Romans 10:14-17 – Faith Cometh by Hearing

Now Paul asks in Romans 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?”

Now, we need to ask an important question: who are “they”?
The context tells us. The “they” are the same people mentioned throughout the chapter.
They are the unbelieving nation of Israel, the people Paul longs to see saved, as he said in Romans 10:1. These are the ones who have not believed their Messiah.
This is why context matters.
Many people come to Romans 10 and immediately turn these verses into a sermon on preaching.
Certainly, there’s truth there, and valuable lessons can be drawn from it. But Paul’s primary concern in this chapter is explaining Israel’s failure to obtain the righteousness God offered through faith.

To understand Paul’s point, we need to remember where his quotation in verse 13 of “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” comes from. In Joel 2, God speaks about a future day when He’ll be in the midst of Israel, pour out His Spirit upon them, and bring salvation to the remnant.
The passage describes signs in heaven, the Day of the Lord, and the establishment of God’s kingdom. It’s in that context that Joel says in Joel 2:32:
“Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered”.

The salvation in Joel is connected to the Lord’s return, His presence among Israel, and the deliverance of the believing remnant in Jerusalem. That’s the context Paul’s drawing from. We should always keep in mind that, unlike the Body of Christ today in this dispensation of grace, Israel’s salvation was irremovably tied to the kingdom on earth, their land promise.

On the day of Pentecost, Peter quotes Joel 2 and declares, “This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel.”
After reading the prophecy, he repeats the words in Acts 2:21,
“Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved”.

And who is he speaking to? The very next words are, “Ye men of Israel.”
Peter’s addressing Israel concerning Israel’s promised kingdom.
Paul’s discussing the same prophetic hope in Romans 10.
Neither Joel, Peter or Paul is revealing the mystery disprnsation of grace. They’re explaining that Israel didn’t receive the promised salvation, the same salvation Peter’s preaching in Acts 2, because they didn’t believe. They rejected Christ when He came. They didn’t trust Him, receive Him, or call upon His name in faith.

As we’ve seen throughout this study, the tragedy isn’t that God failed Israel. The tragedy is that Israel failed to believe God. That’s why Paul asks these questions. The issue is faith.
When Romans 10:14 asks, How can they call if they haven’t believed? How can they believe if they haven’t heard? We’ll see a little later: they did hear, and they were called, but they didn’t believe.

Even in Israel’s failure, God’s faithfulness remains.
The prophets had spoken of a believing remnant. As Zechariah foretold, though many would be cut off, a refined remnant would remain, and God says of them in Zechariah 13:9,
“They shall call on my name, and I will hear them”.

The believing remnant finally recognises Christ.
That’s exactly what Paul’s referring to when he quotes, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Israel will one day call on Him because they’ll finally believe on Him.
The question is, when does that happen?
Isaiah 53 gives us the answer.
This chapter’s often read as a prophecy about Christ’s suffering, and rightly so, but we also need to notice who’s speaking.
Over and over the passage says, “we.” “We hid as it were our faces from him.” “We esteemed him not.” “He was wounded for our transgressions.”
Who are these people?
They’re not people living thousands of years later looking back.
They’re Israel in the future, finally realising what they did.
They rejected their Messiah when He came. Like sheep that wandered from the Shepherd, they failed to recognise Him. Yet one day they will look upon Him in faith and acknowledge that the One they rejected was indeed their Christ.
This fits perfectly with Zechariah’s prophecy.
The Shepherd was smitten, and the sheep were scattered, but a remnant remains.
That remnant comes through the fire, the fire of God’s wrath, believes, and calls upon the Lord’s name.

Peter preached the same in Acts 3.
He told Israel to repent so that their sins might be blotted out “when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” The focus was always Christ’s return and Israel’s restoration.
Isaiah 58 continues the same theme.
God promises Israel that when He restores them, they’ll call and He’ll answer, saying, “Here I am.” The Lord will be present with them. Their righteousness will shine forth, their land will be restored, and they’ll be like a watered garden whose waters never fail. This is kingdom language.
It describes Israel’s future blessing under the reign of Christ.

The same picture appears in Isaiah 61.
The Lord comes with the Spirit of God upon Him, proclaiming both the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance.
He comforts those who mourn in Zion. He gives beauty for ashes and joy for mourning. The people who receive these blessings are described as “trees of righteousness.”
Notice the point.
Their righteousness is not earned by works.
Paul’s entire argument in Romans 10 is that righteousness comes through faith. Israel receives what God promised when they believe their Messiah.
As a result, the waste places are rebuilt, the ruined cities are restored, and the nations come to Israel.
Gentiles serve and bless Israel because God has blessed them. This is the fulfilment of the Abrahamic Covenant. Through Israel’s restoration, the nations receive blessing.

That’s why it’s important to understand that Romans 10 is not describing what Romans 11:11 later explains. Romans 11 deals with Israel’s fall and how, because of that fall, salvation is going to the Gentiles without Israel.
Romans 10 is describing Israel’s rise.
Joel, Isaiah, Zechariah, and Peter are all speaking about that future day when Israel believes and calls upon the Lord.
So when Paul asks, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?” the logic is simple.
Before someone calls on Christ, they must believe in Christ.
Before they can believe in Christ, they must hear about Christ.
Before they can hear about Christ, Christ must be proclaimed.

Paul isn’t actually talking about the office of a preacher here.
His point is much more basic. It’s that faith doesn’t just appear out of nowhere. The message about Christ must be communicated.
Someone must declare who He is. Then people can hear. Having heard, they can believe. Having believed, they can call upon His name.

That chain is exactly what Israel failed to do in Christ’s first coming.
They heard Him, yet refused to believe Him. But one day the remnant will hear, believe, and call upon Him. And when they do, the Lord will answer, “You are my people,” and they will finally say, “The Lord is my God.”
That’s the future hope Paul has in view as he unfolds these questions in Romans 10.
Now in Romans 10:15 he takes the chain one step further:
“And how shall they preach, except they be sent?”

In other words, before anyone can preach Christ, they must be sent by Christ.
If we think through Paul’s logic, we see that Christ comes and reveals Himself. He sends messengers to proclaim who He is. People hear the message. Those who believe the message call upon Him. That’s how Israel’s kingdom salvation was supposed to work.
Now there are similarities here as to how people are saved today.
We also have a message that’s proclaimed: the gospel of grace.
People hear it and believe it. But Paul’s talking specifically here about Israel and their kingdom hope.
In Joel 2, Isaiah, and Romans 10, Christ is presented as Israel’s King. Today Christ is in heaven, and we trust in His finished work by faith.
In the kingdom setting, however, when the Lord is present in Zion, refusing to come to Him is a rejection of the King Himself.

So there are really only two possibilities to Paul’s question of why Israel didn’t receive the promised kingdom?
Either Christ never came, and therefore nobody was sent to preach Him, nobody heard Him, nobody believed Him, and nobody called upon Him.
Or Christ did come, He proclaimed Himself, He sent messengers, the message was preached, and Israel simply rejected what they heard.
The Bible is clear.
Christ came. The King appeared. Messengers were sent. Israel heard the message and refused it.
That’s why Paul’s explaining these things. Israel’s problem wasn’t a lack of opportunity. Their problem was unbelief.

In the rest of Romans 10:15, Paul quotes Isaiah 52:7,
“How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things.”

Many people read that verse and immediately think about gospel preaching today, and while there are certainly lessons we can draw from it, Paul’s point is tied directly to the prophecy of Isaiah 52.
Remember, we’re in the prophetic timeline in this chapter. Isaiah 53 describes Israel looking back and finally recognising the One they rejected. Israel finally admits:
“We esteemed him not.”

The nation that once rejected Christ will one day confess that He was indeed their Messiah. In a sense, Isaiah 53 becomes Israel’s testimony. The very people who once rejected Him will announce to the world who He truly is.
But Isaiah 52 comes before that realisation.
The chapter opens:
“Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion.”

Jerusalem is being called to arise because her redemption’s approaching. God says they’ll be redeemed “without money.” Why? Because their redemption was purchased through the suffering and sacrifice of Christ.
Then we come to a remarkable statement in Isaiah 52:6:
“Therefore my people shall know my name.”

That is the issue throughout Romans 10.
Israel did not know Him when Christ walked among them.
They did not believe Him when He spoke.
They did not receive Him as their Messiah.
But Isaiah says a day is coming when they will know Him. We also saw this throughout our Hosea study, if you recall.
The same promise appears in the New Covenant described in Hebrews 8. Quoting Jeremiah 31, the writer says:
“They shall not teach every man his neighbour… saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me.”

That’s the future salvation of Israel.
That’s the day Isaiah’s anticipating.
Notice the language in Isaiah 52:
“Behold, it is I.”

That should sound familiar. When the disciples were frightened, seeing Jesus walking on the sea, in Matthew 14:27, He said:
“Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid”.

After His resurrection, He told them in Luke 24:39:
“It is I myself”.

The same Lord who spoke in Isaiah is the One standing before Israel in the Gospels. The tragedy is that the nation heard His voice but failed to recognise who was speaking.
That’s what Romans 10’s about. Israel’s kingdom promises were real. The King truly came. The message was preached. The messengers were sent. Yet the nation did not believe.
And that’s why Paul traces the chain backward:
How can they call unless they believe?
How can they believe unless they hear?
How can they hear unless someone preaches?
How can someone preach unless they are sent?
This all happened!
The problem was never with God’s promise. The problem was unbelief. The sent One came. The message was proclaimed. But Israel refused the One who repeatedly declared, “It is I.” They refused to hear that Messenger who was God in the flesh.
Even so, the prophets assure us that one day Israel will know His name, they will believe His word, and call upon Him, and receive the kingdom that God promised from the beginning.

That brings us back to Romans 10:15, and its relationship to Isaiah 52. The passage Paul quotes is Isaiah 52:7, which reads:
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!”

Notice the message being preached. It’s not simply that God exists. It’s not merely that salvation is available. The message is:
“Thy God reigneth.”

The King has come. The Lord reigns in Zion.
That’s kingdom language. That’s the gospel of the kingdom.

Back in Mark 1:14-15, Jesus came preaching:
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.”

That’s exactly the message Isaiah 52 anticipates. The King is present, the kingdom is near, and salvation is being proclaimed.
Jesus later said in Matthew 24:14:
“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”

Why does the world hear about the kingdom?
Because Israel comes to know their King first, then the nations learn about Christ’s reign through a restored Israel. That’s the prophetic pattern.
But that’s not what happened when Christ came the first time.
Israel rejected their King.
They stumbled over the stumbling stone.
They refused the One sent to them.
As a result, the kingdom was not established in Jerusalem at that time.

This is where Paul’s ministry becomes so important.
While Israel remained in unbelief, Paul was sent to the Gentiles with the gospel of God’s grace.
That’s the mystery Paul will explain more fully later.
Prophecy expected Israel’s rise to bring blessing to the nations. Instead, salvation went to the Gentiles while Israel remained largely unbelieving.
Yet in Romans 10 Paul’s still answering the original question of why didn’t Israel receive the kingdom?

The answer’s simple.
They didn’t call upon the Lord because they didn’t believe.
They didn’t believe because they refused what they heard.
And they heard because God had sent messengers to them.
Who were those messengers?
John the Baptist was one of them.

Long before John’s ministry began, his father Zacharias prophesied in Luke 1. Filled with the Holy Ghost, he declared that God had visited His people and raised up a horn of salvation in the house of David. He spoke of the mercy promised to Abraham and the prophets since the world began.
Then he addressed his son in Luke 1:76-77:
“And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest… to give knowledge of salvation unto his people”

John’s entire ministry was to prepare Israel for the arrival of her King.
John 1:6 says:
“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.”

Sent!
That should immediately remind us of Romans 10:15.
How shall they preach except they be sent?
John was sent.
He preached Christ.
He announced the Messiah.
He pointed Israel to the Lamb of God.

Jesus Himself was also sent.
Again and again He said, “The Father sent me.”

He told Israel in Matthew 15:24 that He was sent to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

John 3:17 declares:

“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.”

Jesus said in John 20:21:
“As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.”

In Luke 4:43, Jesus said,
“And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.

Then verse 18 gives the real issue:
“He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already…”

Think about all the people God sent.
He sent Zacharias, who prophesied of the coming salvation.
He sent John the Baptist, whose whole ministry was to prepare Israel for their Messiah.
He sent His Son, Jesus Christ Himself.
Then Christ sent His apostles to preach the kingdom.
The chain Paul describes in Romans 10 had been fully supplied.
Messengers were sent.
The message was preached.
The people heard.
Yet they would not believe.

That is why Paul quotes Isaiah 52. The beautiful feet are not merely preachers in a general sense. In the context, they’re messengers announcing that the King is coming and that salvation is near. When we hear the word “preacher,” we tend to think of pastors or evangelists. But in this context, some of the greatest preachers were the very people God Himself sent, and Israel should have recognised those messengers.
John the Baptist preached Christ.
Jesus preached Christ.
The Twelve preached Christ.
Peter preached Christ.
Again and again the nation was presented with evidence, preaching, signs, prophecy, and Scripture.
And yet they still rejected Him.
Paul’s carefully walking his readers backward through the process.
How shall they call on Him?
Only if they believe.
How shall they believe?
Only if they hear.
How shall they hear?
Only if someone preaches.
How shall they preach?
Only if they’re sent.
And when we trace that chain all the way back, we discover that God had faithfully done His part at every step.

The Father sent His Son.
The Son sent His messengers.
The message was proclaimed.
So the failure cannot be laid at God’s feet.
The responsibility rests with those who refused to believe.

This is why Paul, perhaps more clearly than any of the other apostles, emphasises faith.
If anyone understood the necessity of faith and grace, it was Paul. His own conversion was proof of it. The former persecutor had been saved entirely by God’s grace through faith.
So when Paul looks at Israel’s condition, his conclusion’s not complicated.
Why didn’t they receive the kingdom?
Because they rejected their King.
Why didn’t they call upon Him?
Because they didn’t believe Him.
Why didn’t they believe Him?
Not because they never heard. They heard repeatedly.
They heard John.
They heard Christ.
They heard the apostles.
They heard the prophets read every Sabbath.
The issue was never a lack of witnesses.
The issue was unbelief.

And that’s why Romans 10 fits so perfectly with everything we’ve seen from Joel, Isaiah, Hosea, Zechariah, the Gospels, and Acts. God promised a day when Israel would know His name.
Isaiah 52 says, “My people shall know my name.”
Hebrews 8 says, “All shall know me.”
Zechariah says they will call upon His name and He will hear them.

But in Romans 10, Paul’s explaining why that prophetic kingdom had not arrived yet.
Israel had not yet come to that place of faith.
They had not yet recognised Jesus as the One Isaiah spoke about when God said, “Behold, it is I.”

The good news is that God’s promises have not failed.
The prophets still stand. The day is still coming when the remnant of Israel will recognise their Messiah, believe His word, call upon His name, and enter the kingdom promised to them.

Romans 10 is not primarily describing Paul’s later ministry to the Gentiles.
Acts 10 gives us an interesting glimpse into this as well. Peter, one of those men sent by Christ, is directed by the Holy Ghost to go to Cornelius, a Gentile. Peter arrives and says, in Acts 10:36:
“The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all)”.

Notice the connection to Isaiah 52. Paul just quoted:
“How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace.”

Peter says that the same message of peace was sent to Israel through Jesus Christ.
Peter says in Acts 10:42:
“He commanded us to preach unto the people”.

There’s Romans 10 again. How shall they preach except they be sent?
Peter was sent, just as John the Baptist, Jesus and the apostles were sent.
God did not leave Israel without witnesses.
What’s remarkable in Acts 10 is that the very response Israel should have had is seen in Cornelius and his household when Peter preached there. They heard the message. They believed it. The Holy Ghost fell upon them, and they magnified God.
In other words, a Gentile household responded to the kingdom message more positively than much of Israel did.
That’s why this event is so significant. Peter himself is astonished. This wasn’t the expected reaction. Prophecy spoke of Israel being saved and then blessing flowing to the nations. Yet here was a Gentile believing while Israel remained largely in unbelief.
Paul later explains this.
In Romans 9 and 10, he’s showing why Israel missed what God had offered.
It wasn’t because God’s promises failed. It wasn’t because God failed to send messengers.
It was because they rejected the message concerning Jesus Christ.

Now Paul reaches the heart of the issue in Romans 10:16:
But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?

That verse is one of the most important statements in the chapter because it answers the question Paul’s been dealing with all along: Why didn’t Israel receive their promised kingdom?
Now remember the context.
In prophecy, when salvation went out to the nations, it was supposed to be a sign that Israel’s kingdom had been established. God promised Abraham that through his seed all nations would be blessed. Israel was supposed to receive her King, and then the nations would come and learn of Him through Israel.
Passages like Matthew 28 should be read in this context.
When Jesus said, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,” He also told them to begin at Jerusalem. The prophetic order was always Jerusalem first, then the nations. Israel receives her King, and then the kingdom message goes worldwide.
But that’s not what happened.

Instead of Israel receiving her Messiah and proclaiming Him to the world, Romans 10:16 says:
“They have not all obeyed the gospel.”

Who are the “they”?
The same people Paul’s been talking about throughout the chapter. Israel. The nation that heard Christ, heard the apostles, saw the signs, and yet largely refused to believe.
Paul then continues the verse with a quote from Isaiah 53:1;
For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?

That question sits right between Isaiah’s kingdom promises and Israel’s future repentance. The message was proclaimed, but who believed it?
The sad answer is very few.

When Christ came, Israel should have rejoiced. Their Messiah had finally arrived. The kingdom and Israel’s promised glory were on the very verge of unfolding. Their response should have been great excitement, “He’s here! The King has come!” Instead, John summarises the tragedy perfectly in John 1:11:
“He came unto his own, and his own received him not”.

Unbelief!
And notice something important. When Paul says they did not “obey” the gospel, he’s not talking primarily about performing works. In this context, obeying the gospel, the gospel of the kingdom, means responding correctly to it. It means believing it.
The gospel required them to believe that Jesus was the Christ, confess Him as Lord, and call upon His name. They refused to do that.
Peter says the same thing in 1 Peter 2. Speaking about Christ, he writes:
“Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner.”

How were they disobedient?
They stumbled over Christ.
They rejected Him.
They would not believe Him.
Peter and Paul are saying the same thing because both are explaining what happened to Israel. There was a believing remnant, but there was also a much larger group that rejected their Messiah.
Isaiah 53 describes that rejection:
“We esteemed him not.”

Israel saw the suffering servant and failed to recognise Him. They looked at Christ and concluded He could not be the promised King. Yet one day the nation will look back and realise their mistake.
For now, however, Paul’s explaining why the kingdom had not arrived. The answer is simple: the nation did not believe the report.

Hebrews 4 makes the same point.
Writing to believing Hebrews, the author warns them not to come short of the promised rest. Why? Because previous generations heard God’s word but did not mix what they heard with faith, and that was always the issue.

They never lacked revelation.
There was never a lack of preaching, nor was there ever a lack of evidence.
The problem was, again, unbelief.
Before Paul can explain Israel’s future salvation, he must first explain Israel’s present condition. The kingdom did not fail because God failed. It was postponed because the nation rejected the One whom God sent.
Yet even in that failure, God’s larger purpose stands.
Paul’s already shown that salvation has always been by grace through faith. Prophecy itself taught that lesson. Israel’s failure doesn’t cancel God’s promises; it simply proves once again that no one receives God’s blessing apart from faith.
That, more than anything else, explains why the kingdom had not yet come and why Paul’s prayer for Israel’s salvation remained so urgent.

Now we come to Romans 10:17, and it’s important to continue to keep the context in mind: why Israel did not receive the kingdom that had been promised to them.
That’s why Paul spends so much time talking about hearing, believing, preaching, and faith.
Paul couldn’t have started the book of Romans without this discussion. Before explaining why Israel missed their kingdom promises, he first had to establish the larger truth that God saves all people by grace through faith.
Once that foundation is laid, he can then show from Israel’s own Scriptures that faith was always part of God’s plan.

So after saying that Israel did not obey the gospel, Paul’s conclusion is Romans 10:17:
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”.

It’s such a popular verse, and rightly so. It states a fundamental truth that’s true throughout all dispensations.
We commonly use it to teach that our faith should be based on God’s Word and not the opinions of men, and that’s certainly true. But here in this context, Paul’s saying something very specific about Israel.

Let’s go back to Romans 9:6 for a moment, keeping in mind that Paul’s showing that God’s Word has not failed.
“Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect.”

The promises belonged to those who received them by God’s mercy and promise, not merely through possession of the law, and we went into that in depth through our book of Hosea study as well.
Israel assumed that being descendants of Abraham and keepers of the law guaranteed the promises, but Paul says they misunderstood their own Scriptures.
That’s why he keeps quoting Moses, Isaiah, Joel, and the prophets. He’s proving from Israel’s own Bible that faith was always necessary.

Remember Romans 9:32:
“They sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law.”

And Romans 10:3:
“Being ignorant of God’s righteousness.”

The issue wasn’t that the truth wasn’t available. It was. The issue was that they missed what the Scriptures were teaching.
When Paul now says, “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,” he’s talking about the very Scriptures Israel had been given.
The Law and the Prophets all testified about Christ. They had the words of God, but they failed to believe what those words were saying.

In that sense, Romans 10:17 is closely connected to Romans 9:6. God’s Word had not failed. God’s Word was effective. The problem was that many in Israel heard it without believing it.
Hebrews 4 says exactly the same thing:
“Unto us was the gospel preached [that was the gospel of the kingdom], as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it”.

Notice the difference.
Both groups heard.
Both received the message.
Both were given the same truth.
One group believed it.
The other did not.
The believing Hebrews entered into the promised rest. The unbelieving Hebrews did not.
That’s the same issue Romans 10 is addressing.

In Israel’s religious system, many assumed that covenant membership, rituals, sacrifices, and law-keeping were enough. But Paul keeps bringing everything back to faith. Those who believed entered into God’s promises. Those who refused to believe remained outside them.
Jesus Himself repeatedly confronted Israel with this problem.
In John 8:43, He asked:
“Why do ye not understand my speech?”

Then He answered His own question:
“Even because ye cannot hear my word.”

A few verses later in John 8:45, He says:
“Because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not”.

And again in John 8:47:
“He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not”.

Think about how remarkable that is.
The nation that had been entrusted with the words of God was standing before the living Word of God, listening to Him speak, and yet they would not hear Him. Unbelief!

When Paul says faith comes by hearing, he’s talking about hearing the Word of God that Israel already possessed in their Scriptures. Moses, Isaiah, Joel, Hosea, Zechariah, and all the prophets pointed to Christ. The nation had the Scriptures in their hands, but many missed what those Scriptures were saying.
Peter makes the same point in 2 Peter 1:19-21.
He says the prophetic Scriptures are a “more sure word of prophecy” because they did not come from the will of man. He says,
“Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

In other words, biblical faith isn’t faith in men.
It’s not confidence in a preacher’s personality, popularity, or eloquence. Real faith rests on what God has said.

The Thessalonian believers are a good example. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 2:13:
“When ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but… the word of God.”

Paul was a man, but they understood that the message came from God.
The same was true for Israel. They needed to receive Christ’s words, Peter’s words, and the prophets’ words as God’s words.
Faith is responding to God’s Word as true because God spoke it.

Hebrews 11:1 says:
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Faith doesn’t rest on what we can see. It rests on the certainty that God tells the truth.
It’s not true because we believe it. We believe it because God said it, and that’s an important difference.
A man can be sincere and still be wrong.
A whole religion can be sincere and still be wrong. Faith is only as reliable as its source. If the source is just human opinion, then faith is weak. But if the source is God’s Word, faith has a sure foundation because God cannot lie.
Israel claimed to believe God, but when Christ came, they rejected Him.
They had the Scriptures, yet they missed the One to whom the Scriptures pointed.
Jesus told them in John 8 that they would not hear His words because they did not truly receive what God was saying.

So Paul’s conclusion is simple.
The Word of God had not failed. The Scriptures had always pointed to faith in Christ. They had always testified to God’s salvation. Israel missed their promised blessings because they failed to hear, believe, and receive what God had already revealed.
Romans 10, then, is not revealing a mystery. It’s Paul proving from Israel’s own Scriptures that faith in Christ was always necessary. The Word of God was effective all along. The tragedy was that many in Israel heard the words but refused to believe the message. And that’s why their kingdom had not yet come.

May God bless you with the understanding of His plans and purposes that are clearly displayed in His word for all who search for it.