When God's Word Goes to Waste
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
- Isaiah 55:10-11 (ESV)
Between the title of this piece and the above passage from Isaiah, it might seem that we have a contradiction on our hands. On the one hand, we have a title that implies that God’s word can go to waste. On the other hand, we have God himself declaring that his word is guaranteed to accomplish its assigned purpose, which certainly seems to indicate that it can’t possibly go to waste. So how are these two seemingly opposing ideas able to be reconciled?
First Things First
Making sense of this train of thought will require us to first step into the theological deep end for a moment and look at two distinctions in God’s will. We have what’s commonly known as God’s sovereign will (or decretive or secret will) and his revealed will (or preceptive will).
The idea of God’s sovereign will comes out of the reality that God is absolutely sovereign over all creation and in control at all times, “declaring the end from the beginning” (Isaiah 46:10). Stars burst into existence because he says so (Isaiah 40:26). Birds fall to the ground when he decides (Matthew 10:29). And he determines when and where every single human being will ever live on this planet (Acts 17:26). In other words, he has sovereignly ordained all things that come to pass.
On a human level, we discover God’s sovereign will only in hindsight. The one question that definitively captures all of the Lord’s sovereign decrees is this: Did it happen? If it happened—whatever it may be—then we can rest assured that it was part of his sovereign will. Scripture is brimming with illustrations of this magnificent and startling truth (Ephesians 1:11, Job 42:2, Proverbs 21:1, Daniel 4:35, Psalm 115:3).
Now, compared to his sovereign will, God’s revealed will is a much simpler concept to grasp. Essentially, his revealed will speaks to what he has revealed through his word about what is good and evil, what he loves and hates, and what we should do and should not do. His revealed will perfectly lines up with his holy, righteous, and unchanging nature. For example, the Lord’s revealed will shows us that we shouldn’t steal (Exodus 20:15), that we should love our enemies (Matthew 5:44), that the Lord hates the hands that shed innocent blood (Proverbs 6:17), and that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).
At this point, it’s worth noting that God’s revealed will can be violated, while his sovereign will can’t be.
These two layers of God’s will lay the necessary groundwork to handle our original dilemma. Only through these categories can we honestly and biblically affirm the puzzling reality that it’s both impossible and possible for God’s word to go to waste.
How It’s Impossible
Through the lens of God’s sovereign will, it’s impossible for his word to ever go to waste. As we’ve established above, anything that occurs falls under the umbrella of God’s sovereign will.
Every moment.
Every action.
Every outcome.
It’s impossible to be outside of his sovereign will. Consequently, that means that every inspired text of Scripture will always accomplish its intended ultimate purpose every time it’s read, recited, copied, remembered, or heard.
Let’s take, for example, when someone encounters the word of God.
One might argue that the supreme goal of the Bible is to bring people to saving faith in Jesus Christ. This was certainly what Paul noted to Timothy about the “sacred writings,” highlighting the fact that they “are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15). He had previously explained this same point to the believers in Rome, stating that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). And the Bible documents numerous examples of men and women hearing the word of God and believing in Christ as a result. Mission accomplished.
““His sovereign will is indeed accomplished in both faith and unbelief.””
Yet the Bible also documents many instances of people hearing the word of God and failing to believe in Jesus. On the surface, it might appear as though his word has succeeded with those who believed and has gone to waste with those who didn’t believe. In actuality, however, God’s purposes stand in both scenarios, because the Lord has sovereign intentions at play even in unbelief.
Case in point, in 1 Corinthians 1:18, Paul clarifies that the message of the cross is the power of God to those who are being saved, but it’s foolishness to those who are perishing. However, it doesn’t truly go to waste with those who consider it foolish, as the Lord reveals what he’s accomplishing through their unbelief in the next verse, namely, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise” (v. 19). For those who hear the word and ultimately reject it, their unbelief will one day be exposed as gravely mistaken, which will serve to strip them of any arrogance and pretense in the presence of God (1 Corinthians 1:29).
His sovereign will is indeed accomplished in both faith and unbelief. Even when Paul saw such widespread rejection of the gospel message among Israel, he emphasized the same conclusion, stating, “It’s not as though God’s word has failed” (Romans 9:6). And, in light of God’s sovereign will, such failure is impossible.
How It’s Possible
The fact that God’s word accomplishes its intended moment-by-moment purposes at every level in the Lord’s sovereign will gives us great reason to praise and rejoice in his astounding wisdom and power. There’s an appropriate sense of security, confidence, and awe that comes with the awareness that failure is impossible.
Nevertheless, the idea that there’s another sense in which the possibility does exist for God’s word to go to waste gives us reason to pause. And this is where it was necessary to get a grasp of the two aspects of God’s will. As I mentioned previously, while it’s impossible to be outside of his sovereign will, it’s most certainly possible to be outside of his revealed will, which is precisely where his word can go to waste.
In case it isn’t abundantly clear, the word of God doesn’t go to waste due to any deficiency within itself. A scan of the Scriptures reveals that God’s word is good (Hebrews 6:5), pure (Psalm 12:6), eternal (Isaiah 40:8), trustworthy (Titus 1:9), and true (John 17:17). So how can something that reflects the very qualities of the King of kings ever go to waste?
Well, the Bible consistently points to one way that we allow God’s word to do just that. And just in case you’re wondering, it’s not because of your inconsistent quiet times or your low sermon intake. Neither is it because you’ve only memorized John 3:16 or the fact that you don’t know a single word in Hebrew or Greek. It’s much simpler than that.
And, if you ask me, it’s much scarier than that.
The one factor that determines whether God’s word goes to waste is this: obedience.
At the end of Jesus’ longest recorded sermon in Scripture, often referred to as the Sermon on the Mount, Christ addresses two types of people in the crowd—the wise and the foolish—and offers one distinguishing mark between them (Matthew 7:24-27).
Simply put, the foolish were those who heard Jesus’ words and would stop there; the wise were those who heard Jesus’ words and would put them into practice.
In spite of the fact that Jesus’ words have supreme value in and of themselves, only one question determined whether or not hearing his words would be worthwhile: Will the listener do what he said? According to that narrative in Matthew’s Gospel, to fail to apply Jesus’ words exposes a faulty worldview built on shaky ground. On the other hand, to faithfully apply Jesus’ teachings reveals wisdom built upon the only rock-solid, immovable foundation, namely Christ himself.
““The truth is that knowledge is no substitute for practice. And where we attempt to make that substitution, the knowledge—God’s word—indeed goes to waste.””
Early on in the letter of James, we see further evidence that obedience keeps God’s word from going to waste in our lives:
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
- James 1:22-25 (ESV)
Based on these insights from Matthew and James, we learn a tough truth. At the end of the day, for those of us who are content with only hearing and studying and memorizing God’s word, we are both foolish and deceived according to that same word we love to hear. The truth is that knowledge is no substitute for practice. And where we attempt to make that substitution, the knowledge—God’s word—indeed goes to waste.
Looking in the Mirror
Ultimately, a claim to know God is not validated by seminary degrees but by keeping his commandments (1 John 2:3-5). A claim to love God is not verified by how many verses we’ve memorized but by whether we keep his commandments (John 14:15).
You see how simple that is?
But do you see how unsettling that is as well?
How easy it is to convince ourselves that we love God as we’re sitting in a church service or listening to Christian radio. But what about when we look at how we spend our money? Or how we speak to our spouse? What about when I think how long it’s been since I’ve picked up the phone to check on a struggling friend? What about when I ignore the knock on the door from my Jehovah’s Witness neighbor because I’m in the middle of Netflix?
You see, when I conduct that kind of heart check, my true affections and worship become harder to pinpoint, or perhaps just harder to admit.
For a theology nerd like me, this news isn’t easy to swallow.
To embrace the reality that what I’m studying is nullified when I refuse to submit to what I’ve learned.
To acknowledge that an increase of information is wasted when it doesn’t lead to an increase in application.
To come face to face with the possibility that my love for theology might eclipse my love for the God behind that theology.
Ouch.
Nonetheless, these are necessary considerations, as troubling as they are to ponder. How much more troubling, though, should it be to have God’s word go to waste?
Conclusion
As a brief recap, it’s impossible—from an eternal perspective—for God’s word to go to waste and to fall short of fulfilling its every purpose according to his sovereign will. However, it’s possible—from a human perspective—for God’s word to go to waste when we fail to apply his revealed will in our daily lives.
To put it another way, God will never waste his word, but, unfortunately, we are more than capable of doing so. To be clear, though, our obedience doesn’t add value to God’s word; our obedience merely reflects the supreme value God’s word already possesses.
““Both education and execution must be inseparable for God’s people.””
So when it comes to addressing our inconsistent efforts to be doers of the word, the answer isn’t to diminish our exposure to the Bible or to drift from diligent study. Both education and execution must be inseparable for God’s people.
Let us rejoice, then, with gratitude for the eternal word of God. And, as counterintuitive as it might seem, let us thank God for his good warnings, which steer us back toward the fullest life, the truest freedom, the deepest peace, and the greatest fellowship with our Redeemer.
Moreover, let us humbly, prayerfully, and thoroughly work to apply what we learn in God’s word, for our good and for his glory, that his precious word might not be wasted.
And lastly, let us rest in knowing that we do none of this in our own strength, for apart from Christ we can do nothing (John 15:5). The good news is that the Lord hasn’t left us to ourselves, “for it is God who works in [us], both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).
P.S.
As a final note of encouragement as we pursue this, may we remember that there has only been one perfect doer of God’s word. Not only did Jesus serve as our substitute in death, but he also served as our substitute in life, always doing what pleased the Father (John 8:29) and fulfilling every requirement of the law on our behalf (Matthew 5:17). Our righteousness before the Lord, therefore, is completely rooted in Jesus’ obedience in our place (2 Corinthians 5:21). His perfect record is credited to all who receive him through faith. And our obedience, in turn, is not a fight for righteousness but a fruit from righteousness.
