[quote="Brother Paul, post: 304843, member: 13044"..as Paul says how can they believe what they have not heard, and how can they hear lest they be told and so God first gives us those who speak His words...so I agree the focus is Christ (the written word secondarily)...
I don't fully agree. The Word is alive and spirit.
If you disagree with St. Paul that is fine with me...now then, Jesus said His
words are spirit and they are life...His words...the focus is on what He said...it does not say the Word with a capital W which is Christ (thought He certainly is the life of all who are saved)
Again you make the same mistake when you say "
Faith comes by hearing something, and in several places by the anointing the Word is expounded in a more clear way. Jesus Christ or Jesus the anointed one and his anointing is to show us more clearly Himself as He said I can be found in the Word.
The Word of God is not the word of God...one is a person (the living Word) and the other the written word...just say'n
Now then after reading all you have said I see no difference...however we hear the word whether by His direct revelation, by a preacher or a teacher, or by reading or hearing the written word (small w) it is still by hearing...many though they have ears to hear can read the word (small w) over and over and get nothing...
All I was saying was that our being saved does not come from reading the written word (though that is certainly one of the ways the Spirit convicts some)...He says My sheep shall
hear my voice, not my sheep
shall read about what I said...St. Paul also elsewhere says (Ephesians 1:13) "
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise
Most of the people Paul was addressing here
could not read and the New Testament had not even been written...but many in that place were saved because after hearing the gospel of their salvation they trusted...whether they could read or nat had nothing to do with it...same with the 3,000 souls at Pentecost and more...
No Michael, your argument is not with me as I am not saying one cannot learn of GOd or find the path to salvation therein....this is the Theopneustos Graphae (God breathed writings) but most come to Christ by learning of Him or hearing of Him outside of having read the Bible (most Christians I know have never even read the whole Bible)...some terrible heretics and enemies of God have and use the ignorance of some against them to confuse them shaking their faith to the quik and causing great doubts...I love the word of God (my absolute favorite 66 books trough which the Lord speaks to me ever new and I have read them over and over) but it is by God's grace I have been saved, through faith in Christ.
In His love
brother Paul[/quote]
I do not think I can remember anyone who read the Bible and then made a decision to be saved. Everyone I know, the gospel was explained, they accepted it and then we encouraged them to read the Bible so that there faith would grow hence..........
Rom 10:17........"Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God".