Scripture Reference
Romans 10:17
King James Version (KJV)
17So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
What This Passage Teaches
Faith Is Received, Not Produced
“Faith cometh.” Paul does not say that faith is summoned up from within, reasoned into existence, or achieved by effort. It comes. It arrives from outside the person, given through a means that God Himself has appointed.
God’s Appointed Means Is Hearing
“By hearing.” God ordinarily brings people to faith through a message that is heard. This is why the gospel must be spoken, read, preached, and carried. Where there is nothing to hear, there is nothing by which faith may come.
What Must Be Heard Is the Word of God
“And hearing by the word of God.” The verse does not say that faith comes by hearing anything at all. Opinion, sentiment, and religious talk cannot do this work. It is the word of God that God uses, and so it is His word that people must be given.
Someone Must Carry the Message
The verse opens with “so then” — it is the conclusion of what Paul has just argued: “how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach, except they be sent?” (verses 14-15). If faith comes by hearing the word of God, then those who have not heard it must be told.
Why It Matters
This verse explains why Scripture stands at the center of this ministry. If faith comes by hearing the word of God, then the most useful thing anyone can be given is that word itself — read, heard, and understood. No program or opinion can do what God has appointed His word to do.
It is also an encouragement to anyone who feels their faith is weak. Faith is not manufactured by trying harder to believe; it comes as the word of God is heard. The believer who wants a stronger faith is pointed back to Scripture, and the believer who wants others to come to faith is pointed toward carrying that word to them.
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