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Heb 4:12 - The Word of God
Dear Friends,
Most of us have encountered a rather unusual view of Hebrews 4:12 in discussion with our Arminian—and sometimes our Reformed—friends.
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Our friends almost universally interpret the “word of God” in this verse as either the gospel or the Bible. Even though the next two verses specifically address God’s “word” with personal pronouns, “his,” “him,” and further identifies the “word of God” as our high priest, they persist in this strained and non-contextual interpretation of the verse.
“Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.”
Notice the following in these verses.
1. “Neither” is a connective word that associates the information in this verse with the prior verse.
2. The “he” of the thirteenth verse sees the deepest recesses of the human heart; there is nothing “…that is not manifest in his sight.” This is a further clarification of the power of the “word of God” to divide soul from spirit and to discern the thoughts and intents of human hearts.
3. His “eyes” miss nothing; “…all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”
4. Such an infinite and all seeing, all knowing One is in fact our high priest; “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens….”
5. Finally the inspired writer identifies “Him” as “Jesus the Son of God” who has passed victoriously into the heavens.
Thus the inspired writer clearly associates Jesus, God’s living Word and our high priest with the “Word” of John 1:1-3. Given the contextual weight of the thirteenth and fourteenth verses, one wonders why—and how—a serious Bible student could possibly miss this context and view it as either Scripture or the gospel. My cliché regarding sound Biblical hermeneutics applies here. The first three and most important rules of Biblical hermeneutics are 1) context, 2) context, and finally 3) context!
My question to all of you this morning; what are the theological implications of this interpretation? Advocates of this view seem inclined to impute to either Scripture or the gospel powers that Scripture reserves for God Himself. Why? What are the theological issues involved in such a tendency? Brother S... , given your regular interaction with some of your neighbors, I’ll especially look forward to your thoughts.
Your thoughts?
Jay
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Brother Jay,
I believe that interpreting the “word of God” as the gospel or the Bible, leads to a degraded view of eternal salvation and a degraded view of the sovereignty of God. It allows man to share in the glory that exclusively belongs to God. It opens the way for gospel regeneration which inevitably leads to decisional regeneration or even the campbellite error of baptismal regeneration. This doctrine seems to be the primary interpretation in the main stream churches of today and is by far the predominate understanding that is taught to the 16+ million strong Southern Baptist churches. While there are some exceptions, they are few and far between. It is clearly seen in the “ask Jesus into your heart” doctrine that seems to be popular today.
Blessings,
-DooS
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Dear Brother Jay and ... brethren,
Brother Jay, I agree 100% with your interpretation of Hebrews 4:12, "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
To borrow one of Elder SP cliches, "Someone is going to have to have help misunderstanding that text. Anyone with enough sense to lick a postage stamp ought to be able to understand that text."
Brother Jay, if I may, I would like to add a couple of points to your most excellent post:
First, the Bible is not quick (alive) and secondly, it is not a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Although the "word of God" (as part of the Christian armour) is referred to as the "sword of the Spirit", it is not the Spirit. In this reference (Ephesians 6:17), "the word of God" is speaking of the Bible (God's inspired word), which could be referred to as a "two-edged sword" (Old and New Testaments), but pay attention to the language of Hebrews 4:12, the "word of God" here is alive and powerful and sharper than any twoedged sword and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Now I will endeavor to answer you questions. The same people that interpret Hebrews 4:12 as the written word (the Bible) or the preached word (the gospel) are the same ones that deny a "time salvation" and require "faith and belief" as prerequisites for "eternal salvation". Why?...because they do not truly believe in the "total depravity" of the natural man. They believe that ALL men have within them the "free will" to accept or reject the "word of God" and by making Hebrews 4:12 either the written word or preached word reinforces this interpretation.
The theological issues involved in such a tendency, is to make God a liar. It brings Him down to human level and makes His salvation a "partnership affair" between the dead sinner and the most Holy God. Some will even say, "God has done all He can do to save you, now it is up to you to "let him" come into your heart." This interpretation of Hebrews 4:12 also puts the preached gospel equal to the Holy Spirit (able to quicken ...give life to the dead). This interpretation robs God of His glory and gives it to the preacher and dead sinner.
I Praise God for His sovereign Grace and mercy that He has bestowed upon bankrupt hell deserving sinners.
In love to all,
Allindale
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Brother DS,
Brother, where have you been? I sincerely appreciate your thoughts and your postings. At least from my personal experience and dialogue, your assessment of the theological "baggage" related to this non-contextual view of the passage holds true. The spectrum of theological preconceptions from folks holding this view ranges from full Arminian to some degree of gospel instrumentality, but the continuum distinctly covers some element of synergistic salvation, a view that man and God cooperate in the new birth process.
On only one occasion many years ago have I ever heard a man who holds to consistent sovereign grace theology posit the view in question, and in that case, when reminded of the context, the brother immediately retracted his view and agreed with the contextual view that the "word" of God in this passage referred to Jesus, the Word of God. The presence or absence of upper case should not alter our perception of the passage. For example, based on Acts 2:16-17 the Joel prophecy specifically refers to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost; however in the KJV text of Joel 2:28-- in every KJV Bible I've checked the word "spirit" appears in lower case. The word itself and the contextual idea, not the presence or absence of upper or lower case, should govern our interpretation.
Appreciate your thoughts,
Jay
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Brother Jay
Thanks for the wonderful exposition.
"And He was clothed with the vesture dipped in blood:and his name is called the Word of God."
Failure to rightly divide the word of truth concerning the eternal 'Word of God' in the effectual calling of an elect from the state of sin and death to grace and salvation, and the preached word of God in converting a child of God has been a cause of much confusion and inconsistencies and contradiction in the minds of many. The eternal 'Word of God' in the context of creation is very different from the preached 'word of God' in the context of conversion and sanctification.
A common example of this confusion is how they read the 1689.10 on effectual calling.
"Those whom God hath predestined unto life, He is pleased in His appointed and accepted time, effectually to call,(1) by His Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ;(2) enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God;(3) taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh:(4) renewing their wills, and by His almighty power determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ;(5) yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by His grace.(6)"
The enemies of the gospel (though they be our friends, for we are friendly!) almost universally understand 'His Word' as the word PREACHED BY THEM - as though God needs the word preached by them for the enlightening of minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God, for the giving of a heart of flesh, for the renewing of wills... for determining sinner dead in trespasses and sin to that which is good... for effectually drawing them to Jesus... made willing BY THEIR PREACHED WORD as well as by GOD'S GRACE ALONE.
They choose to remain with their blessed inconsistencies. They sure make themselves indispensable in the eternal salvation of God's elect. Doing so, they turn true religion of God's free grace into a multi-billion $$ business... and such folks have a large stake in it.
Someone said, 'Biblical distinction is the essence of sound theology.'
learning to divide sparkling sand from diamond,
sing
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