If you read through the above definitions for the Greek words “logos” and “rhema,” you will likely notice two things:Ģ.
so far forth as it is a matter of narration subject matter of speech, thing spoken ofĪ. a saying of any sort as a message, a narrative
a series of words joined together into a sentence (a declaration of one’s mind made in words) any sound produced by the voice and having definite meaningĬ. that which is or has been uttered by the living voice, thing spoken, wordĪ. In John, denotes the essential Word of God, Jesus Christ, the personal wisdom and power in union with God, his minister in creation and government of the universe, the cause of all the world’s life both physical and ethical, which for the procurement of man’s salvation put on human nature in the person of Jesus the Messiah, the second person in the Godhead, and shone forth conspicuously from His words and deeds. answer or explanation in reference to judgmentĮ. reason, the mental faculty of thinking, meditating, reasoning, calculatingĭ. the thing spoken of or talked about event, deedĪ. matter under discussion, thing spoken of, affair, a matter in dispute, case, suit at law
anything reported in speech a narration, narrativeį. a continuous speaking discourse – instructionĮ. the faculty of speech, skill and practice in speaking what is declared, a thought, declaration, aphorism, a weighty saying, a dictum, a maxim Old Testament prophecy given by the prophets a word, uttered by a living voice, embodies a conception or idea Please note that all of what follows is based on the presupposition that God’s written Word, the Bible, is the only authoritative source for hearing from God (cross ref. This has sparked my desire to know for myself if there is such a difference between these two Greek words, and if there is, what this difference might be. Within the past year I have had the supposed difference between “logos” and “rhema” brought up again, this time by people outside of the “Word of Faith” camp. Anyway, that’s a blog post for another day. This is toxic theology as it places us in a position of controlling God, but in the Bible we clearly see that God is completely in control of everything from Genesis to Revelation, completely apart from man giving God permission to act in God’s creation (as if we could give God such “permission”). This sovereignty of God is completely incompatible with “Word of Faith” doctrine, which states that God is limited by what we allow Him to do with our words. On a side note, if you are involved in or have bought into the teaching of the “Word of Faith” movement, I strongly urge you to read all of God’s Word for yourself, from beginning to end, and see how completely sovereign God is over all things. When I left the “Word of Faith” movement, I also gave up on many things I heard in it that did not seem to be Scripturally sound, including this supposed difference between “logos” and “rhema.” every part of the Christian life is a gift of God, initiated and brought to fruition by His grace). As time progressed and I read the Bible through, I became more and more disillusioned with the “Word of Faith” movement and became convinced of the doctrines of grace (i.e. The appeal to the original Greek language was also appealing to me as it seemed to give validity to this teaching. At the time I was experiencing God in ways I hadn’t before and was drinking in most any teaching that claimed anything from Scripture. Is there a difference between these words?īack in my days in a “Word of Faith” church, I heard the teaching that there is a difference between the Greek word “logos,” supposedly the written Word of God, and the Greek word “rhema,” supposedly the spoken word of God.