Featured What Does God Mean When He Says His Word Is Alive

Note: This thread is not about the KJV.

God says this over and over and therefore it must be considered. We must define the word of God and we must understand what the word "alive" means in the context of the word of God.

Here are a couple passages just for reference.

Jn 12:44 Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me.
45 And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me.
46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
47 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.

1 Pe 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

 

I really thought maybe we could discuss what is clearly stated, not if it is stated.
"by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."

It is the seed that gives life to others in this context in 1 Pe 1.

 

So, your concise answer is that no life actually exists in the word of God but it is described in the scriptures in this manner because it brings life to the believer?

Interesting. You could be right but a conception takes place, no?

1 Pe 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

 

In my quote, there is an admonition, "being" born again as an ongoing proposition. In yours it is a past event, "for you have been born again." In my quote, there is a distinction made between the word of God and the word of the Lord in the scriptures. In your quote the distinction is wiped away.

 

Logos1560 brought up an interesting point. He opined that the Matthew Bible and another translation, I forget which one) could possibly be alive, though different words. Therefore, I am impressed by the comments that it is not the words that have the life in it but the message, no matter how it is expressed. Is that your position?Is that the meaning of the word of God being alive?

 

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Since we are focused on First Peter and his dealing with the word of God being the living seed that is producing the new birth among this distinct subset of people he writes to, I offer the following logic.
God the Father, and what he is accomplishing in this chapter and epistle among these people, is the principle personality and the epistle is about what he is doing for them. He says they are become the sons of God through the new birth and he says he, God the Father, is doing it through the word of God.


1 Peter 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,


1 Peter 1:23
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

Comparing these two verses saying that Jesus Christ and the word of God accomplishes the same thing, why would it be unreasonable to think God the Father is saying both are one and the same?

 

Thanks Deacon. So you state that it is God’s message that is active and gives life to the world and not necessarily his words. You would say the words through which the message is delivered is not that important?

This of course would give justification for more and more translations by the church of Jesus Christ, with the message expressed in many different words, no?

 

So translations are sermons? The same would be true of any pastor or preacher in any pulpit. This would put the imputus on the hearers to determine if the words were true and there could be no confidence in the words of the translation until they were tried against the true words, right?

Acts 17:11
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

 

The title "word of the LORD" in the OT and the "word of the Lord" in the NT is the designation for a person of the trinity, who we know now is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We are first introduced to this title, as well as his name in the scriptures, in Ge 15. This is one of the most important transitional chapters in the scriptures. It is stated in Ro 4 as the time when Abrahams faith in his miraculous son, who was to be born unto he and Sarah, after the time of women, was imputed to him as righteousness. This is the beginning of Abraham as the father of faith. It is also the first mention of "the word of the LORD," who was actually visible to Abraham and it was the first mention and is the revelation of his name in this capacity, "Lord GOD (Adonay Jehovah)." This name will become prominent in the prophetic word following this event. It is the beginning of the third millennium of human history and the world will be different and the redemption of God through his own Son for mankind will become much more focused. The family of God will take on a distinct characteristic that takes place through a birth. Israel is the physical representative in the flesh as to what is true in the spiritual.

There is no excuse to be confused about the word of God being a living word. The scriptures are a physical representation of the spiritual.

Jn 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Footnote:
I am going to quote the KJV here. You may look at any translation you want. The manner in which this is presented is very important and biblegateway has it wrong in it's KJV translation.

Ge 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
2 And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

The word of the LORD was a person and could be seen.

Some translations have been quoted on this thread that eliminated the word of the Lord in it's translation of 1 Peter 1. This is troubling to me.

 

Bible Gateway Quote
Ge 15:1 After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
2 And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

4 And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.This is not the first time the English LORD God (Jehovah Elohim) appears in scripture. It is the first time the name Lord GOD (Adonai Jehovah) appears. Elohim is a plural for Jehovah, three in one and one in three. Adonai is a servant but he is stll Jehovah. These names are very important for our doctrine of God. Bible Gateway got it wrong. I noticed it long ago and I am very careful when quoting from their rendering.

The Lord (Jehovah - should have been all caps) said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Ps 110:1

 

Well, my op was asking for opinion on what God means when he says his word is alive and continues to live. I note your opinion that he is merely using a metaphor and he does not actually mean it is living in any real sense. I appreciate you explaining how you arrived at your conclusion.

I will say that the word of the LORD, the Lord GOD, was ministering to men for at least 400 years before the first word of our Bible was written by Moses.