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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: Can a person receive the free gift of salvation without ever setting foot inside church doors? |
Bible Answer: New Creature: Absolutely. Read through Acts and you'll find hundreds of people who never stepped inside church doors before they believed. They heard the apostles or lay people in the streets or where they worked. God reached them where they were. The question of CONTINUING in faith, however, does involve church membership. In Acts 2:40-47, the believers were baptized into the new local church at Jerusalem. The Scripture doesn't recognize Christianity outside of the context of the local church. I think our age has come to miss the significance of corporate obedience and fellowship, because we've come to sensationalize the individual so much. A good exercise is to read Romans 12-16, the application section of the book, with the question, "What is the context of New Testament sanctification? Does the Scripture call us to serve our fellow believers?" I was amazed the first time I read it with that question in mind. Doug Knox |