THE WORD OF GOD
The
WORD OF GOD is the most incredible life-line we have to the Lord. He has revealed to us more than we could ever ask or imagine through His Word. Through the WORD OF GOD we discover who God is and how He operates in this world. Through the WORD OF GOD we discover how He operates in our hearts. And through the WORD OF GOD we discover the spiritual truths that guide us and give us wisdom for success in life.It is our supreme privilege not only to learn about God through His Word, but to become closer with Him… to have a personal relationship with Him… to be guided and led and comforted and convicted by Him. Indeed God is our helper that we look to for guidance and leadership… and friendship. But how do we do that? How do we seek after and know the
WORD OF GOD?What is God’s chief expression of His Word right now?
In the era in which we now live (which may be called the “church age”) the Holy Bible is God’s
“living and active Word” (Hebrews 4:12-13) for all people. God’s Word is “sharper than any double-edged sword” and “penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”We are taught by Paul the Apostle in 2 Timothy 3:16,
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”Jesus, of course, also clearly taught in John 10:35 that Scripture is the Word of God and
“cannot be broken.”In terms of salvation, Paul reminds us it is the Holy Scriptures
“which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ” in 2 Timothy 3:15.The Apostle Peter taught us that prophecies in Scripture were not developed by men, but rather were given by God when the human authors were
“carried along by the Holy Spirit” as they wrote. While this principle is taught in reference to the Old Testament, we believe, by implication, that the same principle holds true in the New Testament.The Holy Bible is indeed the WORD OF GOD! The Old Testament containing 39 books and the New Testament containing 27 books represent God’s chief expression of His Word to us in the Church Age.
How does God “speak to us” through the Holy Bible?
It is clear from the passages listed above (esp. Hebrews 4:12, 2 Timothy 3:15-16) that the Scriptures teach us and train us spiritually. But because a person starts out spiritually “dead”, he does not automatically understand the things written in the Bible. Surely, the things written there are easy enough to understand, but because of the hardness of a person’s heart, they tend to find a million reasons not to understand or believe what they read in the Bible. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:4…
“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.” Because they follow the god of this age (Satan) they cannot understand the words of the one true God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).But, when a person has invited God into his life through faith in Jesus Christ, then the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within him and he can understand the words of the Bible… which had always been simple anyway! We learn in 1 Corinthians 2:11-12,
“…no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.”So as we read the Bible, the Holy Spirit helps us understand it. It suddenly makes sense to us! Not because we got smarter or the words got easier… but because the Spirit softens our hearts and makes us ready and willing to receive them. It’s more of a
heart issue than a mind issue. Altogether, it is a spiritual issue! Our spirits (little ‘s’) are now able to connect with His Spirit (capital ‘S’).