STEP 1: HEAR THE WORD (The Gospel)!

Loved ones, God approaches man through his ears and eyes, his understanding. Thus, the Bible was given to be read, studied, understood, and obeyed (Matt. 7:24-29).

In Acts chapter two, the Gospel was preached for the first time to the Jewish people who were gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of Pentecost. At that time the apostles preached the Gospel, telling the people how Jesus had died for their sins, been buried and rose from the dead on the third day. The apostles told the people that God had made the man Jesus, whom the leaders had just crucified, both Lord and Christ. In Acts 2:37, the Bible says, “Now when they HEARD this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?” This is one of the many verses in the Bible that shows the importance of HEARING the word of God.

Surely we recognize the importance of belief, for without it men cannot please God (Heb. 11:6). Likewise, repentance is necessary – for without it men will perish (Luke 13:3). Confession of faith in Christ must be made with the mouth unto salvation (Matt. 10:32-33). Baptism washes sins away by the blood of Jesus (Acts 22:16; Rev. 1:5), and puts one into Christ where salvation is found (Gal. 3:27; 2 Tim. 2:10), thus making that one a child of God. If however, there is not proper hearing of God’s word none of these things will ever come about.

Jesus is the author of salvation to the obedient (Heb. 5: 8-9), but to no one else. We cannot obey Him unless we learn His will, and we cannot learn His will outside of the Bible. Jesus said, “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). Thus, no one can find God, the Savior, or the Holy Spirit, without HEARING the word of God.

To be saved one must “call upon the name of the Lord.” Before this can be done, one must believe, and in order to believe, he must HEAR (Rom. 10:13-14). The Holy Spirit says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). We know that without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6), so again the Bible teaches that HEARING is so very important.

We must hear the word of God discerningly. One should not be a gullible hearer. The noble Bereans searched the scriptures daily to see whether the things they HEARD were true (Acts 17:11). Like them, we must not accept or reject what is preached until we have examined it carefully in light of all the Bible teaches.

We must hear the word of God eagerly. The Bible says, “Wherefore my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” (James 1:19).

We must hear the word of God with proper motives. Jesus taught, “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock…and everyone that heareth these saying of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand” (Matt. 7:24-26).

Please answer the three questions below by reading the scripture and filling in the blanks:

Why was the Word (the Bible) written?

2 Timothy 3:16… The Word was written and is profitable for our ______________, ________________,                     

______________, and ______________ in ________________.

Romans 15:4… The Word was written in the Old Testament for our ________________.

Romans 10:17… The Word was written so we will have ______________.

John 20:30-31… The Word was written so we will believe that Jesus Christ is the _____________ of ____________.

James 1:25… The Word was written because it’s the perfect _____________ of _____________.

John 17:17… The Word was written because it’s the ________________.

1 Thessalonians 2:13… The Word was written because it’s the ______________ of ______________.

What will the Word do for us?

Luke 11:28… The Word will ____________ us.

John 8:32… The Word will make us ______________.

2 Timothy 3:15… The Word will make us ____________ unto _______________.

James 1:21… The Word will save our ______________.

What will Judge us in the last day?

John 12:48… The _______________.

Go To: Step 2 - Believe

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