Note: This article is in response to a friend who dropped the line "The 
Bible is the Word of God".  I (being an awful stickler for the real meanings of 
words) got to wondering about that phrase.  And this is the result:


          The Word of God is NOT the Bible.  My unsaved teacher at school 
     can read the Bible as much as he wants and it will never be the word 
     of God to him.  The Word of God is Alive and Sharp (Heb. 4:12), but to 
     him the Bible is just a dead, dull bunch of papers.  It is not until 
     we let the Spirit speak to us through those words that they become the 
     word of God, and then it is not the book that is important, but the 
     Spirit speaking through it.  Satan did practially nothing but quote 
     the bible in his temptation of Christ - did that make him speaking the 
     word of God?  Certainly not!  This is just a phrase that has been 
     incorrectly attributed to the Bible by tradidtion, and not by any 
     biblical precept.  We know that the word of God will not return to him 
     void, but in Heb. 4:2 we find that the words spoken to the Isralites 
     did NOT profit them - Why?  Because it was not mixed with faith.  The 
     Spirit of God was not working in their hearts to recieve it, and thus, 
     it never became the Word of God to them, just spoken words.  This 
     faith, mixed with the Spirit of God has come in the physical form 
     once, and John records it "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt 
     among us...", this is the ONLY case of the Word of God becomming 
     physical.  Jesus Christ was God's ultimate communication to man, and 
     even he he was not the Word of God to all, but "to as many as recieved 
     him..."  I challenge you to seek out what the word of God really is, 
     from a biblical standpoint.  When the Spirit allows Bible to become 
     the Word of God to you, then you may find that the Bible is not the 
     Word of God but, rather, the Spirit that made the Bible become the 
     Word of God, is.   Will the Word of God be gone from us when the 
     Russians take away our Bibles?!?  God forbid!  Then, maybe, we will be 
     able to look beyond this book upon which we place so much value, and 
     find the One who spoke it.


     One More Note: Yes, the person who I wrote this to is still my friend!