Romans 10:14-21

 Romans 10:14-21

Israel serves as a sort of object lesson for us. They, having rejected Christ, might want to plead ignorance. But ignorance is rarely a real defense. It cannot be a defense if it is willful, as in not reading a contract that is signed. It is not a defense if, when presented with truth, we choose a lie. Once we have heard the truth, any defense of ignorance is destroyed. Israel or any Jewish individual wanting to claim a defense of “I didn’t know” is hopelessly inadequate because the truth is proclaimed through the Old Testament and the history of God’s interaction and interventions. In verse 14 we can almost hear someone ask, “How could Israel have known?” The rest of the chapter answers the question. The Old Testament consistently tells of the coming of the Christ and even of His inclusion of the Gentiles. God even foretold how including Gentiles would result in Israel becoming jealous. The inclusion of Gentiles is dramatically seen in the promise to Abraham.

Let’s make two applications for our own lives and faith. First, since we have the word of God, we dare not ever pretend that ignorance is or in some way will be an excuse. On more than a few occasions, people claiming to be Christians have lived immoral, unholy lives and shrugged their shoulders and either pleaded ignorance or apathy. “I didn’t know the Bible said that” or “I don’t care what the Bible says” will be found to be excuses that do not hold water. For those who claim to be disciples we may plead for mercy in repentance but we may never plead ignorance.

There is a second application for us: the priority of the word of God in the ministry of the church, in evangelism, and in disciple-making. The decline of the church in a nation, community, or as an individual congregation is most often associated with a decline in the teaching and/or living of the word of God. In too many cases we have replaced the word of God with programs, glitz, and show. As a result, churches have produced some fair entertainment but have not made disciples. Large churches with large budgets have great programs but produce few disciples. Small churches with small budgets try to imitate the large church, but without the financial or talent resources, they just look sad and awkward. What the church must do is focus on faithfully proclaiming the word of God. Solid biblical teaching passed on from one person to another is hard work, produces results more slowly, and is a lot less gratifying to our senses. But in the long run it is much more effective and most important of all, it is God‘s plan.

“Lord, revive in me constantly a love for Your Word.  AMEN”