The church has always focused on the Word, the sacraments, and prayer. Question 154 of the Westminster Larger Catechism asks, “What are the outward means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of his mediation?” The answer states, “The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to his church the benefits of his mediation, are all his ordinances; especially the Word, sacraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for their salvation.” In his account of the early church, Luke confirms the necessity of this focus by recording that the church “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). Behind this doctrine and practice of the church is the belief that God chooses to communicate the benefits of His salvation in what is seemingly ordinary: the teaching of His Word, the sacraments, and prayer.
God’s Appointed Means
Christians often struggle with a fear of missing out. These simple means of communing with God may seem uninteresting compared to those of the past. In the Old Testament, God wrestled with Jacob, appeared in a burning bush before Moses, led His people on a cloud and pillar of fire, often appeared in dreams, and protected Elisha with an army of angels. And in the New Testament, the risen Lord appeared to the Apostle Paul in a blazing light. The temptation, then, is to seek similar supernatural encounters. But our spectacular God works in ordinary ways. Since He is the One who blesses His people, He is the One who chooses the means of His blessing. Wisdom, then, is to seek God where He promises He will be found.
Question 155 of the larger catechism asks, “How is the Word made effectual to salvation?” The answer states, “The Spirit of God makes the reading, but especially the preaching of the Word, an effectual means of enlightening, convincing, and humbling sinners; of driving them out of themselves, and drawing them unto Christ; of conforming them to his image, and subduing them to his will; of strengthening them against temptations and corruptions; of building them up in grace, and establishing their hearts in holiness and comfort through faith unto salvation.” Notice the phrase “especially the preaching of the Word.” Whereas the previous question spoke generally of effectual means, this question highlights the Word of God. More precisely, it highlights the Word preached.
The Necessity of Preaching for Salvation
Paul places this same emphasis on preaching in Romans 10:14–17. In the middle of explaining that Israel rejected the righteousness of God and replaced it with their own, Paul argues for the necessity of evangelistic preaching. His statement in verse 13—“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”—prompts a series of rhetorical questions, all asking “how?” Paul masterfully composes an interlocking verbal chain in which the last verb of every question begins the next question. “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?” (10:14–15).
Having asserted that all who call upon the Lord will be saved, Paul asks if calling is even possible without believing in Christ Jesus. How can someone call upon the Lord without first having faith? Calling on Jesus as Lord is impossible apart from faith in Him. Paul earlier noted, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (v. 9). “Believing in him” is a common phrase in the Apostle John’s writing; in the writings of Paul, however, this phrase is rare. Yet it encompasses the whole of what Paul teaches in Romans. Christ Jesus came, lived, died, and was raised for the justification of those who believe in Him. Apart from such faith in Christ Jesus, calling on the name of the Lord is not merely unlikely; it is impossible. Faith, then, is the prerequisite for calling on the Lord.
Paul then proceeds to ask if belief is possible apart from hearing the proclamation of the good news. Just as believing is logically prior to calling, so hearing is logically prior to believing. And what must be heard? What message is necessary for believing? In Colossians, Paul asserts, “Him we proclaim” (1:28). The only message Paul and the other Apostles proclaimed to a world seeking wisdom, knowledge, and insight was Christ Jesus. Here in Romans, Paul’s point is that Christ Himself is heard in the gospel proclamation.
Not only is calling impossible apart from faith and faith impossible apart from the Word proclaimed, but Paul adds, “How are they to hear without someone preaching?” Hearing the gospel is necessary for faith, but how can one hear the gospel without someone preaching it? A preacher is merely a messenger, someone entrusted with the message of another. The modern day is full of social media, 24-hour news cycles, and print-news outlets. News always has a herald, and this is the vocation that occupied Paul. Throughout his writings, Paul proclaimed Christ Jesus.
This is consistent with the record of Paul’s life in Acts. Luke records that immediately after encountering Jesus, Paul “proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God’” (9:20). When gathered with the elders of Ephesus on the island of Miletus, Paul explained his ministry, saying, “I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again” (20:25). Luke’s record ends with a summary of Paul’s activity in imprisonment, saying that Paul was “proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance” (28:31). Paul’s beginning was preaching, his middle was preaching, and his end was preaching. Paul knew, then, what it meant to preach so that people might hear and believe the gospel.
Paul continues in Romans 10, saying that preachers must be sent. To call, one must believe. To believe, one must hear. To hear, one must receive preaching. To preach, one must be sent. And Christ Jesus sends His messengers through the church’s commissioning preachers to carry the good news of Christ to the nations.
Preaching in the Modern Age
This is the evangelistic logic of Paul: God sends messengers; messengers preach and proclaim; people hear; hearers believe; and believers call Jesus ‘Lord.’ This is why the larger catechism says that “the Spirit of God makes the reading, but especially the preaching, of the Word an effectual means of enlightening, convincing, and humbling sinners; of driving them out of themselves, and drawing them unto Christ.” This is how the Lord’s mission is carried out, but it may seem awfully old-fashioned to modern sensibilities. Some may wonder, Will this even work in the modern age? After all, when technological advancements are made, some people hold on to older technologies for nostalgia’s sake. But the use of these outdated technologies is superfluous and perhaps even foolish when better, faster tools exist.
In a day where development is rapid and novel productions abound, the idea of preaching seems incredibly antiquated. When multimedia presentations and sound bites are the norm, preaching may seem to be outdated and inefficient. Is listening to a person for thirty to forty-five minutes each Sunday really the best use of time and resources? Not only may it be perceived as inefficient, but preaching may also feel authoritarian. In an age filled with skepticism about authority and doubt regarding institutions, a preacher declaring “Thus sayeth the Lord” seems out of touch.
God, however, commands preaching. Proclaiming the Word is what the church is commanded to do. As Paul said, “We are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:20–21). It is especially in preaching that the Lord continues His work. The church, then, without hesitation or shame, confesses that preaching is the revealed way of making God and His salvation known.
Preaching Then and Now
This has always been God’s intention. Preaching is neither a novel revelation nor a modern innovation. Preaching is not even a first-century invention of Paul. At the end of the series of rhetorical questions in Romans 10:15, Paul quotes from Isaiah 52:7, saying, “As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” In the pages of Isaiah, Paul finds confirmation of the necessity of preachers and preaching. Not only does God prepare a message, but He equally prepares the method by which His message is shared. What makes this quotation from Isaiah interesting is that Paul slightly alters the original text. Isaiah 52:7 reads, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news.” But Paul exchanges the phrase “of him” for “of those.” Paul writes, “Of those who preach the good news.” Paul’s alteration communicates that God has sent His singular servant through whom a plurality of messengers is consequently sent. Paul includes himself among these messengers, sent to preach the good news of Christ Jesus.
This is indicated again in Romans 15, where Paul argues that his ministry and all ministries like his were prophesied beforehand in Isaiah. He summarizes it in this way: “Thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written, ‘Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand,’” (15:20–21). In sharing his personal plans and his desire to preach in uncharted territories, Paul quotes Isaiah 52:15 as grounds for his ambition. This is due, of course, to the fact that Paul interprets the phrase “of him” in the Isaiah passage to be a referent to Christ. The message is simple. The nations have not heard or received the salvation that Jesus, the servant from Isaiah, brings. But Christ chooses to bring salvation to those who have never heard. Announcing this salvation, then, is the fundamental purpose of Paul’s apostolic mission.
This was no late development in the ministry of Paul. After one of Paul’s sermons, recorded in Acts 13, the Jews to whom he had preached respond in jealousy and reviling. Paul responds, “We are turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth” (13:46–47). Paul grounds his ministry to the gentiles in an Old Testament quotation, and this quotation comes from Isaiah 49:6. The original text records God’s command to His servant to be a light to the gentiles. But for Paul, this same command is the call for his own ministry. In turn, this text calls every preacher to declare the name of Christ Jesus to the ends of the earth.
The application is this: The Lord reminds His people repeatedly that despite what man’s wisdom dictates or what the world says works best, God’s message must go forth in God’s way. And God’s way is preaching. John Calvin wrote, “It is enough for us to bear this only in mind, that the gospel does not fall like rain from the clouds, but is brought by the hands of men wherever it is sent from above” (Commentary on Romans, 10:15).
Today, there is a growing lack of confidence in the preached Word. May the Lord teach His people that the Word is true, that it is God who speaks in it, and that the children of God love sitting under the Word preached, for it is especially through the preaching of the Word that God makes our salvation effectual.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally released as the 2025 Convocation Address to Westminster Seminary, California.