The Word of God: Not Just the Bible

So I'll start with the Word of God.

He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God."
- Revelation 19:12b-13 (NKJV)

'Have you been reading the word of god?', 'Have you been in the word lately?' These are just a few of the statements I've heard in my time at various churches. I'm not quite sure where the practice originated, or why the phrase 'word of god' has become synonymous in the evangelical church with the bible, but it is something that has spread across nearly every church I have been to.
I remember in my childhood we never used to call it the word, it was always scripture or the bible. There was always something special about those pages. In Sunday school we were called to memorize key verses, to read everyday, to base our whole life around studying, and knowing the scriptures in the event that we need to preach out to our friends who don't know Christ. As I grew older in the church I was ushered into the bible study, and the small group. Meetings designed to once again instill within me scripture, and give me tools to use it against my unbelieving friends or acquiantances.
Somewhere along the way, we lost the picture. Somewhere, we forgot the whole purpose of scripture. A tool that God gave us through divine inspiration has now become a god, an idol. The scriptures were never intended for us to base our whole lives around. Now before you throw this down calling it heresy, hear me out. Scripture is given by God. It is a great and wonderful gift God has given us. And in the second letter to Timothy, Paul writes:

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
- 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NKJV)

It is clear that Scripture is good, and useful, but scripture is a gift, a tool. This also means that scripture can be used to deal great damage when not used correctly. It is just like teaching, can you not teach people incorrectly, or lead them astray? Even unknowingly! Just because something is good, does not mean that Satan can not use it either. Lets take a look at Jesus in the wilderness when Satan came to him even with Scripture as a weapon. There in that place

Satan tells Jesus, "If You really are the Son of God then throw Yourself down. As it is written:
In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone."

Jesus replies with his own scripture, "You shall not tempt the Lord your God."

The attack is diffused, and I want to highlight something momentarily. Satan omited a very important peace of the psalm he was quoting from. Psalm 91:11 begins with Angels being given charge to protect for the purpose of keeping you in God's ways. Jesus didn't argue Scripture with Satan, he didn't fix the incompleteness of the quote. He simply responded with truth, but We'll get into that at a later time.

Scripture as we see in this illustration was used for both good and evil. It begins to make me question what I see as a key belief in church today. As shown in my early years, scripture was crammed in my brain, even the songs and hymns were straight from scripture. And it all goes to reinforce why we did this. We have been and still are under the delusion that Scripture will make someone good. Merely feeding a person Scripture makes someone know and understand godliness, and become a godly person. This belief can't be more far from the truth, yet we still insist on making Scripture the highest focus in our teachings.
I've begun to ask questions in churches that I attend, though I've found this subject can quickly become a soft spot for people. Pastors and teachers who have based their whole life on studying the Scripture or as I've heard from their mouths "the word of God" have a particularly hard time when the scriptures are called into question as a foundation for faith. Let me be to the point. Scripture is not a foundation of faith, nor is it required to believe in Christ, or to follow him. Much like I said above, this doesn't mean I don't believe Scripture has its use, or is not good. What we've seen in the church is the idea that the bible is necessary for a lasting relationship with God. I want to break this law of bondage on the people of the church. If we go back to 2 Timothy we can see what God directly reveals to his people as intended uses for Scripture: correction, reproof, instruction, completion, and doctrine. This list of uses needs no interpretation it's a pointed statement showing that Scripture is a tool. It is useful for these things, but we also can not forget that it is useful for the destruction of the soul and for tempting people as shown above.
Why do pastors and teachers feel so strongly about the bible? Why is it that they will call you out as a heretic or say you are teaching false doctrine when the bible is suggested as not a requirement for every christian? I find that it can only be because they have allowed this tool to overwhelm their lives. Their whole entire faith is based around holding a good interpretation of the Scriptures and being knowledgeable in them. In essence, the Bible has replaced the voice of God. It is quite scary to think about, though I believe we have all, at one point in our lives come to the place where we hold something God has given us as more important than God himself. It is an easy trap that Satan bates us with. We easily become too focused on the actual gift, allowing it to control our lives. This is the setting we have now. Churches with good Christians who read their Bible everyday, go to church every Sunday morning, but who for some reason, have no significant life change.
This begs the question, if the Bible by itself was powerful enough to change a persons life, why do we have Sunday churchgoers who read and study religiously but show no sign of change. Why can unbelievers read, or hear Scripture and not change? I'm reminded of a verse about the Pharisees.

You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they that testify of Me but you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
- John 5:39-40 (NKJV)

This is a frightening contrast! The Pharisees, scholars of their culture knew a lot, they studied a lot, and they taught the people about God and the Law. But Jesus calls them out for what they are, saying that they have missed the point of scripture, Himself. We have digressed back to the same place, searching the scriptures for the right doctrines, the right knowledge, and the right things to say and do, that we leave Jesus on the roadside. I believe we have replaced the Holy Spirit in the trinity with the Bible, elevating it to deity status. I say this because Ive heard people in the church say that the bible is Jesus.
From a purely spiritual standpoint I find this absolutely absurd. No where in Scripture does Scripture claim for itself to be deity. This misconception has been spread through and through, based on the association of Scripture as 'The Word of God.' As soon as this started becoming prominent in the church people started seeing verses such as the opening verse to this chapter, claiming that because scripture is the Word of God, then it must also be Jesus and they must be interchangeable. This only feeds into exactly the same misbelief that the pharisees were criticized by Jesus for.
The Scriptures in themselves hold no redemption, there is no union to God through the Scripture. Jesus is the only way, the only truth, and the only life. He makes this abundantly clear to us that we can not enter eternal life any other way.
You may be left feeling wary of scripture and it may seem like something to stay away from, but surely Paul would not have written the things he did if we were supposed to stay away from the good things that are written in Scripture. Let us go back and ask a question, What is the difference between how Jesus uses scripture in the desert and how Satan uses it? They both realize the importance of Scripture and the power it holds, but Jesus understands that Scripture is best used when guided by the Holy Spirit. Satan on the otherhand realizes that Scripture is best used, in a bad sense, as a replacement for the Holy Spirit. He beckons Jesus to trust the words of Scripture, albeit unfinished, rather than what the Spirit convicts him of. To use Scripture effectively we must do so through the Holy Spirit. This isn't anything new to us though. If we are to effectively use any gift or tool that God has given us don't we need to do so in the Holy Spirit? If we try to operate outside of the Holy Spirit we are going to make a disaster and Satan will do everything he can to twist and destroy.
My intention is not that you will stop reading Scripture, or stop studying it. I would rather each person realize that without the Spirit it is ineffective, that if we promote scripture as a law we feed into pharisaism. I want people to see that if we keep refering to Scripture as 'the word of God' it dilutes and confuses both Jesus' name and the things the Holy Spirit is attempting to give to us.
So now that we've established what current culture determines the 'word of God' is, we need to establish what scripture uses to indicate the word of god. The first idea I'm drawn to is that one of Jesus' names is "The Word of God" as seen in Revelation, but this is not the only reference. We get a good idea in many different books of the bible as to what the word of God references. Often it is simply referring to a message that God gives us, and other times it is a specific and intelligent thing as seen in Hebrews:

For the word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, as is a dicerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
- Hebrews 4:12-13 (NKJV)

It becomes increasingly clear that the word of God is a reference to Jesus himself. A word of God, the embodiment of Gods voice. Isn't this what Jesus is? He is God's Message to his people, a declaration of love. This is once again backed up by our original verse. What's awesome is how we begin to see the interaction between the trinity when we begin to understand Jesus as the message. In 1 Corinthians 2:6-15, Paul begins to elaborate on how the Holy Spirit reveals the message to each of us. He clearly states that without the Spirit we can not know God, or the things of God. It is critical that we grasp this. Without the Holy Spirit we can not understand the meanings of scripture, just as the pharisees did not understand the message contained within their holy texts. But don't forget! Scripture is not the primary way we hear the message conveyed through the Spirit, we hear it most through direct interaction with God, and with godly people around us. I'm reminded of Jesus' life, how often does Scripture depiect him studying and reading scriptures? We don't see him do this, maybe it's because texts weren't available like they are today, but I have an inclination that it's also because Jesus understood what was close to God's heart. Intimacy in meditation and prayer. Seeking the Spirit in all things, and seeking where it was moving next.
We must overcome the struggle of putting the Scriptures before God. Becoming once again grounded in faith in the Holy Spirit to guide us, and teach us individually and corporately. We can not hope to show the love Jesus held for the world as the pharisees did, and continuing to do this will lead in more destroyed lives than we can imagine. We are being called out to recieve God's Word wherever it is being proclaimed, not merely in the scriptures. And be ready to send it back out.