Last night at Bible study we were reading through Romans 10. Throughout the previous chapter and this one, Paul drives home the point that there is no advantage to the Jew in regards to salvation. Quoting several Old Testament prophets he writes, "Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed (Isaiah 28:16)," and "Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved (Joel 2:32)." That is the hope for the Gentiles. We can be part of the "whoever." Salvation can come to us as well.
After this Paul writes, "14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? 15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!'" Dr. Kerr pointed out that Paul slightly changes the quotation from Isaiah 52:7 which reads, "How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, (underline added)." Isaiah looks at Christ, He who brings good news and is, in fact, THE good news. Paul tells us that bringing that good news has passed to us. "How will they preach unless they are sent?" Jesus told His disciples to go into all the world. He said, "as the Father has sent Me, I also send you," (John 20:21). We have been sent. We can preach, so they can hear so they can believe in Him.
In my class we talked about how men need a noble calling to raise them up and set them higher. This calling is to all believers. I can't think of a better goal than to spread the gospel wherever we are placed. We teach our kids to sing "This little light of mine/ I'm gonna let it shine," but for it to sink in they need to see us shining out too. The wellspring of life is in us. It must overflow. "He must increase. I must decrease."
This is so much easier to write than to live, and I am humbled by the knowledge that I don't live up to this calling. But in part that is the purpose of the calling, to draw us up and let the Spirit transform us to be more like Christ. God is good all the time and in His power we can spread His word. We just need to say, as Isaiah said, "Here am I. Send me!"
