Faith Still Comes By Hearing

Faith Still Comes By Hearing

The basic principle of a relationship with God is faith. In Hebrews 11:6 the writer describes the need for faith to be pleasing to God and without faith there is no pleasing Him. Three elements of this faith are outlined: faith is the knowledge that God is and faith is the hope that through the knowledge of God comes a promise of reward. The third part of faith is found when the person seeks Him. Without these three elements faith is dead. The challenge is how man views the pursuit of faith and what the basis of his faith in God is. Often man is satisfied to have a faith in God apart from knowing Him and not actively seeking Him. This kind of faith will only be a dead faith.

Paul describes the first knowledge of God as the “invisible attributes … clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). Faith does not come from this kind of knowledge because God is still unknown. An understanding of God in His fullest sense only comes from the mind of God revealed to man. “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2). Through the word of God man will be able to know the character of God and this is where faith will come.

To the church at Rome Paul said, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). Hearing the word of God will fulfill all three of the requirements of Hebrews 11:6. The knowledge of who God is begins in Genesis 1:1 and remains the constant theme until Revelation 22:21. His personality is painted throughout the generations of man in His goodness and severity (Romans 11:22). Without the written word man would have no knowledge of who God is.

Found also within the pages of the Bible is the promises of God to reward the faithful. The grace of God was planted in Genesis 3 and fulfilled in the redemption through the blood of Christ on Calvary. He rewarded the faithful and punished the unfaithful. Reading the scriptures and hearing the message of the word of God instills faith in the heart that as God spoke in the long ago He will speak the same promise today.

The psalmist declared, “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord! Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart” (Psalms 119:1-2). Being faithful to the Lord is to walk in the law and seek the Lord with the heart. One cannot know how to walk in the law unless they read and understand the law. The heart cannot seek what it does not want to know. Without time spent in the meditation and study of the word of God, faith will die.

When people struggle in their lives to overcome sin the symptom can be found in the lack of “hearing the word of God.” Weakened faith is found in those who nibble at the manna of God’s word. Knowledge is power and without the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God you might as well be fighting Satan with a toothpick. Faith still comes by hearing and that hearing must be by the word of God. Coupled with prayer (Ephesians 6:18) Satan will never win. Faithless people are not people of the book. Faithful people are people of the book who love the law of God. “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day” (Psalms 119:97). Now that is faithfulness!