A Christian Guidebook: What Is the Gospel? (6)
For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. 1 Corinthians 4.20
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1.8
Power
Power is a good thing. All kinds of power.
Power gets things done, moves stuff around, and allows us to accomplish projects and tasks far beyond our human strength. If the only power human beings had to draw on was that which is inherent in our own bodies, we would everywhere be reduced to living off the land.
But tools and domesticated animals give us power to break up the ground and grow abundant food. Windmills and watermills capture sources of power beyond our strength which we can employ for good purposes. And the power of electricity, fossil fuels, sunlight, and tiny atoms, safely harnessed and properly channeled, can do much good.
By our use of power we can electrify nations, put satellites into orbit, collect and transform the rays of the sun, create culture and civilization, destroy cultures and civilizations, make a hot breakfast, drive to a ball game, watch MasterpieceTM on PBS, and on and on and on.
Yeah. Power is a good thing. Or can be a good thing.
Wouldn’t we love to be able to turn those powers to other tasks? Like enabling people to love one another? Endowing them with new abilities for serving their neighbors? Making them selfless, generous, and uncomplaining? Giving them the strength to say “No” to violence or betrayal or everyday meanness? I don’t know, maybe even raising them from the dead?
Whoa, T. M. No power source on earth can do those kinds of things.
Precisely.
No power on earth, but the power of the Gospel, holy spiritual power from God, can do these and exceedingly, abundantly more. Because the Good News of the Gospel is the Good News of power.
Power over sin
Christians have this power in the Person of the Holy Spirt. The Holy Spirit dwells in every believer as the Bringer of Good News, new life, joy, and transforming grace to our souls. He is the power by which Jesus is making all things new. And His power works in us in ways that no amount or combination of earthly powers could ever achieve.
The Gospel has power over sin. The power of the Gospel enables Christians to recognize temptation, resist the desire to sin and the source of it, and grow more into the likeness of Jesus. Only spiritual power can do this, and only the power that comes with the Good News of Jesus and His Kingdom.
An ancient formula—deriving from Augustine—can help us understand how Gospel power relates to sin. Before people fell into sin, when only Adam and Eve were alive, they had the power not to sin—in Latin, posse non peccare. At the same time, our first parents, because they were creatures, also had the power to sin: posse peccare.
Once they fell into sin, they were wholly corrupted and could on their own do nothing other than sin. They were non posse non peccare. Those to whom the grace of God comes upon them—for a season in the Old Testament, permanently and indwelling in the New—are still able to sin—posse peccare—because we are still creatures and the law of sin still operates in us; but we are now, by the power of grace, able not to sin: posse non pecarre. That is, Christians can resist temptation and work to bring holiness to completion in the fear of God (2 Cor. 7.1).
And the glorious and ultimate Good News regarding the power of the Gospel is that in the new heavens and new earth, where righteousness dwells, we who have believed the Gospel and have been glorified in our bodies will be not able to sin: not merely posse non peccare but non posse peccare. Think of it!
Power over death and hell
This is because of the Gospel’s power over death and hell. The spiritual power of the Gospel triumphs over the death of our physical bodies. It has power to deliver us immediately into the Presence of Jesus Christ and to reconstitute our bodies, completely transformed and glorious, for eternal life and bliss with Him.
There is no power like the power of the Gospel. It is the power of Jesus Christ Himself, dwelling in us by His Spirit and working to make us more like Him. So certain, so strong, so proven and reliable is this power to transform and keep us that it can even sustain us amid the terrors of life in a sin-wracked world and embolden and comfort us in the face of the threats of men. Knowing this, we may seek the power of the Gospel for all the holy energy it engenders to deliver us from the grip of sin and transform us into the likeness of Jesus Christ. As the writer of Hebrews reminds us (Heb. 13. 5, 6):
Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say:
“The LORD is my helper;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?”
The Gospel is the Good News of power.
Search the Scriptures
1. According to Acts 1.8, why is this power given to us?
2. What is the Spirit of God trying to do in us? See 2 Cor. 3.12-18; Phil. 2.12; Jn. 16.8-11
3. How many ways do you see the power of the Gospel at work in the book of Acts?
Next steps—Preparation: Today, call on the Lord for His power to continue making all things new in you and to make you a witness for Jesus and about Him and His power. Then go in that power to carry out what you have requested.
T. M. Moore
Additional Resources
If you have found this study helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Three resources can help you in realizing more of the presence, promise, and power of the Kingdom of God. Our books The Kingship of Jesus (click here) and What in Heaven Is Jesus Doing on Earth? (click here for the book or here for the free PDF) explain the rule of King Jesus in our lives and world. The Kingdom Turn (order the book here or the free PDF here) goes into greater detail about what it means to practice the Kingship of Jesus.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
