‘So belief comes of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.'

All that has been stated in Romans 10:14 has referred to a hearing of the Good News, with a view to believing it, there being the recognition that the Jews as a whole will not believe. So Paul now brings out how important the hearing (Romans 10:15) and the not hearing (Romans 10:16) are, for he sees belief as a consequence of such hearing, that is of hearing ‘the word of Christ (Messiah)'. ‘The word of Christ' means either the word concerning Christ (the Messiah), or the word preached by Christ (the Messiah) through His messengers. And it is this word of Christ (the Messiah) which, on being heard, results in belief. so that the way to true faith is through hearing and believing. The reason then why Israel are in unbelief is because they have not listened to the word of their God-sent Messiah.

This verse is very necessary in the context, for Paul wants to bring back his reader's thoughts from ‘calling on the name of the Lord', to ‘hearing' and ‘believing'. He has done this first by linking calling with believing in Romans 10:14, a believing which results from hearing. And he now seals it with the summary, ‘So belief comes of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.'

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