The Efficacy of Preaching

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” -Romans 10:17

Here Paul returns to the line of logic and concludes with “So…” The word so is translated from the Greek proposition εἰς which has a wide spectrum of meaning and usually indicates “a marker of intent, often with the implication of expected result—‘for the purpose of, in order to.” It can also means something like, “Consequently,” or “In conclusion of what has been said, we thus determine.”

So having laid out the natural process, Paul concludes with a declaration about the efficacy of preaching. In other words, he is saying we can determine that faith comes from hearing the preaching which is the effective means through which the word of Christ is communicated to us. 

To be clear, Paul is not suggesting it is merely the voice of man that can penetrate the hardened soul of a fallen human being, but that a preacher proclaiming the truth of the gospel is God’s instrument of power by which he creates faith in some and hardens “disobedient and contrary people” (Romans 10:21 Cf. 1 Corinthians 1:17-19).

“For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart”” (1 Corinthians 1:17–19).