Faith Comes from Hearing: Why We Proclaim the Gospel

If you were to poll people in our local community and ask them, “What is the gospel?”, you would get a mixed bag of answers. Some may answer, “the good news.” Sure enough, the Greek word for “gospel” does mean “good news,” but what is this good news? Some would answer, “God’s word.” Scripture certainly reveals the gospel, but again, what is it? Occasionally, you receive an answer that is true and faithful, something like “Jesus Christ crucified and risen for sinners.”

In his book, Marks of the Messenger, Mack Stiles shares a phenomenon seen throughout church history. He observes over the courses of some generations, “The gospel is accepted... The gospel is assumed... The gospel is confused... [then] The gospel is lost.” Given the state of the society we live in, I am tempted to believe we are in the age in which the gospel is either assumed or confused and soon to be lost. So, in a time when the gospel is culturally assumed by some, intentionally and unintentionally confused by others, and apparently outright forgotten by many, what are we as Christians to do?

The answer is nothing profound but rather quite simple: we continue to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God, who died the death reserved for sinners, and who was raised from the grave to conquer sin, death, and hell once for all, so that whoever turns from their sin to Jesus in faith and repentance might have eternal life. Spiritually dead people can only be made alive through one thing: the proclaimed gospel applied by the Holy Spirit.

In Romans 10:17, Paul writes, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Paul had just wrapped up a lengthy portion detailing God’s sovereignty over all things, including salvation. However, lest the Roman churches be tempted to view this as an excuse to not evangelize, Paul shows something which should not surprise us: God has sovereignly ordained not only the ends, but also the means. After writing of those who have not heard the gospel preached, Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, pens this verse, showing that God’s chosen means to accomplish His ends is the gospel’s proclamation.

Paul makes his statement in the positive form, stating how gospel proclamation leads to faith, but to help us think through this, let’s consider it in the negative: “So, faith cannot come apart from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Paul is claiming that the only way the sinner can believe in the Lord Jesus’s death and resurrection for them is if somebody tells them this good news!

We, as Christians, possess the only message in the world which can raise the dead, change the heart, and save eternally. The gospel which the church clings to so dearly is the only hope for the nations. This is just as true in 21st century East Tennessee as it was in 1st century Rome. The gospel is still God’s plan for the salvation of His people.

So, what are we to do?

First, let us not assume. Just because somebody lives in the Bible Belt, even perhaps identifying with the Christian faith, does not mean they have truly turned from their sin and turned to Jesus. There are many in our context who are lost, without hope, dead in their sins and trespasses.

Second, let us be clear on the gospel. The gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, might be summarized as the Triune God creating and ordering all things, man rebelling against God, earning death and separation from God, Jesus Christ, God the Son, taking on flesh, living the perfect sinless life, dying the sinner’s death and being raised from the grave for the forgiveness of sins, and necessity of the sinner’s belief in Jesus, turning from their sin and turning to Him in faith. There is certainly more which can be said, but let’s not say less than this: God’s holiness, man’s sin, Jesus’s death and resurrection, and a necessary response.

Third, let us freely proclaim the gospel. The sinner cannot respond in faith and repentance to a message they have not heard. Jesus Christ has given us the words of eternal life (John 6:68-69). If we have experienced this blessing, we are to go and tell others that they might as well (Luke 14:23).

To learn more about reaching those with a faulty or insufficient understanding of the gospel, check out Dean Inserra’s book The Unsaved Christian from our online bookstore.