The relationship between earthly preaching and inspiration from the Holy Spirit

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As I understand it, the influence of the Spirit provides the believer with all the faith necessary for salvation, and that there can be no other such source of saving faith. In other words, if the most talented human preacher in the world were to preach to me for every waking minute of the rest of my life, I still wouldn't be an inch closer to salvation than if I'd never met this preacher at all, no matter how well I understood the message being preached. Only the Spirit can endow my soul with the required disposition.

If that's the case, then what's the function of preaching by human beings? What is the importance of a sermon or homily or Sunday school lesson if Spiritual intervention is the necessary and sufficient condition for salvation?

And while I'm on the subject, can good preaching have any positive effect on one who isn't already a believer? Can a person be moved closer to belief by the preachings of another person, whether directly or indirectly? Can a person be an instrument of another person's salvation, or does the pastor/flock relationship only begin when one has first come to faith? And in either case, what's the importance of that relationship? What do I get out of listening to a good preacher that I wouldn't have gotten from pure divine influence? Is it simply good advice, comfort, and edification, or is there a more direct function to it than that?

 

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As I understand it, the influence of the Spirit provides the believer with all the faith necessary for salvation, and that there can be no other such source of saving faith. In other words, if the most talented human preacher in the world were to preach to me for every waking minute of the rest of my life, I still wouldn't be an inch closer to salvation than if I'd never met this preacher at all, no matter how well I understood the message being preached. Only the Spirit can endow my soul with the required disposition.

If that's the case, then what's the function of preaching by human beings? What is the importance of a sermon or homily or Sunday school lesson if Spiritual intervention is the necessary and sufficient condition for salvation?

And while I'm on the subject, can good preaching have any positive effect on one who isn't already a believer? Can a person be moved closer to belief by the preachings of another person, whether directly or indirectly? Can a person be an instrument of another person's salvation, or does the pastor/flock relationship only begin when one has first come to faith? And in either case, what's the importance of that relationship? What do I get out of listening to a good preacher that I wouldn't have gotten from pure divine influence? Is it simply good advice, comfort, and edification, or is there a more direct function to it than that?

From a Lutheran position there is what is known as "Means of Grace", that is the means God has instituted through which He gives us faith, nourishes us spiritually, etc. These are the Means by which God acts upon us in the world. These Means of Grace are, together, called "Word and Sacrament" and is the preaching of the Gospel along with Baptism and the Lord's Supper.

In St. Paul's letter to the Romans he writes, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ." The preaching of the Word, that is of the Gospel, actually delivers to those who hear it the promises it contains, and by it God creates saving faith. It is not the eloquence or acumen of the preacher, but the Gospel Word itself that is efficacious to us--creating faith, delivering the salvation of God that is in Jesus Christ to us.

-CryptoLutheran