Foolish Preaching On How Faith Comes
Some men have a different idea about the question of how faith comes than what the Bible teaches. I remember talking with a man who thought faith came as a result of prayer. He had been to a tent meeting, and we were talking about the Bible after the service was dismissed. He suggsted that he thought man was saved by faith, and that a man needed to go to the mourner's bench and pray for it. I asked him, 'How does faith come?" He replied, "By prayer." Then I turned to Rom. 10:17 and told him what the Bible said about it. He seemed amazed. His trouble was that he accepted some preacher's word for it and had not investigated for himself. There are too many people who just take some preacher's word for it. You ought to search the Scriptures daily to see if these things are so. The Bereans did it. Don't accept my word for it. Don't believe it just because I say it, but turn to your Bible and see if I'm not telling you the truth. If you find that I am teaching you the truth, you ought to believe it and obey it. Jesus said, "He that believeth not shall be damned." Sometimes people are so prejudiced that they refuse to believe what the Bible says. They say, "I know it is there, but I just don't believe it." Some folks know that the Bible teaches something different from what the institution he is in teaches, but are so set in sectarianism that they say, "I'd die and go to Hell before I would change." Friend, I would be afraid to be so stubborn in refusing to believe and do what God says.
I think I understand how some people think that faith comes by prayer. In J. M. Pendleton's Church Manual Designed for the use of Baptist Churches, page 60, we find, "We believe that repentance and faith are sacred duties, and also inseparable graces, wrought in our souls by the regenerating Spirit of God...." In our last article we pointed out that it is impossible for repentance and faith to be "sacred duties" and, at the same time, be something that God does for man. I believe that they are duties that God enjoins upon man, but I don't believe that they are something God gives us without any effort on our part. The creed book says that they are "wrought in our souls by the regenerating Spirit of God . . ." That simply means that those who follow this creed book and wear the name Baptists believe that repentance and faith come as a result of the direct operation of the Holy Spirit. They think they are so depraved that they cannot do one good thing acceptable unto God. Even their prayer is evil before and until God sends the Holy Spirit to convert them. Until God sends the Holy Spirit to give them repentance and faith, they are depraved. They think faith comes by prayer, and that they need to go to the mourner's bench and pray for that direct operation of the Holy Spirit, which gives them repentance and faith.
The Bible teaches that faith comes by hearing the Word of God. It does not teach that faith comes by prayer. The Word of God says, "So faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ" (Rom. 10:17). Beginning with verse 11, we learn that faith depends upon hearing, and hearing depends upon preaching. Faith does not come by prayer, but by hearing the word of Christ.
Every case of conversion in the New Testament illustrates that this principle is true. In every case the individual heard the preaching of the gospel, believed it, and obeyed it. Peter's sermon on Pentecost and the results thereof illustrate it. The order is (1) preaching, (2) faith, (3) repentance, (4) baptism for the remission of sins. This is the Bible way. Foolish preaching does not have it like this. Foolish preaching tells a man to pray for saving faith. Get saved first, then be baptized if you want to.
The same principle can be seen illustrated in the case of the Samaritans. In Acts 8:5 we find that Phillip went down to Samaria and preached Christ unto them." The multitudes gave heed to what Phillip preached. Verse 12 says. "But when they believed Phillip preaching good tidings concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women." Here is the order (1) preaching Christ, (2) believed what was preached concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, (3) they were baptized, both men and women.
In the case of Cornelius in Acts 10 the same order is evident. Cornelius sent for Peter as God had directed. Peter came to tell him words whereby he and all his house might be saved. Peter preached the gospel. Cornelius and his household heard and believed it. They were baptized as a result of the preaching they heard. The order is (1) preaching, (2) believing, and (3) being baptized. It is there every time. The word of Christ produces faith in the heart of the sinner. As a result of his faith he obeys the Lord in baptism "for the remission of his sins." Repentance and faith are duties. Man is given evidence to produce faith. When he believes the evidence, he is commanded to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins.