The Word of God is Quick (living) and Powerful

By Wendell Tenison

Introduction:

John 6:63  "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."

Let it be said at the top of this article that only the words of Christ are said to be spirit and life. That is not to say, that all of the other words of God concerning his laws and commandments in previous ages are not good, holy and without life.

The word spirit is the most difficult of all words to be understood in the bible. The Lord willing, the purpose of this article is to show how that the words of Christ are in fact spirit and life.

• Patriarchal Law:

Gen 15:12-17  "And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him......And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;.....And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance......And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age......But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full...... And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces."

Just how did God speak to Abram the father of the faithful? Indelible impressions were engraved within the mind by this method.

Job 33:14-17  "For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not......In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed;.....Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction,.....That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man."

Even though his book appears among the poetic books written after the testament of Moses, Job was a patriarch. This means that God did not have a written law unto them, however, as we shall see later that all of those before the law of Moses were under law and statutes.

We just read how that God spoke to them by way of dreams while they were in deep slumber. Obviously, the reason why God spoke in dreams is because of man's lack of attention span while he is awake. We would say it like this; "if I told you once I told you a thousands times and it went in one ear and out the other."

The following verses further describe the manner of how God spoke to them:

Job 4:12-17  "Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof......In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,.....Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake......Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:.....It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,.....Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?"

What more can we say regarding how God spoke to the fathers?

Exo 18:13-16  "And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening......And when Moses' father in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even?.....And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to inquire of God:.....When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws."

This incident occurred just after Moses led the children through the Red Sea and before he went upon the mountain to receive the ten commandments. In other words, these laws and statutes were those to the patriarchs and not the law of Moses, because they had not yet been written.

Rom 2:12 "For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;"

Rom 5:12-14  "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:.....(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law......Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come."

These verses clearly show that the fathers were under law and did sin. However, sin was not imputed, (not put to account - Greek). On the other hand, they all were held accountable for their sins even though they did not have a written law. That is why God sent the flood to rid the earth of its corruption. Not only the flood, but God roasted Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim and all the plain, because of their hideous depraved homosexual behavior.

Gen 19:24-25 "Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven......And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground."

Deu 29:23 "And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:"