The Necessity of Hearing

When writing to the church at Rome Paul made an important statement when he wrote, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). Understandably, anything that is written in the Bible is important for us to take into consideration. If it were not important, it would not be there for us to read. Here Paul makes an important statement concerning faith. How is biblical faith produced? It is through the hearing of God’s Word. This was a point which the Christ made during His time on earth. “Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved” (Luke 8:12). Notice that hearing is a necessity which precedes belief and salvation.

Take note of the book of Acts and how the act of hearing the Gospel is stressed. On the day of Pentecost, the devout Jews who were in Jerusalem were confounded because they heard Galileans speaking the languages of these Jews who had gathered together from all over the earth. “And how hear we every man in our own language?” (Acts 2:8). “And they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41). Even after Peter and John were later arrested, those who heard Peter’s preaching the resurrection of the dead through Jesus obeyed the Gospel. “Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of men was about five thousand” (Acts 4:4). It wasn’t just the preaching of the apostles, but also Christians such as Philip in Samaria. “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did” (Acts 8:5-6). Even for those who make the claim that an angel came to them with a message from God and that angel saved them, we notice that an angel sent a man to preach the Gospel to the Ethiopian Eunuch. The Eunuch had to hear God’s message as preached by a man (Acts 8:26). The angel did not save the Eunuch. Philip preached the Christ through Isaiah 53 and the Eunuch obeyed the Gospel. One can even turn to the apostle Paul as an example of one who needed to hear God’s message. After being blinded on the road to Damascus he was told by Jesus, “Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do” (Acts 9:6). What was he told? “And now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). There are countless other examples in the book of Acts but hopefully these examples will drive home the intended point.

Never once did any of these people have some sort of “epiphany” which caused a sudden belief in God. God’s Word was the catalyst which softened the hearts of these individuals to serve God and His Will. It is the same catalyst which will spur an individual to become a Christian and will spur the Christian to continue in service to God.

Thought of the Week: Resolutions

This is the time of year which many make we call “New Year’s Resolutions.”  Basically, it’s a number of changes or goals that an individual hopes to make in the new year.  One may make the decision that he will lose weight and exercise more. He may make the statement, “I’m going to run x distance every day!”  Some will even make it a resolution to read a certain number of books throughout the year. Those are all well and fine but a friend once said, “Resolutions were made to be broken.” While things may start off well enough, the resolution is not often kept for a number of reasons. One may lose sight of the goal set. One may even set the bar too high and commit to keep that which is unattainable at the moment. That person gets discouraged and gives up.

While this should not be a resolution, may it be the goal of every Christian to live a more Christ-like life. Unlike some resolutions which are too difficult the commandments of God “…are not grievous” (1 John 5:3). We can keep them. Weight loss for the Christian is easy if we choose to “…lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us…” (Hebrews 12:1-2). We may not read as many books as we’d like to this years but we can “…give attendance to reading…” the Holy Scriptures (1 Timothy 4:13). Furthermore, no Christian can lose sight of the goal if he makes the decision to “…press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14).