Lesson 134
Romans Chapter Ten
The Faithfulness of God
Review:
3. 10:16-21
Response to the message of justification.
The thought flow
from vs:15 into 16 is the expectation in v.15 of the
message of good news being believed, accepted by everyone!
Vs:16
says wake up, come into reality, the religious type is content to live in their
"works" system, they're the hardest to reach with grace.
Where do you get the
clearest, the crispest account of what the God's good news to man is?? Obviously from Paul! 1 Cor 15:3-4
In fact Paul is real
dogmatic, if you don't preach the same gospel that I preach,
if you don't believe with me what the gospel is then you are accursed!
Gal. 1:6-9, how can
he say this so strongly? 11-12;
- We had established that "report" refers to the
message of the Gospel.
Does hearing as we use it refer to a message
or an act?
- ek akoh translated “from hearing” rightly understood
means a message or a report; the
emphasis is on what is heard, the thing said not on the act of hearing itself.
- So "the
faith" [with definite article] therefore refers to a specific
faith; the faith that believes the message, the word about Christ!
- There is a sequence I believe that we should note:
Perceive, the gospel is heard; or for the
Believer a point of truth
Process, think through the implications; brings
into view the conviction by H/S.
Response, either believe the message or reject it
-
See an example of the breakdown of the sequence/process; Heb 4:2
- "the faith" h` pistij
here is not
the faith that causes Christian growth; but its the faith that justifies! [different object]
Observations:
1. Evangelism is a responsibility of every believer!
- It
is legit to ask if we do not tell - how will they hear the msg.?
- Should I feel comfortable knowing that I have friends
with whom I've discussed all kinds of issues but never the gospel? Convicting!
2. The main issue in evangelism is content not method!
- its the what not the how!
3. Evangelism is not an offer of an experience, but is
delivering an objective message.
4. The Gospel itself is powerful, coupled with the
convicting ministry of the H/S it will create a response!
- emphasis today is on how to
evangelize; instead of on what is the message.
5. When we are "witnessing" communicating the
gospel we need to remember we are standing in the place of Christ,
communicating a word or message about Christ!
10:18-21
Introduction - Overview
1. In these verses, v.18-21, we have a single theme/focus,
the response of Paul's countrymen!
- He says to
[they in vs:14 is any unbeliever, Jew or Gentile.]
2. It's as if Paul is looking for
any excuse to explain the failure of the nation
- The B.L. we'll find is that they have no excuse but
their own negative volition, their own failure to believe the word of Christ.
3. The specific
application of the context is to
- we can conclude this from the
witnesses that Paul introduces to make his case; v.18 Psa. 19:4 is David;
- v.19 quotes Dt
32:2 thus Moses;
- v.20-21 quotes Isa. 65:1-2 so
witness is Isaiah
4. What Paul is doing is to bring evidence against
- from the one God used to
communicate the Law, Moses.
- from the great King of
Israel, David.
- from one of their greatest
prophets, Isaiah.
5. Paul leaps all
the way back to the OT for his evidence to convict Israel of their rejection of
truth, to make his point clearly on the basis of the word of God, wants to keep
his arguments as objective as he can.
- Here's what God said to you,
- If you recall Paul did the same thing in Rom 3:9 and
following; Makes
a major statement, indictment of all! Especially pointed to
the Jew, to
- what follows is a series of
quotes, primarily from Psa.; here is the basis of judgment, our
condemnation before God; I didn't write
it; look this is what God said!
6. The wording also in v.21 makes it clear [look at v.21]
7. The section's specific application is to
8.
She
cannot say she has not heard! vs:18
She
cannot say that she did not understand v.19-20