No One Is Excused (Romans 10)

But I ask, “Did they not hear?” Yes, they did: Their voice has gone out to the whole earth, and their words to the ends of the world. (Romans 10:18)

From verse 1, Paul shared his primary desire and prayer request to God for the Jewish people, that they would find salvation in Jesus Christ.  All of Romans 10 talked about salvation and how a person can receive Jesus as Lord in their life.  Missionaries and evangelists have studied, meditated, and lived out these verses in Romans 10 throughout their lives.  This chapter has been used in sermons to motivate Christians to go out and share the Good News of Jesus Christ.

The last half of Romans 10 talked about Israel’s rejection of the Gospel message.  That is where we find today’s verse, verse 18.  Maybe you are thinking, how can we receive encouragement from the section talking about Israel’s rejection of salvation?  Paul quoted Psalm 19:4 to prove that the Gospel was sent forth and Israel, indeed, had heard the message.  Yet, many of them chose to not believe.  Not only was the Gospel spread around all of the Promised Land, but it was sent to the ends of the world.

Often times, we feel discouraged when we share the Gospel with a family member, friend, co-worker or acquaintance and they choose not to receive Christ.  We may feel guilt that we didn’t present the Gospel correctly or it was our fault for them not receiving.  Our job is to spread the Good News of Jesus abundantly, pray for God to bring people to Jesus, and to share the Gospel in a way that it can be clearly heard and understood.  If we are doing our job, we shouldn’t be ashamed if someone doesn’t believe in Jesus.  It doesn’t mean we should stop sharing about Christ, or stop praying for their salvation.  As the Gospel message goes out, let’s remember that no one is excused from not having an opportunity to believe in Jesus.  But with all the terrible things happening around us, may that cause us to be more fervent in our evangelism as we try to help people we love to know that there is eternal hope, purpose, grace, and love that can only be found through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Who will you share about Jesus with today?