Faith Comes By Hearing the Word of God – Rom. 10:17
We’ve looked at hearing the Word, the power of the Word, and the preaching of the Word. Today we conclude this series by learning the necessity of reading the Word.
We see then that the Word is the means that God uses to give us faith, but is it only through the “preaching” of the Word? No. It is through hearing, reading, memorizing, meditating, or singing the Word. The Word is powerful in whatever form we get it.
Psalm 1 tells us that the man who meditates on the Word is blessed and will bear fruit. John 15 tells us that we are to abide in Christ and have His Word abide in us. In fact, let’s look at those verses from John:
I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. John 15:1-8
Abiding in Christ involves having His Word abide in us. Why? Because without the Word we have no faith, no hope, no understanding, and no salvation. We must walk with Christ, we must be filled with (controlled by) the Holy Spirit, and we should be hiding His Word in our hearts (Psalm 119:11).
Do we read and memorize His Word? Do we view it as powerful and sharp and effective? It cannot be bound, chained, or stopped. (2 Timothy 2:8-9). Remember too in all of this that Jesus Himself is the Living Word of God. The written Word reveals to us the Living Word, and there is the source of the power of God’s Word. The Word of God will never pass away. Peter refers to ‘the word of God which lives and abides forever.”
Isaiah asks us, “Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
This Word is the Revelation of the Arm of the Lord, the Revelation of Jesus Himself! Hear it. Hear Him. And believe!
