Today’s readings: Romans 10-12, Psalm 147
Romans 10:14-17
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
“God doesn’t hang speakers from the clouds to communicate with us.”
That was part of a lesson on the Bible and faith in a study I led years ago. And it’s a good reminder. Our faith is engendered by means. It doesn’t just happen. God speaks to us through his Word. And in our case, that Word comes to us through the Scriptures—the written Word of God recorded in the Old and New Testaments.
A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with a leader of a church where I was helping guide their ministry. He was struggling with the concept of the inerrancy of Scripture. He claimed that the Bible is full of errors or contradictions. And try as I might, I could not help him see past what he believed were irreconcilable differences in the accounts of Judas’ death. Did he hang himself, or did he fall headlong…?
I find such conversations frustrating because the purpose of Scripture is too easily set aside in favor of arguing over such issues. (By the way, I don’t believe there is a contradiction in this case, but I couldn’t help the man see that.)
I’m comfortable with the word inerrant, but I actually favor another word: infallible. Scripture will not fail in what God intends it to accomplish. It faithfully conveys God’s truth and points us to the salvation he has provided in Jesus Christ.
And that’s the real point of infallibility: truth. Jesus prayed to his Father in John 17, “Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth.” He claimed, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” He is the One full of grace and truth. And Jesus is the Word made flesh.
Scripture points us to Jesus. That is its central purpose. That is its beauty. That is its glory. And while words like inspired, inerrant, and infallible appropriately describe the Bible, a focus on defending those words can cause us to lose sight of why God has given us his Word in the first place.
That’s the point Paul makes here.
“Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”
I don’t believe in trying to deconstruct the Bible into this man’s ideas or that person’s opinions or interpretations. Nor do I want to become so caught up in arguments about what Scripture is that I neglect what it says. I believe in declaring with great confidence what God says in his Word and how that Word points us to Jesus. For in Jesus we find the truth that saves us.
That’s what Scripture does, and that’s why we’re Following the Word so intentionally this year at St. John. We want to hear God’s Word, receive his promises, and grow in the faith that clings to Jesus—the faith through which God saves, guides, enlightens, gives hope, confronts, challenges, comforts, and sustains us.
God doesn’t need speakers hanging from the clouds. He has given us his Word. Through that Word, he speaks to us of Jesus, creates faith in our hearts, and sustains us in his promises.
And one day, the One we have heard about, trusted, and followed by faith will stand before us. Faith will give way to sight.
And what a glorious sight that will be!
Until then, there is the matter of spreading this word of grace and truth that is Jesus. It’s part and parcel of Paul’s letter to the Romans and the definition of his life’s calling. Thankfully others have taken up that calling, for you and I who believe in Jesus owe a debt of thanks to those who have brought that word to us. Perhaps we will find an opportunity to share that word with someone else in our days on earth. Then may they hear the word and be brought to faith in Jesus.
Follow the Word is a daily Bible reading and devotional ministry of St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, Texas.
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