Read: Romans 10:14-21; Luke 15:25-32
They have not all obeyed the gospel. (Rom. 10:16)
My daughter planned to serve as a student teacher in England—but her visa to work in the country was delayed. When it arrived just prior to her flight, I said to the mail carrier, “I could give you a hug right now!”
Paul had a similar joy about the preaching of the good news of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. In a powerful sequence, Paul ends with a quote from the prophet Isaiah, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Rom. 10:15). The verse is as an illustration of the overwhelming joy that Gentiles experienced in receiving the gospel. However, Paul’s honest words to the Jewish believers in Jesus were, “They have not all obeyed the gospel” (v. 16). While some Jews had come to faith in Messiah Jesus, the majority had not. Israel was like the elder brother in Jesus’s parable of the prodigal son who failed to enter the joy of the party (Luke 15:25-32). This made some of the Jewish believers wonder whether God had changed his plan of salvation. Paul had a ready answer.
The gospel has indeed gone out to all the earth, but like the preaching of the Old Testament prophets, the word of the Lord has not been believed (vv. 19-21). In God’s plan of salvation, there have always been two responses to the preaching of the gospel: acceptance or rejection. The same is true today.
As you pray, ask God to open peoples’ ears to hear the good news and respond with joy.
Kent Fry is a retired pastor and visiting research fellow at the Van Raalte Institute in Holland, Michigan. He and his wife, Joyce, are active members of Second Reformed Church in Zeeland, Michigan. Kent is an active cyclist, and he and Joyce enjoy time with their children and grandchildren.
