Replies

The Word is not some-THING but some-BODY.

Both actually.

Passages using logos (note to Greek students: I am using the uninflected forms of the terms intentionally, just to keep things simple):

Joh 1:1-4 In the beginning was the Word [logos], and the Word [logos] was with God, and the Word [logos] was God. (2) The same was in the beginning with God. (3) All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (4) In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

So we see here clearly Jesus as the personal Logos, and must acknowledge that He is, in that sense, the Word. But in Greek, the term Logos has a wide semantic range. In Greek philosophical discussion, the Logos was the rational principle underlying the orderliness of the universe, and we can see John using this to reach his Hellenized audience with the truth of Jesus as the intelligent creator and upholder of the physical order, as also confirmed by the writer of Hebrews:

Heb 1:1-3 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, (2) Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; (3) Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word [rhema] of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

But in the passage above, note that he uses "rhema," not "logos," to describe the upholding word of Jesus the Creator.

Act 11:1 And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word [logos] of God.

In the passage above, the most natural sense of logos is the Apostolic preaching of the Gospel, though one could argue, hypothetically, that it refers exclusively to Jesus as the Word. But where Jesus is the Word, the context will draw that connection for us, as in John 1:1. But without that, the inclination must be to some spoken word, as here:

1Th 2:13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word [logos] of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word [logos] of men, but as it is in truth, the word [logos] of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

In the passage above, the word is one which was heard by the Thessalonians, not the word of men, and therefore clearly the Apostolic message of the Gospel, for what else could contrast so well with the powerless word of men?

Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word [logos] is truth.

And here in John, Jesus is saying the word of God is truth, and that this word of truth from God is what will set His disciples apart as holy unto God. One can read a dual meaning into this, but neither is one compelled to see this strictly as Jesus the Word, but more naturally the word of God as a communication of truth.

1Ti 4:4-5 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: (5) For it is sanctified by the word [logos] of God and prayer.

In the passage above, logos is clearly describing the pronouncements of God concerning food being clean, as we know is the case from the vision of Peter concerning the Gentiles. In any event, Paul is plainly speaking not of Jesus as the logos, but some communication from God on a specific subject matter.

Rev 1:1-3 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: (2) Who bare record of the word [logos] of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. (3) Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

In the passage above, John is describing two distinct things, the word of God as logos, and the testimony of Jesus. Therefore again we see that making such a distinction is Scripturally valid.

Col 1:25-26 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word [logos] of God; (26) Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

In the passage above, Paul cannot be said to fulfill Jesus Himself. That statement makes no sense. Jesus isn't some "thing" to be fulfilled. But the word of God, in speaking of the hidden mystery of the church to come, most certainly is a "thing," and can and has been fulfilled in the manifestation of the body of Christ in history.

Heb 4:11-13 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. (12) For the word [logos] of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (13) Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

As explained by others here, this logos is that which convicts and exposes every secret thought of those who would follow Christ, which is objectively true of God's written word, even if one rejects it, because the truth of it casts a bright light into every dark corner of the heart. Some react to this with revulsion, seeking to hide again in darkness. Others who do truth come out into the open light of it, that their "deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." John 3:21

Joh 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

And here is the grand link between the Logos as Christ and the logos as the word of God. It is the word of God which testifies to the Word of God. To take one half of that and leave the other, no matter which half, is to venture into serious error. The word of God, the Bible, without Jesus, is just an empty collection of words. But trying to have Jesus the Logos, apart from the God-breathed Scriptures, is an exercise in futile subjectivism, the wordless Word, that can say nothing definite, and mean nothing definite, to anyone.

Finally, there are other passages which speak of God's word, not as "logos," but as "rhema," which in general appear to mean about the same thing, as is evident from their use in the passages below:

Heb 6:4-6 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, (5) And have tasted the good word [rhema] of God, and the powers of the world to come, (6) If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

And ...

Mat 4:3-4 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. (4) But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word [rhema] that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

In the passage above, a multiplcity of words of God, yet only one Logos as Christ. The one being true does not make the other untrue. They are both true, together.

Eph 6:16-18 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. (17) And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word [rhema] of God: (18) Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

The bottom line? Trying to separate God the Son from the word of Scripture inspired by God the Holy Spirit is like trying to separate the two sides of a single coin. Whatever you end up with will be two useless pieces of worthless junk, and not the coin of the realm as designed by the King.

Peace,

SR