The Word of Faith

 The Word of Faith

February 19, 2025

Romans 10:8-10

8 But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

There is an interesting translation note for verse 8. “Word” here is the Greek “rhema”, not “logos”. Thus, the word of faith that Paul is talking about is a transient, spoken word as distinct from the eternal “logos” Word, as used in John 1:1.

John 1:1

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

In preaching the word, we translate the eternal “logos” to a spoken “rhema” which brings faith to the hearers in the here and now. The results is then that, when the hearer believes, he confesses “homologeō”, which literally means “to speak the same word”. Thus, the salvation message is all about a word of faith. We must believe that Jesus is the “logos”, the eternal Word, who is one with the Father. And our message is a “rhema” word that brings this message to life in the hearer. When he accepts this message, in faith, he agrees with that word and confesses his faith and is saved.

Therefore, the word of faith is very important. As the writer of Hebrews puts it, the word is like a two edged sword:

Hebrews 4:12

12 Forthe word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

This is “logos”, but to have an effect on a person, it needs to be spoken and brought into reality (“rhema”). That is when it becomes a living word and can bring a person to faith in Jesus, and salvation when he confesses that faith. Words matter. So let us endeavor to speak words of life, words of faith, and words that lead to salvation.