The Power of God's Word

The Power of God's Word

The Power of God Inherent in the Word

Precisely how the Holy Spirit uses scriptural truth to convert souls and change lives we cannot say, but we must sense the dynamics that give us hope when we preach God’s Word. The Bible makes it clear that the Word is not merely powerful; it is without peer or dependence. The Word of God

creates: “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Gen. 1:3). “For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm” (Ps. 33:9).

controls: “He sends his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes. He hurls down his hail like pebbles.… He sends his word and melts them” (Ps. 147:15–18).

convicts: “Let the one who has my word speak it faithfully …” declares the Lord. “Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” (Jer. 23:28–29).

performs his purposes: “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth … so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isa. 55:10–11).

overrides human weakness: While in prison the apostle Paul rejoiced that when others preach the Word with “false motives or true,” the work of God still moves forward (Phil. 1:18).

Scripture’s portrayal of its own potency challenges us always to remember that the Word preached, rather than the preaching of the Word, accomplishes heaven’s purposes. Preaching that is true to Scripture converts, convicts, and eternally changes the souls of men and women because God’s Word is the instrument of divine compulsion, not because preachers have any power in themselves to stimulate such godly transformations (although human powers can certainly bring about all kinds of worldly changes, including those that masquerade as the products of heaven).

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