Logos and Rhema

In the Greek language, there are two words which are translated into the English language as “word”; they are λογος (logos) and ρηεμα (rhema). Logos means constant word, and rhema means instant word. The written word in the Bible is logos, while the spoken word is called rhema. So what’s the big deal?

Many people like to quote Matthew 4:4 when encouraging others to read the Bible. It says, “But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God.”

Well, it is not wrong to quote this verse in this way. But we need to realize that the word here is rhema, not logos. This clearly does not mean to simply read the Bible every day is enough; because the written word by itself is useless.

I’m not saying that we should not read the Bible. We need to read the Bible. But the logos we read have to become the rhema to us.

A boy may have met an accident and were about to die. His mother quickly opened the Bible and happened to turn to John 11:4: “This sickness is not unto death.” So his mother felt peaceful and rejoiced. But later when her son died, she may say that the word of God is not true. This is because the word she read was merely the logos, it was not the word spoken to her at that instance.

Another popular verse that is often quoted is John 6:63: “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” The word here is rhema. It is not the logos that gives life, but the rhema.

However, this does not mean that we do not need to read the Bible. The logos is still important because rhema comes from logos. If you do not have the word of God in you, the Lord could not speak to you.

Lastly, in Ephesians 5:25 Paul spoke of the cleansing of the church in the washing of the water in the word. The word here is also rhema. How can the church be built up today? It is not by knowledge or by any practices. It is by the cleansing of the living word of the Lord.

The whole matter of our growth depends on our attitude towards life and rhema. The growth of the church also depends upon the word which the Lord speaks. If we see this, every day we will pray, “Lord, give me today’s rhema, speak to me this day.”

If we read the Bible solely for knowledge and are satisfied with knowledge and doctrines, we are finished. May the Lord be merciful and gracious to us! For true growth depends upon our receiving of the word directly from God.

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Some instances in the New Testament when believers experienced rhema:
1. Peter remembered the word of the Lord after denying Him (Mark 14:72).
2. Mary heard the word of prophecy spoken by the angel (Luke 1:38).
3. Simeon seeing the Lord Jesus (Luke 2:29).
4. The word of God came to John (Luke 3:2).
5. Peter receiving the Lord's word in letting the nets down (Luke 5:5).
6. The women who went to find the Lord in the tomb remembered His word (Luke 24:8).
7. Peter remembered the word of the Lord in Cornelius' house (Acts 11:16).