Devotions for Friday, August 12, 2011
Romans 10:12-17
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.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?15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Pastor Ben’s Commentary:
-God did not just come for one particular race of people, but for everyone. v.12
-The way that you are made right with God is by faith. v.13
-You can’t put your faith into something you don’t know about. How can people call on Jesus to save them, if they haven’t believed in Jesus in the first place? v.14
-How can they believe on Jesus if they’ve never heard of Him and that He came to die for their sins? v.14
-How can they hear about Jesus if someone doesn’t proclaim that message to them? v. 14-15
-So faith in Jesus happens when people share and declare the Word of God. v.16-17
Application:
1. To be saved, people must have heard and believed in Jesus. In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father, but by Me.” There is no “Plan B”, because Plan A has already happened.
2. God’s plan is for people who have heard and believed to proclaim the “good news” to those who have not heard or believed. It’s not an option, or a recommendation. It’s God’s plan for your life to share Him with other people. Who is the last person you told about Jesus?
3. What we are to be sharing is God’s Word. That is what produces faith. We don’t have to make up something. We already have it. And to share God’s Word, we must know, believe and trust God’s Word. Could you lead someone to Christ with just your Bible?
Faith comes when people hear the good news of Jesus Christ because we were obedient to proclaim it!
Study the Scriptures with Ben Jennings 
This passage is super convicting! “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.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?” that is pretty simply laid out for us right there, how can people believe on God unless someone tells them. So for us as Christians it means that we have a huge responsibility to tell and show others Christ. Because How can they believe if they have not heard and how can they hear unless I tell them or unless you tell them. SO the application today is very simple, what are you doing to let others hear the good news? I will be honest this is something that I struggle with too, I get afraid that people will not like me if I tell them what I believe but I have to chose to overcome this fear. People need to hear about God and you and I are the ones to tell them, so who are you telling? You may say I have no one to tell, but if we ask God I am sure he will put someone in our lives that we can give the gospel too. Don’t be afraid and start now, you and I may be the only chance someone gets!
This passage proves why God put us here on earth! We as believers should be telling the gospel, and showing people God’s word. If my parents weren’t believers, who knows where i’d be. If someone didn’t tell me, i wouldnt know anything about God. I’ll be honest i do not do a good job at all of telling my friends about God, inviting them to church, etc. I care so much about the negative outcome that could happen instead of realizing that if my friend heard the gospel, their life could be changed!! This is the biggest area of my walk with God that i struggle with the most.. But i just have to put my faith in Him that everything works out in the end 🙂
I agree 100% with what Zac said. He said that we could be the only chance someone has at having a relationship with God which is so true!! We have to step up, not worry so much about ourselves, and do what God wants us to do! Easier said than done, but it is absolutley worth it! 🙂
I like why you said Lindsey about worrying about the negative rather than hoping that your friends life could be changed. Great point!
I love the first verse of this passage. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. Romans 10:12 I think a lot of people forget that Jesus didn’t come just to save me from my sins and an enternity separated from God, but He came to save EVERYONE! No one is less important or more important than anyone. The bible says that we have all fallen short of the glory of God. We’re all sinners, all of us whether we want to admit it or not. Jesus has saved everyone from their sins, but it’s up to us as followers of Christ to let others know that so they can accept the gift of salvation and hear the gospel. It’s jars for all of us to grasp that not everyone knows who Jesus is. In school I had to watch this documentary called “Super size me”. It was all about how unhealthy mcdonalds is and this guy ate it for a couple months straight for breakfast lunch and dinner to prove his point about how unhealthy it is. Well there was this segment in the video where it showed a bunch of kids and they had to say who was in the picture. (it was to prove how well this generation knows mcdonalds) they put a picture up of Ronald McDonald and all the kids shouted out his name and got real excited. Then they put up a picture of Jesus and only two kids knew who he was. Today our society is wrapped up in materialistic things and Ronald McDonald if you will. Our job is to tell others the gospel, because let’s face it, there are a lot of people out there who have never even heard of Jesus let alone what He did for us! Let’s be fishers of men, and give EVERYONE the gospel, because everyone needs Jesus!
That movie grosses me out. I remember thy part too. It was sad.
Seriously! He throws up too much! & I agree.. Makes me really want to make a difference when I see things like that!
I learned two things from the passage today.
1. The verse 12 says “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.” so no matter who you are or what family your from, God loves all of us equally! And we should love everyone equally too! 🙂
2. People can’t be saved and commit their lives to God if no one tells them! That’s like our jobs as disciples, to tell them the good news!!
What blows my mind is that he LOVES everyone equally. And then be calls for us to go LOVE someone enough to share HIS LOVE with someone else!
Its pretty clear that we were put here to tell people about Jesus. We all have spheres of influence, like I’m not going to have the influence on someone else’s friends. But it’s my duty to reach my friends and tell then the good news.
If everyone saw it as their personal duty then I think things would look differently than they do. Good point Ryan.
What I got out of this passage was that God loved us before we loved him and he loves all of us even after we sinned and may not have believed in him and this is like the people who play church and they just go because of the activities and because they want to have fun but they don’t relize that they can have fun while worshiping and learning about him.