Paul says that God provides the means to build and grow faith – it comes through the very message of the Gospel. Not only are we saved by faith, but the message of the Gospel is itself the very means of appropriating a faith that can save us. Not only must we believe IN the message, we also believe BY the message – faith comes from hearing, hearing by means of the message of Christ. The more we listen - reflect, contemplate, consider, discuss, think about, meditate upon – the message, the more faith will grow. But, if we dismiss the message and refuse to listen we will never have faith, and we will never come to salvation. Israel was lost, not because they could not believe, but because they would not listen.
