While both rhema and logos are translated into the English , in the original Greek there was a substantial distinction. The use of the term rhema has special significance in some Christian groups, especially those advocating the Five-Fold Ministry that God gave of five gifts (Ephesians 4:11) or callings to some people. Christian denominations that advocate the Five-Fold Ministry include Charismatic Christianity, the Pentecostal Movement, the Apostolic-Prophetic Movement and the Word of Faith Movement.
Epistemology Some Christians, such as Apostolic-Prophetic Movement Christian minister and author Bill Hamon, put forward the position that rhema is a process within Christian epistemology. In this understanding, the logos is universal for all humanity, while any intellectual changes for a specific individual believer are categorized as rhema. Under this system, rhema is a broad term that includes many types of spiritual interaction; "any method God uses to reveal His specific will to an individual, whether by divinely directed desire, illumination, revelation, vision, or dream. ...rhema will be our general term to refer to all of these means of God communicating His specific will to an individual." Hamon states, "A rhema is an inspired Word birthed within your own spirit, a whisper from the Holy Spirit like the still, small voice that spoke to Elijah in the cave. It is a divinely inspired impression upon your soul, a flash of thought or a creative idea from God. It is conceived in your spirit, but birthed into your natural understanding by divine illumination. A true rhema carries with it a deep inner assurance and witness of the Spirit."
Citing John 1:1,14 Hamon holds "Jesus was the eternal Word revealed and manifest in mortal flesh" and can be called by the personal name "Logos". Citing Timothy 2:15, Hamon defines the less personal usage, logos, as "the Scriptures as a whole". He defines rhema as "a specific word from the Lord that applies it to us individually. ...The Logos is like a well of water, and the rhema is a bucket of water from that well. ...Truth is truth, and the Logos and rhema are one with God." The logos "is the standard of all truth...the rhema, [is that] which provides the precise word needed for the specific situation. All Christians must live by the logos and receive the rhema as needed." Under this definition the method of receiving rhemas "may come by many ways. A rhema may come while reading the Bible, as God quickens a certain text, or it may come to us through the spoken words of another person."
In support of this Hamon cites Ephesians 6:17: "take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word (rhema) of God", and points to William Edwy Vine's An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words that explains the passage "Here the reference is not to the whole Bible as such, but to the individual scripture which the Spirit brings to our remembrance for use in time of need, a prerequisite being the regular storing of the mind with scripture". Hamon, expounding on Romans 10:17, goes on to say that a rhema is "that timely, Holy Spirit-inspired Word from the Logos that brings life, power, and faith to perform and fulfil it...[it] must be received with faith by the hearer in order for it to fulfil its mission."
Pentecostal minister and author Jack W. Hayford shares similar sentiments, saying:
Christian writer Watchman Nee, writing along the same lines, wrote:
According to Nee a passage of the logos can move into being rhema if it becomes shown to apply to the specific individual. As an example, Nee holds the statement in Scripture at John 3:16 "that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" is held to have moved from logos to become rhema if the believer feels a realization that the passage is saying to them "It is I who will not perish and it is I who even now have eternal life." According to Nee, at such an instance "God speaks the word to us, and at the same moment, we have faith. ...This does not mean that logos is of no use...for without logos, we could never have rhema. All the rhema of God is based upon logos."
Possible link to Hebrew term Professor of biblical studies Shirley Christian links the Greek word rhema to the use of the Hebrew word which was used in rabbinic Judaism since before the advent of Christianity. She takes special note of the use of in the Targum, "where it is used when speaking of God's expression of Himself. ...[and] figures constantly as the manifestation of the divine power. When God inspires a prophetic Word, this Rhema carries with it, the power to produce the result."
She cites The Jewish Encyclopedia on the matter, and it states that
The Encyclopedia also notes that "becomes more and more a personified agency" in the biblical apocrypha and rabbinic literature, and in the Targum it "figures constantly as the manifestation of the divine power, or as God's messenger in place of God Himself, wherever the predicate is not in conformity with the dignity or the spirituality of the Deity."
Bible incidents Bill Hamon holds that while the Bible has much truth that is "universally valid...the general word which is the eternal logos for everyone"; there are also "personal prophecies which were given to individuals or groups, and are not universally valid" - these are "the rhema of personal prophecy in the Bible" they are instances of messages to "specific instructions [that] are not for everyone". Examples he cites are YHWH's instructions for Noah to build an Ark, for Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, for Hosea to marry a harlot, for Isaiah to walk around naked for three years, and Jacob receiving prophetic words about the descendants of his sons.
Watchman Nee uses additional examples such as the Annunciation, where Mary tells the angel "May it happen to me according to your rhema." Nee also points to Simeon who had been granted to live till he saw the birth of the Messiah, once seeing the baby Jesus he says "Now You release Your slave, Master, according to Your rhema, in peace." He points to the calling of John the Baptist in Luke 3:2 "the rhema of God came to John the son of Zachariah in the wilderness." Nee also points to Peter's memory after his denial of Jesus as a rhema – "The rhema was that which was brought to his remembrance. While Peter was telling a lie, suddenly rhema came. The very sentence of the Lord came to him. Rhema is the word which the Lord has spoken, and now He speaks it again."
Nee points to where Simon Peter on the fishing boat says to Jesus "Master, through the whole night we toiled and caught nothing; but based on Your rhema I will let down the nets." Nee says "The 'word' in this verse was something spoken by the Lord for that occasion. It was the Lord speaking personally to Simon." Nee points to when Peter is told "Come" by Jesus walking on the water "If someone attempted to walk on the sea because of Matthew 14:29, he would certainly sink. This is not the word which the Lord is speaking today, though He did speak it on that day. It is true that the word spoken by God in the past and the word He speaks today carry the same authority; they have never changed. But the important thing is this: Is God speaking that very word to us today?"
Nee says these events were not "according to a certain chapter or a certain verse in the Bible, but it was according to the word spoken" to these individuals, and "Only the word which the Lord speaks to us is of any use. The rhema reveals something to us personally and directly; it shows us what we need to deal with and what we need to be cleansed from. We must specifically seek after this very matter, because our Christian life is based on this rhema. ...We must remember that today's Christianity is still the Christianity of personal revelation. If the Lord does not speak within man, it is not Christianity, nor is it the New Testament."
As hermeneutical inspiration Hamon differentiates between "the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit to bring out the deeper and greater meaning of Scripture [which] is a personal event" and personal prophecy "God's revelation of His thoughts and intents to a particular person, family, or group of people. It is specific information coming from the mind of God for a specific situation, an inspired word directed to a certain audience...a word from the Word". Still, within his ontology as both these spiritual encounters happen to specific individuals their occurrence are both classified as receiving rehma.
Hamon says "God sometimes reveal His Will by a rhema from 'out of the clear blue.' But at other times we receive it by an illumination of a particular Scripture. As we read God sends a quickening rhema that says, 'This applies to you.' ...This type of divine directive may also be called 'revelation knowledge' or 'Scriptural illumination.'" Hamon holds "Jesus received direction for His ministry that way". He cites Luke 4:16-21 were Jesus reads a scroll of Isaiah in the Nazareth synagogue and "Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written [the text of Isaiah 61:1-2;58:6]...Then he rolled up the scroll...[and began] by saying to them, 'Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.'"
Concerning receiving deeper understanding of Scripture from the Holy Spirit Hamon says "The Bible give the factual knowledge of God, His Word, Will and Way, His plan and purpose for mankind. Fact, however, is not faith. But, fact (Scripture) can become faith when it is quickened by the Holy Spirit and mixed with heart belief. The writer of Hebrews revealed this truth when he said, 'The word [logos] did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it' (Heb. 4:2). The Logos plus the Holy Spirit quickening and faith equals a rhema from the Lord."
Hamon goes on to say "there is a big difference between preaching and personal prophecy; between quoting the logos and speaking a rhema; between speaking faith statements based on scriptural truth and speaking the specific mind of the Lord for that individual: between speaking the Word of God and speaking a word from the Lord."
Hamon says "Paul declared that faith for specific miracles come not from our opinions but rather from a rhema from the Logos: 'Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the rhema of God' (Rom. 10:17). ...the rhema spoken from our mouth has to come from our heart as a rhema in order to be effective: 'The rhema is nigh thee even in your heart and mouth, that is the rhema of faith' (Rom. 10:8)." Citing Hebrews 4:2 Hamon states "The Bible gives the factual knowledge of God, His Word, Will and Way, His plan and purpose for mankind. Fact, however is not faith. But, fact (Scripture) can become faith when it is quickened by the Holy Spirit and mixed with heart belief."
"The logos plus the Holy Spirit quickening and faith equals a rhema form the Lord. As a minister I preach the Logos, but as a prophet I prophesy the rhema. General biblical truth does not guarantee specific application and appropriation of that truth. A preacher speaks from the letter of the Word which applies to all men for all time, while the prophet speaks from the Spirit of the Word which is personalized to a particular person for a specific situation."
As cleansing