The Power of the Word of God

            Have you ever considered how the Bible describes itself? What God says concerning His very own Word? There is no stronger testimony of Scripture than God’s testimony. It is really hard to argue with the author of a book himself when he tells you what he thinks about it. That certainly is true when we are talking about God’s Word. Let’s take a look at just a few things He states concerning His Word. 

            In Hebrews 4:12, God tells us that His Word “is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” It confronts us in areas that we can easily keep hidden from others, revealing the deepest sinful thoughts that are present inside of us. In fact, it cuts so deep that it can uncover wickedness that we are not even aware of ourselves. The Bible is a more powerful weapon than anything that man could ever create and gets to the heart of the matter unlike any other weapon known to us. In Jeremiah 23:29, God says, “Is not My word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” God’s Word can break our stubborn hearts and wills like nothing else can.

            God also tells us that His Word is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). Those who have been born again by the work of the Holy Spirit, have been born “not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Peter 1:23). The Spirit of God works through the Word of God to cut through how we falsely see ourselves as righteous and reveal to us our unrighteousness before a holy God thus showing that we deserve His wrath. He then uses it to break our stubborn wills that refuse to submit to Him and transform our hearts to embrace the Lord Jesus Christ as our only hope to ever be able to stand before such a holy God because of what He has done on the cross. That all comes from the Word of God! In fact, even the ability to spiritually comprehend the message in order to have faith in Christ stems from God’s Word. “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). And not only does the Word of God serve to bring one to salvation, but to continue their growth in the Lord. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

            Do you not see and sense here the power of God’s Word? What else and who else has the ability to take someone deadset on sin living for themselves and transform them to seek to put sin to death in their life and live for the Lord Jesus Christ instead? No one is able to change someone’s heart or mind but God can, and does, through His Holy Word! We witness this with every major revival in history that has been recorded for us. In each case, the spiritual revival stemmed from the preaching and teaching of the Bible. For instance, what brought the people of Israel back to the proper worship of the Lord when they had fallen into idolatry was the discovery of God’s Word that had been lost under the reign of wicked kings (2 Kings 22:8-23:27). An entire wicked city is brought to repentance through the preaching of God’s Word even when the messenger himself is reluctant (Jonah 3:1-9). When the visible church fell into darkness during the Middle Ages and the leaders moved away from the Word of God as their sole authority for all matters, teaching many superstitions and a false gospel based upon the works of man instead of the grace of God, it was the faithful preaching of the Word of God by men such as Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, and John Calvin as well as the Bible being made available in the language that the people of the day actual spoke that brought about a massive reformation as people came to know the truth of who God is and what He has done to save them in Christ alone. Worship also began to return to how God has designed it to be from the perversion that man had made it. Martin Luther recognized that the Word of God was responsible for all of this transformation: “I simply taught, preached, and wrote God’s Word; otherwise I did nothing . . . The Word did it all.”

            Know that when you hold the Bible in your hands that you are holding a mighty and powerful weapon that very well can change your life. However, it does no good setting on your shelf or only being opened on Sunday morning and perhaps also Wednesday night. How sad it is that professing Christians neglect the very Words of the One they claim to love. Or they wonder why they do not grow in their faith as they spend very little time exploring what God says. I write this not to make anyone feel guilty but to encourage you to get into the Word daily. As we begin a new year, I challenge you to make it a habit to pick up this powerful Word and soak it in every day. If you have fallen out of the habit, pray that God helps you start it up again. We can’t avoid the wonderful words of life that are found in Scripture!

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee