Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

But I thought you had to have faith in order to hear God, now you are telling me I cannot have faith without hearing first? I don’t understand.

Romans 12:3c Decide what you are by the faith God has given each of us. ERV

Faith is one of those unique words which can be used as a noun or a verb. In Romans 10:17 it is a verb and in Romans 12:3 it is a noun. Sometimes faith is what it is and sometimes faith is what it does.

Matthew 13:23a But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it;

Within the explanation of the parable of the seed sower lies meaning made plain by the Lord Himself. The simple gospel is received with understanding. That understanding is because faith was given by God in order for us to understand the message. It is as simple and as plain as God can make it so that no one should mistake its meaning. But the verb form of faith is meant to be transformative. Faith acts.

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The mind has to be transformed first. This is no easy matter. The very first thing that must be accomplished in this effort is a willingness to change. No one will put forth the effort for change without first surrendering his will to the Lord.

These are words from Job 11, a dear loving friend’s words.

Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said, Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified? Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?

Sounds great and right but the truth is this, they are words of a worldly point of view. They are not the words of anyone who is in Christ with a renewed mind. We have to let go of all we think we know and believe in favor of positional understanding, to see things as Christ sees them.

But how?

Matthew 13:58 And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

Nothing kills faith faster than doubt. Now mind you I do not mean dead faith, but the works of faith are killed. This unbelief is tied back to James epistle in the form of doubting nothing. You can believe in part and doubt in another. The two are not mutually exclusive, one being of the world, the other in Christ.

Mark 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

Here a father expresses the deeper secret of faith, I believe in you my Lord and Savior, but I need you to remove all doubt that I still suffer. In the most simple terms my faith is in Christ and not myself. I will and rightly so, doubt myself. What I should not do is allow self-doubt to be an obstacle to obedience of faith. Thanks be to God that He is a patient God and has no problem at all in repeating Himself. There is nothing wrong with saying to God, “I’m not sure. Are you sure?”

Look to the Old Testament and you will find many valiant men of God who doubted themselves but were used of God in ways that demonstrated God could use the weak things of this world to overcome the enemy. Gideon is a great example, perhaps even more so than Moses or Elijah or Elisha who all moved in great power.

James 1:3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. ESV

You never will know what your faith can do without testing it. Every test which produces a good result will help remove doubt. Your failures will teach you just as much as your success if you accept that your doubt had nothing to do with the results. Your success is dependent of the will of God and not our own.

But how does that help my hearing? Is this the test?