Romans 10:16

Then when he says, but all do not obey the Gospel, he shows that the later steps do not always follow. For although one cannot believe, unless he hears the word of the preacher, nevertheless, not everyone who hears believes; and this is what he …

The same Lord of all is rich - So that his blessings are never to be exhausted, nor is he ever constrained to hold his hand. The great truth proposed in ver. 11 is so repeated here, and in ver. 13, and farther confirmed, ver. 14, 15, as not only to imply, that "whosoever calleth upon him shall be saved;" but also that the will of God is, that all should savingly call upon him.

quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-11/13-anchored-16-16

But they have not all obeyed the Gospel,....

Very few have, few to what one would think should have believed it, considering how faithful a report it is and how well worthy of all acceptation,--very few to the many that persist in unbelief. It is no strange thing, but it is a very sad and uncomfortable thing, for the ministers of Christ to bring the report of the gospel, and not to be believed in it.

But they have not all obeyed the Gospel - This seems to be the objection of a Jew; as if he had said: A Divine mission would be attended with success; whereas there are numbers who pay no attention to the glad tidings you preach. To this the apostle answers, that the Spirit of God, by Isaiah, Isa 53:1, foretold it would be so, even in the case of the Jews themselves, where he said, Lord, who hath believed our report? For although God brings the message of salvation to men, he does not oblige them to embrace it.

EVEN concerning those who have heard the Gospel, it can still be said, "They have not all obeyed the Gospel." And this, dear Friends, is one of the plainest proofs of the deep depravity of human nature.

EVEN concerning those who have heard the Gospel, it can still be said, "They have not all obeyed the Gospel." And this, dear Friends, is one of the plainest proofs of the deep depravity of human nature. We might have expected that if God, in the exercise of His marvelous mercy, should stay His hand and not at once execute the sentence of justice upon the guilty—if in His surprising Grace, He should devise a way by which He could be just and yet could justify the ungodly— I say, we might have supposed that the moment men heard that good news, they would immediately believe it! Seeing that they had offended God and so had brought themselves into a state of condemnation, we might have thought that as soon as ever the God of Grace mentioned the possibility of forgiveness, they would have sought it at His hand! It could never have been imagined—apart from the utter ruin of man's nature by the

But they have not all obeyed the gospel - It is not easy to see the connection of this; and it has been made a question whether this is to be regarded as a continuation of the objection of the Jew, or as a part of the answer of the apostle. After all the attention which I have been able to give it, I am inclined to regard it as an admission of the apostle, as if he had said, “It must be admitted that all have not obeyed the gospel. So far as the objection of the Jew arises from that fact, and so far as that fact can bear on the case, it is to be conceded that all have not yielded obedience to the gospel. For this was clearly declared even by the prophet;” compare Act 28:24; Heb 4:2. For Esaias saith - Isa 53:1. Who hath believed our report? - That is, Isaiah complains that his declarations respecting the Messiah had been rejected by his countrymen. The form of expression, “Who hath believed?” is a mode of saying emphatically that few or none had done it. The great mass of his countrymen had rejected it. This was an example to the purpose of the apostle. In the time of Isaiah this fact existed; and it was not a new thing that it existed in the time of the gospel. “Our report.” Our message; or what is delivered to be heard and believed. It originally means the doctrine which Isaiah delivered about the Messiah; and implies that the same thing would occur when the Messiah should actually come. Hence, in the fifty-third chapter he proceeds to give the reasons why the report would not be credited. and why the Messiah would be rejected. It would be because he was a root out of a dry ground; because he was a man of sorrows. etc. And this actually took place. Because he did not come with splendor and pomp, as a temporal prince, he was rejected, and put to death. On substantially the same grounds he is even yet rejected by thousands. […]