have got a great deal for you. Call me.” However, they did not tell you what the deal was and did not even give you their cellphone number. That would leave you with quite a dilemma. They could be offering the deal of a lifetime. Yet, you would never know because you could never even call to find out.
A few posts back, I discussed the sovereignty of God in extending mercy to whom He chooses. He calls people to salvation. I had mentioned that His ways are infinitely higher than ours are and that we have neither the infinite understanding or right to question God over this. I also mentioned that even though the Scripture indicates the providence of God over the call to salvation, this does not negate the need for believers to be witnesses.
This is the point of these verses. Paul stated in verse 12 that there was no distinction between Jew and Greek. In verse 13, he indicates that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. He reminds us that only those who have true faith will call on the name of the Lord (v14). However, there is one huge hurdle. How will they know to call upon one of whom they have never heard? Thus, someone needs to give them the vital information and the number to call, so to speak. This is where we come in.
In God’s sovereign plan for the salvation of people, He has determined to use believers to take forth the message of salvation to others. We truly have no perfect idea of who will respond to our message and who will not. We are just called to be heralds of the good news. A herald has only one duty and that is to proclaim the message of another. In the case of the gospel, we are to proclaim the message of God’s mercy and trust Him for the results.
In this matter of proclaiming, there are many methods. Yet, there are a few imperatives. Be filled with the Spirit of God. Be in continuous prayer for open doors for the message. Proclaim the message out of a genuine care for those who are perishing. Trust the Lord to move in the hearts of the elect.
Renewing the Heart 