Romans 10: Step out!

Major Ian Mountford encourages us to get our feet moving.

Key text

Romans 10:1–17

When was the last time you had a good look at your feet? I would not consider mine to be my best feature!

In verse 15 of our study passage, Paul quotes Isaiah 52:7, reminding his readers that, as followers of Christ, our feet are beautiful not because they are particularly well pedicured, but because they carry a significance far beyond our mortal frames.

Paul is writing circa 57AD to a church he did not plant, whose members knew deep turmoil. Following the edict of Claudius, Jews were expelled from Rome over a period of five years until Claudius’s death. Therefore, the Jewish-founded Church in Rome became Gentile led. And, when the expelled people returned, things were vastly different. In Romans chapters 9 to 11, Paul is seeking to address this tension. He declares Israelites are saved by faith in Christ alone, rather than by trusting in legalistic conformity (see vv1–4).

In Romans: A Letter that Makes Sense of Life, Andrew Ollerton points out that sandwiched between the discussion of Israel’s past in Romans 9 and future hope in Romans 11 is Paul’s call to ‘get practical’. It is a call to embody the gospel: to go public, confess and communicate the radical gospel of Christ in a way that elicits a response. Romans 10 addresses the question: if Jesus is the promised Jewish Messiah, why have the vast majority of Jewish people rejected him?

In Rome, customs and traditions most valued by those returning were no longer being observed. The Church had recognised that human effort, no matter how sincere, is no substitute for faith in Christ alone and, importantly, a declared faith (see v3). Sometimes we need to review our traditionalism to ensure our tradition has not been traded.

Pause and reflect

Imagine returning to a place to find things vastly different. How might you respond? What would you look for in terms of authenticity?

The confession ‘Jesus is Lord’ (v9), the belief that Jesus’ death and resurrection offer salvation for whosoever, is the cornerstone of our good news. This is why The Salvation Army exists – to live out and share the good news that salvation is found only in Jesus. This is the authentic gospel we have inherited.

Faith in Christ requires faith and confession, and in that you join in his mission. Paul explains this in verses 6 to 10 by quoting Deuteronomy 30:12–14.

Whatever trials or troubles come, God remains faithful to this promise: ‘Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame’ (v11). The gospel is inclusive – ‘no difference between Jew and Gentile’ (v12) – because ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’ (v13). It is also exclusive – found in Christ alone – through faith on ‘hearing the message’ (v17).

Pause and reflect

Paul refers back to Moses to prove Jesus. Which verses of Scripture do you go to when you reflect on the good news?

How can people believe in someone they have not heard of? Paul reminds us that we all have a responsibility to carry this good news. He points to the role of preacher (see vv14 and 15) as he describes a herald, who carries good news and declares that there is hope – victory is won and Jesus is Lord!

Fear locks our feet in place; it keeps us stationary. Faith gets feet moving.

We must experience this salvation first-hand in order to share its potency. Furthermore, our being sent carries more than just words (see v15). God sends no one to pursue his or her own agenda or power. If you identify as a follower of Jesus, you are to be his witness at work, in the gym, at the supermarket, in the corps and everywhere you go. There is no exemption. You are his herald and an embodiment of the gospel, who others will read first. And that is where our feet come in.

Pause and reflect

From whom did you first hear the message of salvation?
To whom did you then testify to that experience?

In The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, Lesslie Newbigin echoes Paul’s insistence that the message must be articulated to be understood: ‘Mission begins with a kind of explosion of joy. The news that the rejected and crucified Jesus is alive is something that cannot possibly be suppressed. It must be told. Who could be silent about such a fact?’

Before Pentecost, the disciples’ feet were paralysed. After the Crucifixion, they were huddled in a locked room, immobilised by fear. Fear locks our feet in place; it keeps us stationary. Faith gets feet moving. Paul recalls Isaiah 52:7 and the beauty of the feet of those who bring good news. It is the beauty of one who carries what Evangeline Booth summarised in ‘The World for God!’ (SASB 933) as words of peace and life, and songs of mercy shown in loving-kindness.

Beautiful feet are rarely pristine. Jesus washed dirty feet. Christian mission involves sacrifice and deep humility. We cannot carry the good news to the world with an attitude of superiority or arrogance.

In Paul for Everyone: Romans, Tom Wright comments: ‘In the ancient world, the messenger came running across the hills to a city under siege to shout, “Good news! Our God reigns!” The feet are beautiful because their arrival means the end of the old regime of fear and the beginning of the new regime of peace’.

You see, the watchmen did not look at the runner’s face; they looked at his pace. There was a joy and urgency to the good news. That is the gospel we are called to carry, and Paul reminds us that our feet – our sometimes tired, blistered feet – become incredibly beautiful when we use them each day to step up and step out with the good news of Jesus.