Salvation is impossible without faith, as farming is impossible without the soil. Remove faith from Christianity, and Christianity will fall like a pack of cards. Apostle Paul, while explaining the “what,” “how,” and “when” of evangelism to the church in Rome, said faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17). It may interest you to know that this verse is one of the inspirations behind our media projects – Free in Messiah, Israel Music Evangelism, and Hear O Israel.
In this blog, we will be examining this text in relation to evangelism in Israel. But before that, I want us to briefly look at how to study/explain God’s Word correctly. I’ve shared a few thoughts on this already in the article about Songs of Deliverance, so I will only be making a few more additions here.
Growing up in the faith, I’ve come to understand that no Scripture verse can be studied in isolation. What gives meaning to a text in the Bible are the things said in the preceding and the proceeding verses. I love how a preacher once explained this. He said:
“Every time we attempt to understand or to explain a Bible text without painstakingly checking what was said contextually, we stand at a high risk of falling into an error.”
What a truth! The Scripture is a spiritual material that should be studied diligently – of course, with the help of the Holy Spirit. In my opinion, it will be way easier for the Holy Spirit to grant us understanding when we read the Bible the right way. This is one truth I believe Christian evangelism ministries in Israel like ours should be emphasizing today.
Trust me, we will have less to deal with regarding false interpretations of the Scripture if people start to read God’s Word correctly. With that understanding, I want us to examine in context what Paul meant when he said faith comes by hearing.
Faith Comes By Hearing
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17)
Let’s go back to the preceding verses. Earlier in verse 13, Paul explained that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Afterward, he asked four rhetorical questions in verses 14 and 15 that I would like us to look at one after the other.
Question 1: How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?
Paul asked this question to explain that a man needs to believe the Gospel before he can call on the name of the Lord to be saved. Just as we say the Hear O Israel prayer because we believe in God, people can only call on Yeshua when they believe in Him.
Now let’s look at the second question.
Question 2: How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard (verse 14)?
This is also impossible. Until the Gospel is preached, a sinner has nothing to believe. As a ministry, one of our reasons for leveraging digital opportunities in evangelism today is so we can get everyone to hear the Gospel. And glory to God, over 6.3 million Israelis have heard the Gospel through our Hear O Israel project on YouTube and Facebook.
Question 3: How shall they hear without a preacher (verse 14)?
Definitely, someone has to preach the Gospel to the unsaved before they can hear and believe. The attitude of some believers in Israel in this regard is one thing I believe we should take up prayerfully.
Now the final question.
Question 4: And how shall they preach unless they are sent (verse 15)?
This question is more like an extension of question 3. Paul implies here that a believer won’t be committed to evangelism until he acknowledges that God has sent him to do so.
These four questions are the background for the statement faith comes by hearing in verse 17. So, it is clear that Paul is reminding the church in Rome of what must be done for the unsaved to receive salvation – they need to hear the Gospel.
This is instructive for us who are championing the course of our Messiah in Israel today. We are to keep preaching the Gospel to the unsaved – that is how faith will come to them. As heralds, we are to announce, “Hear O Israel, salvation is here!”
Wrap Up
The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation – but only unto those who believe (Romans 1:16). Since faith to receive salvation comes when a sinner hears the Gospel, let’s keep preaching the Word in and out of season. However beyond doing that, we could also wear a Yeshua t shirt publicly. It can spark an interest, initiate a conversation, and provide opportunities for people to hear the Gospel and come to faith.