What role does the Holy Spirit play in hearing and believing the gospel?

In the process of salvation, the Holy Spirit is instrumental in opening the hearts and minds of individuals to the truth of the gospel. As noted in Romans 10:17, while hearing the Word is necessary for faith, it is the Holy Spirit who must work within a person to bring about true understanding and belief. The Spirit empowers the preaching of the gospel, effectively enabling the message to penetrate hard hearts and produce genuine faith. Without this divine intervention, natural hearing alone leads to spiritual deafness and rejection of the gospel, emphasizing the absolute necessity of the Holy Spirit in the process of salvation.