How Does the Word of God Work in Believers?
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Every day, billions of words are written that fill the books and articles we consume. Except for a relatively few noteworthy words from cultural influencers, classic literature, or a work that exalts Christ, who remembers or is affected by much of what was written just a decade or even a day before?
King Solomon wrote, “For when there are many words, they increase futility. What is the advantage for mankind?” (Ecclesiastes 6:11). Solomon spoke of vain words. Not so with the Bible, for not one of God’s Words is empty or fosters vanity. The Bible is the holy, infallible, life-changing, clear, sufficient, God-inspired, and Christ-centered Word of God.
We call the collected words which came from God, the Bible, or Scripture. But the Bible’s most important designation is God’s Word. God saw to it that what He revealed about Himself – the history of creation, and the redemptive history He decreed for humanity – was written and preserved. The words He gave us are those which bring belief. His words are also those by which we are to live. For unbelievers, “faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ” (Romans 10:17). That message of course is found in the Bible.
What about believers? How does the Word of God work in us?
How Does God Speak to Us?
Does God still speak to us? Absolutely! But not in the same way He spoke to and through the ancient prophets and Apostles. At the time before Christ’s first advent (John 1:1-18), the complete canon containing the Word of God had yet to be written.
As God’s redemptive history unfolded throughout the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit guided the prophets. The Apostle Peter states, “Above all, you know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20-21).
To be carried by the Holy Spirit means to be prompted, or moved inwardly. By the first century, the scrolls containing God’s Word as handed down through the centuries were retained by the Temple priests and scribes in Jerusalem, and in local synagogues.
Hebrews 1:1-2 clearly states, “Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son. God has appointed Him heir of all things and made the universe through Him.” The New Testament came to us the same way as did the Old Testament, by the Holy Spirit as He moved in and among the writers of the New Testament (the Gospels, epistles, history, and prophecy).
The Gospel writers recorded the life and works of Jesus the Messiah. The Apostles Peter, Paul, John, James, and other disciples wrote letters to the churches, a history of the new church, and prophecy. All that has been put into the biblical canon we call the Word of God, and it is to us, the church.
Therefore, the Bible we hold in our hands is God’s Word to us. It, along with what it proclaims about the Lord Jesus and God’s miraculous acts in His appointed people, is God’s special revelation to us. It’s the Word of God which speaks to us.
The Second London Confession of Faith (section 1, Paragraph 6) makes this clear, “The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down or necessarily contained in the Holy Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelation of the Spirit, or traditions of men.”
The canon is now closed. All the Lord God wants us to see and realize has been encapsulated in Scripture. The Lord God no longer speaks directly to any humans. There is no need, for we have His Word.
How Does the Word of God Work in Believers?
1 Thessalonians 2:13 tells us, “This is why we constantly thank God, because when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you welcomed it not as a human message, but as it truly is, the word of God, which also works effectively in you who believe.” This is not mere human effort nor tradition. It’s Almighty God effectively working in us through His Word.
Following are seven ways the Word of God works in believers:
1. “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you” (John 14:26). The Holy Spirit helps us understand the Word of God. He also brings to mind the Scriptures to which we’ve been exposed (individual reading and the preaching of the Word) to impart wisdom and growth as Christians.
2. “Blessed are those whose lawless acts are forgiven and whose sins are covered” (Romans 4:7). The Word of God stimulates acknowledgement of our sins. But the Lord doesn’t leave us bereft of His matchless grace. Christ died to atone for our sins (John 3:16) and He has forgiven every single one — past, present, and future. This doesn’t mean we don’t sin anymore because we do, every day.
3. “For God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). The Word of God continually brings gospel clarity and draws us to Jesus Christ — His love, sufficiency, grace, and mercy.
The Word tells us His grace is sufficient for us (2 Corinthians 12:9), and praise God for that. The Spirit helps us bear fruit by bringing to mind the Word stored in us. God makes sure we store it for His and our use. It never spoils or gets corrupted. Like the oil for the widow, God’s sanctification work in us regarding growth in Him through His Word always increases. And as He increases in me, I must decrease.
4. “The precepts of the Lord are right, making the heart glad; the command of the Lord is radiant, making the eyes light up” (Psalm 19:8). The Law is good and holy, and the Word of God clarifies the Law and makes us love it. We cannot obey the law perfectly (not one of us for one millisecond has or will ever love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, strength, and soul, or our neighbor as ourselves).
Only Jesus can and did fulfill the Law (Matthew 5:17). He spoke the law many times to many people, but in the sense that they would know they (and we) cannot keep the law. We thank the Lord He lived the perfect life we cannot live and died the death we deserve. The Word of God shows us Jesus and tells us we are righteous because of Him.
5. “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity” (2 Peter 3:18). The Word of God helps us grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus. He Himself is the very Word of God (John 1:1), and He is sanctifying us through His Spirit, and is helping us understand the importance of understanding what His grace means to us. When we see Christ throughout Scripture, our lens is widened and sanctified. Peter knew and wrote, knowledge must come with grace.
6. “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and teaching” (1 Timothy 4:2). As we experience the Word of God preached every week, the gospel proclaimed, share in the sacraments of the Lord’s Supper and baptism, and hear and see in the Word about the sufficiency of Christ, we are filled anew with God’s grace. Remember, the gospel is for believers too, because Jesus died for Christians’ sins, too.
The transforming power of the Word of God is living and effective and “sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). And 1 Peter 1:3 states, “His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.”
7. “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). Christ, the Word became flesh, serves us through the Word of God. The Word “reforms” us into His image as we are transformed by the renewing of our mind (Romans 12:2).
God’s work in us through his Word is supernatural. No one but His church enjoys the abundant grace and power of the Word of God. As we read the Word of God and experience it preached every week, thank God for this blessing:
“For who has known the Lord's mind, that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16).
Related Podcast: 3 Ways We Can Know Jesus is God
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