The Message Of Christ – Believing the Preached Word Through Commissioned Heralds
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? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” Romans 10:14,15
The immediate jumping-off point for this passage is the quotation of Joel 2:32 in Romans 10:13. This prophecy promises salvation to ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord.’ In 10:14-21 Paul works back from this ‘calling on the Lord’ to the steps that preceded it: faith in preaching the gospel and being sent to preach the gospel (10:14,15).
Paul asks four consecutive questions:
First, to be saved, sinners must call on the name of the Lord (10:13). ‘How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?’ (10:14). Calling on his name presupposes they know and believe who Christ is and what He has done (that He died, was raised and is Lord). Because saving faith is presented here as ‘calling on’ Christ’s name, the kind of ‘belief’ Paul has in mind must be the prior stage of believing the facts about Jesus that are included in His ‘name.’
Secondly, ‘how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?’ (10:14). Just as ‘believing’ comes before ‘calling so ’hearing’ comes before ‘believing.’ The order is hearing, then believing and then calling. The phrase ‘the one of whom’ is literally ‘the one whom’ and so means the speaker and not the message. They will not believe in Christ until they have heard Him speaking through His messengers or ambassadors.
Thirdly, ‘how can they hear without someone preaching to them?’ (10:14). The word ‘preaching’ means ‘being a herald.’ Before the day of mass communication, the role of a herald was vital. The major means of transmitting news was his public proclamations in the city square or the market place. There could be no hearers without heralds.
Fourthly, ‘how can they preach unless they are sent?’ (10:15). Paul may have had himself in mind or the other apostles. The verb ‘sent’ is apostello from which we get our word ‘apostle.’ These first apostles had been directly commissioned by Jesus (Luke 6:12f; Galatians 1:1). There were also ‘apostles of the churches’ sent out as missionaries (2 Corinthians 8:23).
The need for heralds is confirmed from scripture: ‘“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”’ (10:15 and quoting Isaiah 52:7). If those who proclaimed release from Babylonian exile were to be celebrated, how much more should the heralds of the gospel of Christ be.
Paul’s argument becomes clearer if we use his verbs but reverse the order: Christ sends heralds; heralds preach; people hear;’ hearers believe; believers call; and those who call are saved. So unless some people are commissioned for the task, there will be no gospel preachers; unless the gospel is preached, sinners will not hear Christ’s message and voice; unless they hear Him, they will not believe the truths of His death and resurrection; unless they believe these truths, they will not call on Him; unless they call on His name, they will not be saved. Paul began this chapter expressing his longing for the Jews to be saved. He would have had them in mind as he developed this evangelistic strategy. His next paragraph confirms this.