Faith Comes By Hearing the Word of God
Faith is a gift from God given through the hearing of the Word applied by the power of the Holy Spirit as He produces spiritual fruit in our lives. Faith is given to us through the hearing of the Word of God. Let us look today at the power of the Word of God.
The Word of God is alive, active, powerful, and unable to be contained or constricted or stopped. Do you think about the Bible as being a living Book?
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.- Hebrews 4:12.
It is living and powerful. It cuts right to the heart of the matter. It is a two-edged sword (Ephesians 6:17). It reveals the true intentions of the human heart and exposes our every thought.
The Word of God is a mirror that reflects to us the truth about who we are and what we need. It gives us the standard by which we must be measured to be pleasing to God (James 1:23-25). It reflects to us the truth, unvarnished. The way we respond says much about our faith and maturity in the Lord.
Along with revealing to us the standard of living for pleasing God, the Word of God is powerful. Consider these verses:
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” – Romans 1:16-17
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. – Isaiah 55:10-11
The Word of God is the power of God to salvation. It is what gives life when applied by the Spirit. It is what God uses to impart faith. Salvation is accomplished by the application of the Word of God.
God’s Word never fails. Get that? Often we think it is not enough just to give people the Word of God, but the Word of God is the only thing we have to give people that brings guaranteed results.
The Word of God always accomplishes the purpose that God sends it forth to accomplish. The Word is never sent out to fail and return void with no results. Often we forget that the Word can bring several results because often we are seeking one primary result, the salvation of souls. When people are not saved we think that either we have failed in the method we have used to witness or we believe that the Word of God failed and did not bring forth fruit.
The Word of God not only brings salvation, it also brings healing, hardens hearts, convicts, sanctifies, and breaks people. The Word is never sent out, not once, that it does not accomplish the specific task that God wants to accomplish. This should give us great freedom and motivation in preaching the Word to those who need to hear it because the results do not depend upon us, but upon the Spirit and the Word. They never fail.
Tomorrow we will look at the preaching of the Word!
