Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
An evangelist is one who proclaims the gospel of Jesus Christ, a bringer of the good news of salvation through Him. Some believers in the church were especially known for this calling and work, as “Philip the evangelist” (Acts 21.8; cf. Eph 4.11). The work of an evangelist is especially the duty of pastors (2 Tim 4.5). However, since confessing Jesus as Lord is basic to being a Christian (Rom 10.9), all believers have some responsibility for evangelism. The earliest Christians, when scattered by persecution, “went everywhere preaching the word” (Acts 8.1), at least informally as Christian witnesses.
The apostle Paul remains preeminent among all the Christians who have ever lived. He was exemplary in many respects (1 Cor 11.1), not least of all as an evangelist. In him we behold a man indefatigable in his efforts to proclaim Christ, especially where He was unknown (Rom 15.19–20). A holy curiosity leads us to investigate Paul’s inner state which compelled a life so dedicated to this noblest of causes.
Romans 10.1 is a window into the psychology of this model Christian, the soul of an evangelist par excellence. In it Paul solemnly testifies to things otherwise invisible concerning his spiritual life in the presence of God. Here we behold a flaming zeal for the glory of God and the good of humanity. From this sacred altar we should take hot coals for our own rekindling in this most practical calling of the Christian life.
A Testimony for Brethren
Paul addresses “brethren,” and in this context he certainly designates fellow Christian believers. Only such brethren can appreciate what he is about to say. To the unconverted—even hypocrites within the visible church—such things are foolishness (1 Cor 1.18). Ordinary sinners and pseudo-Christians think that anyone resolved to win as many people to Jesus Christ as possible is a fanatic to be pitied, not an example to be admired and imitated. Paul’s testimony falls on deaf ears in so many cases, but it resonates within the hearts of true brethren.
A Testimony of Love in the Secret Place
When love dominates a man’s soul, it renews the whole man, inside and out, when people are watching and when he is alone. Paul candidly speaks of how love had transformed him, even in the secret place.
Two things constitute the main part of this sentence: desire and prayer. Paul has a strong, benevolent wish for others. He intensifies his expression of that wish’s strength by writing, “the desire of my own heart” (lit.). It is a deeply personal and heartfelt desire, most sincere and powerfully motivational. As a consequence of this potent and loving spiritual desire, Paul is compelled to action.
That action is prayer or supplication, “urgent request to meet a need, exclusively addressed to God, prayer.” The Greek word comes from another meaning “to plead, to beg.” It refers primarily to petitionary prayer (various lexicons). Desire was the root; prayer was the fruit, or rather, the “firstfruits,” since Paul’s evangelistic motivation propelled him far beyond a ministry of prayer.
Such evangelistic praying is an indispensable evidence of the spiritually-renewed heart. No prayer, no care! No care, no love, no grace, and no salvation (1 John 4.20).
A Testimony of Hope in God
The little phrase “to [or, toward] God” means not just that Paul addressed God in prayer (a virtual redundancy), but that Paul had all his hope set upon God and His powerful grace to grant these evangelistic pleas. Paul’s confidence for effective evangelistic ministry was not in his powers of persuasion, or in the “free will” of the unconverted, but in the God of sovereign grace.
Grace had quickened Paul’s soul to love others as himself, to desire their blessing as he desired his own, and to plead earnestly that the King of heaven would be pleased to impart His grace in their case also. Such petitions are founded upon the confidence that He is able to save whomever He pleases, no matter how hard their hearts may be. Who would have thought Saul the Pharisee a likely candidate for Christian conversion, and beyond that, for the greatest representative of Jesus the world has ever known? Since God had saved Saul, there was hope for others like him (1 Tim 1.15–16).
Never grow discouraged in persistent prayers for the conversion of individuals and multitudes, no matter how stubborn they seem. Is anything too hard for the Lord? (Jer 32.17). Never underestimate the Holy Spirit!
A Testimony of Concern for Sinners
By “Israel” is meant unconverted Jews, as the context makes clear (10.2–3; cf. 9.1–5). Paul loved them and preached in their synagogues until they persecuted him, when he would leave and plant a Christian church with the remnant who believed the gospel message. But Paul was also known as “the apostle of the Gentiles” (Rom 11.13), and dedicated himself to evangelizing them, too. Paul was resolved to bring along all the people he could on spiritual pilgrimage with him to glory.
A Testimony of the Greatest Priority
“That they might be saved” is a paraphrase of the Greek which is simply, “for salvation” (lit.). The noun is shorthand for all the blessedness to which God’s elect are destined from eternity. Earthly and temporal advantages and benefits, or the lack of them, are nothing in comparison with this. We should pray for daily bread and physical healing (Matt 6.11; Jas 5.16), but our great priority when begging blessings from heaven for the lost must be that they will be saved. This will be our priority if we have the soul of an evangelist. Ω