Man Shall Not Live By Bread Alone

Man Shall Not live By Bread Alone Man’s basic spiritual problem is not believing the integrity of the Word of God. Very few people believe that the Word of God is accurate, that it means what it says and that it says what it means. Thus man is in a constant dilemma in his quest for truth; he has no touchstone for truth because he will not go to The Word and study its integrity and accuracy. In Matthew 4:4 the Word of God declares, ...It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Notice the words “out of the mouth of God.” God has been attributed a human characteristic, but God does not have a mouth. Again the figure of speech is condescensio , the Holy Spirit’s marking for emphasis. Man cannot sustain himself solely on a diet of physical food; he needs his food supplemented by every word that comes from God. Man cannot live by words that come from men, from different wri- ters, from different theologians or from different church groups, but by words that come from God. Man does need physical food for the maintenance of his physical body. But a man has more than just his physical body to care for. A man’s soul needs nourishment also. Man’s soul cannot be sustained by mashed potatoes, gravy and steak. Matthew 4:4 declares that man shall live not only by bread “but by every word....” He needs not just a word here and a word there; not one verse here and another verse there; “but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” The Word of God is that food required by man so that he may renew his mind and thereby manifest the more abundant life. Spiritual weakness and spiritual inability can be due only to an improper diet, that is, the neglect of the Word of God. For the most part, spiritual anemia caused by the neglect of the Word of God may today be attributed to the fact that the Bible is not understood when read. The Bible is not understood because we have never been taught how to understand it.