Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 350

December 15;   Romans 10:17;   127/260(II);   ‘How Faith Comes’

Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Romans 12:3 teaches that every Christian has been given by the Lord the measure of faith.  No Christian gets more or less than any other Christian.  Ephesians 2:8, tells us that we are saved by grace, that is God’s unmerited favor.  The Father saved us, through the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ on our behalf, because He loves us and wants us to be with Him forever.  The verse goes on to say that we have been given faith, as a gift, to receive salvation.  Romans 10:17 clearly instructs us that God the Father uses the Word of God, to create in our spirit, the faith that He gifts us with.  Then using that gift of faith that came from hearing the Word, we believe the Word and are Born Again.  In the Greek, Romans 10:17 is in the continuous tense, meaning that we are to continually hear the Word of God.  Why?  Because our faith has the capacity to grow.  2 Thessalonians 1:3 teaches that the Christians in Thessalonica were diligent to spend time in the Word and because they were, their faith was growing exceedingly.  The Lord has given us faith to receive all of the blessings His Word tells us are ours.  The blessings in the Word, though they belong to you as a Christian, if you do not read the Word, you will never know those blessings are yours, nor use your faith to receive them.  Notice Romans 10:17 says ‘hearing, and hearing’ implies that we are never to stop hearing the Word.  God’s Word speaks of strong faith, full of faith and exceedingly growing faith.  We are taught in the Word that some have weak faith as well.  Since faith is so vitally important, make the effort to have strong faith, refuse less.