The Great Blessing Of Salvation Is Meant For All

Sermon on Romans 10:12-17

Text: For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 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? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

Are you one of those people who gets excited when you hear that an event or a store is offering a free something to the first how many customers? I must admit that I am one of those people. There is one time that particularly comes to mind. We had planned on attending a Colorado Rockies baseball game. I heard that they were giving away free umbrellas to the first so many customers. I hustled my family to the ballpark as quickly as I could. We had to wait in line, but we were successful. What a sense of joy! I had my free umbrella! Of course, I don’t believe we ever used it and got rid of it some time later, but that’s beside the point. What is it about those promotions that gets people so excited? I believe it’s the thought that this prize is only given out to a few. As we study God’s Word this morning, we are going to hear about a gift that is not limited to just a few lucky people. THE GREAT BLESSING OF SALVATION IS MEANT FOR ALL. 1. We Have It. 2. Others Need It. 3. We Know How They Can Get it.

Paul speaks about the inclusivity of this gift in verses 12&13, “For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” Paul notes that the giving of this gift doesn’t depend on your nationality. We could also add that it doesn’t depend on whether you are male or female, rich or poor, young or old. This same gift is for all people. This thought is accentuated by the words “all” and “everyone.” What is this gift that is meant for all?

Paul, quoting from the prophet Joel, states, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” This gift is salvation. It is the gift that comes from our loving God that gives the forgiveness of sins. There is no one who deserves this gift. All people, including you and me, have dared to offend our holy God with sin. If we were to go through one day and start counting sins, how many do you think we would come up with? Add up all of the times that we have been impatient with someone else, those times that we looked the other way when someone needed our help, those words that we said that hurt another, and so forth. The number of sins would be staggering, to say the least. The fact of the matter is that, even if there was only one sin that we committed over the course of our life, it would be enough to condemn us for all eternity. However, God, in his amazing love, sent his Son Jesus to be our Savior. His perfect life was for all people. He did what the world could never do. Then, he willingly went to the cross to pay the debt that was owed because of sin. He suffered the punishment that all deserved. The glorious work of saving all people was finished when Jesus rose from the dead. This salvation that Jesus won was for all people.

The way that this gift is received is noted in the words “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord.” This calling on the name of the Lord is more than praying to God. Rather, it is also what happens when a person is brought to faith. To call on the name of the Lord means that you believe everything that the Lord has told you about himself. It means that you believe that he created all things, that he has redeemed you, and that he has made you his own through faith. This gift of faith, which receives the blessings of all that Christ has done, comes through the working of the Holy Spirit.

This gift has been given to us. However, it does just come to us out of the blue. Paul shows us this through a series of questions found in verses 14&15, “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 anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” Paul notes the impossibility of our being brought to faith and receiving the blessing of salvation on our own. You can’t call on someone if you don’t believe in them. You can’t believe in someone or something that you’ve never heard of. You wouldn’t hear about that person if someone hadn’t told you about them. So, God sent people into your life so that you could hear about your Savior. It may have been your parents who taught you at an early age. It may have been a friend who wanted you to know the peace of Jesus in your life. We would also think of those who, as the apostle states, have been sent. This would be the faithful pastors and teachers who taught you about your Savior’s love for you. Through the words that they spoke to you and read to you; you have come to know Jesus as your Savior. Through these words, the Holy Spirit created your faith, through which you receive the greatest of all blessings, the blessing of salvation. By God’s grace, we have it.

However, as Paul looked at his ministry, there was something that troubled him greatly. He notes in verse 16, “But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our message?’” Paul knew that his fellow Israelites needed to have the message of salvation, as well. No doubt that there were many Israelites that thought they had everything they needed. They were, after all, God’s chosen people. They followed all the rules about clean and unclean foods. They offered all the prescribed sacrifices. Yet, in spite of this, they weren’t going to be saved. They were missing what they truly needed. They didn’t have faith in Jesus as that promised Messiah, who had come into the world.

Are there people like that in your life, as well? They think that they are pretty good people. They may seem to have it made. They’ve got a good job. They have a nice house. They have a wonderful family. They may admit to not being perfect, but who really is. Deep down, they know that they’re not perfect, but their mind comes up with various ways of handling it. Either they try to dismiss what they’ve done wrong as not that bad or they feel that, in some way or another, they can make up for it. In their unguarded moments, they feel uneasy about what they’ve done. Even though they may not admit it, there is a fear of what happens when they leave this earth. The best that they can hope for is that there is nothing after this life. The worst is that there actually is a God to whom they are accountable for all of things that they have done. They are in desperate need of the blessing of salvation that could alleviate these fears and bring the peace that they crave. There are people all over the world that are in this position. They need the same blessing of salvation that we already have.

So, how are they going to get it? The answer is the same way that we received it. Paul summarizes this entire section in verse 17, “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” Going back to Paul’s series of questions, they can’t believe in someone they’ve never heard of, and they can’t hear it without someone telling them. There are various avenues through which this can take place. First, this is a part of every Christian’s responsibility. Jesus made this clear when he gave his final command to his church in Matthew 28, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19&20) We are to go to those people in our lives that don’t know the peace of sins forgiven through the work of Jesus Christ. We don’t have to be eloquent or know all the answers that they might ask. We simply show that we care about them and want to share what is truly important for this life and the life to come. We share what God has done for them, and let the Holy Spirit do the converting. Though not all will believe, as Paul was well aware of, we still want them to hear about the greatest blessing of salvation.

This is also one of the reasons that we have joined together as a congregation and as a synod. Part of the mission offerings that we give goes to support those missionaries who go to those places where we ourselves may not be able to go. They represent you and me as they tell others about the great love of their Savior for them. Also, in light of our Old Testament reading (Isaiah 6:1-8) and our Gospel reading ( Luke 5:1-11), we might think of the next generation of Called workers who will go out with the message of salvation. Again, a part of our mission offerings is set aside to train the next generation of pastors and teachers. I would also ask you to look around. Are there young men in our congregation who might have the talents and characteristics to be a pastor? Are there any young men or women who made have the abilities that would be able to be used in one of our elementary or high school classrooms? What could we do to encourage them as they consider this path for their lives? They have the opportunity to go out and share this greatest blessing of salvation for all people. As Paul wrote, “How can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?” (Verses 14&15) People need what we have. May God help us to share this wonderful blessing of salvation.

There are many problems with those promotions that stores or sports teams give to the first few customers. First of all, not everyone will receive it. You must be in the right place at the right time. Secondly, the gift that they offer really isn’t worth that much. How different is the message of salvation. It’s not just for a select few that just happened to be in the right place. It is meant for all people. The gift that is offered is priceless. Though the salvation that Jesus won, there is forgiveness of sins and eternal life. How blessed we are to have this gift. May God open our eyes to see the people who don’t have this message and then may he open our mouths to tell them about the greatest gift of all, the gift of salvation. Amen.