Daily Devotional—Romans 10:17

Faith Comes by Hearing: The Divine Source of Belief

Romans 10:17 declares, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word about Christ.” This verse is part of a larger section in which the Apostle Paul emphasizes the critical importance of gospel proclamation and the necessity of people responding in obedient faith. The message of salvation is not spread mystically or by osmosis. Rather, God has ordained a very specific method for people to receive saving faith—through hearing the message about Jesus Christ.

Faith is not an emotional impulse, nor is it something one is born with. It must be generated by an external, divinely appointed source—the Word of God. Paul here refers specifically to the spoken or proclaimed message about the Messiah. The Greek term rendered “word” (rhema) emphasizes the proclaimed word, not just the written text. This highlights the need for faithful preaching and teaching of the gospel message as a necessary instrument for the Spirit-inspired Scriptures to convict and persuade.

When a person hears the message of Christ—His sinless life, substitutionary death, and bodily resurrection—they are being exposed to the only truth capable of bringing about biblical faith. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that “without faith it is impossible to please God,” and Romans 5:1 declares that we are “justified by faith.” This faith, however, is not self-generated but is produced in the listener by the convicting power of God’s Word as it is rightly proclaimed.

The result of this hearing is not automatic belief. Many hear but do not obey (Romans 10:16). Faith must be united with a heart that is willing to respond in obedience (Romans 6:17). The Spirit does not force people to believe; rather, He uses the preached Word to present the truth and draw the willing heart toward God. This underscores the critical importance of evangelism and the teaching ministry in the Church. Without the proclamation of the Word about Christ, there can be no true faith, and thus no salvation (Romans 1:16).

Romans 10:17 also dismantles the modern error that faith can come through feelings, rituals, or direct personal experiences apart from the Scriptures. The Scriptures alone are sufficient (2 Timothy 3:16-17). No human being can believe what he has never heard, and he cannot hear unless someone proclaims it. Faith is not vague or mystical—it is grounded in objective truth, and that truth is rooted in the message about Jesus Christ as revealed in the Spirit-inspired Word of God.

This truth holds significant implications for Christian living. Believers must continue to expose themselves to the Word, both through private reading and the faithful teaching of others, to sustain and grow in faith (Colossians 3:16). The Word is not only the seed that produces initial faith, but it is also the nourishment that strengthens it (1 Peter 2:2). The hearing must not cease after conversion. Just as faith comes through hearing, so it continues through ongoing hearing, understanding, and obedience.

Furthermore, Christians are responsible to carry the message to others. Romans 10:14-15 asks rhetorically: “How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without a preacher?” Every believer must be a faithful messenger, for faith cannot be born where the Word is not sown.

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