Romans 9-10: The Harmony of Election, Evangelism, and Belief

Romans 9:15-16.. "For he says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.' So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy."

Romans 10:9.. "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

Romans 10:14-15: "How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?"

Greg Stier, in his article called "3 Dot Theology", points out how "there are three dots--three theological truths--that hover out there when it comes to evangelism."1 He goes on to point out that those three dots are as follows:

1. It's God's responsibility to save.

2. It's our responsibility to share.

3. It's their responsibility to believe.

These three simple truths grasp so clearly what Paul is arguing in Romans 9 and 10. Let us look at each one of them this morning.

It's God's Responsibility to Save. We find this so beautifully in the beginning of Romans 9 as Paul is defending the doctrine of election: "So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy" (Rom. 9:16). Man cannot save himself because he would never be willing nor able to do so. Therefore, it is God's responsibility to save. Without God's initiation, no man would be saved. It's God's responsibility to save.

It's Our Responsibility to Share. This is what Paul is arguing in Romans 10:14-15. "How are they to believe in him whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?" (Rom. 10:14) Man cannot be saved unless they hear the Gospel, and they will not hear the Gospel unless we tell them. Therefore, it is our duty to evangelize to the lost. It's our responsibility to share.

It's Their Responsibiliy to Believe. Here we find applicable Paul's words in Romans 10:9: "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." The opportunity of salvation is open for all who confess and believe. Therefore, it is up to man whether or not he will respond to the call of the Gospel, and he is without excuse if he does not (Rom. 1:20, 10:18). It's their responsibility to believe.

This is where we get confused. How can all of these three facts be fully and entirely true all at the same time? Stier puts it this way:

Now you may be thinking these three dots do not connect! If it’s God’s responsibility to save, then how can it be my responsibility to share and how can it be their responsibility to believe all at the same time? And, you'd be right, these dots don’t connect…in our puny minds that is. But they do connect in the omniscient mind of God.

The key to understanding this "3 Dot Theology" is by realizing and that the dots don't connect, and we ought not to try to make them to in our own mind.2 Rather, we ought to take the Bible for what it says and realize first and foremost that it is our responsibility to share, and if we obey our responsibility, we can leave the salvation up to God and the belief up to the unbeleiver, knowing that we have done what God has called us to.

And in case you still aren't convinced of the reality of this "3 Dot Theology," note Stier's words once again:

The apostle Paul, who preached about the doctrine of election more than anyone else in the New Testament, was the most passionate about getting the gospel to everyone... He learned to live in the tension by embracing the mystery of salvation and the responsibility of evangelism all at the same time. Let's follow his lead. Let’s pray like it all depends on God and share like it all depends on us! Beg God to save the lost and then work your hardest to be used by God to answer that prayer!

I love Stier's words here: "Let's pray like it all depends on God and share like it all depends on us." Let's cross the pit of hell in order to get the Gospel to the unbelieving, yet let us grind our souls in prayer in asking God to change their hearts. And amidst it all, let us not try to connect the dots. God saves. We share. They believe. Let God and man do their own part; we ought to share. For...

If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.

C. H. Spurgeon

1. Stier, Greg. "Three Dot Theology." https://gregstier.dare2share.org/3-dot-theology

2. Once again, remember: It does not matter what you think, but what the Bible says. "Who are you, O man, to answer back to God?" (Rom. 9:20). The reasoning for not trying to connect the dots is because the Bible doesn't connect the dots. "Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; and where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent" (Thomas Campbell). The Bible does not try to reconcile man's responsibility and God's sovereignty, but commands us to live out our responsibility in light of God's sovereignty. So we ought to do so.