Romans: Theology for Everybody (6-11)Sample

Question #5: Why should we evangelize if people are predestined?

Romans 9-11 is the great section of Scripture on predestination. It opens in Romans 9:1-5 with Paul’s desire for people to be saved, which is echoed again in 10:1. He goes on to say that God is not only sovereign over the ends of saving people but also over the means; He chooses people to bring the good news of Jesus to lost sinners. (1)

 Paul’s own example of evangelistic and church planting zeal must be the context in which his words are understood. Too often, Christians have Paul’s theology but not his heart or work ethic. Not only did he experience God’s sovereign choosing of him for salvation and calling him in to ministry, he also had a heart passionate to preach the gospel so that lost people could be found, and churches could be planted.  

In roughly a decade of ministry, Paul walked an average of nearly 20 miles a day, preaching a message hated by most everyone. He was single and didn’t have the comfort of a wife, and he was often suffering alone. He was often poor and would spend time working a job to keep himself alive so that He could continue preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ (Acts 18:1-3). 

Summarizing the life of Paul as a missionary of Jesus, theologian Paul Barnett says, “This ex-Pharisee brought the message about Jesus the Christ to the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire and wanted to repeat this achievement in the western province, Spain. Apart from Paul’s Herculean efforts, it is difficult to imagine how the gospel of Christ would have taken root so comprehensively in the Greco-Roman world. Paul’s intrepid and energetic travels and tireless work, however, do not in themselves explain his achievements. Here we must understand that for Paul his relationship with Christ and his work for him were inseparable. He regarded all that he did as ‘the work of the Lord’ (1 Corinthians 15:58) that the risen Christ was doing ‘through’ his servant, Paul (Romans 15:18)...In short, to understand Paul’s achievements we need to appreciate his driving passion, which was that Christ loved him and seized him, and that he could never be separated from his love (Romans 8:35, 39), sinner though he was and persecutor though he had been. (2) 

By believing that God elects people, we are relieved of the burden to manipulate and guilt people into becoming Christians and can work more honestly, lovingly, patiently, truthfully, compassionately, and sincerely. Thus, belief in predestination should not quench evangelistic zeal but rather fuel it. After all, no matter how dark people’s hearts might be, knowing that there are elect people and that God the Holy Spirit has chosen to work through the proclamation of the gospel, we can evangelize in hope, eagerly expecting that some will be saved, and not feel guilty when others reject Jesus. 

Nevertheless, by predestining some people to salvation, God is also unequally merciful. On this point, Paul says, “Isaiah 65:1 is so bold as to say, ‘I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.’” 

Additionally, a Bible commentary says, “One of the notable features of Romans 10 is that it is saturated with Old Testament allusion and quotation. Paul cites Scripture here in order to confirm or illustrate eight truths: 

First, the ready accessibility of Christ to faith (6–8 = Dt. 30:12ff.); 

Second, the promise of salvation to all who believe (11 = Is. 28:16; 13 = Joel 2:32); 

Third, the glorious necessity of evangelism (15 = Is. 52:7); 

Fourth, the unresponsiveness of Israel (16 = Is. 53:1); 

Fifth, the universality of the gospel (18 = Ps. 19:4); 

Sixth, the Gentiles’ provocation of Israel (19 = Dt. 32:21); 

Seventh, the divine initiative of grace (20 = Is. 65:1); and 

Eighth, the patient grief of God the evangelist (21 = Is. 65:2). 

Thus Paul’s emphasis is not only on the authority of Scripture but also on the fundamental continuity which unites the Old and the New Testament revelations.” (3) 

Paul is seeking to show that God’s heart and salvation plan have never changed throughout history. In this, he is showing us the character of God so that we would know Him better and trust Him deeper. 

In relationship to evangelism and church planting, which Paul is addressing, we should evangelize the lost because God has chosen to work through our ministry efforts to save people. God works through us not because He needs us, but because He loves us. He does this so that we would share in his joy and get to know the heart of our Father better. 

Similarly, when I was a little boy, my dad was a union construction worker who hung sheetrock. I still remember the times when I dressed up like my pop, donning overalls, a white T-shirt, steel-toed boots, and a miniature hard hat, and packed up my lunch box and thermos to go to work with my dad. He would give me a few tasks throughout the day, and by working with my dad, I got to know him better and spend time in his world. God is a Father like that. He needs people like me to evangelize the world no more than my dad needed a little boy to build an apartment complex, but he takes his kids to work because He loves them and wants them to be with Him doing what He loves. Ministry is simply going to work with your Father. 

Reflection:

1. Who did God send to share the good news of Jesus Christ with you? Is there any way to thank and encourage them this week? 

2. Who has God put in front of you to share the good news of Jesus with? 

3. How is God calling you to serve with your time and give of your wealth to help further the mission of Jesus Christ? 

Notes:

1.  Rom. 10:14–17

2. Paul Barnett, Paul: Missionary of Jesus (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008), 5-6.

3. John R. W. Stott, The Message of Romans: God's Good News for the World, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001), 290.