What does it mean that faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17)?

The trouble is that all have not obeyed the Gospel, as Isaiah also indicated. Obedience is by faith. The word, "report," really occurs thrice in this passage; for verse 17 more literally rendered is, "So faith then is by a report, but the report by God's word." When the report reaches our ears, backed by the authority of God's word, we believe it. Then it is that we can say like the Queen of Sheba, "It was a true report that I heard."

The report then has gone forth. It had gone forth even in the early days when Paul wrote this epistle. The blessing however was conditioned upon the obedience of faith. Now as a nation Israel had remained unbelieving, and the warning words of the prophets were in process of being fulfilled.

The apostles and evangelists were heralds of the gospel. They went everywhere preaching the Word; and wherever they went there were those who believed the report. As I have already pointed out, faith comes by report. It is so in natural things. If we cannot verify what we hear, we accept or reject it, according to the reliability, or otherwise, of the witness upon whose authority it comes to us. Without report of some nature faith could not exist. The Spirit of God tells us (Rom. 10:17) “faith comes by hearing,” or report; it is not the act of hearing, but the thing heard that is referred to. The report is the Word of God.

How Faith Comes. — If these things be so, as the prophets Isaiah and Joel declare, of those who call, and those who believe, the question naturally arises, "How shall they call (as Joel had predicted) on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him (of which Isaiah had written) of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher, and how shall they preach, except they be sent?" (14, 15). The prophetic declarations above referred to suppose, and require a testimony first to go forth; for calling on* is not just the same as calling to. It means the open confession of Him as God, on whom they call, and who is to be worshipped. How can there be that without a revelation, a testimony first going forth? "As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings of good things?" (15). That testimony was going forth by the Gospel, but all had not obeyed it. No wonder that the prophets had written in the language they had done, "Whosoever," etc., evidently implying that all might not believe; for in truth Israel's unbelief had been predicted centuries previous, as Isaiah had written, "Lord, who has believed our report" (16). How then does faith come? The answer is plain, "Faith comes by hearing (or, report) and hearing (or, report) by the Word of Christ" (17). For thus it would seem probable the apostle expressed himself, introducing directly the Lord Jesus Christ.

Any Excuse for this Unbelief? — Since faith comes by hearing, could any excuse their unbelief on the ground that the report had not reached them? Even that loophole of escape was cut off. The Gospel was in all the world, and was preached in the whole creation (not to every creature) under heaven (Col. 1:6, 23), so that it might be said in the words of the Psalmist (Ps. 19:4). "Their sound went into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world." Were Israel unaware of God's purpose to minister blessing to Gentiles? Did the free proclamation of the Gospel take them unawares? The law and the prophets had given indications of this activity of Divine grace. Moses had written, "I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you (Deut. 32:21). But Esaias (Isa. 65:1-2), is very bold, and says, I was found of them that sought Me not, I was made manifest to them that asked not after Me. But to Israel He says, All day long I have stretched forth My hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people" (Rom. 10:19-21). What an opening up of the Word has been made! All ground of objection on the Jew's part against the Gospel completely cut away from under their feet by the combined testimony of Moses and the prophets. Their objections were found to be untenable. Their ignorance of what was in the Hebrew Scriptures was set forth in the light of day.

But this discloses the fact that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. The word of God brings a report: faith believes it. How blessedly simple is the whole thing! (vv. 16, 17)

But have not the people of Israel heard therefore? Yes; for as wide as creation (Ps. 19) — to Jews and Gentiles — has the testimony gone. And what makes it worse for Israel is that the Scriptures themselves foretold how God would go outside of their favoured circle with His blessing, to stir them up to prize it. This made the guilt of the people of Israel all the more apparent.

Hearing is by the Word of God—the Word of God is the only Book that brings a positive revelation of God and His truth, and hearing comes by it, not merely the physical act of responding to sounds, to articulate speech, but the real hearing of the Word, the receiving of it into the soul. And if hearing is by the Word of God, faith comes by hearing—that mysterious something that gives a link of the soul with God, that sets the soul at a different angle and in different relation to everything it was formerly in relation to.

Of course this has nothing to do with natural hearing. It applies as much to the naturally deaf as to those whose natural hearing is perfect. It is spiritual hearing, and who can spiritually hear that has no spiritual life? The links of the chain in their order are: the word of God; hearing; faith.

First of all you have a dead soul. The word of God enters the heart and imparts the spiritual hearing; and hearing the word gives rise to faith.

The thought must not be allowed that the word of God is at the first applied to a soul that can already hear; for as we have seen, "hearing comes by the word of God." His word is the living seed, which, entering into the heart, brings forth life in that which was before dead.

First then "hearing [comes] by the word of God." That is to say, the word of God finds its way into the heart and gives "hearing," or, in other words, the ability to hear.

Then this "hearing" is the channel for the formation and growth of faith.

Now the word of God, though not received by the natural man, finds its way by God's grace into the heart, reveals Christ, and quickens. The new life is capable of receiving the things of the Spirit of God. Thus "hearing" is the channel for the formation and growth of faith.

Many seem to have the erroneous idea, that the natural heart, before the new birth takes place within it, has faith which it can exercise in hearing the word, the seed of life. In this case faith would not be by hearing, for it would exist before the hearing; which directly contradicts the truth. According to such a notion faith, at least at its commencement, would be an act of the old Adam nature. It could not well be strained to support the idea that after the new birth faith passes over from the old to the new nature. "The dead hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear live." Faith characterises those who are born of God, born of water and the Spirit. So it is at the first, and so it continues to the end.

The word is the instrument as it is said, "faith comes by hearing [ ἀκοή, report], and hearing [ ἀκοή ] by the word of God." It is hard to say how the word merely works, save that it is God's method of the revelation of Christ, and where accompanied by the quickening power of the Spirit, it becomes thus the means of life: what is spoken as the word communicated to the soul by the Spirit becomes life. In Paul's case it was sight, yet revealing His Son in him: indeed the words of Christ too came to his ear. The Holy Ghost gave reality in his soul to that which his senses told him of. The written - or spoken word, if true, is a revelation of that which is true of Christ, and of Christ Himself, so that while it is the divine power of the Spirit by which we are quickened, it is the revelation of Christ to the soul [which] is objectively that which quickens me, what the Spirit brings to my soul; so that it is faith, faith in the report, which is the outward means, while it is the thing contained in the word which is life, Christ. The word in itself is merely the outward means or instrument, and by itself, though all truth be in it, produces nothing (unless to leave us without excuse).

The hour of deliverance came for the Samaritans when Philip preached the Word, concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. Signs and great miracles followed, and the Samaritans believed and were baptized. The miracles were done to show the power of God, to attest the preaching of the Gospel by Philip, and to expose the counterfeit powers of Simon. And he, like the sorcerers of Egypt, had to own that this was the power of God. He was amazed when he beheld the great miracles. But more than that, he also believed, was baptized, and then continued with Philip. But his faith was not through the Word of God. God's Word alone can produce faith in man, for faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Simon was captivated by the miracles he had seen. Philip was deceived by him, but not Peter, who uncovered his Wickedness.