John Robert Stevens
A true disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ does not set a limit to his service or devotion
to his Master.†
- John Robert Stevens

The Beliefs of John Robert Stevens

Living Word

The concept of the living Word comes directly from Hebrews 4:12 and I Peter 1:23, which describe God’s Word as living. This can refer to both the Bible as the written Word of God, as well as the power or force of God’s spoken Word (Genesis 1:3). The reason to describe the Word of God as living is to explain that it is a real and tangible force in the life of the believer. To say that God’s Word is living distinguishes it from religious ideas and worldly philosophies that are empty concepts with no true power. I Thessalonians 2:13 states that the Word of God performs its work in those who believe.

Stevens believed that the purpose of the Bible is to reveal the Lord, and create Christ in the believer. In John 5:39, Jesus said that the Scriptures testified of Him. This is the way we should read the Bible: with faith to meet the Lord. In every Scripture that lives, you will find Christ. God wants His Word to live in the believer. In concert with the teaching on “Christ in You”, every believer is to be a “letter of Christ… known and read by all men” (II Corinthians 3:2-3). God’s Word is to be written “on our minds and on our hearts” (Hebrews 8:10). By relating to the Scriptures in this way, we not only read the Word, but we become it. God wants His Word to live in His believers.

I never said, “I’m going to read so many chapters a day and read them as a discipline.” I read until some Word came alive. Thy words were found and I did eat them. Jeremiah 15:16a, KJV. You have to understand that that’s the way the things happen to you. It isn’t what you learn; it’s what you become. You’re created by that Word …. One verse that comes alive to you—you could give yourself to it to find everything else would be added to you. It isn’t how much you read; it’s how much comes alive. And this is the key, because His Words are spirit and they are life, and you cannot be a person of spirit apart from that Word (John 6:63). I am not for the discipline of devotions. I’m for the search for that little Word that belongs to you today, and you hang onto it.1

See also, Speaking a Living Word.

Citations

1. Stevens, John Robert: “Our Spirits”, This Week, Vol. XIII, No. 23, pp. 17-18: Copyright © 1982 by The Living Word.*

References

Stevens, John Robert: “Seasoned with Salt”, This Week, Vol. XI, No. 39: The Living Word, 1980. 80070805R

Stevens, John Robert: “Lesson 40: The Living Word”, The First Principles: The Living Word, 1999; John Robert Stevens, 1958, 1970, 1977. 99091001R

Stevens, John Robert: “Accept Yourself as a Servant of the Lord”, And the Rain Came: John Robert Stevens, 1978. 77103107R

Stevens, John Robert: “The Apostolic Word—Accepted or Rejected”, This Week, July 18, 1976: John Robert Stevens, 1976. 76061601R

Stevens, John Robert: “Are You Aware of Him?”, This Week, Vol. XIII, No. 9: The Living Word, 1982. L8TW82XIII-09

Stevens, John Robert: “The Word Sounded Forth”, The Word: The Living Word, 1977. 77081501R

Stevens, John Robert: “We Kept His Word”, This Week, Vol. XII, No. 30: The Living Word, 1981. L8TW81XII-30

The term living Word appears 1,747 times in Stevens’ written materials.
The term Word of God appears 1,630 times in Stevens’ written materials.