"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."  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?  And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" (Rom. 10:13-15)

Paul makes it clear here, how one experiences salvation. It is by calling on the name of the Lord that one is saved. In the scriptures when the term name is used it is used for more than simply a reference to the label we give someone in order to identify them. No; in the scriptures the term "name" refers to everything that a person is and stands for. So Paul is saying that salvation comes to those who call on the name of the one who came and died and rose. It is through calling on him that, salvation is experienced. Paul then raises same important questions for us to consider given that people need to call on the name of Jesus. How can they do so if they haven't believed? How can they do so without someone preaching to them? How can someone preach unless they are sent?

All this to say, that Paul is convinced that people need to hear about Jesus, If they are to know him and call upon him and experience salvation in him. So what does this mean? It means that for Christians, we are called to send, to preach, and support proclaiming ministries. Whatever else we might do to embody the gospel; loving, advocating, calling for justice, we must never forget the call to preach and proclaim the crucified and resurrected messiah.

How beautiful is the person who carries that message?

Grace to you from Marcus