It is necessary to hear the word of God to become a Christian. To put it simply, people do not become Christians without hearing God’s word taught.
In Acts 2:37, a crowd of people “heard” the first gospel sermon and then asked, “Brethren, what shall we do?” In Acts 8:35, “Philip opened his mouth, and…preached Jesus” to the Ethiopian man. That man then asked, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” In Acts 16:32-33, Paul and Silas “spoke the word of the Lord” to the Philippian jailor, “and immediately he was baptized…”
Hearing the word of God, the first step in becoming a Christian, requires Christians to teach others. In Romans 10:14, Paul wrote, “How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?” We are not only commanded to share the gospel; we should remember that the world around us will never believe unless they hear that gospel message preached. The people that we interact with every day will never believe in what they have not heard.
God has given each of us a critical role in His kingdom. For others to hear God’s word and have any chance of obeying it, it must be preached, taught, or shared by us.
Matt Langfield