TruthLikeaDiamond
1. The Gospel Is the Power of God!
If you ask Sunday Schoolers what they think the gospel is, many will think of the Wordless Book. The Wordless Book was made in order to explain the gospel simply to illiterate children. The book consists of six colors.
① Gold (heaven): God loves us and has prepared heaven for us.
② Black (the sin of man): However, our sins are as black as ink, and we cannot enter that heaven.
③ Red (the atonement of Christ): Jesus took on my sins and died on the cross.
④ White (the forgiveness of sins): If we believe in Jesus, we are forgiven of our sins by the merit of Christ’s
lood and are deemed as righteous before God.
⑤ Gold (heaven): Hence, we have no merit, but we enter heaven by the merit of Jesus.
⑥ Green (growth): We receive salvation free of charge by God’s grace. We must therefore be thankful of this
grace and continue to grow.
The majority of Christians believe the gospel to be the same as the contents of this Wordless Book.
If you ask college students what they think the gospel is, many will think of the Four Spiritual Laws taught by Cru (formerly known as the Campus Crusade for Christ). These Four Laws are a method of conveying the gospel using the following four principles.
① Law 1: God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life.
② Law 2: Man is sinful and separated from God. Therefore, he cannot know and experience God’s love and plan for his life.
③ Law 3: Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for man’s sin. Through Him you can know and experience God’s love and plan for your life.
④ Law 4: We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God’s love and plan for our lives.
However, the Four Spiritual Laws are not a complete explanation of the gospel either. Many years ago, there was an article on Dr. Seyoon Kim and his thoughts on these Four Spiritual Laws.
Dr. Seyoon Kim has stated that a distorted notion of justification in the Korean Church has brought about an erroneous viewpoint on salvation. According to Dr. Kim, one of the most accurate representations of the soteriology of the Korean Church is the ‘Four Spiritual Laws’. If we examine the Four Spiritual Laws, it says that we are saved the moment we simply say that Jesus is Christ, even without a personal encounter with Him or the sense of will to believe. Dr. Kim stated, “The Four Spiritual Laws are distorting the notion of salvation. A Korean church that holds to this sort of soteriology is no different from the Salvation Sect
We can see that the Four Spiritual Laws, like the Wordless Book, are also not a biblical portrayal of the gospel. Lastly, if you ask adults what they think the gospel is, some will think of the training they had received in Evangelism Explosion. The ‘Evangelism Explosion Training’ was at the forefront of evangelism in the 1970s in Korea. However, the gospel displayed by this training is far more seriously distorted than the gospel portrayed by the Four Spiritual Laws or the Wordless Book. This is how the Evangelism Explosion explains the gospel. They first ask a question.
“If you were to die tonight, would you know for sure that you would go to heaven?”
I wonder, however, if there is a single person (among the unbelievers) in this world that lives life without sinning. Who would be able to confidently answer yes to this question? Next, they explain how punishment will always follow sin.
Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in loving kindness and truth; who keeps loving kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” (Exodus 34:6-7)
They then introduce Jesus.
All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. (Isaiah 53:6)
They say that by the merit of the cross of Jesus, all of our sins can be orgiven. If we believe in Jesus, our sins are completely forgiven. Though we are sinners, God will not condemn us. He will acknowledge us as righteous, and we can enter the kingdom of heaven. Hence, they tell us to believe in Jesus.
4 To summarize, we should believe in Jesus, be forgiven of our sins, and go to heaven. There is a significant difference between this and the gospel mentioned in the Scripture. Of course, I understand that it may have been distorted due to the attempt at conveying the gospel in a short time, but it is a distortion nonetheless. The problem lies in the notion that those who accept Jesus after hearing this “gospel” end up living the rest of their lives thinking that this is all there is to the gospel. It lies in the fact that many of these people go to hell.
On the other hand, if you ask those who are knowledgeable of the Scripture what they think the gospel is, they will answer like so. “The gospel is the gospel of the kingdom of heaven, in other words, the gospel of the kingdom of God (Luke 16:16).
It is accepting Jesus, who God had raised as King, to be our Lord and Savior, and it is accepting that reign. It is the blessed news that we can enjoy heaven in our hearts now and enter into that eternal kingdom of heaven after death.”
“The gospel is the news concerning the Son of God (Rom. 1:2-4). It is the spreading of who the Son Jesus is as the God-sent Messiah, what He did, and how we ought to believe in Him.”
“The gospel is the word of the cross (1 Cor. 1:18)! It is the news of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus (1 Cor. 15:1-4). It is the act of proclaiming that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again to be our Lord and Savior.”
It is undeniable that these answers are based on Scripture and are correct. Yet, they are a mere summary and not a detailed description of what the gospel is. Without the details, one’s answers are bound to be incomplete.I therefore want to use this book to explain to you the content of the gospel in full detail, but I won’t start with that yet.
I have laid out the expected answers to the question of what one thinks is the gospel because I wanted to raise this point. There are many that would give these common answers, but how many Christians do you think would answer that the gospel is the power of God as mentioned in the Scripture? To bring it a step further, how many ministers would be able to give this answer? How many theologians even? This is what I wanted to bring to the table. It is clearly written in the Scripture that the gospel is the power of God.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16)
There are two more verses in 1 Corinthians in addition to this.
For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18)
… but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:24)
The gospel is the news concerning the Son of God (Rom. 1:2).
Therefore, the phrase ‘Christ the power of God’ is also saying that the gospel is the power of God.
Furthermore, the Greek word translated to ‘power’ in these verses is ‘dynamis’ (δύναμις), from which the word ‘dynamite’ was derived. There is a dynamite-like power in the gospel. This power is not physical but moral. James Dunn wrote the following concerning the phrase, “for it is the power of God” (dynamis gar Theou estin / δύναμις γὰρ Θεοῦ ἐστιν).
… “for it is the power of God,” is a regular concept in Paul. By it he clearly has in mind a force that operates with marked effect on people, transforming them—as evident particularly in conversion and resurrection—and providing a source of energy to sustain that qualitatively different life.
Over ten years ago, I discovered the following while reading a book by Gary Whetstone titled Victory in Spiritual Warfare.
Faye and I ministered in Indonesia for six weeks. We traveled with a nationalevangelist who interpreted for us. But the most profound benefit of our evangelistic effort wasn’t so much what happened to the crowds as what happened to the preacher. It transformed my ministry.
While we were in that country, the Spirit of the Lord asked me, “What is your gospel?” I answered, “My gospel proclaims that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died for the world.” Even though my response was not wrong, I sensed that God wanted to communicate to me something beyond what I was currently perceiving.
“The good news doesn’t just tell about something,” the Spirit of the Lord said to me. “The good news is something. The good news is the power of God.”
Even though I had gone through Bible school and had been to many churches, I had never thought of it that way before. I knew Romans 1:16: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God.” I had read that passage at least a undred times. But when the Holy Spirit spoke to me I received a different understanding.
The Lord repeated, “I’ve given you good news, and that good news is the power of God.”
I was deeply impressed as I read this part, and I could feel that there was an incredible truth hidden in that passage. I even almost arrived at the ultimate realization that the gospel is God’s power back then. It is hard for me to remember exactly, as it was many years ago, but I believe I had preached a sermon in three parts with the title, “The gospel is the power of God”.
1. The gospel and the power of God
The gospel is the power of God. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God forsalvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.(Romans 1:16)
2. Salvation and the power of God
The gospel is the power of God that saves us from the rule of sin.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvationto everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16)
3. Faith and the power of God
The gospel is the power of God that saves those who believe from the rule of sin.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16)
I preached that we must therefore believe in this power. With that as my base, I then quoted from 1 Corinthians 2:4-5.
And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
I could sense deeply in my spirit that this was a very special and important piece of truth, and I remember I would often preach this sermon whenever I was invited to speak at a different church. But as I had only scratched the surface and did not know of the deeper things, and as I was unable to see any other preacher proclaiming that the gospel is the power of God, this realization of mine was eventually covered under the sands of time.
Until now, I had been going on frequent hikes in the mountains for my health, but recently they came to a stop. I used that time to read the books of capable scholars, and in those works I rediscovered this truth. Thankfully, this time around, I was able to fully understand why Paul described the gospel as the power of God. And I trembled in excitement as I realized just how desperately necessary and important this truth was for the people. My heart was pounding!
Through this book, I will be sharing with you this truth that is comparable to a diamond, and I hope that you will look forward to this. The Scripture mentions very clearly in three different places that the gospel is the power of God (Rom. 1:16; 1 Cor. 1:18, 24). Most theologians and ministers, however, have overlooked this, which resulted in this truth being veiled. This is why I touched on the ‘mysteries’ in the preface. Despite being so clearly presented in the Scripture, this truth has been ignored for so long and by so many. I believe that one of those reasons is that the devil has persistently been hiding this truth, knowing how precious and crucial it is. Yet, this truth is nothing strange and nothing new. It is an extremely traditional and sound piece of truth, but I want to provide some evidence for this claim so that you will not have any misunderstandings.
First, here are some words by Robert M’Cheyne from his classic, A Basket of Fragments.
To unregenerate men the gospel appears the most foolish thing in the world. The scheme of salvation, by the obedience of another, is to them foolishness. And then men think there is nothing in it—there is no power in it. But to us who are saved, it is the power of God, and the wisdom of God; to those who have seen the power of it on others—to them that believe its power, it is the power of God unto salvation.
My brethren, there is a divine power sleeping in the gospel, if I may be allowed so to speak, which is able to break the hardest heart. That gospel that you despise—the dogma that you hate, is all powerful. Brethren, it is more powerful than the thunder or lightning, for it converts the soul. Paul once felt its power; once he hated the gospel, and made havoc of the Church, entering into every house, and hailing men and women, committing them to prison. Brethren, what could turn such a heart? You might as well think of turning back a river, as changing such a heart; but God revealed his Son to him, and from that day the river was turned back, and he became a new creature in Christ Jesus. And, brethren, Paul had seen its power on others; he had seen its power on the hearts of multitudes, and, therefore, Paul was not ashamed of the gospel.
Brethren, it is the power of God unto salvation, not to destruction. Paul had seen so much of the power of the gospel …; it was this that nerved the arm of Paul when he went to Rome to preach the gospel—he felt he had that which was the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who had greatly influenced many preachers, briefly wrote the following in his book, Revival.
What is the gospel? Well, you remember the answer of the Apostle Paul, ‘It is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth’ (Rom. 1:16). How easy it is to forget that. How easy to preach it as a system, to preach it as a collection of ideas, or just to preach it as a truth.… There are people, says the Apostle Paul, who ‘have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof ’ (2 Tim. 3:5). Christianity is primarily a life. It is a power. It is a manifestation of energy.
As Lloyd-Jones was commentating on Romans 1, he preached on verses 16-17, the very same verses that we are examining in this chapter. It was under the title of “The Power of God that Saves”, and in it he explained in detail how the gospel is the power of God. What the Apostle is saying here is that the gospel is God’s power unto salvation—so that we must interpret these verses in such a way as to make it clear that it is powerful action on the part of God, not on the part of man. What then does the Apostles mean by calling the gospel a ‘power’— the power of God? Negatively, we must say that the gospel is not about the power of God; Paul says that the gospel itself is the power of God.
‘I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation’. Not a mere description of it! Not simply saying something about it! The gospel itself is the power of God. That is the Apostle’s actual statement. So that another negative we would make is, that it is not God telling us what we have to do, because if that were so, then the power required would be in us and not in God. But I will go even further.
The Apostle here is saying that the gospel is not even a statement of what God has done about our salvation. It might have been that. But if so, he would not say that it is the power of God unto salvation. He would say it is a message telling us about God’s power unto salvation—a very different thing! … What, then, is Paul saying? Positively, we put it like this. He is telling us how God has prepared, and made and produced, and is working out this salvation in us. Clearly, that is something different. The gospel is God’s way of saving us. It is God’s power producing salvation in us. In other words, it is God in us. …
Another way in which Paul says the same thing is found in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 5: ‘Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God’. That is the same teaching exactly. Then there is another very striking statement to the same effect in the Epistle to the Ephesians, 1:19-20. He prays that the Ephesians may know, among other things, ‘the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead’. That is another way of stating that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation.
Yet another way is seen in the 2nd chapter of Ephesians, verse 10, where we read, ‘We are his workmanship’. Exactly the same thing! It is the same teaching; it is the power of God working salvation. … What I need is not knowledge, but power. I may know what is right, but the question is, how can I do what is right? Knowledge of the law does not enable me to keep the law and to fulfill it. But, says Paul, I have got a gospel which is not like that. This gospel works. It succeeds.
Pastor Omar Cabrera, one of the most respected ministers in Argentina, gave the following simple explanation of the gospel that he preaches and the methods he uses to spread it.
I taught that Christ was powerful enough to make everything new in the lives of those who trusted in Him for salvation and who surrendered to His lordship. Convinced that the gospel “is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16, NIV), I preached the message “not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstrationof the Spirit’s power” (1 Cor. 2:4, NIV).
Francis MacNutt, the world-renowned healing minister from Harvard, also wrote the following in his book Healing, a book regarded as text- book material for a ministry in healing.
If the good news is that Christ came to save all people, then the power to save has to be there. …
I shall want to know not what these self-important people have to say, but what they can do, since the kingdom of God is not just words, it is power (1 Cor. 4:19b-20).
Christianity is more than doctrine; it is power. It is power to transform our lives, to destroy the evil that prevents us from loving God and our neighbor. … What we have done all too frequently has been to take the good news and turn it into good advice. The good news is that Christ has come to help us enter into the very life of his Father and to transform us by his power into new persons who can love and rejoice and help the poor in a way far beyond our own capabilities. In contrast, good advice is to hold up a Christian ideal of life and service, and then to say: “Here’s the ideal; now use your willpower to achieve it.”
The renowned evangelist, Luis Palau, was also known to have written the following.
But [Paul] also rejoined in God’s complete forgiveness and actively pursued holiness. Paul could say, “Not that I have … already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Philippians 3:12). […] Such a statement is your privilege as a Christian. It’s the great offer of the gospel.
But good advice isn’t good enough. God’s Good News is the radical power of the Lord Jesus Christ. He doesn’t offer us advice; He offers us power to live holy and transparently in a corrupt and deceitful age.
I want to share with you just one more example. Han-soo Lee, a professor of New Testament at the seminary of Chongshin University, had written a 1,500-page commentary on Romans, which was chosen in 2009 for an excellence award in the New Testament department of the Korea Christian Publication Association. Lee wrote the following in the inspiringly titled book, The Gospel Is the Power of God for Salvation.
The gospel is the power of God. … The reason the gospel holds such power is that it spreads the message of Jesus Christ, the Son of God ‘empowered’ through resurrection. He sits at the right hand of God, exerting His universal sovereignty. When the gospel is proclaimed, God works through Christ, His Son. Through the gospel, Jesus Christ expresses His universal sovereignty and authority delegated from God by the resurrection. In this sense, the power of God holds the basics of Christology, and it also holds a direct correlation with the gospel.
The gospel is not a mere play on words to Paul; it is power that holds the very power of the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 4:20). It isn’t mere good advice given to people; it is the power to change them into the people of God. As the kingdom of God exists by this power of the gospel that is proclaimed, they are able to experience this power that transforms their sinful existence.
I have thus far given you examples from the books that give evidence on the gospel being the power of God. I fall into the category of one who reads much, yet this is all I could find. It shows how rarely this topic is spoken about. Some may ask, “Doesn’t the Scripture refer to the gospel being the power of God only in this passage in Romans and twice more in 1 Corinthians? It is only seen a total of three times, so shouldn’t it be obvious that such a theme would only be mentioned briefly during sermons that deal with those sections?” However, this is not so, for there are much more than these three verses that prove that the gospel is the power of God. As you continue to read until the end of this book, I am sure you will come to understand everything. Thus, I will omit the explanations and leave you with just the verses for now.
And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:4-5)
But I will come to you soon if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power. (1 Corinthians 4:19-20)
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves. (2 Corinthians 4:7)
… since you are seeking for proof of the Christ who speaks in me, and whois not weak toward you, but mighty in you. For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because
of the power of God directed toward you. Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test? (2 Corinthians 13:3-5)
He therefore that gives unto you the Spirit and does works of power among you, does he do it by the works of the law or by the obedient ear of faith? (Galatians 3:5, JUB)
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might. (Ephesians 1:18-19)
… that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man. (Ephe- sians 3:16)
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. (Ephesians 6:10, KJV)
I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me. (Philippians 4:13, GNT)
For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. (1 Thessalonians 1:5)
To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power. (2 Thessalonians 1:11)
For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God. (2 Timothy 1:7-8)
… holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. (2 Timothy 3:5)
… who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salva- tion ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:5)
… seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. (2 Peter 1:3)
These are quite a few, are they not? However, the verses showing that the gospel is the power of God are not limited to these alone. These are only the verses that have directly used the word ‘power’ in their descriptions. There are far too many to list them all if we include the verses that describe how the gospel is the power of God without using that specific word. (Indirect references include the topics of regeneration, new creation, keeping the Word, godliness, holiness, grace, the Holy Spirit, etc.) The fact that the gospel is the power of God is not such a minor and peripheral truth that can be covered by one or two mentions. It is the most representative thesis of the gospel, the truth that shows its core. We must therefore focus on this truth. On the other hand, there is another matter we must solve before moving on. Paul says in Romans 1:15, “So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.” Why was he so eager to preach the gospel to them?
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16)
The original Greek text starts this verse with the word ‘for’ (γὰρ) in its sequential conjunctive use to introduce the reason for the previous clause. Hence, the reason for Paul wanting to proclaim the gospel to the Romans was that it is the power of God for salvation.
For in [the gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17)
Once again, this verse starts with the word ‘for’ (γὰρ). Why is the gospel the power of God? The reason is shown in the verse. The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, because in the gospel, God’s righteousness is revealed.
But this is the problem. For a long time, the Church has interpreted the ‘righteousness of God’ to be referring to the forensic righteousness that is given (imputed) when one believes in Jesus. It has hence been easy to misinterpret this and think that the gospel is the power of God for salvation simply because we are deemed righteous, or in other words, because we receive salvation by believing in Jesus. Such an in- terpretation would render useless all of the explanations until now. How should we go about solving this? We can try understanding it like so. There is, of course, a forensic meaning in part to the term ‘righteousness of God’. However, most scholars consider the faithfulness of God as being the main interpretation of this term. I will explain it in more detail later, but without a doubt, the righteousness of God signifies God’s faithfulness. If we assume such an interpretation, then the statement of ‘God’s righteousness being revealed in the gospel’ creates perfect harmony and no conflict with the notion that the gospel is the power of God that saves us from the reign of sin. Dr. Han-soo Lee wrote the following about this controversial verse.
We can examine a few facts in this place. Firstly, the term ‘revealed’ has with it an apocalyptic nuance, but it is different from the dualistic ideals of apocalyptic literature in the fact that it shows the actions of God that are happening right now, saving sinners in this present generation. Secondly, God’s righteousness must be understood in relation to His covenantal faithfulness that saves His people. God had made a covenant with His people, and He promised to save and preserve them from their enemies. The expression that God’s righteousness is revealed ‘from faith to faith’ must be understood precisely within this covenantal relation. God’s righteousness arrives at a crucial moment in the history of salvation, and starting from the faithfulness of God, it aims toward the faith of man. Thirdly, if our observations are correct, in understanding the righteousness of God, one must not be so keen to differentiate between the Giver (the active element of God who gives salvation) and the Gift (the receptive element of salvation). The gospel is the power for salvation to all who believe because the righteousness of God is revealed in it. Therefore, when God deems sinners to be righteous in the gospel (active element), the sinners experience the grace of salvation by that declaration of righteousness and become created as new creations (receptive element). Though the notion of ighteousness may carry a forensic background, the declaration of justification is not a forensic declaration merely treating sinners as if they were righteous. It is what transforms them into new creations (compare 2 Cor. 5 verses 17 and 21). The gospel is therefore the message containing the powerof God for salvation.
More simply put, God’s faithfulness is shown through the sending of the Messiah andthe redemption on the cross. It will be explained in more detail later, but the cross leads us not only to be justified but also to receive as a gift the Holy Spirit (Gal. 3:13-14).And the Holy Spirit leads us to rebirth and frees us from the reign of sin. These arethe two concepts that are compressed into the notion of God’s righteousness beingrevealed in the gospel. It is therefore now obvious that, as the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel, the gospel would be expressed as the power of God forsalvation from the reign of sin. The gospel is not advice. It is not a command. The gospel is the power of God. It is a divine and powerful aid. The gospel is not a mere intellectual theory, nor is it a doctrine or creed in which we must believe. It is power that we must experience. Salvation is the experiencing of that power. This is why Paul described the gospel as the power of God that saves us (Rom. 1:16).
For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to uswho are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18)
Paul described the word of the cross as “the power of God” “to us who are being saved”. This means that for those that receive salvation, the word of the cross is nota theory but the experience of power. Those who believe truly experience the wordof the cross as the power that it is. Considering the word of the cross to be knowledge, a notion, or a creed to believe in is not true faith. A person who has not experiencedthe word of the cross as power is one that has not been saved. Pastor Ki-sung Yoowrote the following in his book, One Who Is Dead to theSelf and Lives in Jesus.
The people of this world that have not received salvation look at the cross without knowing its meaning. In their eyes, the cross is merely foolish and absurd. Yet, to us who have been saved, the cross is the power of God. “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18). Do you, then, know what kind of power this word of the cross is? Have you ever experienced in detail the power of the cross? … Those who believe in Jesus, yet do not believe properly, cannot understand why the word of the cross is power. … We know the power of money. Even a three-year-old child knows the power of money. There clearly is power in money, even to the extent of there being the phrase ‘no penny, no pardon’. As a Christian, there is a serious problem if we know of the power of money yet not of the cross. …
If we want to break free from that lifestyle of being … powerless and latched onto spiritual doubt, we must re-examine the fundamentals of our faith. Above all, we must first know what power the word of the cross entails.
Pastor Yoo then wrote these next words toward the end of that book.
The power of the cross is not something that follows us around and washes us every time we sin. It is the power for us, who were enslaved by sin, to fight and win against it.
Do you truly believe this? I am not asking if you agree with the fact that the gospel is the power of God. I am asking if you have actually experienced this power of the gospel. I am asking if you have been freed from sin by this power. I recently read a book by Dr. Yon-gyong Kwon titled, Do You Un- derstand What You Are Reading? There were these words from that book that deeply resonated with me.
Unlike preachers and ministers who are required to put in the effort of making words more eloquent, the members of the church who wrestle with reality are concerned with not the eloquence of words but the realism of it. They care for the realistic strength of those words. Hence, when istening to a sermon, they try to identify in whatever way they can just how those proclamations can have a detailedeffect and application in their lives. Why do you think testimonies are some of the best-selling books? Are we preachers then to criticize the “low-grade” preferences of these believers? Theologians may obsess over a more accurate and more orthodox theology, but for the common believer, spiritual lethargy comes as a more lethal enemy. They need not words to decorate them but words to sustain them.
Needless to say, the easiest way to identify the actual power of the proclaimed gospel is to examine the one who proclaims and understands it first, the preacher. It is to observe how the life of the one who knows and proclaims the gospel is influenced by that very gospel. Such observation is likely an expression of the desperation of the believers who know the force of the sinful reality and are all too familiar with words such as despair, limitations, and helplessness. It comes from their desperate desire to see if it really is possible to overcome the reality of despair with the power of the gospel.If not even the preacher who understands the gospel the best can be moved by the gospel he himself preaches, what can the other members of the church who have to bear the greater weight of reality expect? For what we are waiting for are not the words but the reality those words depict. We long for not the language of the gospel but its power. …
What is really important are not the words but the life, the power to overcome not the poverty of thought but the tyranny of sin that is ruling over us in specific situations. The key to open the kingdom of God ‘does not consist in words but in power’ (1 Cor. 4:20). Are not Paul’s words still true today?
These words are very true, and it is why I have written this book. This book is written to present a solution to the ministers and believers who have felt despair, limitations, and helplessness. Under the thesis of the gospel being the power of God, I will present and interpret for you the doctrine of justification as we penetrate through it in the Book of Romans. You will realize through this book what the power of the gospel truly is, and you will be freed from sin through that power. So I hope you can maintain your expectations as you read until the end of this book.
Lastly, I want to give an honest confession. As I have emphasized so often, faith is receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior (John 1:11-12). This is the biblical and clear truth. However, it is only a part of it. Faith would feel like the law to us if this is all we know.
I had tried fishing for a couple of days this past year. There were times when fish would bite even when I hooked on a half or a third of a worm, as opposed to the standard whole. The same is true of the gospel. The gospel I have preached until now is comparable to the use of only half a worm as bait. Yet, countless people hear this half of a gospel, are changed, and even receive salvation. What’s worse is that the Salvation-Sect-like gospel that has spread throughout the majority of churches is comparable to using a third of a worm as bait. It is bait that actually needs to be replaced. Yet, there are still fish that are lured and caught by such bait. There are still souls out there that are changed and saved after hearing this incomplete gospel.
Then can we rest assured since souls are being saved in one way or another? Definitely not, since the percentage of those who receive salvation after hearing those sermons would be different. If we put on a full worm as bait, we would be able to catch many more fish. Likewise, if we fully understand and proclaim the gospel that is the power of God, we will see the transformation and salvation of many souls that had been unable to change until now. These changes will truly happen. Countless souls have realized the need to repent and receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, but they have labored in vain trying to do just that. These people who have fallen into despair as they could not overcome sin, they will be transformed, and they will be saved.
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2 Why Does the Gospel Have to Be Power? (1) ‘Salvation by works’ versus ‘Judgment by works’! (2) Judgment by works, a part of the gospel!