Romans 10:17; Mark 4:9
Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
And [Jesus] said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
BROWNLOW NORTH (1810-1875): These Scriptures teach that men are justified “by the hearing of faith,” Galatians 3:2,5; and again, that “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”
HUGH LATIMER (1483-1555): Then, if we will come to faith, we must hear God’s Word.
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): Oh, how I wish our hearers would begin to ask, “What does it mean?”
BROWNLOW NORTH: There is no other possible way by which any man can be saved except by faith: that is, by rejecting his own reasonings, wisdom, and carnal senses, and by hearing―that is, by receiving, believing, and attending in their stead to what the Scriptures tell him.
ALEXANDER COMRIE (1706-1774): Soon as a soul begins to give ear unto Jesus, there is much astir—the world allures, Satan threatens, the evil heart attempts to oppose the words of Jesus: many difficulties are suggested—that will help, this will harm; but this “hearing” will be a casting of all that to the winds, and a giving of attention and heed alone to that which Jesus speaks to the soul in His Word; and so I find that sometimes all that God demands is thus expressed: Hearken, only hear.
BROWNLOW NORTH: In other words, faith is hearing the Word of God, and believing it.
A. W. PINK (1886-1952): What does it mean to savingly “believe”?
ANDREW FULLER (1754-1815): A mere cold assent―commonly called believing the doctrines of the gospel, unaccompanied with love to them, or a dependence on Christ for salvation, is very far from being true saving faith.
C. H. SPURGEON: True faith is reliance. Look at any Greek lexicon you like and you will find that the word pisteuein does not merely mean to believe, but to trust, to confide in, to commit to, entrust with, and so forth. And the marrow of the meaning of faith is confidence in, reliance upon. Let me ask, then, everyone who professes to have faith—is your faith the faith of reliance? You give credit to certain statements—do you also place trust in the one glorious Person who alone can redeem? Have you confidence as well as credence? A creed will not save you, but reliance upon the Anointed Saviour is the way of salvation!
JOHN G. PATON (1824-1907): For a long time no equivalent could be found [for the word “faith” in the language of Aniwa Island]; and my work of Bible translation was paralyzed for the want of so fundamental and oft-recurring a term. The natives apparently regarded the verb “to hear” as equivalent to “to believe.” I would ask a native whether he believed a certain statement, and his reply would be, should he credit the statement, “Yes, I heard it,” but should he disbelieve it he would answer, “No, I did not hear it,”―meaning, not that his ears had failed to catch the words, but that he did not regard them as true. This definition of faith was obviously insufficient. I prayed continually that God would supply the missing link, and spared no effort in interrogating the most intelligent native pundits, but all in vain, none caught the hidden meaning of the word.
One day I was in the Mission House anxiously pondering. I sat on an ordinary kitchen chair, my feet resting on the floor. Just then an intelligent native woman entered the room, and the thought flashed through my mind to ask the all-absorbing question yet once again, if possible in a new light. Was I not resting on the chair? Would that attitude lend itself to the discovery?
I said, “What am I doing now?”
“Koikae ana, Misi,” the native replied―“You’re sitting down, Misi.”
Then I drew up my feet and placed them upon the bar of the chair just above the floor, and leaning back in an attitude of repose, asked, “What am I doing now?”
“Fakarongrongo, Misi.”―“You are leaning, wholly, Misi,” or “You have lifted yourself from every other support.”
“That’s it!” I shouted, with an exultant cry; and a sense of holy joy awed me, as I realized that my prayer had been so fully answered. To “lean on” Jesus wholly and only is surely the true meaning of appropriating or saving faith. And now “Fakarongrongo Iesu ea anea mouri”―“Leaning on Jesus unto eternal life,” or “for all the things of eternal life” is the happy experience of those Christian Islanders, as it is of all who thus cast themselves unreservedly on the Saviour of the world for salvation.
ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): No doubt that is quite true; and rightly understood that is a strengthening and a glad truth. But is that all which can be said in explanation of this principle? Surely not.
A. W. PINK:. John 1:12 makes it clear that to “believe” is to “receive”―to receive “Christ Jesus the Lord,” Colossians 2:6. Christ is the Saviour of none until He is welcomed as LORD. The immediate context of John 1:11 shows plainly the particular character in which Christ is there viewed: “He came unto His own;” He was their rightful Owner, because their Lord. But “His own received Him not;” no, they declared, “We will not have this Man to reign over us,” Luke 19:14.
C. H. SPURGEON: Be it also known that Jesus the Saviour must be received as Lord in the souls of those whom He redeems. You must obey Him if you trust Him, or else your trust will be mere hypocrisy. If we trust a physician we follow his prescriptions. If we trust a guide we follow his directions, and if we fully rely on Jesus, we obey His gracious commands. The faith which saves is a faith which produces a change of life, and subdues the soul to obedience to the Lord. Be not deceived—where Jesus comes, He comes to reign. Without submission to His will and Word, you are without the safety of His Atonement.
A. W. PINK: “Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved,” Acts 16:31. Ah, dear friend, this is searching. Have you received “The Lord Jesus Christ”? We do not ask, “Are you resting on His finished work,” but have you bowed to His scepter and owned His authority in a practical way? Have you disowned your own sinful lordship? If not, you certainly have not “believed on the Lord Jesus Christ,” and therefore the promise of Acts 16:31 does not belong to you.
H. A. IRONSIDE (1876-1951): Trust in God first as your Saviour, and then own Him as Lord of your life…If you have never recognized Him as your rightful Lord, do it today. It is not yet too late.
JOHN KNOX (1514-1572): Let every man therefore examine himself, with what mind, and what purpose, he comes to hear the Word of God―yea, with what ear he hears it.
GEORGE BURDER (1752-1832): What a blessing to be able to say, “Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth,” 1 Samuel 3:10―“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” May God bestow “the hearing ear” upon every reader.
