For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.(Hebrews 4:12 – ESV)
This is true of any word from the Word, when it comes you enter in or fall back. There is an accountability that comes to all who hear the Word of God and it is this powerful Word that the author now reminds his readers to heed. These readers had heard enough of God’s Word to know what He required of them, yet they remained on the edge of unbelief. If they failed to appropriate the spiritual rest found only in Christ they would be in danger of becoming immune to the truth and, therefore, hardened.
This was as real a danger then as it is today. Anytime a person is confronted by the truth of God’s Word, standing on the edge of belief, and fails to step over in faith, there is a risk of falling away from that place of sensitivity to the Spirit of God. The warning is very real. The solution to this problem is submitting to the authority and transforming power of Scripture. The Spirit of God brings you to a moment of decision and you either walk in the Spirit or turn back and walk in the flesh.
The beginnings of verse 12 “for”, and verse 13 “and” are connected. In verse 12 we are looking for an explanation as to why we should hurry, to be diligent, to “rush in” as we see in verse 11. The answer is that the written Word of God (Logos) is exposing you and the fact of your need. Verse 13 says we have to give an account to the Living Word (Logos). The reason we have to hurry up and enter in is because the written Word exposes us before the Living Word. The Bible is like a blade in Christ’s hands.
You don’t really separate the two; they go together, the written and living Word, because the written Word is alive. Those words in the Bible come from the life giving Spirit of Christ. The words are separated in time and space from the person of Jesus walking the earth, but they are connected, because as they come to us they resonate with His life and the power of who He is, they are living words. You either enter in to life, or walk around as dead.
2 comments:
"The solution to this problem is submitting.."
And submitting to the truth will set us free; as it will knock us to our knees as well, which is a good thing.
Yes, Don, thanks for "entering in" by commenting...
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