Articles
The Power of God's Word
The wise writer tells us of the power of words when he said, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Prov. 18:21). While we might parrot the old children's line of "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me," words do hurt and they can, in fact, destroy. There is power in words, and we would do well to acknowledge this.
And, we must admit, while there is power in our words, how much more so the words of God! As believers, we know of the power of God's word, for the Bible tells us, “God said” and all things came into existence (Gen. 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26). The writer of Hebrews also notes, “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God” (Heb. 11:3); no man has such power in his words! Truly, there is power in the word of God!
But on a more personal level, there is power in God's word, and we would do well to consider this, too. Let us take a look at the power of God's word, as found in the inspired words of the psalmist:
“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes” (Psa. 19:7, 8). Let us, for today, consider his words about God's word.
Converting the Soul. Let us first acknowledge that the power of God's word, as noted here, is because it “is perfect”; there is no power in fallible, erroneous word, but limitless power in that which is perfect. With that said, it is powerful enough to convert the soul; it is powerful enough to change one from pursuing sinful pleasures to pursuing holiness and righteousness; no words of men can do that.
It is when we look into the word of God that we find we all have transgressed God's will and are called sinners (cf. Rom. 3:23). No longer do we believe the lie that we are "good" and that we "deserve" eternal life in heaven — or any favor of God, for that matter. We find in God's word the need for us to put away the old man that we may put on the new (Eph. 4:20-24), and the need to become that “new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17) where we no longer live for self, but Christ (2 Cor. 5:15). It is when we find God's word — the truth — will set us free (John 8:32) that we change course, no longer following our selfish desires. We readily deny “ungodliness and worldly lusts” so we can live soberly, righteously, and godly” (Titus 2:12) because the word revealed to us a better way than the world has to offer, and a better end (Matt. 7:13, 14).
Making Wise the Simple. Spiritually speaking, before God revealed anything to us about our origins, our sin, and our Savior, man had no clue about how we got here [and still doesn't], our true standing before God, and no clue as to how we might be forgiven of those sins. We were, in a real sense, simple-minded creatures who knew nothing about the realities of who we were and the measure of our guilt before God.
But the testimony of God — what we have now in written form in the Bible — has revealed to us our origins (Gen. 1:26, 27), the measure of our sin (Rom. 3:23), and testimony about Christ as His Son and our Savior (1 John 5:10, 11). Only within His revealed word — God's testimony to man that is for our learning and for our good — do we find the only means of making one “wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:15). We may choose to reject those words and choose to reject His testimony, but if we do, we will continue to be unwise.
Rejoicing the Heart. While the world sees the statutes of the Lord as restrictive and even oppressive, those who truly understand them know that it means true freedom (cf. John 8:32) and a reason for rejoicing. We rejoice when we learn that God sent His Son to die for our sins (1 Cor. 15:3) and that sacrifice bought our forgiveness and freedom from the bonds of our adversary (2 Tim. 2:26); we rejoice when we learn that the statutes He has given us are for our spiritual good and keeping those commands to the end brings great reward (Heb. 10:34-36). The joy we have through obedience to those statutes is the joy of knowing we have forgiveness here, and eternal life in heaven after we leave here. While we may live a life of hardship and persecution for our faith, we still rejoice because we know there is something much better awaiting us.
Now, of course, the world will never agree that this is for our good, and that is because the world wants to be able to do whatever they want without any restrictions, without consequences, and without accountability. To the worldly, any law that prohibits worldly behavior or the pursuit of pleasure is not going to be a source for joy, but anger and resentment, often expressed in some form of "Who do you think you are to tell me what I can or cannot do?!?" Again, the world sees the statutes as oppressive and restrictive, but as with a guardrail on a steep, winding road, it is not meant for oppressing us or unnecessarily restricting us, but for our good. If you end up going over the side, you'd really wish it was there; when you stand before Christ in Judgment, you will really wish you had accepted His statutes.
Enlightening the Eyes. It is not coincidental that God's word speaks of Jesus as “the Light” (John 1:7), and the world as being “in darkness” (John 1:5). Jesus would even say, “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God” (John 3:19-21). Simply put, the world was in darkness before Jesus came and He — the Light — revealed the truth of our condition.
If you have ever been in complete darkness, you would understand the great difficulty in trying to move about or accomplish even the simplest of tasks. With that in mind, try to picture the world being in complete spiritual darkness, fumbling and stumbling about with no idea what direction they are headed, no idea where they will end up, and no idea of all the dangers that lurk in the darkness. In complete darkness, you cannot see anything, and it is impossible to discern between which way is safe and which way is dangerous; that was the state of the world without Christ coming into the world!
Peter reminds us, “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Pet. 1:3, 4). Without that revelation of the means to attain eternal life, and without the instructions as to how we might live a life of godliness, we would still be in the dark, wandering about aimlessly and with no possible way to find our way to forgiveness or salvation.
Yes, the word of God is indeed powerful. It is God's revelation to us that will bring us out of darkness and leads the way to salvation and eternal life. —— Steven Harper
