To bring Paul’s discussion of the three aspects of saving faith full circle, one must consider both Paul’s last and first propositions. In the first part of verse fifteen Paul says, “And how are they to preach unless they are sent? It should be obvious from the context that what Paul is saying is that those who are to preach do so as the result of a divine call; a specific mandate of God to engage in the office of preaching. In one sense, the necessity of God ordained preaching is in view but at a broader level the being sent as a preacher of the gospel is perhaps the greatest tangible expression of trust in God; not only for material provision but also in the dependence upon God for meaning, validation and acceptance. It should not be hard to see that the unified witness of the Scriptures is that the revealed word of God, whether from God directly or through the agency of preaching, is not widely accepted within the world system. Hence, one’s only source of true meaning in preaching, validation as to the trueness of the message preached and acceptance of the mandates of God communicated by preaching can and does proceed only from God Himself. Without God’s ordination, preaching and its message are simply foolishness and anyone engaging in such folly should not be considered to be within their proper faculties; but this is the point to trust exactly. How does one go against all that is natural and embrace that which is folly? Simply by a trust that moves beyond what one is able to explain or orchestrate while by necessity “calling” upon the aid of another simply because aid has been offered. This degree of trust is seen tangibly in the preacher and it is what those who are still within their natural condition are called to embrace at the beginning of verse fourteen. How will someone trust in the thing that they know nothing of? How can someone know the reality of the gospel without assenting to its preaching and how can someone not respond to the gospel message when they are called to trust? The direct answer is that they cannot. Only as God moves upon the heart of a man to grant him the gift of saving faith will any of these three aspects take hold; but when they do, the result is that the natural, lost sinner will hearken to the call of God unto salvation and place their trust in Him.
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