The original Greek of this verse is somewhat awkward. A more literal translation would be, “For from you rang out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith toward God has gone out, with the result that we don’t need to say anything.” Normal syntax calls for an ending of the main clause after “every place,” like this: “For from you rang out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia but in every place, with the result that…” But Paul has added a second main clause: “Your faith towards God has gone out.” Verse 8 is then understood to contain two statements:
“For from you rang out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia,
but in every place your faith towards God has gone out.”
It is important to notice that these statements are parallel; the activity described in the first statement is much the same as the activity described in the second. The only difference between the two statements is the way in which the geographical extent of the activity is described—it is described negatively in the first statement and positively in the second. This parallel structure indicates that the statement “the word of the Lord rang out” means much the same as “your faith towards God has gone out.”
8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.