God’s Power Through the Gospel

God’s power is supremely at work through the gospel. At the opening of his great letter to the Romans, Paul set out his confidence in the gospel. It so often seems like a small and weak thing, but Paul knew it contains extraordinary power. “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). The gospel message proclaimed is the power of the almighty God to save lost and dying people and bring the spiritually dead back to spiritual life.

Elsewhere, in Ephesians, Paul wrote of “the immeasurable greatness of his [God’s] power toward us who believe.” He went on, “according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:19–20). God powerfully raised Jesus from the dead and raised Him on high. That was the miracle of all miracles, and Paul told us that that same power is at work in the people of God, in gospel people, in us. That power is at work by the Spirit to transform us, grow us in godliness, and enable us to serve Him.

God is able to do all things. Often I think that what we need to be convinced of most is not that God will work out His wider purposes for the world in accordance with His will, or that He will continue to uphold creation, or bring about the ultimate consummation of His kingdom, but rather that God’s power will actually be enough to sustain us, enable us, and energize us for godliness, ministry, and service. This is the point at which practical atheism can set in for many. We may believe the big headline truths about God. We may believe that He is eternal and holy and just and omniscient and omnipotent—at least when it comes to the big things in the world—but it may be that you believe that your personal situation is such that His power is not enough. It may be that you believe that you are actually beyond the salvation of God. You may believe that God is all-powerful in theory, but that you are unsavable in practice; that your sin is too great; you’ve wandered too far; your life is too messy. I would not be surprised at all if there is someone reading this who feels that way. But if you do, take this truth to heart: God really is the Almighty One. He is the doctor of the soul for whom no patient is too far gone. His power through the gospel is sufficient to bring life and transformation, if only you will respond to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith.

For others—perhaps most readers—you have been saved and you do belong to Christ, but you may struggle to believe in the power of God when it comes to living the Christian life, when it comes to battling sin, when it comes to finding strength to serve and keep on serving, when it comes to discouragement and the temptation to give up following and trusting Jesus. Flinging stars into space by the word of His mouth—no problem. Getting me through this time of temptation, family conflict, difficulty at church—I am not so sure.

I expect we all know something of that. We feel worn down and discouraged. We are aware of our failure and our sin and we wonder if we can continue. The apostle Paul had that kind of experience. He wrote about it movingly in his second letter to the church in Corinth:

“So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
(2 Cor. 12:7–10)

Like Paul, we need to believe that the omnipotent God is powerfully at work through His Spirit, and His strength is more than sufficient for weak people like us. We need to believe that His great power is sufficient for every challenge and trial we face; sufficient for every surprise and change of plan we encounter; sufficient for every task and ministry He calls us to undertake. God is the all-powerful One—powerful over creation, history, evil—and gloriously powerful through the gospel, by His Spirit, in His people.