The Living and Active Word of God Is Our Only Hope for Changed Hearts
So we’ve just heard Hebrews Chapter 4 verses 12 and 13 — and these are astonishing verses!
They conclude the section from Chapter 3 verse 6 to Chapter 4 verse 11, and they set up a new section in verse 14 through Chapter 5 — and in this way, verses 12 and 13 are like a bridge. If you use a highlighter in your Bible, these are two verses to highlight.
I want you to imagine, if you can, that verses 12 and 13 are standing off the page in 3D and they’re linking together the verses that come before and after it, and every reader of Hebrews has to cross this bridge. This bridge is the only way into town! Nobody gets from Chapter 4 verse 11 to Chapter 4 verse 14 without going over this bridge, and that’s why verses 12 and 13 are the only verses we’re looking at today.
We’re gonna look at just these two verses and we’re gonna see two life-changing truths about the word of God, and I mean it literally when I say “life-changing.” These are truths that make all the difference in our lives and I can’t wait to show you this. But first let’s pray.
Father, thank you for your word and its power. By your Spirit, send out your word this morning and accomplish all that you will, in Jesus’s name, amen.
Here’s the first truth:
1) The word of God is living and active like God himself.
The first thing to see here is the first part of that first sentence in verse 12. Everybody look at verse 12, at those first nine words. Try to read this with me:
“For the word of God is living and active.”
The big question right away is: What is “the word of God” that the writer of Hebrews is talking about?
That phrase, “the word of God,” is used four times in this book in a pretty tight amount of space. The only other book in the New Testament where this phrase shows up as many times as it does here is in the Book of Acts — the phrase “word of God” is used 12 times there; if we count “the word of the Lord” that’s used another nine times in Acts.
So like in the Book of Acts, the “word of God” and its activity is important in the Book of Hebrews, but what does the writer have in mind when he says the “word of God”?
What Is “the Word of God”?
In the immediate context, he’s at least talking about the Old Testament passage he quoted in Chapter 3 verse 7. Glance back to 3:7 and see that long quote from Psalm 95. Remember that the writer starts that quote by saying, “as the Holy Spirit says” (the “to say” is present active). We could translate that “as the Holy Spirit is saying…” So, Chapter 3 verse 6-7:
“We are God’s house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit is saying …” [then he quotes Psalm 95, and then in his exposition of Psalm 95 he quotes certain parts of Psalm 95 four more times.]
So without a doubt Psalm 95 is in the writer’s mind (and in our minds) when he says the “word of God.” He is referring to Psalm 95 but he’s not only referring Psalm 95. He’s not even just talking about the Old Testament, but I think when the writer of Hebrews says “the word of God” he means both the Old Testament and the apostles’ teaching, which is what becomes the New Testament.
Remember what Chapter 1 tells us: Jesus has come; God has now spoken to us through his Son, which doesn’t mean that God has spoken two different words. It doesn’t mean that the Old Testament is one word from God and now the message of Jesus is another, but together God has given us one unified word. The Hebrew Scriptures that point to Jesus and the announcement of Jesus preached by the apostles are one word. The Old Testament and the New Testament are one message from God about Jesus and that’s why it’s both biblically warranted and theologically correct to call this book the word of God.
And you’ve probably heard that before. If you’ve been around church, it’s almost churchy jargon to call the Bible the “word of God,” but do we really know what that means? Do we know what we’re saying when we call this book the word of God?
In this book, in these words, through actual language, we have God’s word spoken to us. We read this book and we can perceive the mind of God. This book is what the Holy Spirit is saying. The word of God is living and active.
The Extension of Himself
And it makes sense to us that the word of God is living and active when we remember that God himself is living and active, and God’s word is always, as it were, an extension of himself. That’s true of language in general.
And we know what this is like. If you’ve spent any significant amount of time with young children you especially know what this is like. Have you ever noticed how exhausting it can be to spend a solid chunk of time with a three-year-old? Well here’s one reasons it’s exhausting. It’s because you are constantly speaking directives: don’t touch that, put that back, come over here, get out of the bathroom, eat your lunch, stay in your seat, quit changing your clothes.
You speak a lot of words one-way, and every time you speak it’s an extension of yourself. You expend energy in your words. In a way, when you speak you’re constantly committing yourself. You have to stand behind what you say. And if you keep doing that for a long stretch of time you’re gonna get tired. It’s verbal action.
Speaking is an extension of ourselves, and as parents, it’s an extension of our authority, because here’s the thing: if little Ruthie disobeys what I say — [and just so you know, she never does because she’s perfect; she’s our best kid and all the other kids know it] — but just pretend: if little Ruthie disobeys what I say, she actually disobeys me.
This is how it is with words. We see this right away in the Bible.
God gave Adam and Eve a spoken command, he gave them words, and when they disobeyed God’s word they disobeyed God.
The word of God is an extension of God himself. It is God’s verbal action. And because God himself is living and active, his word is living and active.
Which means this: because the Bible is the word of God, what the Bible says, God says. God is actively speaking through this book in such a way that to receive and listen to the words of this book is to receive and listen to God himself. That’s astonishing!
Trusting God’s Word Is Trusting God
It means, for example, that when you read a promise from God in the Bible, when you trust in that promise you are trusting in God.
Take Matthew 28:20. We say it every Sunday in our commission. It’s an amazing promise from Jesus. After he commissions us to make disciples, he says:
“Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Now that’s a promise to us from Jesus, and we read that promise — we hear that promise — in words, in human language. And when we hear those words and trust in those words, we are trusting in Jesus himself. He stands behind his words. They are the living activity of him. And that goes for the whole Bible, for all it’s promises and warnings and wisdom and narratives. The word of God is living and active like God himself.
The Action of Preaching
And there are so many implications here! This really does shape how we live as Christians and how we worship together, like what’s happening right now.
We call this thing I’m doing right now a sermon. It’s the action of preaching. And the reason we preach the Bible, and not just stuff we make up, is because we believe that speaking and explaining the text of Scripture — speaking and explaining these words here on this page — is speaking and explaining what God is saying.
That’s why the sermon is the center of our liturgy. The preacher is delivering to you the word of God that is living and active. I’m not giving to you my thoughts or my opinions or my advice — that’s not my job. I’m a messenger, and in dependence upon the Holy Spirit, with this book being opened before us, we together, including me, in this moment, sit under and hear the word of God.
Like right now. God, by his Holy Spirit, is speaking through his book as I’m, with his help, trying to show you what it says. What this book says is what God is saying. The word of God is living and active like God himself.
And in particular that means something very important in Hebrews Chapter 4. This is the second and final big truth to see here.
2) The living and active word of God is our only hope of believing.
Look back at verse 12. Notice that it starts with the word “for” and that little conjunction, as we’ve seen before, is meant to be a grounds for what was said previously. It’s like saying “because.” What was said before verse 12 is because of what is said in verse 12.
So then what has the writer of Hebrews been saying before verse 12?
He says, verse 11,
“Let us [which includes both him and his readers] therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.”
Remember he’s still talking about Psalm 95. The idea of entering God’s rest means to receive God’s salvation. It’s to “be God’s house” (3:6) or to “share in Christ” (3:14). To rest in God is to be saved by God, and remember, as Pastor David Mathis showed us last week, the opportunity to enter God’s rest remains open. It’s available now. We can experience God’s salvation today!
And the way the writer of Hebrews makes that case is to show that the rest (or the salvation) that was offered in Joshua’s day was incomplete. Now Joshua led the people of Israel into the Promised Land, and he led in the conquests over their enemies, but how did that end up going for Israel? We know the story. It didn’t go well for them because they didn’t have faith.
How Will We Be Any Different?
I was just reading Psalm 78 this past week in our Bible reading plan. Psalm 78 is a reflection on Israel’s history and it just repeats their unbelief:
Psalm 78:22,
“They did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power”
Psalm 78:32,
“In spite of this [all of God’s provisions], they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe”
Psalm 78:42,
“They did not remember his power”
Psalm 78:56,
“They tested and rebelled against the Most High God…”
Everybody knows this about Israel’s history. It’s clear in the Old Testament. And the writer of Hebrews is saying: Yeah, Joshua did not give Israel lasting rest. His leadership was ultimately ineffectual, and so there remains a rest for us to enter. The salvation of God is available today! And therefore, let us strive to enter that rest! Don’t be unbelieving like Israel!
And I don’t know about you, but I’m reading this and I know how it went for Israel, I hear what he’s saying about Israel; so when he says in verse 11 to not be like Israel, I want to know HOW?
Israel failed to believe, and on what basis do we have any hope that our situation will be different from theirs? How do we know that we will not end up being faithless just like Israel was?
Verse 12 tells us.
It’s because the word of God is living and active, and in a particular way, and that way is described in verse 12 and 13 by a metaphor. And this metaphor is the message here. One commentator I read called these verses an absolute masterpiece. Look at this:
The Sharp, Two-Edged Scalpel
Hebrews 4:12,
“For the word of God is living and active [in what way exactly?], 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."
Now the main metaphor here is this sword; that’s the image. Everything else here is what this sword does. But the meaning of this sharp two-edged sword is really important, and it’s actually better translated as a sharp, two-edged knife.
Now in the Greek that word for sword or knife can be used in different ways. In some cases it means a big sword of judgment, but in other cases the same word means a small dagger or knife. In fact, in the Book of Joshua this same word is used to describe the knife that is used to perform circumcisions. They didn’t do circumcisions with a big sword. It was a small knife, and because it was really sharp on both sides, it was used as a scalpel.
And the image here of a scalpel actually fits with the way it’s described.
This ‘sword’ or this two-edged scalpel — what does it do? — it pierces or penetrates to “the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow.”
Now what does that sound like? This is a small knife that is meticulously cutting. What’s being described here?
This is a surgery. And it’s a delicate surgery.
That’s the point of mentioning this ‘division’ of soul and spirit, and joints and marrow. The idea is that they’re kind of all the same. They’re sorta inseparable. Or at least, it’s not easy for us to discern the differences between soul and spirit. We can’t look at a bone and see a clear dividing line between the bone and the bone marrow; you have to get into it — and what we can’t see, where we can’t go, the word of God can!
The word of God — the scalpel that is the word of God — can cut into the innermost parts of who we are. And that’s to say, the word of God can discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
The Circumcision of the Heart
That last line at the end of verse 12 that mentions the heart, that is meant to make this metaphor plain! The point is that the word of God reaches our hearts in ways nothing else can.
And that is good to know because, if you remember, our hearts are the problem. We saw that a couple weeks ago in Chapter 3 verse 12. The reason that Israel fell away from God, the reason they did not believe, is because they went astray in their hearts (Chapter 3 verse 9). It’s a hardened heart that leads to unbelief.
And so if we are going to end up differently than Israel, if we’re going to believe, then we need something — Someone — to work on our hearts. We need Someone to pierce through, to cut through, the hardness and layers and complexity of our hearts. Or, to use the biblical imagery, if we’re going to believe we need a heart surgery. We need a heart circumcision.
Which is what God promised, Deuteronomy 30, verse 6. Moses says, speaking of a future day:
"And Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live."
This is the promise of the New Covenant! Moses prophesied about it. Jeremiah and Ezekiel described it. God promised that one day in the future he would send his Spirit to effect in us what we can’t. He would remove our hearts of stone and give us hearts of flesh. God said he would give us new hearts that believe! Changed hearts!
And that’s what the writer of Hebrews is describing here.
Hebrews 4:12–13 is describing how God circumcises the heart, and it’s the only hope we have to not end up faithless like Israel.
How do we know that WE are going to be different?
How do we know that we’re going to believe when they didn’t?
Because the word of God circumcises our hearts!
Our Confession of Faith
That’s what makes us vulnerable and receptive to the word, which is what verse 13 is saying. No creature is hidden from “his sight” — and the “his” is speaking of God. So the writer has been talking about the word of God, and now he talks about God himself (because remember they’re closely related!) And God’s word, God’s own sight, sees all.
When the heart is circumcised the person is naked and exposed before God. This is a sensitive surgery. The word of God puts our hearts just out there in the open, laid bare before God. And then it’s God to whom we must give ‘account.’
And this is interesting. We saw the writer of Hebrews do this a couple weeks ago; that last word in verse 13 is the same as the first word in verse 12. Both are the words logos, which mean “word.” Verse 12 starts with God’s word and verse 13 ends with our word, or our account. And what’s implied here is our faith. Our account, or our word to God, after the work of his word on us, is to believe! We confess faith.
We actually see this in the Book of Acts. After Peter’s Pentecost sermon, Luke says of the crowd:
“Now when they heard this [that is, the gospel Peter preached] they were cut to the heart, and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” (Acts 2:37)
Their hearts were exposed, laid bare, circumcised — “and how should we respond?” they say. Peter says believe. After God’s word cuts into our hearts, we respond with the confession of faith!
This is how we’re not going to be like Israel. This is how we’re going to believe. God’s word cuts through to our hearts and makes us believe. That is the promise of the New Covenant, and that’s our only hope. And because that’s the case,
“Since then we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession” (Hebrews 4:14).
We’ll see that next week. This is about hope!
There are two life-changing truths in verses 12 and 13:
1) The word of God is living and active like God himself.
2) The living and active word of God is our only hope of believing.
Application: The Power of God’s Word
Now how exactly are these truths life-changing? What difference do they make?
Well, there’s a lot we could say, but I want to close by focusing on just one application, and I’m going to say it broadly to start with: in light of what we see here in Hebrews 4:12–13, we should truly appreciate the power of the word of God. We should honor and surrender to the power of God’s word.
To get more practical, that means, first, we should be thankful.
The only reason we’re here is the power of God’s word. We know that, right? God’s word has changed our hearts. And the power of his word is not just for our initial conversion, but it’s for our endurance. The living and active word of God continues to pierce the heart and be effective in us, and we should receive the word of God with that expectation. In our private worship at home and our corporate worship here, and everything in between, would we gratefully humble ourselves before the word of God!
Ancient words ever true,
changing me and changing you.
We have come with open hearts,
oh let the ancient words impart!
And then, lastly, when we truly appreciate the power of the word of God, that will shape our ministry of encouragement to one another.
We saw a couple weeks ago that we have a profound obligation as the church together. The means that God uses for us to endure in faith is our encouraging words to one another — and what do you think we should say to one another as that encouragement?
What better words could we say to one another than the words of God?
Look, this is not just a pastor thing. This is how we’re all called to live together, and I pray that God would do this in our church, that it would just be in the air of this place. That we would encourage one another by speaking the word of God to one another and see the power of God’s word do his work.
The word of God is living and active, and it’s our only hope of believing.
That’s what brings us to the Table.
The Table
At this Table, the bread and cup represent the body and blood of Jesus, and when we eat the bread and drink the cup, we are receiving Jesus by faith. We are receiving the Word of God in person, symbolizing our faith in him. And when we do that, it’s an evidence and declaration that God has given us new hearts.
And if that’s your story, if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we invite you to eat and drink with us.
Let us serve you.
