“Faith comes by hearing, and hearing (comes) by the (spoken) Word of God.” Rom.10:17
If
we have heard nothing from God, then there can be nothing to believe.
If God had not spoken and we had not heard, there would be no basis for
faith. We may need, want, or hope for faith,but we could not possibly have it, because we had not heard anything to create it.
The Bible says, “Abraham believed God,” Rom. 4:3. In order for Abraham to believe God, God had to speak to Abraham. God spoke; Abraham heard, and Abraham believed what he heard. What Abraham heard came “by the spoken word of God,” and His faith came as a result of him hearing that spoken word. Abraham placed his faith in what God said to him. It was a personal word to him and to him alone. The faith in our heart comes in the same way. It is based upon a word from God to us. A spoken word that makes the written word come alive in our heart. It comes alive because the seed of this word was planted and watered, and now it has become full-grown. The heard word of faith is the harvest of the silent written word sown into our hearts and nurtured to harvest.
“But those that were sown on
the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear
fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” Mark 4:20
When
we give our hearts to the word of God, and to seeking the face of God,
we can count on Him to be faithful to respond. He will speak, and we
will hear. This is where faith comes from – from hearing. And that is
where the victory comes from – from faith.
But
without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that comes to God
must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:6
This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. I John 5:4b
He is faithful in what he promises, for the Bible says, “The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it” (I Thessalonians 5:24). Therefore, one of the simplest definitions of faith is ‘hearing God and believing what He says.’
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