The Eternal Word That Unlocks God’s Promise for All
When we turn to the Scriptures, we are faced with the need to carefully discern what they reveal and what they point toward. The text itself makes clear that the Word of God is not to be confused with the writings in isolation but with the living message they bear witness to. What follows lays out how the Bible itself defines and distinguishes this Word—showing that its meaning, origin, and power become evident once we let the Scriptures speak on their own terms.
Correctly dividing the Word of Truth.
❗Jesus clarifies that Scriptures testify about Him, the source of life.
📖 John 5:39-40
You search the SCRIPTURES because you think that in them you have eternal life; and yet it is THEY THAT TESTIFY ABOUT ME; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.
❗A clear distinction between the Word and the Scriptures.
📖 Acts 17:11-12
Now these Jews were MORE NOBLE than those in Thessalonica; they RECEIVED THE WORD with all eagerness, EXAMINING THE SCRIPTURES daily to see if these things were so. Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men.
❗Paul himself made clear that THIS WORD the Bereans searched for was the Gospel.
📖 Acts 17:18
He was preaching THE GOOD NEWS about Jesus and the resurrection.
❗Paul made it clear that the Gospel—THIS WORD—comes directly from the OLD TESTAMENT, the Law of Moses and the Prophets.
📖 Acts 28:23
He solemnly testified about the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus FROM THE LAW OF MOSES AND THE PROPHETS.
❗In light of these distinctions, to 'rightly handle the Word of Truth' means to cut and make straight this truth, demanding precise identification of what THIS 'Word of Truth' truly is.
📖 2 Timothy 2:15
Do your best to present yourself to God AS ONE APPROVED, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, RIGHTLY HANDLING THE WORD OF TRUTH.
❗This "WORD OF TRUTH" is defined by Scripture itself as the Gospel.
📖 Ephesians 1:13
In him you also, when you heard THE WORD OF TRUTH, THE GOSPEL of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
📖 Colossians 1:5
because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in THE WORD OF TRUTH, THE GOSPEL,
❗This specific 'Word of Truth,' the Gospel, comes exclusively from God's mouth and demands serious seeking to be understood.
📖 Proverbs 2:3-6
Furthermore, IF YOU CALL OUT to insight and lift your voice to understanding, IF YOU SEEK it like silver and search for it LIKE HIDDEN TREASURE, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; FROM HIS MOUTH COME KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING.
❗All words from God's mouth are clear to those who understand.
📖 Proverbs 8:8-9
ALL THE WORDS FROM MY MOUTH are righteous; none of them are deceptive or perverse. ALL OF THEM ARE CLEAR to the understanding, and right to those who discover knowledge.
❗Mark’s Gospel reveals THE TRUE BEGINNING OF THIS WORD—the Gospel from Isaiah—proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God, the living embodiment of God’s eternal and unchanging message.
📖 Mark 1:1-3
THE BEGINNING OF THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, just as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, I am sending My messenger before You, Who will prepare Your way; The voice of one calling out in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight!’”
❗Isaiah declares that THIS WORD—the Gospel—proceeds directly from God’s mouth, initiating the clearing and straightening of the way for the Lord, marking the true beginning of the Gospel message.
📖 Isaiah 40:3-5
The voice of one calling out, “Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. “Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the uneven ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, And ALL FLESH WILL SEE IT TOGETHER; FOR THE MOUTH OF THE LORD HAS SPOKEN.”
❗Peter clarifies that the enduring 'Word of God' he presents is precisely 'THIS WORD' which 'is the GOOD NEWS' (the Gospel).
📖 1 Peter 1:23-25
since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding WORD OF GOD; for 'All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass; the grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.' And THIS WORD is the GOOD NEWS that was preached to you.
❗Mark’s Gospel reveals that THIS WORD—the Gospel—begins with Isaiah’s divine proclamation. Peter confirms that THIS WORD in Isaiah is the living, eternal Good News preached to all.
📖 Isaiah 40:8-9
The grass withers, the flowers fade, but THE WORD OF OUR GOD remains forever." Zion, HERALD OF GOOD NEWS, go up on a high mountain. Jerusalem, HERALD OF GOOD NEWS, raise your voice loudly. Raise it, do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah, "Here is your God!"
❗Another distinctive of THIS WORD (the Gospel) is its ancient origin: having been declared and understood 'from the beginning' and 'from the foundations of the earth'.
📖 Isaiah 40:21
Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you FROM THE BEGINNING? Have you not understood FROM THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH?
❗A further distinctive of THIS WORD (the Gospel) is its unfailing fulfillment of God's purpose, declaring the end from the beginning and guaranteeing His ultimate will.
📖 Isaiah 46:10
DECLARING THE END FROM THE BEGINNING and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I WILL ACCOMPLISH ALL MY PURPOSE.’
❗Yet another distinctive of THIS WORD' (the Gospel) is its guaranteed power to accomplish God's purpose, because it proceeds directly from His mouth.
📖 Isaiah 55:11
So shall MY WORD BE THAT GOES OUT FROM MY MOUTH; it shall not return to me empty, but IT SHALL ACCOMPLISH THAT WHICH I PURPOSE, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
❗These distinctives culminate in Isaiah 45:20-24—the definitive, divine proclamation of THIS WORD—the Gospel that proceeds irrevocably from God's own mouth, secured by His unchangeable, dispute-ending oath, and commanding universal allegiance from all creation. THIS IS THE GOSPEL.
📖 Isaiah 45:20-24
“Gather yourselves and come; Come together, you survivors of the nations! THEY HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE, Who carry around their wooden idol And PRAY TO A GOD WHO CANNOT SAVE. [21] “Declare and PRESENT YOUR CASE; Indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this long ago? WHO HAS LONG SINCE DECLARED IT? Is it not I, the Lord? And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and A SAVIOR; There is none except Me. [22] “Turn to Me and be saved, ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH; For I am God, and there is no other. [23] “I have sworn by Myself; THE WORD HAS GONE OUT FROM MY MOUTH in righteousness And will not turn back, That to Me EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, EVERY TONGUE WILL SWEAR ALLEGIANCE. They will say of Me, ‘Only in the Lord are righteousness and strength.’”
❗The absolute certainty of THIS WORD (the Gospel) is guaranteed by God's oath, which the New Testament clarifies as decisively ending all dispute and proving His unchanging purpose.
📖 Hebrews 6:13, 16-18
For when God made a promise... HE SWORE BY HIMSELF... for confirmation, AN OATH ENDS EVERY DISPUTE... God desired to show more convincingly... THE UNCHANGEABLE CHARACTER OF HIS PURPOSE, he guaranteed it with an oath.
❗The ultimate and irrefutable culmination of THIS WORD (the Gospel)—which is a hidden treasure, clear, eternal, purposeful, and secured by a dispute-ending sworn oath—is its personal embodiment in Jesus Christ, who became flesh.
📖 John 1:1 and 14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... And THE WORD BECAME FLESH and dwelt among us.
❗The ultimate triumph of THIS WORD culminates in God's supreme exaltation of Jesus, bestowing upon Him the name above every name, and signifying His singular and exclusive authority.
📖 Philippians 2:9-11
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him THE NAME THAT IS ABOVE EVERY NAME, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and EVERY TONGUE CONFESS that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
❗This culminates perfectly in the ultimate truth: Jesus Christ, who received the name above every name, is uniquely identified as 'The Word of God,' precisely because He, and He alone, perfectly embodies THIS WORD—the hidden treasure, clear, eternal, purposeful, and secured by an unchangeable, dispute-ending oath.
📖 Revelation 19:13
He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and THE NAME BY WHICH HE IS CALLED IS THE WORD OF GOD.
❗The restoration of all things will fulfill what God has sworn and spoken from the beginning.
📖 Acts 3:21
Heaven must receive him until the time of the RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS, which God spoke about through his holy prophets FROM THE BEGINNING.
📖 Psalm 145:9,14
The LORD is good to all, And His mercies are over ALL His works. [14] The LORD sustains ALL who fall And raises up ALL who are bowed down.
📖 Luke 2:10
But the angel said to them, "DON'T BE AFRAID, for look, I proclaim to you GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY that will be for ALL PEOPLE.”
❗I have just one question for you—one that you cannot avoid, because God Himself has sworn it: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SOMEONE CONFESSES THAT JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD?
📖 1 John 4:14-15
And we have seen and we TESTIFY that the Father has sent his Son as THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD. WHOEVER CONFESSES THAT JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD-GOD REMAINS IN HIM AND HE IN GOD.
📖 1 Timothy 4:9-11
This is a TRUSTWORTHY SAYING AND DESERVES FULL ACCEPTANCE.
For this reason, we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, WHO IS THE SAVIOR OF ALL PEOPLE, especially of those who believe. COMMAND AND TEACH THESE THINGS.
📖 Titus 2:11,15
For the grace of God has appeared, BRINGING SALVATION FOR ALL PEOPLE, [15] PROCLAIM THESE THINGS; encourage and rebuke with all authority. LET NO ONE DISREGARD YOU.
📖 Habakkuk 2:14
For THE EARTH WILL BE FILLED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD'S GLORY, as the water covers the sea.
📖 Isaiah 25:6-8
Now the Lord of armies will prepare a lavish banquet for ALL PEOPLES on this mountain; A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, And refined, aged wine. And on this mountain He will destroy the covering which is over ALL PEOPLES, The veil which is stretched over ALL NATIONS. He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord God will wipe tears away from ALL FACES, And He will remove the disgrace of His people from all the earth; FOR THE LORD HAS SPOKEN.
📖 Luke 3:6
And ALL FLESH shall see the SALVATION OF GOD.