How Can I Hear the Word Preached? Only Through the Holy Spirit!

The moment we are born again, it’s as if we are given a new set of hearing aids or a new pair of glasses that enable us to hear and see in God’s Word what we couldn’t before. From then on, not only are we able to comprehend what God has said, but the Holy Spirit who now indwells us also convicts us about what God’s Word says and convinces us of it, as well as conforming our lives to it. That’s why whenever we are exposed to the Word of God, we need to remember to ask the Spirit to illumine our minds and hearts so that we understand what it means and how it applies. Who better to ask to help us accurately interpret and practically implement the Word than the one who inspired it in the first place?

So we can’t hear and obey the Word of God without the regenerating and illuminating of the Holy Spirit. Remarkably, we don’t receive the Holy Spirit unless we receive Jesus Christ, and we can’t receive Jesus Christ unless we receive the Word of God, and we won’t receive the Word of God unless the Holy Spirit opens up our ears to hear.

…So while it’s true that our ability to hear the word of Christ is the link between the revelation of God and the salvation of your soul, it’s equally true that we are completely dependent on God’s sovereignty for the outcome. Sometimes God sends forth His Word for the purpose of hardening and damning people rather than softening , saving, and sanctifying them (Isa.55:10-11; 2 Cor.2:15-17). That’s why we must urgently cry out to Him to open our ears so we can hear and heed His Word (Isa.50:4-5), particularly in light of the fact that our very life and eternal destiny hinge on it. [pp.20-21]

Taken from Expository Listening: A Handbook for Hearing and Doing God’s Word by Ken Ramey (Kress Biblical Resources, 2010), Chapter 1 – “Biblical Audiology: A Theology of Listening.”

We touched on the introduction in our first post and last time looked at another of the principles he sets forth in this first chapter. The quotation in this post comes from the section treating the third principle: “God grants us the ability to listen to and obey Him by His Holy Spirit, whom we receive through faith in Jesus Christ.” (p.19)

In the months ahead we will continue to draw on some of the author’s good thoughts concerning our calling to listen believingly to God’s Word proclaimed – an activity by which we receive God’s grace in Christ while also being entirely dependent on that grace to receive the Word and Christ found in it, as the above quotation makes plain.