Dear brother,

I thank our Lord for using you and those with you to bring such an edifying and Christ- honoring website to feed spiritual truth to God’s people. I have been listening to and receiving much benefit from the videos as well as reading the various emails.
There was one video in particular, the 2007 Indianapolis conference question and answer session where a brother was asking a question concerning whether the Word of God was the Bible or did the Bible contain the Word of God. I have recently received an understanding concerning this that I would submit for your consideration.
When Jesus or others referred to what was written down in what we call the Bible, they used the term “Scripture.”

“Did you never read in the Scriptures…”
Mat 22:29 But Jesus answered them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures…”
Mat 26:54 How then would the Scriptures be fulfilled…
Joh 5:39 You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life…
Act 17:2 Paul, as was his custom, went in to them, and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures.
Act 17:11 Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.
Act 18:24 Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by race, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus. He was mightyin the Scriptures.
Rom 15:4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that through patience and through encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
2Ti 3:15 But you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise to salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.
2Pe 3:16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things. In those, there are some things that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unsettled twist, as they also do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

What then, is the Word of God? I believe that as far as I can tell, in every instance, the Word of God is the word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, totally embodied in Jesus Christ. Rev 19:13 plainly tells us: He [ Jesus] is clothed in a garment sprinkled with blood. His name is called, “The Word of God.” Scripture records the Word of God, and it confirms what God has spoken or will speak, but is not the Word of God in and of itself. Not making that distinction has unfortunately made the physical Scriptures an idol for man.
People do this by making the Bible all pretty with their leather covers, gold gilded edges and fancy paper. And people revere that book. You see people getting a family Bible. Why? To put on a table somewhere showing off what they have. How pitiful. Putting what God’s Words are written on above Jesus Christ, the true Word of God.
One of the Scriptures I quoted shows the relationship between the Word of God and Scripture. Notice again Act 17. These Bereans received the Word. What word? What was the message to them? Was it not the message of the Christ? They received Him by receiving the message concerning him, the Word. To receive the Word is to receive Jesus. What role did the Scriptures play? They were examining the Scriptures to see whether these things [ the Word they received] were so. The Scripture served its purpose to confirm the spoken Word. It is not to replace, but confirm.
In the Tanakh we see the phrase, “The word of Yahweh” or “The word of God” came to someone to say something to them used often. This fits right in with the true understanding of the Word of God as being Jesus Christ, the spoken word of God. A physical book on stone or parchment isn’t what came to them to tell them things, but God spoke to them by means of his Word. That Word we now know “became flesh and lived among us.” (Joh 1:14)
Heb 11:3 says that “By faith we understand that the universe has been framed by [ what, the Bible that we hold in our hand? No, but by] the Word of God.” Yes, again, it is his spoken word, Jesus Christ.
If this be true, then let’s see some familiar Scriptures with new meaning.
Mat 4:4 But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'” Was he speaking about Scripture per se? Jesus was quoting from Deuteronomy, where he told the Israelites this: “He humbled you, and allowed you to be hungry, and fed you with manna, which you didn’t know, neither did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh.”- vs 3.
Couple this with Jesus’s words recorded in Joh 6:31-35: Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness. As it is written, “He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.” Jesus therefore said to them, “Most certainly, I tell you, it wasn’t Moses who gave you the bread out of heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” They therefore said to him, “Lord, always give us this bread.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”
When Yahweh fed them physical manna in the wilderness, he was doing that to show them and us a spiritual reality. That manna did not come from Moses; in other words, it did not come from man’s effort from the ground. This manna is not referring to Scripture. It came directly from God himself. God spoke, and it fell to the earth. It was manna that proceeded out of the mouth of Yahweh. In other words, it was the Word of God in physical shadow.
Who was the reality that the shadow pointed to? Jesus said that he was the bread of life. He was the reality of that manna in the wilderness. As we eat of him, we have life and never hunger. So when Jesus said that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, he was in essence saying, live by Jesus. He is our life. Our sustenance.

Eph 6:17 And take… the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

Does this mean we should hold a Bible in our hands as a sword? No. The scriptures are not some good luck charm that we use to ward off evil or do battle with. We are to take up Jesus Christ, the Word of God. And in so doing, he will speak to us his words for battle. Those words may be Scripture, but they often will not be. In either case, they are his word. The sword of the Spirit referred to here is none other than the sword Jesus came to bring.

Mat 10:34 Don’t think that I came to send peace on the earth. I didn’t come to send peace, but a sword.

This sword is further defined in our next Scripture:

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is alive, and active, and sharper than any two- edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

This is one of the most often used Scriptures to say that the Bible is alive and does all these things. But consider this… In the previous verse we are admonished to be diligent to enter into a rest, which is none other than our Lord. He is our sabbath rest. We as believers can either do works that come out of our efforts- our souls, or we can do works out of him living his life through us- our spirit, which is equivalant to resting in him. The reason we are told to do this is because the Word of God, Jesus, is alive and active; out of his mouth is a sharp two- edged sword. He can tell whether what we do is from the soul, which is our own efforts, or from the spirit, our resting in him. In other words, he divides between them. He can discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart. The next verse also adds weight to this understanding when it says “there is not creature that is hidden from his [ the Word of God, not Scripture] sight but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”
Does Jesus have a two- edged sword? John saw it. Hear what he says:

Rev 1:15 He has seven stars in his right hand. Out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two- edged sword.
Rev 2:12,16 … He who has a two- edged swords says these things:… repent therefore, or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth.
Rev 19:15 Out of his mouth proceeds a sharp double- edged sword…
Rev 19:21 the rest were killed with the sword of him who sat on the horse…
1Pe 1:23 Having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the Word of God, which lives and remains forever.

We are born again through Jesus Christ, the Word of God, being born in us. He thus becomes our life (Col 3:4), and gradually he is formed in us in much travail (Gal 4:19).
One Scripture that some might say shows that the Scripture is called the Word of God is found in Mar 7:13 where Jesus said the Pharisees and scribes were “making void the word of God by [ their] tradition…” They say that the word of God made void was the command in Scripture concerning the honoring of father and mother. Therefore, to them, the Scripture is the word of God. However, in looking at the context, I see a different picture.
Starting at verse 7, we read: “But in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. For you set aside the commandment of God, and hold tightly to the traditions of men – the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things.” He said to them, “Full well do you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother;’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban, that is to say, given to God;” then you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother, making void the word of God by your tradition, which you have handed down. You do many things like this.”
Notice the bold words. They all highlight the same thing, a contrast between what is spoken by God verses what is spoken by man. Therefore Jesus was using the term “word of God” to refer to specifically what God had said, his words to Moses to Israel. ; He was not using that phrase as a general term to describe the Scriptures as a whole, any more than he used the term “commandment of God” in that way.
I look forward to hearing more from you, dear brother, as the Lord continues to shed forth his revelation in our lives. Keep bringing these timely messages that the body of Christ needs so desperately.

In him,
R____

Hi R____,
Thank you for your letter.

It seems that the message you are giving me is that the scriptures are not the Word of God. If I have misunderstood, please forgive me, but you go to great lengths to try to separate the Bible as a book, from the Word of God. What I get from what you wrote here is that Jesus and the Bible are two different things.
Is that not your message? Again, if I am wrong, please forgive me, but if that is your message, then I would like to know what, in your opinion, is the function of scripture?
I am sure you must have noticed that Christ encouraged the scribes and the Pharisees to “search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life.” Would Christ encourage them to do this if indeed they were not the words of life?

Joh 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

Paul encouraged Timothy to “study to show yourself approved unto God, rightly dividing the word of Truth.” Are the scriptures not Truth?

2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

If you agree that they are, then you cannot separate scripture itself from Christ, who is also Truth:

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Of course I agree with you that most people act as if the letters themselves are Christ. As you say they buy the most expensive, gold gilded Bibles and place them in prominent places and seldom open them except to enter the name of a relative who has been born, married or died. Some even go so far as to be seen carrying a Bible to church on Sunday, but few do what Paul told Timothy to do; “study to show yourself approved unto God.”
Such attitudes speak only to the death in the flesh. If Christ is in us then His written words are not simply “written words.” If Christ is in us then when we read His words they are filled with His spirit. “Dead letters” are words which refer to the state of men’s hearts, not to the Words of Christ. A dead heart receives dead letters, but a spiritually resurrected heart receives a spiritual sword that is “sharper than any two edged sword.” That is how we “try the spirits.” Without a written word, it would be impossible to try any spirit. One person’s new revelation would be just as valid as the next if that were true. But with a spiritually energized Bible in our hearts, we can detect “the voice of a stranger [ and] the voice of the True Shepherd.

Joh 10:1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
Joh 10:2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
Joh 10:3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
Joh 10:4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Joh 10:5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
Joh 10:6 This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.
Joh 10:7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
Joh 10:8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
Joh 10:9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

Three times Christ tells us in His written word, “I am the door… My sheep know my voice… and a stranger they will not follow.”
None of this has any relevance if the scriptures can somehow be separated from Christ. But the revelation of Jesus Christ begins in Gen 1:1, and it ends at Rev 22:21. Without every word of the Bible, the Bible would not be complete. But in spite of man’s best efforts, God has preserved his Word so that we are able to try the spirits to see whether they are of God. Thus we can know the voice of “the good shepherd.”

Joh 10:14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

That is why we are told that “the secret things belong to God.” God shows us what He wants us to see, and where He stops is where His sheep stop.

Deu 29:29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

So the apostles of Christ tell those that kno His voice the same thing:

1Co 4:6 And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and [ to] Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think [ of men] above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.

The words “of men” are not in the original. we are not to think above what is written, whether it be of men or of angels. “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that doesn’t need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth;” Christ’s words.
Here is Christ’s evaluation of His own words:

Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Which words – the words from the fertile imaginations of those who claim to speak for Christ, or “that which is written” which we are not to “speak above?”
Here is what Paul said about Christ’s written words:

1Ti 6:3 If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;
1Ti 6:4 He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,
1Ti 6:5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

Those who minimize the words of Christ are to be avoided. Those who are keen to “speak above that which is written” are to be avoided, simply because they have no way of trying their own spirits:

1Jn 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

” Because many false prophets are gone out into the world” teaching false doctrines, which must be tried against “what is written”, not against personal revelation.
I hope I have not offended you, but “God’s word is powerful,” and it cannot be denied. Man’s words are to be considered as lies by comparison:

Rom 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God [‘s Word] be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

There are always wonderful truths being revealed to those who know the voice of the good shepherd. But those truths, just like the truths revealed to the apostles, never contradict the Truth’s given by Christ in “that which is written.”

Your brother in Christ,
Mike