The Need for Preachers (Rom 10.14)
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Preachers may be among the most despised people in the world, and preaching, one of the most despised activities. God in Scripture exalts the office and function of preachers to a very high degree. He teaches us that we need preachers to be saved from our sins.
The Immediately-Preceding Context
Romans 10.14 occurs within a passage that explains the only way sinners can actually be saved. On this most important point, the Jews in Paul’s day had largely misunderstood the teaching of their Scriptures, which we now call the Old Testament. Many of them had the idea that they could save themselves by “establishing their own righteousness” in zealous attempts to keep God’s commandments (vv. 1–3a). Their grave error, Paul says, is that they were not “submitting to God’s righteousness” (v. 3b). They were bypassing God’s way for sinners to be justified in His sight.
That divinely-appointed way, made clear even in Moses’ writings, was by grace alone through faith alone, and not by their works (vv. 4–8; cf. v. 5 and Lev 18.5; vv. 6–8 and Deut 32.12–14; 9.4). This good news of a free salvation to unworthy sinners advocated by the OT is the very same gospel message the apostles were preaching—that trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ who had recently died and risen again is the only way to be saved (vv. 9, 10). International evangelism is the historical realization of the OT promise for the latter days (i.e., since Christ came into the world) that “whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed” (v. 11; or, “put to shame” [ESV]; cf. Isa 28.16 LXX, “he that believes on him shall by no means be ashamed”).
This latter-day message of salvation by grace through faith is the same for all people, whether Jew or Gentile (v. 12). “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (v. 13).
Three Telescopic, Rhetorical Questions
The basic thesis stated just before verse 14 is that only by “calling upon the name of the Lord” (i.e., Yahweh in Joel 2.32; Jesus in Romans) can one be saved. “Calling upon Him” means praying to Him, which is an act of worship that stands for all the rest (cf. Gen 4.26). Sinners must pray to Jesus Christ, worshiping Him, to be saved. This imperative raises concerns which Paul addresses in a series of rhetorical questions, all requiring a negative answer and revealing the means God has appointed for the salvation of sinners around the world and through the centuries.
I call them “telescopic” questions because they are like a telescope “consisting of concentric tubular parts designed to slide one within another” (SOED). Each one begins with a term just mentioned and then mentions another related term, setting up the question that follows.
1) “How then shall they call upon him (v. 13) in whom they have not believed?” Answer: They can’t. Praying to the Lord Jesus Christ requires and presupposes faith in Him. Anyone without faith in Him either will not pray to Him or else their “prayers” are counterfeit.
2)“How shall they believe in him (v. 14a) of whom they have not heard?” Answer: They can’t. It is impossible to pray to Christ if one has never heard of Christ. This is the implied assertion of the question.
3)“How shall they hear (v. 14b) without a preacher?” Answer: They can’t. Again, unless one would argue with God’s statement through Paul in this place, this is the rational and unavoidable conclusion.
God’s Way of Saving Sinners by Gospel Preaching
By a holy, inexorable process of reasoning supported by numerous passages in Scripture, this sequence of questions establishes that God’s way of saving sinners is through human preachers who sound forth the good news about Christ so that the message may be heard, believed, and acted upon in prayers for His mercy through Christ (cf. Mark 16.15, 16; 1 Cor 1.21–24).
And Paul asks a fourth rhetorical question: “How shall they preach (v. 14c) except they be sent?” (v. 15a). Answer: They can’t. That is not only why preachers must be sent into all the world, but it explains why the OT joyfully celebrates their arrival with the good news about Christ (v. 15b and Isa 52.7).
Today, faithful gospel preachers are still rescuers of perishing sinners since this teaching from Romans 10 continues to be true and valid. There are reports of Muslims becoming Christians without preachers through dreams about Christ. Such tales are more than suspicious. If true they would falsify the divine assertion made here that people cannot hear about Christ “without a preacher,” and that this human instrumentality which God uses is indispensable to their salvation. Upon entering His public ministry, Jesus Himself came preaching the gospel (Isa 61.1; Mark 1.14, 15, 38, 39; Luke 4.43).
The plain interpretation I have offered for Romans 10.14 has been the orthodox understanding of Christ’s true Church for over twenty centuries. Only recently has this view been formally repudiated by some identifying as Christians, including the Roman Catholic Church (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium 16).
A crucially-important practical application of all this is given by our Lord Jesus Himself. “Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest” (Matt 9.37, 38). In answer to our prayers, the Lord sends the laborers into His field to preach the gospel and reap the harvest of souls. Ω