God Will Pursue His Children

Romans 10:14-17

[14] 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? [15] And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” [16] But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” [17] So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

No one is too far gone because God will seek the lost

“Rahab heard that there was only one God, Jehovah. She heard bits and snatches about Israel’s destiny. She heard, perhaps derisively, of the nation’s high ethical and moral code. Perhaps she had become disillusioned with the culture around her. She was treated as chattel. She had seen life at its worst. All of this together made her open to truth and faith. No doubt, fear contributed to the formation of her faith. Fear is an inevitable and natural consequence of sensing that God’s justice leaves us in the wrong. Rahab knew she was a sinner. She was ready for faith. The testimony of the spies opened her to faith. Rahab would immediately have sensed the difference between the Israelite visitors and the clients who normally frequented her house. The spies were not sensualists but holy men of impeccable morals. She had never seen this before…

Faith comes to us in response to God’s Word—“faith comes from hearing” (Romans 10:17). On this point, we have incredible advantage over Rahab. We have the whole Bible, not just a fragmentary story from the lips of traveling merchants. And the message we hear is not just of judgment but of love and salvation—“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:16, 17).

Also unlike Rahab, we are surrounded by people of faith who have trusted Christ and can lead us in the way everlasting. There are people who will pray for us, counsel us, even give of their resources to help us grow in faith. The quality of their lives alone draws us upward. Our advantages in forming faith are huge.” Hebrews - R. Kent Hughes