Faith Comes By Hearing The Word

It's got to be pretty simple for me to understand it.  Simple and right to the point.  The Apostle Paul said this in the middle of his discourse to the Christian Jews in Rome ...

Romans 10:13-14 ... "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?  And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?  And how shall they hear without a preacher?"

Romans 10:17 ... "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

This is in that old archaic King James English which isn't simple enough for me.  Faith comes by hearing?  I hear a lot of things.  In fact, most of what I hear seems to take "faith" from me, not build it up.

This scripture reads a little better in the Amplified Bible.  It puts it this way ... "So faith comes by hearing [what is told], and what is heard comes by the preaching [of the message that came from the lips] of Christ (the Messiah Himself)."

Okay, let me try to define what it is that one needs to hear to receive the "faith" that is spoken of ... what ever this faith is.

I found some interesting word meanings for this scripture in the original Greek that it was translated from.  The Greek always adds more clarity.

The word "faith" used in this scripture is "pistis," pronounced (pis-tis, just like it's spelled) and means ... persuasion (a particular belief), conviction (an opinion), or credence (believing something is true.)  By extension, it usually means ... religious belief.

All my life I've heard people quote this verse of scripture as proof that the only way to increase "faith" in your life is through the Word of God.  The kind of faith they are speaking of is faith that is a verb ... describing an action, state, or occurrence ... like moving a mountain or believing God to heal. 

This is not the direction I was taking this post, but since I'm here, let me say ... when Paul is speaking about hearing, he is referring to, "the word of faith which we preach" in (verse 8), and he continues with, "how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard, without a preacher" in (verse 14).

The "faith" that he speaks of in verse 17 ... (if read in context) ... is plainly speaking of "the Christian faith" one receives through hearing the preaching of the Word.  That's how most people come to accept Jesus as the Lord of their life.  It's from hearing the Word of God being shared that this ... "persuasion, conviction or credence" develops into a "religious belief."

The primary meaning of "faith" that comes from hearing the Word of God preached is the new birth; this type of faith is a noun ... used to identify a class of people ... your religious belief, as one of many in the Christian faith.

But the secondary meaning, which I also agree with, is ... if you want to grow your faith into mountain moving faith ... that too also comes from not only hearing but reading the Word of God for yourself.

Okay, continuing with the original Greek of verse 17 ... "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

"... faith by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."  Notice that the word "by" is used twice.  But they are two different words.

Faith by hearing ... is "ek ex" ... denoting the point or origin that action begins.  That's why the translators added the word "cometh" to show that this kind of faith isn't something we are born with.  It's something we receive.

Hearing by the word ... is "dia" ... denoting the channel through which faith is brought.  It's through preaching the Word of God.  In this scripture, it is by hearing the preaching of the ... "utterance of God" ... that is the channel through which "faith" reaches the soul and heart of man. 

"... the word ..."  One of the first Greek words I was exposed to many years ago was this Greek word ... "rhe'-ma" ... meaning simply, "an utterance spoken," by anyone. 

This word "rhe'-ma" in Romans 10:17 is not to be confused with "log'-os" found in John 1:1 ... "the Word was God."  The word "log'os" is similar to "rhe' ma" ... but means "something said" ... including thought, motive and reasoning behind what is said.

Some people get all bent out of shape if you don't use these two words correctly.  I can barely speak good old American, so guess what ... "an utterance spoken" and "something said" ... to me is the same thing.  I'll let God sort it all out.  He knows what my heart is trying to say anyway.

Paul talked about "faith" in Jesus.  Faith as a verb or a noun ... does it matter?

Faith the verb, is believing.  Faith the noun, is your belief.  Either way, faith will be the result of hearing the Word of God ... if the hearer believes the report.

The question is not only have you heard ... but have you believed?