The Transformative Power Of Scripture
Scripture’s transformative power may act unilaterally but often engages the readers/hearers of Scripture in trusting, obeying, and heeding Scripture in other appropriate ways.
God sustains the closest possible relationship to his Word; he is completely invested in it. Indeed, God acts in this world through his Word.
Scripture is something more than words written on a page or spoken/read out loud. It is more than speech. Indeed, it is speech-act, because God does things with his words. God does more than proclaim words through Scripture. He performs certain things through his words. He engages in speech-acts that produce an effect in this world. Indeed, “the words of the Bible are a significant aspect of God’s action in the world.”
A speech-act is an utterance consisting of three parts: (1) the locution, the content that is communicated; (2) the illocution, the force or intention with which it is communicated; and (3) the perlocution, the (intended) response of the hearer of the speech-act. For example, “I now pronounce you husband and wife” (locution) is a declaration (illocution) that legally joins a man and a woman in marriage (perlocution). That speech-act marries that man and woman. There are many types of speech-acts: declarations, commands, promises, affirmations, warnings, rebukes, corrections, and more.
For example, Paul’s letter contains the locution “Do not be anxious about anything.” Its illocutionary force is a command, and its intended response is obedience expressed in ceasing one’s worry about a particular situation. As another example, John narrates Jesus’s quieting his disciples with, “I will come again.” Its illocutionary force is a promise, and its intended response is trust in the midst of much personal distress.
generally speaking his speech-acts engage their recipients in some type of appropriate response to him. He declares, and praise is voiced. God commands, and obedience is prompted. He promises, and faith is ignited. God affirms, and sound doctrine is confessed. He warns, and danger is avoided. God rebukes, and repentance is enacted. He corrects, and plans are changed.
The Spirit of God and the Word of God are intimately linked in regeneration, justification, sanctification, and much more.
Scripture, when read or heard, always realizes the aim for which God gave it.
These examples could be multiplied many times. Indeed, “God has invested himself in his words.” God not only proclaims but also performs his mighty acts of creating, promising, commanding, warning, and more, through his words. They are divine speech-acts.
Scripture presents the transformative power of God’s words. Specifically, “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword” (
“As the rain and the snow … water the earth, making it bring forth … seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (
if we fruitfully engage in some ministry activity and arrogantly conclude that we are God’s gift to the world, his Word confronts us with our sinfulness and inadequacy apart from him. Oppositely, if we feel a sense of failure and worthlessness, God’s Word comforts us with his delight in us as his redeemed children. In this sense, Scripture is our adversary, always challenging us with its speech-acts. We can never treat it as just another book, as an object to study, as some text to master.
With this attitude toward Scripture, we can approach it with eager expectation for God to transform us. We resonate with Jeremiah: “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart” (
