Be it known to you therefore, that this salvation of God has been sent to the nations; *they* also will hear [it].
The closing verdict of Acts
One writer explains how far the promise to the Gentiles reaches. ESV renders the last clause "they will listen":
Verse 28 gives us the last words of Paul recorded in Acts. They are very significant, because they show the point the book has been leading us to. He proclaims a definite message from God: His salvation is now sent to the Gentiles, because the Jew is blind and hard. Then he adds, "they will hear it." This does not mean all of them will hear. It means that, unlike the Jew, a hearing ear will be found among them. This, thank God, has proved true throughout the centuries.
Isaiah quoted for the third and last time
Paul had just quoted Isaiah 6, words the New Testament had already used twice. This third use marks a final stage, but not a closed door for individual Jews:
Before the unbelieving Jews left, Paul spoke a final word to them. He quoted the passage from Isaiah 6. The Lord Himself quoted it in Matthew 13, and John quotes it in chapter 12 of his Gospel. This sad and terrible hardening and spiritual death had already set in during the days of Isaiah, some seven centuries before Christ. It was far more pronounced when Christ was on earth; and now the final stage was reached... Of course, this does not conflict with God still calling out a remnant according to the election of grace, as Romans 11 states.
Three testimonies refused
Paul does not say only that Isaiah spoke. He says the Holy Spirit spoke — ESV renders that line "The Holy Spirit was right in saying." One writer traces three refusals: the prophets, the Son on earth, and the Spirit from heaven:
Now the word is again cited by Paul, only with this emphatic reference — "Well spoke the Holy Spirit." The One who long ago gave the prophet power to see, hear, and write was now sent down from heaven to make good Christ's glory. Paul declares Him to be the One who spoke those words then and in that way. The Jews had rejected the Spirit as the witness of the glorified Son of Man, just as truly as they had rejected the Son on earth, and Jehovah before that. As far as responsibility goes, everything was over with the chosen people. They had failed in righteousness, and they hated the sovereign grace offered in the gospel.
Salvation is a thing sent
The verb matters. If God has to send salvation to you, two facts follow at once:
The moment I hear the word "salvation" it brings this to my mind. If God sends me salvation, it is clear I have not got it, that needs no proving; and if God sends it, it proves, too, that I need it. Salvation comes from God, that is the source. You are the recipient, and the thing sent is exactly what you need!
What has flowed from that day
The announcement in Rome describes the age we still live in. (The Scripture quoted below uses an older wording; ESV has "immeasurable riches.")
There is no doubt about this long age in which our lot is cast. God still works and gathers out of the Jewish circle, but the main work has been the out-gathering from the Gentiles. So we get the Scripture that says "in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace, in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." The word "exceeding" might be translated "surpassing." Something that surpasses everything else.
Grace goes lowest
The verse is often read as a closing of accounts. One writer ends the story on three notes at once:
But meanwhile "this salvation of God was sent to the Gentiles." The grace of God goes down to the lowest when the light of the knowledge of His glory shines. It shines now in the gospel, in the face of Jesus at God's right hand. So Israel is cast off, the Gentiles hear, and the apostle was in chains. So the history ends.
Summary
- Refused — Paul quotes Isaiah's word a third and final time. Israel had turned away the prophets, the Son on earth, and now the Spirit sent from heaven.
- Sent — God did not withdraw salvation; He redirected it. If He must send it, those who receive it neither had it nor could produce it.
- Heard — the promise is not that every Gentile believes. It is that a hearing ear would be found at last — and it has been, for centuries.
- Gathered — since that day God's main work has been gathering people out of the nations, a surpassing display of His grace.
- Reserved — the setting aside is not total. God still calls out a remnant by grace, so the verse closes an era, not a people's future.