Scripture Study Course Reflections by Don Schwager

Hebrews 4:12 (ESV translation)

A living and active word of God

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

1. What do you think the author of the Letter to the Hebrews meant when he said that the word of God [in Scripture] is living and active (Hebrews 4:12)? Living implies that it is not a dead letter - it is alive because the Holy Spirit has inspired the human authors and revealed what God wanted to speak through them, and the Holy Spirit continues to make this word come alive today everyone who reads it as God's word for them. Is the word of God living and active in my personal life?
   
   
   
2. How is this passage similar to Jesus’ words in John’s Gospel: The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life (John 6:63)?

 
3. Why do you think this passage from Hebrews uses the image of a two-edged sword to describe the word of God? 

 
4. How can the word of God pierce/reveal and discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart?

 
5. Can you think of a similar passage that describes God’s word as a sword that pierces the soul? When the infant Jesus was first presented in the Temple at Jerusalem, Simeon prophesied to Mary that a sword will pierce through your own soul also, so that [the secret] thoughts from many hearts may be revealed (Luke 2:35). 

 
6. Are you ready to let the word of God speak into your personal life and reveal to you the inner thoughts and intentions of your heart? How might that bring deeper healing, freedom, and strength to say yes to what God offers you and wants you to do for him?

Ephesians 6:17 (ESV translation)

Wielding the Sword of the Spirit

Ephesians 6:17 Take the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.

1. Paul the Apostle describes the sword of the Spirit (which is the Word of God) as a key part of our protective spiritual armor. How might the Lord want me to wield the sword of the Spirit in my personal life today? 

 
2. Am I ready to take up the sword of the Spirit in my battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil (1 John 2:15-16; James 4:7)?