What Does the “Word of God” Mean?

This is an Excerpt from a recently completed Bible Study prepared by BibleStudy.NH the heading above is a substitle, as its full title is “The Word of God” -  Examining 2000 Years of History – Contrasted With the Doctrines of Men.” The study is 15 pages and can be downloaded or read on line as a PDF by clicking on the title.

EXCERPT: The phrase, “the Word of God” or “the Word of the Lord” has a number of different meanings in Scripture.  It can mean either something that God has decreed, something that God has said when addressing humans, words that God spoke through the prophets, Jesus Christ, or finally, God’s written Word.  It also means the name of Christ Jesus Himself (Jn. 1.1; Rev.19.13)

In other word studies and writings of BibleStudyNH provided at our website, the disputes between factions of men, denominations, sects, and ecclesiastical bodies over the past 2,000 years since the appearance of Christ Jesus have largely focused themselves on the conflict between the Word of God and the “doctrines” (i.e., teachings) of men.  These are seen in the multiple exchanges between the Pharisees, scribes and Sadducees on the one hand, and Christ Jesus speaking the Word of God as truth on the other. 

From Christ Jesus’ appearance through the 1740’s, those disputes arose in each generation with the publication of every new bible translation, gloss and paraphrase from original manuscripts which varied from those such as the Latin Vulgate or Greek renditions, then adopted, even legislated, as the only bibles permitted by then-ruling Monarchs, and the Priesthoods to available to be read by the public.  The disputes arose again during the Great Awakenings in Britain and America between “Old Lights” and “New Lights,” regarding the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit of Truth, and whether the revealed Word of God, and a personal relationship with Christ Jesus, first existed, and then actually guided a person “born of water and spirit.”  In modern times in 2022, the labels have changed, and the disputes continue between those adopting a position of “physical naturalism” basing all provable reality on what can be observed by the five senses and scientists, versus those labeled as fundamentalists, literalists, or worse.

This Word Study is presented in the framework of six foundational premises.  The purpose of this discussion is to first describe the “Word of God,” drawing our definition from uses in the Scriptures.  That framework is summarized as:

·        Premise 1.  God Has Decreed and His Word and Continues to Do So.

·        Premise 2. The Word of God May Refer to God Verbally Addressing A Human:  As A Personal Address Meant for Just that Human, without regard to any temporal limit period of time or place.

·        Premise 3.  The Word of God Can Refer to God Speaking Through Human Prophets with the Intention of Communicating it to Others.

·        Premise 4.  Christ Jesus’ Name Is the Word of God; Existing Before the Foundation of the World and Through the End of the World. 

·        Premise 5.  Because the Word of God is a Two-Edged Sword, and the Power of Life and Death Spoken by the Tongue of Man, “Leavening” (man-made doctrines, teachings) by Factions of Men Has Occurred for 6,000 Years.

·        Premise 6.  The Word of God is Also Used to Signify God’s Written Word. …”