Rhema: The Spoken Word

When Jesus answered the tempter with “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God,” the Greek behind “word” is rhema: the word as spoken, warm from the mouth. It is one of two great New Testament words for the word of God, alongside logos.

noun, neuter.

Rhema is a Greek word for a spoken word, a saying, an utterance. In the New Testament it often names God’s word at the moment it is spoken and heard.

A fair warning before the definitions: some popular teaching draws a hard line between logos as the written word and rhema as a personal, spoken word for you. The New Testament itself is looser than that. The two words overlap constantly, and no verse builds a doctrine on the difference. Hold the distinction lightly.

What rhema genuinely emphasizes is the word in the act of being spoken and heard. Faith, Paul says, cometh by hearing, and hearing by the rhema of God. The sword of the Spirit in Ephesians 6 is the rhema of God: Scripture spoken into the moment of battle, the way Jesus wielded Deuteronomy in the wilderness.

Mary’s reply to the angel is the posture this word invites: “be it unto me according to thy word.” God speaks; the servant answers. Reading Scripture until a verse becomes the prayer you actually pray is rhema doing its ordinary, remarkable work.