THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST

“So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing the word of God” – Romans 10:17

LIGHT FOR NOW: You can only have faith when the gospel is preached.

The famous verse builds on Paul’s quote of Isaiah asking the Lord “Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” (Isaiah 53:1). Paul was showing that a refusal to believe what God says amounts to disobedience. That, according to scripture, is the root problem when people hear the gospel and do not accept it. “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life” (John 5:39-40). “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself” (John 7:17). Those who disbelieve do so because, on some level, they do not want to believe.

Now, though, Paul writes that when believing happens, it is through hearing what the Lord says “through the word of Christ”. Paul seems to be referring to his prior chain of steps, which must occur to bring a person to the point of calling on the Lord. Christ sends out His representatives to preach the gospel. Those who hear it have the opportunity to believe. Those who believe call on Christ. And all who call on the name of Christ will be saved. Glory!

INSTRUCTION: Believe in the gospel of Christ.

CONFESSION: Father, I thank you for making me a partaker of the glorious gospel of Christ, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

QUOTE: There is no sentimentality in legality.

DAILY READING: MORNING: 1JOHN CHAPTER 4; EVENING: 1TIMOTHY CHAPTER 4