March 11, 2022

Hebrews 4: 12 (NIV)

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Spiritual standards do not change from generation to generation.*

I used to work for a government agency where every procedure had to be in compliance with state, federal, and local laws. Every year, following the state’s legislative session, we got handed new rules because somebody had changed a law or two or more. Man-made laws change in order to make accommodations for the inconsistency of humans. God’s law never changes and yet it is always applicable.

You might think I’m wrong. We are no longer bound by the Old Testament law, you remind me, so how can I say that God’s law never changes? Because Jesus fulfilled the law – he paid the penalty for all lawbreakers. Now we live under grace and we have God’s word to guide us in how we should live.

So what is the “word of God”? It is “what God speaks.”* God has spoken to us through his Son and we know what his Son has said because we read it in scripture; in fact, this passage could be speaking of both: God’s word “incarnate” (Jesus) and God’s word “inspired” (the Bible).* His word is not stagnant; it is alive and lively. The writer of Hebrews compares it to a sword that is sharp enough to sever your joints from the marrow of your bones – sharp enough, that is, to separate your spirit from your humanness. God’s word reveals our innermost thoughts and attitudes and shows us how they measure up to his standards.

God’s word judges us. No one else’s values apply to us. We can’t trust our own discernment of right and wrong unless it is based on the word of God. We know what truth is through the “Spirit’s leading and the Word’s revealing.”* And the rules never change.

The Word of God defines and reveals sin in our lives.*