Romans: Are You Listening?

Last month’s article emphasized the truth that faith cometh by hearing. It is important to speak things (like prayer for instance) out loud, for it not only affects the speaker more powerfully but, of course, no one else can hear if it is not spoken out loud. This, by the way, includes the spiritual realm as angels and demons hear truth spoken out loud. “Resist the devil and he will flee from you”, in my opinion, includes speaking out loud. In every example of Jesus dealing with demons and Satan, He spoke and rebuked them out loud.

This month we will look at what Paul says about the other side of the hearing coin – that of listening. We all understand the concept: “You were hearing, but were you listening?” Many hear the truth but aren’t listening. They hear, but either do not believe, refuse to accept, or simply have turned off their ears and go on their own way, unfortunately, to eternal damnation. Here is Paul’s argument:

When You Hear, Are You Listening?

Romans 10:16-21:

But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. But Isaiah is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

Verse 16 Notes: “But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?”

Isaiah 53:1-3: “Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”

The report Isaiah is referring to is all about Jesus as the suffering Messiah. The Jews saw two messiahs in Scripture: a royal messiah and a suffering messiah. Who wants a suffering messiah when you can have a kingly, conquering messiah? One to save you from your oppressors (but not your sin . . .).

A suffering messiah? Why do I need such a thing when I have the Law of Moses, and I keep the law to please God? Therefore, in Isaiah’s day, they ignored or did not obey the report, the gospel.

In Isaiah’s time, it was Assyria and later Babylon. In Paul’s time, it was Rome (and Greece before that). Always they looked for another messiah like Judas Maccabees to free them from oppression.

Jesus comes along, and His first recorded reading of Scripture is from Isaiah 61:1-2 which says:

Isaiah 61:1-3:

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable your of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD that he might be glorified.

Verse 17 Notes: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Paul now falls back on the little progression logic series we find in Verses 14 and 15 of Romans 10 and provides a very important conclusion for us to ponder: That is: Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

Two important elements are involved:

1. One must hear to believe or have faith. The power of the spoken word is mighty. Whether someone speaks it to you, or you speak it to yourself, the element of speaking truth is important to the imparting of belief and faith to a hearer.
2. It must be God’s Word. It must be the gospel. It cannot be another gospel, belief in a church, belief in a series of acts, or long repeated prayers, or indulgences, or flogging of your body or any other system – nor can it be so called new revelations, added truth, some guru’s insights, or a lifetime of good works. It must be and can only be God’s Word and specifically the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Back to Isaiah 53:1: Who hath believed our report? The word report is the Hebrew word (Strong’s H8052) shemuah, which means something heard, hearing, as a noun, it could be news, a rumor, tidings, an announcement, a document read, etc. It has the same meaning as hearing in the Greek as written by Paul in Verse 17.

Paul is stressing an important point. For others to believe in Christ as their Savior, they must first hear the gospel and then believe the gospel, and it must be God’s Word, His gospel, not another or frankly one that has added onto or taken away from God’s gospel – a partial gospel.

Isaiah’s statement, “Who hath believed our report” is clearly about Jesus Christ, the suffering messiah, and his statement is rhetorical. It has a clear implied answer: No one believed the report or at least not many believed.

Same problem in Paul’s day; not many believed the report of the gospel.

Same problem today. Not many want to believe in the need for a suffering messiah. Not many want to believe in the gospel. They reject the report.

Verse 18 Notes : “But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.”

According to Wycliffe Global Alliance, in September 2023, 3,658 languages had access to at least a book of the Bible: including 1,264 languages with a book or more, 1,658 languages with access to the New Testament their native language, and 736 the full Bible.

Have they not hear? Paul says in Colossians 1:23 (bold added): “If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;”

Matthew 28:18-20: “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

All Nations: Strong’s G1484: ethnos: ethnic groups, a people group or tribe. Not necessarily countries and not necessarily every person.

Speakers (International Center for Language Studies):
- English 1.52 billion
- Chinese (Mandarin) 1.14 billion
- Hindi 609 million
- Spanish 560 million
- Arabic (standard) 422 million
- French 321 million
- Top 10: 4,572,000,000

What am I saying? That the gospel has most likely been preached in some form or fashion to the whole world.

Hebrew delivered (Strong’s H4042) and Greek saved (Strong’s G4982) complement each other. Deliver, preserve, save, plus escape, heal.

Verse 19 Notes: “But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.“

Deuteronomy 32:18-21: “Of the Rock that begot thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee. And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters. And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith. They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.”

Not a people: the Gentiles

Foolish nation: the Gentiles

Look at the animosity between Judaism and the rest of the world.

Verse 20-21 Notes: “But Isaiah is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.“

Isaiah 65:1-7:

I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name. I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts; A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick; Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine’s flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels; Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day. Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense unto their bosom, Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the LORD, which have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills: therefore will I measure their former work into their bosom.

To Hear or to Listen

What’s the difference between hearing and listening? American Dictionary of the English Language:

Hearing: “Perceiving by the ear, as sound. 2. Listening to ; attending to ; obeying, observing what is commanded.”

Listen: “1. To hearken ; to give ear ; to attend closely with a view to hear. . . . 2. To obey ; to yield to advice ; to follow admonition.”

Hearing is an event; it is something which happens to us as a natural process. Listening is an action; it is something we do consciously.

James 1:22-25: “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”

Faith Cometh by Hearing

Hearing: Strong’s G189: akoe, root word is G191: akouo: which means “a primary verb; to hear (in various senses) :- give (in the) audience (of), come (to the ears), ([shall]) hear (-er, -ken), be noised, be reported, to understand.” “[H]earing (the act, the sense or the thing heard) :- audience, ear, fame, which ye heard, hearing, preached, report, rumored.”

The following is often quoted, and the original author is unknown:

To hear is one thing, to listen is another.
To hear is ok, but to listen is even better.
To listen is valued, but to understand is treasured.
To understand is precious, but to do is priceless.
To hear, listen, and understand and then to not do is deception and a tragedy.

For those of us who have accepted Christ as our Savior and have, perhaps, been Christians for a number of years, we must ask ourselves a slightly different question: Are we hearers of the Word and not doers? For to hear and not do is perhaps worse than hearing but not listening.

We are called by Christ to be doers of His Word. That means a process that works as follows: hear, listen, obey, and do. As we do what God has called us to do, we get a better understanding of His Word.

May God Bless you!

Maranatha!

Bro. Joe

References

“2023 Global Scripture Access.” (September 11, 2023). Wychliffe Global Alliance. Retrieved October 21, 2025. Retrieved from https://www.wycliffe.sg/post/2023-global-scripture-access

“27 most spoken languages in the world in 2025.” (June 2, 2025). International Center for Lanquage Studies. Retrieved October 21, 2025. Retrieved from https://www.icls.edu/blog/27-most-spoken-languages-in-the-world-in-2025

Strong, J. Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries. Meyers, R. (2005). e-Sword. [computer software] . Franklin, TN: Equipping Ministries Foundation. (Original work published 1890)

Unknown.

Webster, Noah. Noah Webster’s First Edition of an American Dictionary of the English Language Facsimile Fifth Edition. San Francisco, CA now at Chesapeake Bay, VA: The Foundation for American Christian Education. 1987. (Original work published 1828)

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