In his book, Rooted, Banning Liebscher says:
Jesus made a tremendous promise in John 15:7. He said, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” Asking what you desire and seeing God do it for you is called faith. Faith gets an answer from God. But faith is connected to something—the words of Christ abiding in you. What does that mean? If we take a look at the original language, we find that the Greek word translated “words” is rhema, which means “that which is or has been uttered by the living voice.”*1 The words of Jesus include what He has said and what He is saying. The word “abide” is the Greek word meno¯, which means “to be held, kept, continually.”*2 Putting this all together, we see that the realm of faith is accessed first by drawing close to Jesus and hearing Him—for faith comes by hearing (see Romans 10:17)—both through what He has spoken in Scripture and through what He is speaking today. [1]
He adds:
I think we are to do more than just pray “over” things. I think we should use Christ’s rhema—both what He has said and is saying—to pray about them. I don’t pray over my finances, children, nation, and future; I pray what He has said about my finances, children, nation, and future.[2]
This idea of “rhema” as a distinct and different translation of “word” from “logos” is significant within Word of Faith/Prosperity thinking. For example, Kenneth Copeland writes:
The Greek word logos is the written Word of God. We learn, grow and are instructed through reading His Word. But maybe you’ve experienced this—a situation arises, and you know you need a word from the Lord. So, you go to the Bible and flip through the pages searching for the answer, but you can’t seem to find the word that fits your situation. That’s when you need a rhema word.
The Greek word rhema is a quickened, specific word from the Holy Spirit directly to you. It will help you see a single scripture in a whole new light and apply it to your life. It will tell you exactly how to respond to your specific circumstance. It will bring a small correction to your life that will change your entire situation almost instantly. A rhema word is designed to guide you and impart life to you.
One small rhema from the Lord has great power and can accomplish amazing things. If you’re facing a situation today and you need an answer on how to handle it, it’s time to ask God for a rhema word. Even if you aren’t looking for a specific answer, a rhema word from God will propel you forward in your faith like nothing else! Here is a prayer to receive a rhema word from God you can pray in faith. [3]
Now, the first and most important thing to know about the rhema/logos distinction is that there isn’t one, not in terms of a theology defining way. It is true that words may have subtle differences and an overlapping semantic range which broadens meaning. However, this does not give us permission to treat words like this as meaning two completely different things.
So, what we might see in terms of the semantic range is that rhema’s emphasis is on individual utterances, the meaning of logos extends to include the whole revelation of God so that Christ is the logos in John 1. However, what we see is that usage overlaps: For example, in both Matthew 5:37 and Matthew 12:36 there is reference to a word spoken meaning a specific individual utterance, in the second instance, the Greek work is rhema but in the first instance, it is logos.
In Ephesians 6:17, Paul says that “the sword of the Spirit” is “the word, or rhema of God.” The context here where other parts of the armour are listed as truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace and salvation, points us away from treating rhema here as individual utterances but as a similarly holistic entity. Lincoln suggests that the aim is to focus our attention specifically on the Gospel noting that Romans 10:17, “faith comes from hearing the word” also uses rhema where the reference is clearly to the Gospel. We might observe that in the end all elements of the armour of God, both defensive and offensive boil down to the Gospel. The defensive aspect is that the Gospel believed and remembered protects, the Gospel proclaimed takes us on the offensive against the Devil.
This is important because Liebscher misunderstands Romans 10:17, ripping it from its context. The question being asked at the start of this section is concerning the salvation of Israel (10:1) and so Paul insists that salvation requires preaching, the proclamation of the Gospel (10:14) so that they might believe in their hearts, confess Jesus as Lord and so be saved (10:9). Liebscher incorrectly treats “faith” here as being faith for specific answers to prayer and particular to prosperity. Rhema becomes specific promises and words from God that we must hold onto in faith and believe in if they are to come to pass.
“But it’s not enough to just hear the Lord’s words; we must carry them. We must hold and keep His words at all times and allow them to abide in us. Carrying His words is what shapes our desires and our prayers so we get answers from God. Carrying His words is what gives us access to faith.*[4]
We should be seriously concerned about the link between rhema and Word of Faith Theology/Prosperity Gospel. Furthermore, there are two other challenges. First there was a tendency in the 20th Century, following Karl Barth to think of the Bible as containing God’s Word as opposed to being God’s Word. There is a risk that Scripture becomes a source book and loses its life as God’s actual Word when we think like that. Rhema theology takes us down the same line.
Secondly, Liebscher’s treatment of rhema sits in the context of Danny Silk’s argument that teachers are there not to teach God’s Word, Scripture but rather to teach the words of modern day apostles and prophets
The Rhema theology coming through in Liebscher’s teaching is concerning because it places too high a weight on individual words, moving them to a place of infallibility and plays into the legalistic/mechanistic approach of Prosperity teaching. It is also dangerous because it undermines Scripture and indeed gives permission to the loose and destructive approach we see in Liebscher’s own teaching where verses are plundered out of context and used contrary to their actual meaning to serve his argument.
There is one final and particularly disturbing concern though. It should distress and grieve us, dare I say it should anger us with righteous anger when someone takes Scripture that is specifically about the wonder of the Gospel and makes it about something else.
[1] Liebscher, Banning. Rooted: The Hidden Places Where God Develops You (p. 121). PRH Christian Publishing. Kindle Edition.
[2] Liebscher, Banning. Rooted: The Hidden Places Where God Develops You (p. 123). PRH Christian Publishing. Kindle Edition.
[3] A Prayer To Receive a Rhema Word From God | Kenneth Copeland Ministries
[4] Liebscher, Banning. Rooted: The Hidden Places Where God Develops You (p. 122). PRH Christian Publishing. Kindle Edition.
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