07 January 2022
The Word of God means nothing if you don't live it. It makes no difference at all if you really do understand it fully from a Hebrew perspective; the Word is not a mental exercise. If it were a mere matter of intellect or talent, it would be only a bronze-age culture and religion in that sense, a curiosity with no relevance to us today. But when you commit yourself to serve Christ as your feudal Sheikh, the Word comes to life in your soul. The whole point of studying the written record of the Word is so that our minds know what to expect.
Jesus spoke more than once about how the whole Bible hangs on two commandments. First is your feudal commitment to the Creator. He is your divine Sheikh, your Master and Savior. Love Him with the fullest extent of your heart. Faith means commitment to Him as a Person. Second is that you love your Covenant brothers and sisters as yourself. That's what "neighbor" in the Bible means. It's not some random pagan living in your vicinity; it's only those who share your faith commitment to the Covenant.
You cannot possibly love random people the way you do Covenant family. There are no grounds for that kind of commitment outside the Covenant. In Christ, your commitment to Him in faith is a de facto commitment to His other servants. It's all a matter of the Covenant; family is family. But you cannot give yourself to idolatry, and anyone outside the Covenant is an idolater by definition. If it's not Christ, then you worship something else.
The power of the Word is not like some kind of magic; it's not in the written or spoken words. Those are just a manifestation of truth. We are accountable to the Bible, but the only way those words have power is through the Holy Spirit and His incarnation. Thus, only the divine Presence in you makes you accountable. If Christ is not raised up in your spirit, then you are incapable of living the Word. He is the Word, and His Presence incarnates the Word in you.
Do you see how I cannot even put it into words? If what I wrote provokes a recognition, it's not because I'm such a fine writer. It's because my stumbling, bumbling effort to express my faith connects with your faith. It's Christ in me and Christ in you. There is no definable mechanism. There is no possibility of a clinical description.
But it is very specifically the shared Spirit of Christ that makes the Word alive in us. As noted in the previous post, the greatest treasure in this world is how we can commune in faith with each other. It's not about words in books, but the living connection of Christ between us. All we need is in that, and nothing outside of that is of any consequence for us.
The Word is living and active -- the Word in vivo.
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