What Does It Take to Be Saved. (Romans 10:14–21)

📖 Episode Summary

At first glance, the answer to the question “What does it take to be saved?” seems simple: “Believe in Jesus Christ.” But as we explore Romans 10:14–21, we uncover a profound chain of events that leads to salvation—one that begins not with human decision, but with God’s sovereign grace and a faithful proclamation of the gospel.

In today’s episode, we unpack Paul’s reasoning as he walks us step-by-step, in reverse, through the process: from calling on the Lord → to believing → to hearing → to preaching → to being sent. This backwards logic highlights the cooperative interplay between divine initiative and human responsibility. And yet, Paul does not let Israel off the hook—despite having heard, they did not respond in faith. Their failure, Paul insists, was not for lack of revelation, but for lack of obedience to the gospel.

Join me as we reflect on this text and consider the essential elements of salvation, the vital role of gospel messengers, and the challenge of truly responding to God’s Word in faith.

📌 Key Themes & Takeaways

• Faith Requires Knowledge: Belief in Christ cannot happen unless a person first hears about Him.
• God Sends, We Speak: Proclamation is a divine and human initiative—God sends messengers, and people must speak the gospel.
• Calling = Salvation: Salvation here refers not just to justification, but to the ongoing rescue from sin’s power through calling on the Lord.
• Israel’s Rejection: Despite having heard and understood the gospel, Israel largely rejected it—not due to a lack of access but a lack of faith.
• Faith Comes by Hearing: Faith isn’t a mystical experience—it’s a response to the heard Word of God. That’s where salvation begins.

🧠 Questions for Reflection

1. Why is it necessary for people to hear before they can believe?
2. In what ways are we called to be part of the “sending” process today?
3. How does this passage balance the themes of God’s sovereignty and human responsibility?
4. Are there areas where, like Israel, we may be hearing but not truly responding in faith?

📚 Scripture Readings

• Romans 10:13–21
• Isaiah 52:7 – “How beautiful are the feet…”
• Romans 9:32 – “They did not pursue it by faith...”
• Romans 5:9–10 – Distinction between justification and salvation

Meditate on to this episode and deepen your understanding of salvation—not just as a moment of belief, but as a movement of God’s grace that invites a life of ongoing faith and transformation.

The Balance of Gray
God, doubt, and proof walk into a podcast... it goes better than you’d expect!

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Chapters

• 16:37 [Ad] The Balance of Gray
• 17:25 (Cont.) What Does It Take to Be Saved. (Romans 10:14–21)

Transcript

What Does It Take to Be Saved?" (Romans 10:14–21)

Transcript: 

What does it actually take for someone to be saved?

At first glance, the answer might seem straightforward: “You must believe in Jesus Christ.” That is, after all, the message at the heart of the Book of Romans but right across the New Testament. Faith in Christ is the condition of salvation.

But if we pause for a moment and push deeper into that statement, we can begin to see that this “simple” answer actually opens a door to a much wider, more intricate questions about salvation. Because if a person must believe in Jesus Christ to be saved, then it logically follows that they must first know who Christ is. They must hear about Him. Faith, as historic Christian theology has long affirmed, presupposes knowledge.

You cannot trust in someone of whom you’ve never heard.

But then the question arises—how does that knowledge come to a person? 

Answer, it comes through proclamation. Someone must tell them, the message must be spoken so people can hear it

So now we find that the path to salvation runs all the way back—not just to human faith—but to human and divine initiative. God must act. God must send. God it seems also goes before in that the Holy Spirit must open blind eyes to see and soften hearts to receive the truth.

So in fact the big picture tells us that salvation begins with God’s sovereign grace. His choice. His electing mercy. What does it take for someone to be saved? At first, we said, “Just believe.” But follow the thread long enough, and you find yourself grappling with the mystery of God’s election and the work of His Holy Spirit in human hearts.

This tension—between human faith and divine sovereignty—is not a problem to be solved, but a truth to be held onto and explored. The Bible affirms this and nowhere is that more carefully and beautifully explored than in Romans chapters 9 through 11, where Paul considers what has happened to Israel, and what that means for salvation more broadly.

Today, as we continue our journey through Romans, we arrive at a passage that presses into one side of that tension—Romans 10:14–21. Here, Paul addresses not the mystery of God’s sovereign choice, but the means by which salvation is made known and received. And as we explore this text, we return again to our foundational question: What does it take for someone to be saved?....

Let’s read together from Romans chapter 10, beginning at verse 13:

13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” 16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. 18 But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did:

“Their voice has gone out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the world.”

19 Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says,

“I will make you envious by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.”

20 And Isaiah boldly says,

“I was found by those who did not seek me;

I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.”

21 But concerning Israel he says,

“All day long I have held out my hands

to a disobedient and obstinate people.”

(Romans 10:13–21, ESV)

In these verses, Paul is telling us what must happen for someone to be saved. And he begins with the most visible part of the process—calling on the Lord. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” That’s the promise. That’s the invitation.

Salvation, in this passage, is pictured not simply as belief but as a personal act of calling upon Christ.

But immediately Paul asks the obvious: how can people call on someone they haven’t believed in? And how can they believe in someone they’ve never even heard about? And how can they hear about him without a preacher? And how can someone preach unless they are empowered/equipped and sent?

Do you see the chain of reasoning? Paul moves us backward through the logic of the salvation journeyn—starting with calling, moving to believing, then to hearing, preaching, and finally someone being sent. It’s like tracing a river back to its source.

Let’s walk through this backwards progression one step at a time.

First, Paul says: They must call on the Lord to be saved. That is, they must respond personally, from the heart, by invoking the name of Christ in faith.

Now some of you may remember what I said a couple of days ago,  that Paul makes a distinction between justification and salvation. 

Justification is the moment when God declares a person righteous on the basis of faith alone. It is entirely by grace through faith in Christ. 

But salvation, as Paul uses the term especially in Romans 5 through 10, speaks more broadly of the process of being rescued from the power of sin.

In Romans 5:9–10, he writes:

“Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God… while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

So, justification happens by faith. But salvation, in the broader sense, involves calling on the Lord and entering into a life of ongoing transformation. That’s what Paul has in mind in Romans 10:13, when he says: “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Not simply declared righteous but delivered—rescued from sin’s dominion.

That salvation starts with calling. But you cannot call unless you first believe. And you cannot believe unless you first hear. And you cannot hear unless someone proclaims. And no one can proclaim unless they have been sent.

So, salvation, we begin to see, involves a great movement of grace—from the throne of God to the voice of the messenger to the ears of the hearer, and from the hearer’s heart to the lips that call out in faith.

Salvation, in Paul’s theology, is deliverance from that power. The first step in that process, as Paul writes, is that “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” But calling assumes belief. That’s why in Romans 10:14 he asks, “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?” Faith precedes calling upon the Lord.

I believe this passage distinguishes between two things. Justification happens at the point of faith, and we are saved and declared righteous and made fit for heaven. Calling on the Lord, in this context, refers to the life of discipleship—about trusting God daily for deliverance from the power of sin. 

Paul is tracing the order: belief comes first, and out of that belief, we call on the Lord to walk in obedience and freedom.

Paul then presses the logic trail back even further. You can’t believe if you haven’t heard, and you can’t hear without a preacher and some some sort of speaker/preacher must be sent. That’s why he quotes Isaiah 52:7: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.”

In Isaiah’s context, it’s a runner crossing the mountains with the message of God’s victory. His feet may be battered and bruised, but they’re beautiful because of the message he brings.

So, the chain Paul presents is simple: God sends people to proclaim → people hear → they believe → they call → they are saved. But if that’s so clear, what’s the problem?

Paul gives that query voice in verse 16: “But not all have obeyed the gospel.” 

And here’s a key interpretive point: the “they” throughout this section refers to Israel, the nation. Remember Romans Ch’s 9–11 is Paul grappling with Israel’s unbelief. 

He says in John 1:11, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” The word “receive” there means to welcome. Israel did not welcome their Messiah. They did not believe. They did not obey.

So, Romans 10 isn’t just a general roadmap to salvation—it’s Paul explaining Israel’s failure to respond to the gospel, even though the message had been clearly sent, clearly preached, and beautifully delivered.

Paul says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” At first glance, that might sound like a formal conclusion, as if he's wrapping things up. But it’s more of an inference—a logical thread he’s been pulling all along, now brought into the open. This is the point he wants us to grasp.

“Faith comes by hearing.” That is, someone must hear the message. And the message they must hear is the Word of God. But here’s what Paul really wants to drive home: The problem is not access to the message—it’s the response to it.

Think about it. What does it take for someone to be saved? According to this chapter, they need a messenger, they need to hear the message, they need to believe it, and they need to call on the name of the Lord. And Israel had all of that. They had messengers. They had the Word. They heard it. So, what was the problem?

Paul makes it painfully clear in verse 16: “But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our report?’” That’s the problem. They didn’t obey. They didn’t believe. They rejected the message.

This passage lays responsibility squarely at the feet of those who hear. Faith is required. Calling on the Lord is required. And Israel refused to believe, even though they had everything they needed.

Now, someone might say, “Well, perhaps they weren’t elect.” But that’s not how Paul frames the issue in Romans 10. His answer to the question “Why didn’t they get saved?” is not about election—it’s about faith. Or rather, the lack of it. Romans 9:32 says, “Because they did not seek it by faith.” And Romans 10:16 says, “They did not obey the gospel.”

These are verses to underline and remember. They are key to Paul’s message. The Gentiles, who didn’t pursue righteousness, found it—a righteousness that comes by faith. But Israel, who pursued righteousness through the law, failed—because they did not pursue it by faith, instead they thought they could achieve it by following the 10 commandments and the law.

This is the heart of Paul’s lament and his argument. God sent the message to Israel. They did hear it and see it, but they did not believe.

He’s right. Some people wait for a mysterious, spiritual sensation before believing, or a supernatural phenomenon as evidence God is at work. But that’s not faith. Faith hears the Word of God and responds to it. Faith takes God at His Word.

That’s Paul’s point. The message has gone out. The responsibility is now with the hearer—to believe it, and to call on the name of the Lord.

But hel takes it further in verses 18–21. He anticipates the next objection: “Maybe they didn’t hear?” But he answers emphatically, “Oh, they heard.” And to make that point, he quotes Psalm 19:

“Their sound has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”

At first, this might seem like a strange choice of scripture fo Paul to quote. Psalm 19 is about the heavens declaring the glory of God through creation. But Paul uses it to say: the message of God’s reality—His power, His majesty, His voice—is universal. No one is left in the dark. 

First and foremost, Israel heard. But even beyond Israel, the whole world has heard through creation.

So, the issue is never ignorance. It’s disobedience.

Paul anticipates another objection in verse 19: “But did Israel not know?” He answers that too—again from the Scriptures. He quotes Deuteronomy 32:21 and Isaiah 65:1-2. These texts reveal that not only did Israel know, but God warned them they would reject Him—and that He would turn to the Gentiles.

“I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation; I will anger you by a foolish nation.”

“I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me.”

“All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”

In quoting these three verses, Paul drives home the point: Israel knew. God had stretched out His hands to them over and over again. But they refused Him. And so, the message went to others—to those who were not even looking for Him. And almost ironically they believed.

It’s a sobering reminder. The problem is never whether God has spoken. The issue is whether we’ve listened—and believed.

Finally, in verse 21, Paul again quotes Isaiah 65:2:

"All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people."

To stretch out one's hands is to invite, to welcome. That was always God's posture toward Israel. 

The problem wasn’t that they hadn’t heard. The problem wasn’t that they didn’t know Him. The problem was that, even though they heard and knew, they chose not to believe.

The word “disobedient” here in echoes what Paul said back in verse 16 when he said they did not obey the gospel. That is, they refused to trust in the Messiah. Not because they weren’t elect. Not because they never heard. Not because they didn’t understand. 

But because, even in that full knowledge, that revelation, they still refused to believe.

So, here’s the conclusion: to be saved, a person must hear, believe, and call upon the name of the Lord. Where’s that process breakdowns and when people aren’t saved? Is when they choose not to respond and believe.

Let’s step back one more time and look at the broader picture—Romans 9 and 10 together.

·         Romans 9 teaches us that God sovereignly chooses some to be saved. That’s unmistakable.

·         Romans 10 teaches us that the reason others are not saved is because they did not believe. That, too, is clear.

Does that seem like a contradiction? Did I say God sovereignly chooses? Yes.

Did I also say that people are responsible for not believing? Yes.

So how do we reconcile that? 

Here’s my honest answer: 

I don’t know.

All I have is the Bible. And in Romans 9, as well as elsewhere in the bible it plainly tells me. God chooses. 

In Romans 10 and elsewhere in the bible, it tells me people are held accountable for not believing.

I affirm both because the Bible affirms both, even if I don’t fully understand sometimes how both these things fit together.

And that shouldn’t surprise us. If we could fit God into our human logic, He wouldn't be much of a God.

You want to explain that in maths behind this? I can’t.

It clear to me this passage is about Israel but not only about Israel anymore, either. Paul began this chapter speaking primarily of the Jewish people, but by verse 18, quoting Psalm 19, he’s made clear this truth applies to everyone—Jews and Gentiles alike.

But what about those who haven’t heard? How can they be held accountable?

Paul already answered that in his opening salvo in his introduction to this whole letter. Romans 1:20:

"Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse."

No one is without a witness. Creation itself speaks of God. And the assumption in Scripture, one he emphasized back in chapter 1, is this: if someone genuinely seeks God through what has been revealed in creation, there is enough to find God, but we don’t have to rely just on that because God has also madee Himself known through His Word.

Jesus said in John 7:17,

“If anyone is willing to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God.”

So yes, Romans 10 is about Israel. But it’s also about you and me. The issue isn’t ignorance. It’s unbelief.

I’ve seen the same thing in my over 30 years of sharing the gospel. I’ve offered people the gift of eternal life—God’s free gift, paid in full by Christ’s death and resurrection. And time and again, I’ve heard people say: “Thanks, but no thanks.”

Why? Because they choose not to believe.

If you’re hearing this and you’ve never made that decision—please don’t make that mistake.

Don’t walk away from the greatest offer ever made.

Don’t reject the God who has held out His hands to you.

Receive Him. Believe the gospel.

And God will give you the gift of eternal life—far more valuable than anything else you will be given in this life.