LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Faith, Hearing and the Word
In the New Testament, all that God has for man is received by faith. Faith is, therefore, the key to the whole Christian experience, and precedes it. But how does one obtain faith?
The simple answer is in Romans 10: "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (v. 17). Here we have two elements that trigger faith - not one, but two: hearing, and the word of God. Hearing immediately precedes faith. This is not the everyday hearing, with which we listen to what is going on around us. The ears of man must be opened in order to receive faith.
When the apostle Paul was in Philippi, something unique happened: "And one Sabbath ... we spoke to the women who were gathered together. Then a woman named Lydia ... was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to listen to what Paul was saying" (Acts 16:13-15). This woman, Lydia, received the grace of being able to hear in a faith-producing way.
Speaking to the Thessalonians, Paul reminds them how they first received the Word: "...when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe" (1 Thess. 2:13). Here is another key to faith: The word was received as the word of God, not as the word of man. That allowed the Word to work in them. Undoubtedly, they also received this grace of hearing.
Many can hear preaching, but perhaps not all receive the grace to hear in such a way that their heart is filled with faith. This hearing is provoked by the Word. Those who have ever preached the Word know how perceptible this operation of God is. You can perceive when someone is receiving this grace of hearing. His look, his face, everything, reveals this blessed work of God's grace.
Everything comes from God. Faith, Paul says elsewhere, is a gift of God (Eph. 2:8). According to Acts 16:14, we can say that even hearing is a gift of God, just as the grace given to the Thessalonians. All things begin and all things end in God; that in all things he may be glorified, and that he that glorieth may glory in God.