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NASB | Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing [what is told], and what is heard comes by the [preaching of the] message concerning Christ. |
Bible Question:
Thanks for clarifying this to me. I did find that example to seem a bit strange, yet it was referenced in notes in my Bible. I do use the NIV translation which is where my fault may lie. Do you have a response to the rest of my comments. I enjoy the interaction on this web site and look to it as a place to learn. I would like to know what you think of the scripture references in Romans realated to the main question of if man can know God without the scriptures. My understanding is that God reveals himself through his creation and he calls us to seek him out. If one were truely seeking God I believe he would find him. God would put in his life the desire and the means for finding him. Does it all come back to election?? Any insights? |
Bible Answer: Tealead: I'm brand new to the site, having found it by accident when I did a typo on another search. Your question looked interesting, however. Obviously you're at least a little familiar with Romans, since you mentioned that God reveals Himself through creation. The pertinent Scripture is Romans 1:18-20, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." In one sense, not only is it possible to know God, it is inevitable. This knowledge seems to be limited two fundamental aspects. The first case is knowledge of God's wrath against our fundamental posture (verses 18-19). In other words, Paul is saying that SINCE we suppress the truth in unrighteousness, God reveals His anger against us. That leads to the question, what truth? That's found as a logically prior point in verse 20, the testimony of creation. Two of God's invisible attributes are His eternal power and His divine nature. We don't need a Bible to tell us that God is eternally powerful and that He's God. We have creation to tell us that. The whole created order understands God, because it's His work of art. When we try to explain it away by matter plus time plus chance in a closed system, we're slapping God in the face. The words, "without excuse," are literally, "without apologetic," or without a reason. It's he same root word that Peter uses when he tells us to be ready to make a defense for the faith we display in difficulty (1 Peter 3:15). As an example, when I was involved in a mastodon dig a couple years ago, I mentioned my creationist beliefs to some of the people there. A couple of geology undergrads came up to me and said, "You don't really BELIEVE that stuff, do you?" I told them that I did, and they asked me essentially how I could be so dumb. After a brief dialogue I asked them how the whole evolutionary process works-explain speciation within the framework of what we know about molecular biology. They said something like, "Oh, well, that involves adaptive radiation. We don't really know that much about that." Then they walked away and never brought up the subject again. When I asked them to show me their foundation, they discovered they had none. They were in exactly the shoes that Paul mentioned. Now let's go back to Romans 10:17. Saving faith--the positive faith that causes me to cry out to God for mercy--comes by the word of God, and that comes by patient teaching from the Scripture. That teaching goes back all the way to the creation. (See, for example Acts 14:14-15 in context, and Acts 17:22-31. The proclamation to those who don't consciously know God always begins with creation. Remember, that's the truth we suppress. We need to be reminded that He created us. We're His property.) In regard to seeking after God, even that's a matter of His grace manifesting itself through election. Paul told the Athenian philosophers in Acts 17 that God is not far from any of us, if only we would grope after Him. A pastor I knew had a beautiful illustration of that truth. He said, Imagine a giant gate that divides this world from heaven. At the front the gate reads, "Whosoever will…" This is the gospel call to anyone who will receive Christ as Lord. Those who obey the gospel pass through the gate into heaven. Then, looking back at the other side of the gate, they read, "Elect from the foundation of the world," a testimony of God's love for them from eternity. Though we can't understand the call of free grace and God's election together, we know they're in complete harmony in God's mind. As Spurgeon said, "I don't have to reconcile friends." Best regards in studying, Doug Knox |