The New Testament Greek writers used one of two words in referring to the Word or words of God: logos or rhema. It is helpful to know the difference and what they each reveal about how God communicates to the Christian believer. Our book, Can I Really Hear God? includes a chapter just on this subject. The following is an excerpt from that chapter, entitled The Difference Between God’s Word and God’s Word.

Some people believe that “God’s Word” always refers to the written scriptures. The New Testament writers used two words to refer to the words that come to us from God. One word is logos, and refers to teaching. It comes from the primary root lego (yes, as in the building blocks for kids) which means to lay forth in words by a systematic discourse, to build line upon line. Logos describes teaching, whether written, as in the Bible, or spoken. It is education.

God gave logos teaching (about Himself and His laws) by speaking it first to Moses and the prophets, who later recorded it in written form. Jesus gave the crowds of listeners logos teaching.

The second word used in the New Testament is rhema, which means an utterance, something spoken. It comes from a root word which means to flow or pour forth like water. Strong’s Dictionary defines rhema as “that which is or has been uttered by the living voice.”

Rhema refers to the personal words spoken in the ears of our spirit as it flows from the heart of God. This word is used in Matthew 4:4 when Jesus says, “Man does not live on bread alone but by every word (rhema) that comes from the mouth of God.” It is used in Luke 1:38 when Mary says, “Be it unto me according to your word (rhema), Lord,” referring to that thing the angel just told her from God.

In Ephesians 5:26 when it says that Jesus cleanses the church by the “washing with water through the word,” rhema is the Greek word employed, which verifies the concept of the personal words of God flowing to us, and how different this can be than just receiving his general teaching (logos).

Remember the sword of the Spirit we are to use against our spiritual enemies in Ephesians 6:18? Rhema. So our offensive weapon to use against the devil’s schemes is the personal instruction given us by the Holy Spirit. How many Christians have suffered because they pulled some verse out of the Bible to use against their spiritual enemy that may have been good and true, but totally inappropriate for the spiritual battle at hand?

The Bible is both logos and rhema. As it sits on your desk, it is logos, God’s teaching revelation to us all. But when you pick it up and read it under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and He quickens a certain verse to you, applying something personally to your life, it becomes rhema, a living utterance from God.

Logos is a word that might be true any time, like teaching about obedience to God. You could say it to a crowd and it would be appropriate for them all. But rhema is when God says, “You need to do this thing today.” It is personal and relevant for this specific moment and circumstances in your life. It might not be relevant any other day or time. Rhema is what flows from one person to another as a personal communication.

Logos is what God wants; rhema is what God wants of me. Logos is the right way to act; rhema is the right thing for me to do in this specific situation. Logos is education; rhema is revelation. We can explain the difference like this: a student may can go to school and be taught that it is right to serve in his community. That is education. But when his father says, “This weekend you need to do volunteer work at the public library,” then he has received revelation from “on high” (the authority over him) showing him when to specifically apply what he has been taught. And, as is the nature with all rhema (that which is uttered by a living voice), it comes with the expectation of a personal response.

Without revelation (wisdom and strategic information) we can misapply our education. In fact, education without revelation can get us in a lot of trouble, especially in our life with God, who is the invisible but supreme authority over our lives. This is clearly pictured in the sad but profound difference between a Pharisee and Jesus — both determined to uphold the Word of God.

Reading the Bible from cover to cover, you find things that seem to conflict. On one hand, you are told to love an enemy; on the other, to shun those who do not live according to God’s righteous laws. How do you know when to do what? That is what rhema is for. It is the personal instruction that flows from God’s Spirit to my spirit in the moment I need it.

Jesus once said His ministry was effective because, I only do what the Father says. Jesus judged or responded to everything by listening to the rhema words of His Father. Isaiah 11:2-4 promised, and Jesus verified (in John 8:15-16) that he would judge nothing by what he saw or heard with his physical eyes and ears.

How much more should we seek the Father’s wisdom – if the very Son of God did so?

People marveled at Jesus. He had the same scriptures the Pharisees did, but when he applied them, it was obvious he did so with stunning wisdom and true authority. He obviously sought the counsel — the rhema — of the Holy Spirit at every turn.

For instance, when the woman caught in the act of adultery was brought before Jesus, if he had only gone by the logos word of his father He would have stoned her with the rest of the crowd. Certainly he was the only one without sin in the crowd who had a right to do so, yet he did not. In this case the Holy Spirit counseled him to say something that effectively judged the sin of the whole crowd, not just the woman, which was the most righteous thing to do in that moment.

God knows how to balance perfect love and justice; we do not. He alone knows the truth and motivation of every heart present, knows the end from the beginning of a situation. It is only through hearing His voice that we will be truly like Him and understand how to walk wisely by His Word in this world.

To summarize, logos is teaching; rhema is personal counseling.

Logos is teaching; rhema is personal counseling. Logos is right for everyone; it is a truth like two plus two equals four. Rhema is right for me, and takes into account all the factors in my life and other lives touching mine right now. When Jesus stood on the hillside and taught, He gave forth the logos of God. When He personally took Peter aside and counseled him, it was His personal rhema.

The Bible tells us everything we need to know about God, about how to be saved, what the kingdom of God is like. The Bible is God’s logos truth to all of us. It does not tell a person who to marry, what job to take, where to go to school, how to care for their body or how to pray for a specific person or situation. For all these things…for understanding the personal path God wants to lead you on in finding your life with Him, you need God’s personal rhema, the revelation of His will for you. When you are at a crossroads in your life, you have His promise that:

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

Isaiah 30:21 (NIV)

We all need to know this voice to walk the personal path of abundant life Jesus promised us.

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