Today it is common to talk about the Bible as “God’s word”. However, no one in the Bible knew the Bible in its present form. Nevertheless, people kept talking about God’s word. The question therefore seems justified as to whether “God’s word” is a good synonym for the Bible and in what respect.

The fact that the Bible is “God’s word” often appears today to be an assumption about the Bible that is primarily based on the doctrine of verbal inspiration. This makes the Bible appear to be God’s word because it is “dictated” by God, so to speak. Is this supposed to declare the Bible divine? Divinity is explained in terms of supernaturalness. This is circular reasoning: the circle is round because it is round. The Bible is supernatural because it is supernatural. That still explains nothing. Above all, this view has nothing to do with the biblical statements.

The expression “Word of God” perhaps means something else as “supernaturalness”. How do the people in the Bible themselves describe its meaning?

The word of God’s message

Paul writes the following in his first letter to the Thessalonians:

“And therefore we also are thanking •God unintermittingly that, in accepting the word heard from us, from God you receive, not the word of men, but, according as it truly is, the word of God, which is operating also in you who are believing.”
1Thess 2,13

The word of God’s message is what Paul proclaimed to the church in Thessalonica. The word of God’s message is the proclamation. The Thessalonians did not receive this proclamation as the word of men, but as the word of God. Paul praised the church for this, because they had obviously recognized the essence of the proclamation.

So it was not the Bible but the proclamation that was recognized as the Word of God, namely as the “Word from God”. The message was central. It was not about the divine origin of the letters, but about the divine origin of the proclamation. Whose message is that? It is the word of God! Of course we have a copy or sample of this proclamation in today’s Bible, but it was never about the letters, but always about the message and its author.

The apostle Paul begins his letter to Titus with the following words:

“Paul, a servant of God, but an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the ages of ages, but in his time revealed his word through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of our Savior God.”
Titus 1:1-3

Here it is easy to recognize how the word of God is made known through preaching or proclamation. Compare also the following statement to Timothy:

“But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that the preaching might be accomplished through me, and that all those from the nations might hear.”
2Tim 4:17

How the word of God becomes visible

Paul has already said this:

“God’s word, which also works in you, the believers.”
1Thess 2,13

God’s word, i.e. Paul’s preaching, had an effect on the believers. There it became visible. When Paul wrote that all Scripture is God-breathed, this was not a statement of faith, but was linked to a specific effect:

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
2Tim 3:16-17

The Word of God, the known Scriptures, is primarily useful for equipping the man of God, namely to be fully equipped for every good work. The word is a tool.

It is therefore visible to the believers that it is God’s word. It is the effect of this word in our lives that bears witness and explains what this proclamation does. Confessing with your mouth alone is not enough.

God’s power

What is the Bible supposed to do? What do I want to achieve in my life and yours? Paul writes elsewhere:

“But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of the puffed up, but the power.”
1Cor 4:19

It’s not about the word, but about the resulting power. When believers recognize the proclamation as the word of God, it has an effect, it makes a difference. It is the message that does this, not a magical interpretation of a “divine dictate” as to why the Bible is “God’s word”. The fact that it is about the content, about the message, is also evident here:

“For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
1Cor 1:18

When the proclamation becomes rooted in our lives, it turns out to be God’s power. We can live our lives out of this strength. The “word of the cross” is foolishness for some, but for others it is God’s power (Romans 1:16). Faith is therefore not based on our actions, but on God’s actions, which we perceive as God’s power.

“And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling; and my speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.”
1Cor 2:3-5

Now here is the difference to religiosity:

• Religiosity comes from man and requires man to make an effort to become acceptable before God
• Faith comes from God and from what He has made and now applies to us.

The position is completely different. The believer has changed their perspective and now looks at their own life from God’s point of view. He is safe and saved in what God himself has done. That is why it is also said that we are blessed “in Christ” (Eph 1:3).

Origin and effect

When we speak of “God’s word” in the Bible, it is about origin and effect.

Origin

The word is from God, which primarily refers to the proclamation. The proclamation shows itself to be God’s word because it speaks of God’s work and His power.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For the righteousness of God is revealed in it.”
Rom 1:16-17

The gospel is God’s power for salvation for every believer, because in this gospel God’s righteousness is revealed. The Gospel explains how God has achieved His own righteousness. God Himself brought this about. It stands in the center. It’s not about my power, my righteousness or my achievements. On the contrary. It is about God’s power, His righteousness and His achievements.

The gospel and its message are therefore at odds with all religiosity, in which everything depends on people and their actions. In the gospel, on the other hand, everything depends on God and His Christ. Because the origin is so completely different, the effect, the destination, will also be completely different.

Effect

Now we come full circle back to the first Bible verse:

“And therefore we also thank God continually, that when you received from us the word of God, you received it not as the word of men, but, as it truly is, as the word of God, which also works in you who believe.”
1Thess 2,13

God’s word, the word of God’s message, works in those who believe. Truthfulness, as it seems appropriate to a word of God, is first accepted and then has an effect on life. If believers understand the proclamation as coming from God, if they accept it as God’s word, this will be evident in everyday life. The lives of believers will bear witness to the origin of these words. This has nothing to do with orthodoxy. It has nothing to do with letters. Faith, Paul writes, only becomes effective through love (Gal 5:6). Faith will choose a form of expression in love and thereby, as if by itself, bear witness to the “word of God’s message”.