Tract-time

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. Romans 10:17  NASB Hearing – Just pause a minute and think about what Paul wrote.  He doesn’t say that faith (pístis) is a function of doctrine, or dogma, or creeds, or the Bible.  He writes that faith arrives by audible transmission.  No poster, no tract, no pocket Psalms…

Divine Pity

Grant us grace, LORD, grant us grace. For we are sorely sated with scorn.  Psalm 123:3  Robert Alter Grant – How did you come to believe?  I’m not asking how you came into religion.  That happens mostly by drifting through cultural or family expectations.  No, I’m asking something else.  How did you realize that God…

Paul’s Shema (2) Rewind

So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. Romans 10:17 NASB Christ – Is it the Son’s words or the Father’s words? If you look at this verse in the King James Version, it reads, “by the word of God.” That’s because the KJV is based on the Greek Textus Receptus,…

Paul’s Shema (1) Rewind

So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. Romans 10:17 NASB Hearing – If you were Paul, the Jewish rabbi named Sha’ul, what Hebrew word would you have in mind when you wrote the Greek verb akoe (to hear)? There can only be one obvious answer – shema. But as soon…

Empty Hand Faith

So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.  Romans 10:17  NASB Hearing – When we first examined this verse (August 17, 2011), we noted that this is Paul’s shema.  Although written in Greek, Paul clearly has the Hebrew verb shama in mind.  And as we know, shama means both “to hear”…

Paul’s Shema (2)

So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.  Romans 10:17  NASB Christ – Is it the Son’s words or the Father’s words?  If you look at this verse in the King James Version, it reads, “by the word of God.”  That’s because the KJV is based on the Greek Textus Receptus,…

Paul’s Shema (1)

So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.  Romans 10:17  NASB Hearing – If you were Paul, the Jewish rabbi Sha’ul, what Hebrew word would you have in mind when you wrote the Greek verb akoe (to hear)?  There can only be one obvious answer – shama.  But as soon as…