Hi all,
Years ago a man emailed me, expressing the stunning realization that he knew the Word of God but he didn’t know Jesus. He knew all about Him, he just didn’t know Him.
A woman emailed me saying the same thing. She had volumes of notes from some of the best Bible teachers in the world, journal entries, notes in the margins of her Bible; She knew the Word but didn’t know the Person.
Like the man and woman above, when we talk of knowing ‘the Word of God’ we are talking about chapter and verse. But the New Testament we call ‘the Word of God’ did not come about until the year 367, and made official at Councils in 393 and 397 – about 300 years after the original apostles had died.
That means the authors of the New Testament meant something altogether different when they spoke of ‘the Word of God.’ We think ink on a page, they thought the Person who is the living Word of God the Father.
Perhaps that is part of the reason when they had a problem they sought Him, and when we have a problem we seek a formula based on ink on a page.
To put it another way, when we have a problem we look to a chapter and verse that applies to our situation that we may ‘stand on’ what is written. When they had a problem they prayed to hear directly from the Person of the Word that they might stand on what He says to them. They sought personal revelation because they knew Him, we seek ink on a page thinking that is equal to a personal revelation of what He might say to us. It isn’t.
For example: Who or What divides between soul and spirit?
Many sermons have been preached on the need for people to read ‘the Word’ every day. Also, how many churches and ministries have a Roman two-edged sword representing the Word of God in their logo? And how many pictures, plaques, book marks and other Bible related items depict a two-edge sword as the written Word of God?
One of the scriptures that describes the Word of God as a two-edge sword is Hebrews 4:12: “For the Word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of the soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and is a discerner (Gk: one who critiques) the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
We read this thinking the author is saying chapter and verse is sharper than any sword, so we are told to ‘be in the Word’ every day. However, the author is not talking about chapter and verse; he is writing about the Person of the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. Read the whole thought in v12-14:
“For the Word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of the soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is nothing in creation hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open before Him with whom we have to do. Seeing then that we have such a great High Priest who has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God…”
The Word of God that divides between soul and spirit and discerns our thoughts and intentions is the living person who is the Word of God, the Lord Jesus. NOT the written page which we call the Word of God.
Disclaimer: In their letters the authors also sometimes refer to the ‘word of God’ as the gospel message*. An example would be Romans 10:17 where it says faith comes by hearing the word of God. In context the Word of God is the message of good news, the gospel. But we don’t find them talking about the Word as a chapter and verse. You won’t find any instruction in the NT saying to ‘stand on the Word’ after picking a chapter and verse relevant to your situation. *Romans 9:6, Colossians 1:25, I Thessalonians 2:13
Having established the sword of the Spirit that sees into our heart is in fact the Person of the Word of God, the Lord Jesus, and not ink on a page, let us look at another reference. Jesus the Word is the sword of the Spirit.
In Ephesians 6: 10-17 Paul’s exhortation is to “…put on the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.” (v17) We read that as chapter and verse printed on paper that we can turn to, to stand on. But Paul, not having any New Testament in existence at that time, meant the Person the Word of God who is the sword of the Spirit.
The proper order so to speak is this: The Person who is the Word of God the Father can ‘highlight’ by the Spirit a verse He intends for you, where it is quickened to your heart, or ‘jumps out’ at you when you read it as being for you. That is the Living Word causing the written Word to be ‘personalized’ for your situation. But we are unfortunately trained by church (not Bible) culture to go first to chapter and verse and stand, with barely a thought to praying and lingering before Him to see what part or passage of the written Word He might highlight for us for our situation.
We ‘declare’ and ‘pronounce’ without a thought as to what He wants. We ‘stand’ without first going to Him to see what verse He might highlight by His will that pertains to our situation. We mistakenly think there is a singular power by quoting chapter and verse, but the power in the Word is the Person who is the Word, not in pen and ink. Many theologians have known chapter and verse of the Word of God are in hell because they didn’t know the Word of God the Person.
Further proof if needed is the fact that in Ephesian’s 6 teaching on the ‘armor of God’, Paul is paraphrasing a passage from Isaiah 59: 15-19 which is talking about the Lord Jesus as the Word of God, and His life and ministry:
“Yes, truth has disappeared, and those who turn from evil become the next victim. The Lord saw it and was greatly displeased that there was no justice. And He saw there was no man, no one could be the intercessor. Therefore His arm brought salvation (Hebrew: deliverance) and His own righteousness sustained Him. He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and the helmet of salvation (Hebrew: Yeshua/Jesus) on His head, His uniform is vengeance and zeal is His cloak…” This passage describes the ministry of Jesus.
In Paul’s description of the armor of God he is paraphrasing the above about the person of Messiah, the true Word of God and His armor used to win salvation. It is God’s armor. If I say that coat is ‘Mary’s coat’ or ‘ coat of Mary’, it means that coat belongs to Mary. So when we read ‘the armor of God’ we must realize that armor is Jesus’ armor, and in the person of Jesus.
Do you remember how King Saul gave teenage David his armor, and David refused it* saying he had not proven that armor in battle? David wanted the ‘armor’ he had used in battle, his sling and rocks. In the same way we are ‘wearing’ the person of Jesus Christ who was proven in battle – and won. *I Samuel 17: 38-40
It is the person of Jesus Christ who is the sword of the Spirit, knowing our heart’s deepest thoughts and motives. He is the Word of God first and foremost, and the written chapter and verse proceeds from Him.
We must shift our focus to seek and know the Living Word of God first and then chapter and verse Word of God as a compliment to our personal relationship with Him. Not the other way around.
How to do that is next week….until then, blessings,
John Fenn
