Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
This brief passage of scripture tells us how faith in God begins to flourish in the soul, and it also shows by what means faith is to be built up. The word of God as given in the scriptures stands front and center in the development of faith in the individual, and it comes primarily by hearing or reading the Bible. One of the reasons why the Scriptures teach that faith comes by hearing, is because it was the sense of hearing that was first used by the enemy of souls to cause the downfall of the human family, and therefore the same sense of hearing must also be used in the process of our restoration. Let's read:
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
The problem here is that Eve listened to the serpent instead of listening to the word of God which specified that they would die if they partook of the fruit, and therefore in the conversion of those who desire to follow Christ, we will of necessity need to learn the very important lesson of listening to the word of God, instead of the many voices that the devil uses as agents in ensnaring our feet, hence the reason why the Bible says that faith cometh by hearing.
Everything that we hear or read must first be passed through the word of God for either confirmation or for rejection, for this is the one and only way that true faith in God can be developed inn the lives of all believers. In other words, the motto that the Christian lives by is "If God says it, I believe it, and that settles it", period. No amount of reasoning, philosophizing, applause, or censure should cause us to move one iota from what the word of God speaks to us, for this is the way Christ lived, whilst here on this earth, and this is also the way that His true followers will live. Let's read:
Matthew 4:2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
There is a scriptural and right way to obtain and eat bread, for the word of God says "By the sweat of thy brow thou shalt eat bread", meaning that we must work and exert effort in obtaining our daily bread and also the necessities of life, and therefore any suggestion to turn stones into bread miraculously, represents a method that is diabolically opposed to what God says, and therefore must be promptly refuted as being antagonistic to the supreme word of God, whatever the cost. In other words, if in the process of obeying God's word, Christ were to actually die, then so be it, but under no circumstances was He going to be persuaded, heckled, intimidated or bullied into disobeying a plain "Thus saith The Lord", and so it must be with all who choose to serve God in sincerity and truth.
In our day there are too many Christians who are willing to compromise with the devil because of the majority opinion that prevails in the fostering of sinful pleasures and habits, and many others do not stand rigidly for the right because we may suffer some loss in the process. That's why the scriptures cautions us about becoming "Lukewarm" in our approach to Christianity, for the word of God is complete and absolute in nature, therefore it is to be followed relentlessly and faithfully, without turning to the right hand or to the left. Let's read:
Revelation 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
We therefore end with a passage of scripture which shows us distinctly how we should order our steps, for by so doing our temporal and eternal safety is certainly secured in Christ. Let's read:
2nd Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
May God add His blessing to the "Hearing" and doing of His every word. "Good night" and God bless!