The first thing each and every Christian must fully realize is that the Holy Bible is truly the inspired and infallible Word of God.
There are many liberal Christians who are starting to question the validity and authenticity of the Bible. I will not use this article to debate the origins of the Bible, all of the authors who wrote the books, and how the different translations came into being. There are plenty of good books at your local Christian bookstore that deal with this topic very extensively.
After studying the Bible in its complete entirety – there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that all of the Bible is God-breathed – that all of it has come directly to us from God the Father through the Holy Spirit.
For those of you who believe in the literal interpretation of the Bible, and that all of it has truly come to us from God the Father.
I will use this article to give you some extremely powerful verses from Scripture to show you that not only did all of the Bible come direct to us from God the Father through the Holy Spirit to all of the authors who wrote all 66 books of the Bible – but I will also give you some powerful verses from the Bible showing you how powerful the actual words of the Bible really are, and how they can also help to change and transform you into the kind of person that God really wants you to become in Him.
The actual words of the Bible are anointed by the Holy Spirit Himself – and they have the full ability to completely change and transform you if you are willing to work with the divine truths that are contained in the actual words.
Jesus says in the Bible that you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. However, you first have to know what the real truth is before the truth can start to work to set you free.
This is why Kind David said we must meditate on the words of the Bible – so we can find out what their true meaning is and how all of these divine truths can apply to our daily lives. Meditating on the Bible means to think about, to chew on, to try and figure out the meaning of all of the different verses in the Bible.
Though the Book is long, God has made it as simple and easy as He possibly could. Think about this. There is only one Bible. In one Book, God has given us everything we need to know about Himself, His Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the basics of our salvation through His Son Jesus, how He wants us to live this life, the things that He wants us doing, and the things that He does not want us to be doing.
In this one Book are all the ways and commandments of our Lord, along with all the information we are ever going to need on what is awaiting all of us on the other side when we die and cross over – heaven for the saved and hell for the unsaved.
I believe the number one reason God created the human race was for intimate fellowship. Even to the amazement of the angels in heaven, God seems to have some type of special longing and love for the human race.
The fact that God would send His one and only Son Jesus down to our earth in the flesh to go through the worst form of physical death at the time He came, all just to bring us back to Himself, really does show us how much God really does love all of us.
The Bible tells us that the love that God has for all of us is like a “consuming fire.” These two words are showing us a love that is of maximum intensity. With this kind of intense, passionate love that God has for all of us, I believe He is trying to tell all of us one main thing – and that one main thing is that He is looking to enter into a one-on-one, personal, love relationship with each one of us.
Think about this – that the one and only all-powerful God of the entire universe is looking to make a direct, personal connection with you on an individual and unique basis.
If you really step back and look at the big picture and all the things that we see in this life – what is the one thing that most of us long for in this life? What is the one thing that will make you cry when you see this portrayed on the movie screens?
It is the longing for a true soul mate. It is the longing for a pure, true, and unconditional love from a person of the opposite sex. There is nothing that can satisfy the deeper longings of your soul the way that true love can. However, there is just one small catch with this scenario. Even though some of you may have found your true soul mates in this life, there is still one more thing that has not been met.
No matter how perfect you think your mate may be – your mate is still not perfect like God is, since the Bible tells us that all men and women have sinned and have fallen way short of the glory of our God. What this means is that no matter how good of a love relationship you may have with your mate, that person is still not capable of giving you a perfect love because that person is not perfect in their very nature and personality.
Thus, every single one of us still has that little hole in our soul that just cannot seem to be filled with anything else in our lives.
No matter how much money we have, no matter how many material possessions we have, and no matter how many loving children we have – there is still something missing and none of these things can completely fill that little hole that is in all of our souls.
God has purposely left a vacuum, a hole, and a void in each one of our souls when He created us. And the only thing that can fill this hole and void is God the Father Himself, His Son Jesus Christ, and His Holy Spirit.
There is absolutely nothing else on this earth that can fill that empty void. People are literally chasing after the wind trying to find anything and everything to fill that void – and no matter how many lovers they have, no matter how many marriages they enter into, and no matter how many toys they buy with the money they have – nothing they chase after in this life will fill that hole in their souls.
The only thing that will fill that hole in your soul is finding, and then entering into a true, personal, love relationship with God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. There is nothing else that will fill that void!
Since God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are totally perfect in Their actual natures and have no dark side to Their personalities, then They, and only They, are the only Ones who are capable of giving you a perfect, pure, and unconditional love that no one else can give you in this life.
This is why the Bible tells us that we will find a peace that will pass all human understanding once we have accepted Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior and have become truly born again. That peace we will find is the result of finding the one true Person who can fill that empty void that is on the inside of each and everyone of us – and that one Person is God Almighty Himself.
However, once you have found God through accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, there is now something you must do. You must now grow in the knowledge of God and grow in the personal relationship that He wants to establish with you.
And how do you start to grow in the personal relationship He wants to establish with you and grow in the knowledge that He wants you to have about Him? By diving head first into the Bible!
When two lovers first meet and fall in love with one another, the first thing they naturally and instinctively want to do is to learn as much as they can about one another.
How can you truly fall in love with another person unless you first seek to know everything you can about your lover, their past, where they have been, what they have been through, who are all of their friends and family, etc. Once you really fall into true love with someone, you will have a major hunger and desire to find out as much as you can about them and their past.
It’s the exact same way in our relationship with God. God obviously knows everything about each one of us since He is all-knowing, but we do not know everything about Him, His Son, or His Spirit. So the only possible way that we can learn all about God is to read and study from the Bible, since the Bible is the only Book that we have down here on this earth that will give us detailed information as to who the Three of Them really are.
If a true, born-again, Spirit-filled Christian is really in love with God, and really wants to deepen the personal relationship they have now established with Him – then the first thing that person will really want to do is to get into the Bible so that they can find out everything they possibly can about this awesome God of ours.
The more knowledge you gain about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit from studying the Bible – the stronger and deeper your personal relationship will become with the Three of Them.
As you will see in the Scripture verses listed below, there are several other incredible things that will start to occur in your life if you seek to study the Bible with the intentions on wanting to learn more about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in order to deepen your personal relationship Them.
I will break these Scripture verses down under their appropriate captions below so you can see how powerful the Word of God really is, and how it can help change and transform the quality of your life if you are willing to study, learn, and seek to apply the divine truths that are in this incredible Book.
Study these verses very, very carefully. These verses are showing you how powerful and anointed the Bible really is. Since all of the Bible comes direct to us from God the Father, you can completely trust and rely on that what you will read from the Bible will be 100% pure, solid, God-truth.
1. All of Scripture is Given to Us By Inspiration From God the Father
These first two verses will specifically tell us, without any other possible interpretation, that all of the Bible has been given to us by “inspiration of God” through holy men who were “moved by the Holy Spirit” to write what they wrote!
In other words – all of the words in the Bible have come direct to us from God the Father through the Holy Spirit. The specific authors of the Bible then wrote under the guidance, inspiration, and illumination of the Holy Spirit.
This is why you can completely trust that what you will read from the Bible will be 100% pure, solid, God-truth! There is no other book on our earth that contains direct words from God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ other than the Holy Bible. God Himself has personally arranged that all of the revelation that He wants us to have in this life about Himself, His Son Jesus, and His Holy Spirit would all be contained in this one incredible Book.
Here are the two specific verses giving us this incredible revelation:
- “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16)
- “… knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20)
The first verse specifically tells us that all of Scripture, not just some or part of it, comes direct to us by inspiration from God the Father. The second verse then takes it one step further and tells us that the holy men of God who wrote the Bible, all wrote under the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit Himself. It also says that no part of Scripture was of any private interpretation of these authors.
The first verse also lays out the groundwork as to what the Bible is going to be used for – for establishing solid Christian doctrine in the real truths of God, and for instruction in the knowledge and ways of God so that we may all be made complete and thoroughly equipped to go to work for God in the calling that He has set up for each one of our lives.
These two specific verses are powerful, foundational verses in which our study of Scripture has to be based on. If you do not believe that all of the Bible is truly the inspired and infallible Word of God – then the Holy Spirit is not going to move on you to start to really work the truths that are contained in the Bible to change, mold, and transform you into the kind of person that God wants you to become in Him.
Bottom line – if you want the divine truths that are contained in the Bible to really be able to change and transform you – then you will have to believe that all of the Bible comes direct to us from God the Father through the Holy Spirit. If you do not, then the Bible will have little or no transforming effect on you and your life.
2. The Word of God is Living and Powerful
As you will see in the following verses, the words that are contained in the Bible are living, powerful, and sharper than any two edge sword we can make on this earth.
In other words, the words in the Bible have God’s supernatural power and life in them. They are literally anointed by the power of the Holy Spirit Himself. This is why the words and the truths contained in the Bible have the supernatural ability to change and transform you into the kind of person that God wants you to become in Him.
That is why Jesus told the apostles to “feed” His sheep. When you read and study the Bible for increased learning, you are feeding yourself with direct anointed words from God Almighty Himself.
Many Christians who do not regularly feed off the Bible have no idea on what they are really missing out on. The Words that are in the Bible are pure, solid, spiritual food that have the supernatural ability to feed your mind, soul, and spirit. Nothing else will feed your inner man like reading from the Bible will.
Just like our human physical bodies need physical food to be able to survive – so does our mind, soul, and spirit. The food that we feed our physical bodies will not nourish our mind, soul, and spirits.
The only thing that can spiritually feed and nourish us on the inside are true, solid, spiritual truths. And the only true, solid, spiritual truths that can feed us to cause any kind of true spiritual growth to occur in this life are divine truths that come direct from God the Father and Jesus Christ.
There are no other spiritual truths from any other sources that we can feed off of that will cause any kind of true spiritual growth to occur in this life.
Any other source is just dead meat. It has no supernatural life or ability to change us because it is not coming direct from God the Father and thus has no anointing on it.
All other false religions and New Age type thinking have no supernatural ability to change and spiritually transform you in this life. Only the divine truths that are contained in the Bible have this supernatural ability.
Now here are 9 major power verses showing you how much supernatural life and power there really is in the Word of God.
- “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)
- “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)
- “Is not My word like a fire?” says the Lord, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:29)
- “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63)
- “This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life.” (Psalm 119:50)
- “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart …” (Jeremiah 15:16)
- “How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103)
- But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” (Matthew 4:4)
- “… as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” (1 Peter 2:2)
Notice all of the food analogies that God is using to compare His Word with. What He is trying to tell us is that when you are studying the words that are contained in the Bible for increased learning – you are spiritually feeding yourself with supernatural nutrition!
I believe that all of the above Scripture verses are trying to tell us one main thing – that the Word of God is living, powerful, and real spiritual food for the soul and spirit of every person who is willing to feed off of it.
3. The Word of God is Pure, Solid Truth
If the Bible is telling us that all of Scripture is coming direct to us from God the Father through the Holy Spirit – then the next thing that the Bible will be telling us is that all of the words that are coming direct to us from God the Father are 100% pure, solid truth.
If God is all-perfect and all-powerful, then this means His intelligence and knowledge on all things is all-perfect. And if His knowledge on all things is all-perfect, then this means that all of the words that He is conveying to us in the Bible can be counted on as being perfect words, thereby giving us perfect knowledge.
This means that all of the Bible can be counted on as being 100% pure, solid, God-truth with no errors and mistakes. The Bible tells us that all humans will only know in part with what knowledge we are able to gain down here on this earth. Thus every book you read from human authors will never be totally perfect in the knowledge that the author is trying to transmit to you.
However, since all of the Bible is coming direct to us from God Almighty Himself – then the Bible is the only Book that we have down here on this earth that is totally and completely perfect in the knowledge that it is trying to transmit to us.
This is why the Bible has the ability to change your life. No other book on this earth has the amount of wisdom and knowledge that this Book has – and this is all because this knowledge and wisdom is coming direct to us from God the Father Himself.
Now here are 4 very good verses from Scripture that are specifically telling us that every word that proceeds from the mouth of God is 100% pure, solid truth.
- “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He reprove you, and you be found a liar.” (Proverbs 30:5)
- “The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.” (Psalm 12:6)
- “For the word of the Lord is right, and all His work is done in truth. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.” (Psalm 33:4)
- “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” (John 17:17)
Notice the first verse says that the words that come from God are “pure” words. The last verse then says that all of God’s words are “truth.” Put these two verses together and you get that all of the words that come from God are “pure truth.”
Pure means 100% pure – which means that all of God’s words are pure, solid truth with no errors or mistakes. This is why the Word of God is also called infallible and inerrant. If the Bible says that a thing is so – then it is so – end of discussion. You can literally bank your life on it!
4. The Word of God Can Sanctify You
If all of the words of the Bible are 100% pure, solid truth – then this means that all of the words in the Bible have the supernatural ability to sanctify you, especially since all of the Bible has the anointing of the Holy Spirit Himself on the entire Book.
God’s ultimate and highest aim for all of us after we become saved and born again is to sanctify us, to transform us, to mold and shape us into the express image of His Son Jesus. It is the job of the Holy Spirit to start this molding, transforming, and sanctifying work in us after we get saved.
However, the Holy Spirit needs something to work with in order to get this transformation process kicked into full gear – and that something is knowledge. God wants you to have full knowledge on exactly what it is He wants to change about you before He really starts to move you into this sanctification process with Him.
And where do you get the knowledge that will get God to start this sanctification process within you? From the Bible! There is no other book that we can learn and study from that will give us the direct knowledge that we will need from God the Father to get Him to start this sanctification process within us.
It’s the Word and the Spirit working together in a believer’s life that will get God to start working full force in their life so He can change them into the kind of person He really wants them to become in Him.
Here are several powerful verses from Scripture specifically telling us all of this. The first two verses will tell you that God can literally sanctify you by His Word.
- “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” (John 17:17)
- ” … that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:26)
- “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You, O Lord! Teach me Your statutes.” (Psalm 119:9-12)
- “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.” (John 15:3)
- ” … and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” (James 1:21)
- “For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.” (1 Thessalonians 2:13)
Notice the last verse says that the Word of God can “effectively work in you.” This means when you start reading and studying the Bible in order to gain more knowledge about God – it will start to effectively work in you so you can start to change into the person God will want you to become in Him.
Just think of the power this Book has to dramatically change and transform the quality of your entire life. True inner happiness and fulfillment can only be found on the inside of your being, not on the outside with material things and possessions.
Hollywood is living proof that money, fame, and notoriety will not buy you true inner happiness. There are many in Hollywood who truly have what they think is “all” – yet they are miserable, unhappy, depressed, and go from one shrink to another – all in an effort to try and find what is still missing in their lives and why they cannot seem to find true inner happiness with all of the earthly wealth they have accumulated.
The only way to find true inner happiness in this life is to become saved and born again through the shed Blood of Jesus Christ – and then enter into a dynamic personal relationship with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. From there, you are to start seeking after the knowledge about God and all of His ways by studying and reading the Bible on your own.
The personal relationship you will establish with God, and the knowledge that you will gain about God from reading and studying from the Bible is what will dramatically transform the quality of your life down here on this earth. Nothing else on this earth will do that for you!
5. The Word of God Will Give You Knowledge and Wisdom
The Bible tells us that we are to grow in the knowledge and ways of God. And the number one way in which we will grow in the knowledge of God is by reading and studying from the Bible.
There is no other way! If you do not seek to learn more about the Lord by studying from the Bible, then your spiritual growth in the Lord will stagnate and you will stop growing in Him.
There are no shortcuts to true spiritual growth in the Lord. You have to pay your dues, and those dues are that you have to gain and increase in knowledge about God and all of His ways before the Holy Spirit will start you on the road to true spiritual growth. And the only Book that will give you the knowledge that will cause true spiritual growth to occur in this life is the Bible.
And not only has God given us everything that we will ever need in this one Book – but He has also given us His Holy Spirit, whose main job is to “teach us all things” and to “guide us into all truth.”
Several verses I will list below will tell you that the Holy Spirit Himself will be the One who will personally open up the meaning of Scripture for you so that you can see the knowledge that God the Father is trying to transmit to you through this Holy Book!
This is a direct supernatural work that can be done for you by the Holy Spirit if you are willing to go into a seeking mode with Him when you study the Bible.
Here are several good verses telling us that the Word of God can impart true knowledge and wisdom to us, and that God does want us growing in the knowledge of Him, His Son, and His Holy Spirit.
- “… but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18)
- “And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.” (Luke 24:45)
- “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I have said to you.” (John 14:26)
- “However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth …” (John 16:13)
- Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31)
- “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another …” (Colossians 3:16)
- “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path … The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple … Direct my steps by Your word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me.” (Psalm 119:105, 130, 133)
- “My son, give attention to My words; incline your ear to My sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh.” (Proverbs 4:20)
All of the above verses are showing us how powerful the words that are coming direct from God and Jesus really are. The Word of God can truly change your life for the better – but only if you are willing to spend some good quality time seeking to understand what is in this most incredible Book.
6. The Word of God Will Stand Forever
The last thing you will really need to grasp on the power of the Word of God is that the Word of God will last and stand forever – both in this life and the next life to come, which will be heaven.
Here are 3 very good verses from Scripture telling us that the Word of God is not chained and that it will endure to all generations – both in this life and the next life to come, which means forever!
- “… for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained.” (2 Timothy 2:9)
- “Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven. Your faithfulness endures to all generations …” (Psalm 119:89)
- “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:8)
Not only will your study of Scripture profit you in this life, but it will also profit you in the next life to come – which will be heaven.
I personally believe that we still continue to study the Bible even when we all enter into heaven. I do not believe any one human can truly master the Bible in this lifetime. There is simply way too much knowledge, wisdom, and revelation that is contained in this one Book for any one human to be able to fully grasp all of it in this lifetime.
I believe that the Bible is like a treasure chest that has no bottom to it. And to think that all of this knowledge is contained in just one Book! Only a true God of the entire universe could have put this much knowledge and revelation into one Book.
Conclusion
I will leave you with one last thought. Each Christian must make their own personal decision on this. Once you have become saved and born again by accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior – you now have one of two choices to make.
You can either choose to press in and start seeking after God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit by spending regular quality time in the Bible to learn as much as you can about the Three of Them – or you can just leave well enough alone, figure you have as much of God as you will ever need in this life, and go on your merry way living for the world and the things of this world – never increasing your knowledge base about the Lord, and never really growing in the knowledge of God and all of His ways.
I am afraid most Christians in this day and age are taking the latter approach. Most Christians have either never read the Bible in its complete entirety, or have read very little of it in their own personal walks with the Lord.
This is one of the main reasons we have started up this website – to try and show everyone how much working knowledge there really is in the Bible, and how this knowledge can dramatically change and transform the quality of your life.
As I have shown you with all of the above Scripture verses, the Word of God is:
- Inspired, Infallible, and Inerrant
- Living, Powerful, and Anointed
- Pure, Solid Truth
- Sharper than Any Two-Edged Sword
- Can Spiritually Nourish Your Mind, Soul and Spirit
- Has the Ability to Sanctify and Cleanse You
- Has the Ability to Teach You, Guide You, and Direct Your Steps in this Life
- And Will Last and Stand Forever – Both in this Life and the Next Life to Come
What more can you ask for in one Book? Bottom line – there is simply no other book on our earth that has this amount of unlimited knowledge direct from God Himself. And it is all there for the taking for anyone who wants to dive in and take the journey.
The Word of God is of supreme importance in the life of the Christian, containing as it does God’s revelation of his Person, his will and his ways. The Word needs to be pored over, ingested into one’s mind and heart, meditated on, and acted upon. It is a unique and precious repository of spiritual truth and guidance and encouragement. There is no aspect of the life of the church or of the individual believer that should not be tied to a scriptural mooring and infused with biblical substance (2 Tim 3:16-17). The Bible is indeed ”a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Ps 119:105).
When Christians gather for corporate worship, it is logical that the Word of God should play a central and dominant role. For since worship involves focusing our thoughts and hearts and voices on the praise of God, in response to his self-revelation and his gracious saving initiative, we of course need that view of God which the Word gives us if our worship is to be “in truth” (John 4:23-24). Our worship can only duly honor God if it accurately reflects what he reveals about himself in his Word.
The Word Neglected
That said, the astounding observation has been made as to how little use is made of Scripture in the worship services of most evangelical churches. The irony of course is that those who claim most strongly to stand on the Bible have so little of it in their worship. While the sermon of course takes a prominent role in our services, even preaching consists mostly of talking about the Scriptures (often after reading just a very few verses). It must be said that liturgical groups (whether on the more liberal or the more conservative end of the spectrum theologically) have probably ten times as much actual Scripture in their services (because it is built into their liturgies) as most evangelical free churches!
In too many of our churches the entire first part of the service consists just of music, and no Scripture is read at all. This author has experienced this often in both traditional and contemporary services: the problem is pervasive. It would seem crucially important for people in a service, believers and unbelievers, to hear (and/or see printed in a bulletin or flashed on a screen) verses of Scripture chosen to give a clear signal that: “We have come to worship God. The Word is how we know about God, and therefore it is the foundation for all that we do here and for our understanding of why we have come together.” Without hearing such a declaration, worshipers make the faulty assumption (consciously or unconsciously) that we invite ourselves into God’s presence, when in actuality it is only by virtue of his invitation (and his opening the way through the work of Christ) that we may come before him at all.
As James White puts it, “the first step toward making our worship more biblical is in giving the reading of God’s Word a central role in Christian worship on any occasion” (“Making Our Worship More Biblical,” Perkins Journal 34:38). We simply cannot overstate the importance of Scripture for our worship. By all means, let us be as creative as possible in building in Scripture (verses on banners or projected onto a screen as people enter, verses on the bulletin cover, readers’ theater, children reciting verses, original Scripture songs, etc), but let us make sure that the primacy of the Word in worship is obvious throughout the entire service—not just during the sermon. As White adds: Scripture is read, not just for a sermon text, but to hear what word God addresses to the gathered congregation. Preaching usually builds on that but Scripture is read for its own sake as God’s Word . . . . It needs to be communicated to all that the centrality of Scripture stems from its functions as proclamation of God’s Word to the gathered people (38).
In Scripture we find the prerequisites for worship, the invitation to worship, the authority for worship, the material for worship, the regulation of our worship, the message of worship, and the end to which worship should lead.
The Word and the Prerequisites for Worship.
The Word of God helps to bring us to the point where our approach to God in worship is possible: it teaches us that we are dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1); it reveals that God has provided for redemption, forgiveness, and eternal life through the work of Jesus Christ; and it presents the opportunity to come by faith into a right relationship with the Father. “The washing of water with the Word” (Ephesians 5:26) provides the spiritual cleanliness which God requires for us to be able to enter confidently into his presence (Ps 15:1-2; Heb 10:19-22; 12:18-24).
The Word as the Inviter to Worship.
God has done everything to make our approach in worship possible, and in his Word he extends the invitation (yea, command) to draw near. The Old Testament book of worship, the Psalter, is replete with calls to “praise the Lord!” (Hebrew: hallelujah). As the Danish hymn (text by Thomas Kingo, 1634-1703), puts it: We come, invited by your Word, To kneel before your altar, Lord.
The Word as the Authority for Worship.
The fact of the matter is that every aspect of the service should serve to reflect and honor the Word of God. The sermon (and the preacher) must be subservient to the Word: the Word must guide and control the preacher’s thoughts and words if the sermon is to communicate God’s message and not just the ideas of man. But also the music must be subservient to the Word: the texts must reflect and express biblical truth, and the music itself must be a suitable medium to carry the text; the musician(s) must also be subservient to the Word in terms of motivation and execution of the music. In addition, prayers and readings must be consistent with biblical teaching, if not actually taken from Scripture. As John MacArthur has put it, “If we are to worship in truth and the Word of God is truth, we must worship out of our understanding of the Word of God” (The Ultimate Priority, 122-23).
The Word as the Material for Worship.
Gary Furr and Milburn Price have suggested a number of ways in which the revelation of the Word can be communicated in the service, besides the ser- mon: Scripture readings of all sorts, music (setting Scripture texts, and also faithfully presenting scrip- tural truth in paraphrased or freely composed form), symbols (fish, cross, stained glass, etc.), carefully used drama (The Dialogue of Worship, 8- 15). When Scripture and scriptural truth are perva- sive in the service, then the acts of response will properly be understood as response to God’s self- revelation through His Word.
The Word as the Regulator of Worship.
Worship must be guided and channeled by truth, i.e. be in accordance with what God has revealed about Himself and His ways (and, as John 4:25-26 shows, must be through the Son, the Messiah, who is the truth [John 15:6]). As Furr and Price state: “This is the perfect blend: emotion regulated by understanding, enthusiasm directed by the Word of God” (125).
The Word and the Message of Worship.
Preaching is part of worship, and leads to worship. Indeed, John Piper calls preaching “expository exultation” and adds: “The all-pervasive, all- important, all-surpassing reality in every text is God. Whether he is commanding or warning or promising or teaching he is there. And where he is, he is always supreme. And where he is supreme he will be worshiped” (“Preaching as Worship”).
The Word and the End of Worship.
The Word should rightly be exalted in our worship (because it is the Word of God), but not as an end in itself. For the ultimate goal of worship (as of the church and of our lives as believers) is to display and pro- claim and magnify the glory of God. The glory of God will be well served in our worship as the Word speaks of the wonders of his person and his ways through reading, preaching, praying, singing, meditating, and practicing ordinances which are infused with and reflective of scriptural truth. The Word will enable us to obey its own command to “praise him according to his excellent greatness” (Ps 150:2).
Because God so graciously communicates to His church through His Word, the Word should hold special relevance for every aspect of church life. This includes every aspect of worship services, including song selection.
The list of songs about God’s Word below* might be useful for your church worship services to help God’s people receive God’s Word or respond to it.
This list includes a diverse batch of songs for different preferences—some fast, some slow, some older hymns, some contemporary worship songs. Some songs are more singable than others as well; i.e. some are well-suited for congregational singing, while others are more appropriate for a soloist or performance by worship team.
My hope is that God would use these songs to plant His Word deep in the hearts and lives of those who hear them. (Email readers may have to click this link to listen to songs.)
1. Speak, O Lord
By Keith and Kristyn Getty
Sample Lyrics:
Speak, O Lord, as we come to You
To receive the food of Your Holy Word.
Take Your truth, plant it deep in us;
Shape and fashion us in Your likeness,
That the light of Christ might be seen today
In our acts of love and our deeds of faith.
Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in us
All Your purposes for Your glory.
Complete lyrics
2. Show us Christ
By Bob Kauflin and Doug Plank, performed by Sovereign Grace Music
Sample Lyrics:
Prepare our hearts, O God
Help us to receive
Break the hard and stony ground
Help our unbelief
Plant Your Word down deep in us
Cause it to bear fruit
Open up our ears to hear
Lead us in Your truth
CHORUS
Show us Christ, show us Christ
O God, reveal Your glory
Through the preaching of Your Word
Until every heart confesses Christ is Lord
View complete lyrics and download guitar charts, lead sheets, and translations (Dutch, German, Spanish)
3. Word of God Speak
By Bart Millard and Pete Kipley of MercyMe
Sample Lyrics:
Word of God speak
Would You pour down like rain
Washing my eyes to see
Your majesty
To be still and know
That You’re in this place
Please let me stay and rest
In Your holiness
Word of God speak
Complete Lyrics
4. Ancient Words
By Lynn Deshazo
Sample Lyrics:
Holy words long preserved
For our walk in this world
They resound with God’s own heart
Oh, let the ancient words impart
Words of Life, words of Hope
Give us strength, help us cope
In this world, where e’er we roam
Ancient words will guide us home
Chorus
Ancient words ever true
Changing me and changing you
We have come with open hearts
Oh, let the ancient words impart
Read complete lyrics
5. How Firm a Foundation
Anonymous
Sample Lyrics:
How firm a foundation you saints of the Lord,
is laid for your faith in his excellent Word!
What more can he say than to you he has said,
to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?
Complete Lyrics
6. Every Promise
By Keith Getty and Stuart Townsend
Sample Lyrics:
From the breaking of the dawn to the setting of the sun,
I will stand on ev’ry promise of Your Word.
Words of power, strong to save, that will never pass away,
I will stand on ev’ry promise of Your Word.
For Your covenant is sure,
And on this I am secure—
I can stand on ev’ry promise of Your Word.
When I stumble and I sin, condemnation pressing in,
I will stand on ev’ry promise of Your Word.
You are faithful to forgive that in freedom I might live,
So I stand on ev’ry promise of Your Word.
Guilt to innocence restored,
You remember sins no more—
So I’ll stand on ev’ry promise of Your Word.
Complete Lyrics
7. Thy Word
By Amy Grant
Sample Lyrics:
Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet
And a light unto my path
Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet
And a light unto my path
When I feel afraid, think I’ve lost my way
Still You’re there right beside me
Nothing will I fear as long as you are near
Please be near me to the end
Complete Lyrics
8. Your Words of Life
By Pat and Joel Sczebel of Sovereign Grace
Sample Lyrics:
As we gather, come and teach us
Spirit, come and speak today
You delight to lead and guide us
It’s Your Word that lights the way
CHORUS
So come awaken our hearts
Illumine our minds, magnify Jesus Christ
Come, renewing our faith
Changing our lives
With Your words of life
Complete Lyrics
9. God Has Spoken By His Prophets
By George W. Briggs
Sample Lyrics:
God has spoken by the prophets,
Spoken the unchanging Word;
Each from age to age proclaiming
God the One, the righteous Lord!
’Mid the world’s despair and turmoil
One firm anchor holding fast:
God eternal reigns forever,
God the first and God the last.
God has spoken by Christ Jesus,
Christ, the everlasting Son,
Brightness of the Father’s glory,
With the Father ever one;
Spoken by the Word incarnate,
God of God ere time was born;
Light of light, to earth descending,
Christ as God in human form.
Complete Lyrics
10. Your Word Will Be The Last Word (Tommy Walker)
By Tommy Walker
Sample lyrics:
Your word will be the last word
Your promises will stand forevermore
Man’s thoughts and plans,
They will come to an end but
Your word will be the last word
Your word says I’m forgiven
Your covenant says You will always be with me
Though some may scoff and write me off
Your word will be the last word
Complete Lyrics
11. Living Word
By Jeremy Camp
Sample Lyrics:
In this life there is one guarantee
This broken world will only leave me empty
But there’s a life that healed my heart
And it holds firm when I’m falling apart
I will stand on the truth
In the living word of God
‘Cause every time it moves my soul and shapes my every thought
It’s alive in me, the very breath I breathe
I’m holding on with all I’ve got to the living word,
The living word of God
The living word of God
Complete Lyrics
12. The Word of God Has Spoken
By Travis Cottrell
Sample Lyrics:
In the beginning was the word
And the word was God
The word became flesh
And dwelled among us
And we have seen your glory
Like the rising of the sun
You have conqued all our darkness
The battle has been won
The word of God has spoken
We are changed forever
Power of sin is broken we are free
We are running to salvation
We have been delivered
The word of God has spoken we are free
Complete Lyrics
13. Standing on the Promises of God
Hymn by R. Kelso Carter
Standing on the promises of Christ my King,
Through eternal ages let His praises ring,
Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
Standing on the promises of God.
Standing, standing,
Standing on the promises of God my Savior;
Standing, standing,
I’m standing on the promises of God.
Complete lyrics
14. Word of God
By Andi Rozier and Benton Brown (Vertical Church Band)
The Word of God is
Light in my darkness
Hope for the hopeless, strong and true
The Word of God is
Strength for the weary
A shield for those who trust in You
A shield for those who trust in You
Complete Lyrics
15. Will You Not Listen
By Michael Card
Sample Lyrics:
Will you not listen?
Why won’t you listen?
God has spoken love to us
Why will you not listen?
Listen to the sacred silence
Listen to the Holy Word
Listen as He speaks through living
Parables that must be heard
Complete Lyrics
Bonus: Your Words
By Third Day
Sample Lyrics:
Let me hear Your words
Above all other voices
Above all the distractions in this world
Let me hear Your words
Above all of the voices
Above all the distractions in this world
For Your words bring life
And Your voice speaks promises
Lord, Your love offers more
Than anything else in this world
Your words give us life that’s never ending
Your words bring us love that never fails
Everything else will fade away
But what will remain
Are Your words
Bonus: Wonderful Words Of Life by P. P. Bliss (1874)
Sample Lyrics:
Sing them over again to me / Wonderful words of life / Let me more of their beauty see / Wonderful words of life / Words of life and beauty / Teach me faith and duty.
Related Post: 10 Artists with Worship Albums Based on the Psalms
*Disclaimer: This should go without saying, but including these songs is not an endorsement of everything said or done by represented artists.
Fr. Silouan Benedict
The emphasis on the Word of God is of the Highest
Order in the Orthodox Church. Whether it is the
Matins, or the Vespers, or the prayer of the hours,
the Divine Liturgy etc, the entire Liturgical Cycle of
the Church is completely based on the Word of God. We
actually consume the very Word of God in the Holy
Mysteries during the Divine liturgy.
At every Liturgy, the Priest prepares the sermon first
by reading the writings of the Holy Fathers. He prays
long before the Liturgy as well, and also learns to
practically apply the sermon. This is the sermon I am
used to preaching. In Essence, there will be no
effective sermon without understanding what the Holy
Fathers meant about the passage that is explained. Not
using the Holy Fathers when understanding Holy
Scriptures is like saying, “I know
everything,” and there is nothing more dangerous
to your soul than that kind of an attitude.
The Word of God is expected to be lived and we all
ought to put on Holy Scriptures like we put on Clothes
for different occasions, so should we put on the word
of God into our hearts on all different occasions. St.
John Chrysostom Says that, “The Holy Scriptures
were not given to us that we should enclose them in
books, but that we should engrave them upon our
hearts.”
Read the word of God in synergy with prayer. I mean to
say that you should combine reading the word of God
like prayer. I always tell people, “Learn from
the crow!” The crow puts its beak into water,
takes a little water, lifts its beak up and then looks
to the sky and swallows the water. In the same way,
read a little, think a little and then pray a little.
The Epistle of Hebrews 4:12 tells us 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. When you
combine the Word of God with prayer, it is even more
powerful, because you are acting on the word of God,
and not just reading it. You must ponder on the Word
of God. You must listen attentively with all your
senses. Listen to what St. John Chrysostom says on
what Prayer does to us: “The potency of prayer
hath subdued the strength of fire; it hath bridled the
rage of lions, hushed anarchy to rest, extinguished
wars, appeased the elements, expelled demons, burst
the chains of death, expanded the gates of heaven,
assuaged diseases, repelled frauds, rescued cities
from destruction, stayed the sun in its course, and
arrested the progress of the thunderbolt.”
I have also noticed that one can actively read the
word of God with all our senses, especially the
singing or chanting of Psalms, which are pearls of
wisdom, spiritual diamonds; and when you chant them,
use the Sign of the Cross and anoint yourselves as
often as you can—especially when you say
“Lord,” and in this you will notice that
even your body is praying. Do it from your heart, not
just outwardly.
Point everything in the word of God to yourself. What
I intend to say is: Do not judge your brother or
sister through the word of God that is read or spoken,
rather point the word of God to yourself. The only
person who needs to change is I, Me, and Myself. Let
the Word of God sink into you so that you think about
how to change yourself. Only then will you bear fruit.
The Word of God acts gently within your soul. God
transforms us through his word, so it is very
necessary to allow the Word of God to sink into you.
And the right interpretation of the Word of God has to
sink within you, not the word of God spoken by
heretics and schismatics. The Orthodox Church helps
you to know the Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing but
the Truth. That is why the Orthodox way of knowing
Holy Scriptures are important.
Next, the revelation of the Word of God to us is the
work of the Holy Spirit. The Lord tells us in John
16:13-15: When the Spirit of truth comes, he will
guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on
his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will
declare to you the things that are to come. He will
glorify me, because he will take what is mine and
declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine.
For this reason I said that he will take what is mine
and declare it to you”. St. Ambrose of
Milan says, “(The Holy Spirit) speaks the truth,
He breathes wisdom. He does not speak without the
Father, for He is the Spirit of God. He does not hear
from Himself, for all things are of
God…Therefore what the Spirit says is the
Son’s, what the Son has given is the
Father’s. So neither the Son nor the Spirit
speaks anything of Himself.” It is necessary for
us to understand that we cannot believe in our own
private interpretation. The Word of God is the Book of
the Orthodox Church. Without the Orthodox Church,
there is no right understanding and right experience
of the Word of God. What the Word of God means, what
it intends to say, what is the background and right
context is ONLY revealed in the Orthodox Church. There
is no other way. The fullness of Christ can only be
experienced in the Orthodox Church.
Last but not the least: Without Holy Tradition, your
understanding of Holy Scriptures is never complete.
Fr. Georges Florovsky expresses this idea:
“Tradition is the witness of the Spirit; the
Spirit’s unceasing revelation and preaching of
good things… To accept and understand Tradition
we must live within the Church, we must be conscious
of the grace-giving presence of the Lord in it; we
must feel the breath of the Holy [Spirit] in
it…. Tradition is not only a protective,
conservative principle; it is, primarily, the
principle of growth and regeneration….
Tradition is the constant abiding of the Spirit and
not only the memory of words” (Sobornost:
the Catholicity of the Church, in the Church of
God, pp. 64-5). To an Orthodox Christian,
Tradition means the Holy Bible; it means the Creed; it
means the decrees of the Ecumenical Councils and the
writings of the Fathers; it means the Canons, the
Service Books, the Holy Icons, etc. In essence, it
means the whole system of doctrine, ecclesiastical
government, worship and art that Orthodoxy has
articulated over the ages (Timothy Ware, The
Orthodox Church, p.204). This is the Beauty of
Orthodoxy!
To all people who believe in private interpretation of
Holy Scripture: You are treading a dangerous path, you are
walking on a path that will lead to confusion/darkness of
the mind. None of us can dare to say that we know Christ
more than His Holy Mother, the Theotokos; none of us can
also say that we know Christ more than his Holy Apostles,
none of us similarly can also evidence that we know Christ
more than those who followed him closely, i.e., the Holy
Fathers/ Saints of the Church. If you ignore the
instruction of the Mother of God, if you ignore the
instruction of the Holy Apostles and if you ignore the
instructions of the Holy Fathers, you are going nowhere,
you are only going down the path of confusion/darkness of
the mind. If your excuse is that where you live, there is
no Orthodox Church, you can first learn to walk the path
that leads you to Orthodoxy, then become Orthodox, and God
will help you to establish the True Faith. There is no
excuse in 2015 that anyone in the world can have to not
know the Orthodox Faith. But if you have not heard about
the Orthodox Faith, then it is possibly not your fault.
But if you have read this article you have heard about it,
it is time for you to dig and understand. This is the only
Church that Christ established. I am encouraging you in
love: Let not your excuse be your unwillingness to walk
towards the Truth. If God is your number one priority then
you must take the effort to discover Orthodoxy. Do not
seek entertainment in Church, do not be lazy in your heart
towards knowing and experiencing the truth, do not be
hardhearted and hard-headed, do not be cold towards God.
You are the best judges of yourselves. I have enclosed a
link for your further reading and may God help you
all.
I will end with the words of the Elder Leonid of Optina.
“If you would be simple-hearted like the Apostles,
would not conceal your human shortcomings, would not
pretend to be especially pious, if you would walk free
from hypocrisy, then that is the path. While it is easy,
not everyone can find it or understand it. This path is
the shortest way to salvation and attracts the grace of
God. Unpretentiousness, guilelessness, frankness of
soul—this is what is pleasing to the Lord, Who is
lowly of heart. Except ye become like children, ye shall
not enter into the Kingdom of God (Mt. 18:13).”
- For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
- All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
- Your word is a lamp for my feet,
a light on my path. - Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
- How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word. - He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
- The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever. - As for God, his way is perfect:
The Lord’s word is flawless;
he shields all who take refuge in him. - Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
- Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
- Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.
- The unfolding of your words gives light;
it gives understanding to the simple. - Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
- In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
- For the word of the Lord is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does. - Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.
- In God, whose word I praise—
in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me? - Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.
- For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. - To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
- Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
- You are my refuge and my shield;
I have put my hope in your word. - He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
- So is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. - You make your saving help my shield,
and your right hand sustains me;
your help has made me great.
You provide a broad path for my feet,
so that my ankles do not give way.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
Bible verse of the day
Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Random Bible Verse
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
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