Faith comes from hearing the word of Christ

Romans 10:17 (NASB)

So faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. 

What a simple sentence that has such profound implications for all Christians.  The Greek word for hearing is “akoe” (“ak-o-ay”), similar to the word “to hear”  (“akouo”) that literally means to understand, to perceive what is said.  Another literal definition of the word “hearing” is to hear repeatedly.  Rarely do we human beings remember anything said just once, we have to hear it again and again to remember.  

If you have confessed Jesus Christ as your Savior, what led you to make this decision?  Perhaps a better question is who led you to make this decision?  While there are exceptions to every rule, I would bet that almost everyone reading this would admit that you became a Christian based on what someone or several “someones” said to you, not what you read.  Someone shared the gospel with you by the spoken word, you heard it, understood it, and believed.

So your faith in God through Christ came to you most likely through the spoken word.  You heard by the word (Greek “rhema”) of Christ and that “rhema” gave you your faith.  Rhema means “the personal spoken message from God through Christ”. 

When Jesus asked the father of the convulsing child if he believed that Jesus could heal him, the father cried out, “I believe, help me in my unbelief” (Mark 9:24).  What can help you overcome the “unbelief” in your life?  Hearing the word of Christ.  After hearing the word of God spoken to you, causing you to believe, what causes your faith to increase, to deepen?  You continue to hear through sermons and other teaching, but also you hear (understand) what you read and study in the Bible. 

Your faith deepens not just from the words of the Bible itself, but through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  It is the Holy Spirit in you who takes the spoken and written word of God and enables you to respond to it.  When Jesus started introducing His followers to the reality of the Holy Spirit, He described the Holy Spirit as the person who will convict you of your sin (John 16:8), will help you understand the truth (God’s Word (John 16:13) and will teach you all things of God and enable you to remember them (John 14:26).

In the parable of the sower (Luke 8:5-8) Jesus said that there are four ways that people hear the word of God---

(1) hear it, but ignore it

(2) hear it, but it never influences the person

(3) hear it, but worldly things easily displace it

(4) hear it, hold onto to it, and allow it to enable the person to grow in faith and actions. 

Hopefully, everyone reading these words is like the 4^th hearer.  May your faith continue to grow as you keep hearing and responding to the word of Christ.  However, if you know in your heart that you are one of the first three hearers, you know what you need to do to change.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to help you receive the spoken and written word of Christ in your and start bearing fruit in others’ lives.