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"For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." - 1 Corinthians 4:20
Wait, is this a contradiction? What is Paul saying here. After all, the Word is Jesus Christ (John 1:1 & 1 John 5:7) and "How shall they hear without a preacher? (Romans 10:14) - That's words after all. "And I have put my words in thy mouth," (Isaiah 51:16), and, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11)
And there we have it, in Isaiah: His word shall accomplish that which He pleases, and there is power. After all when Jesus spoke, "they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power." - Luke 4:32
I pulled this off Bibleref.com,
""So much of our practice of Christianity focuses on words being preached, read, or prayed. All that talk, though, is meaningless without the legitimate power of God behind it (James 2:26). Paul does not want the Corinthians to forget that he did not just introduce them to big ideas that can be captured and manipulated with words. He introduced them to the power of God available only through faith in Christ and the Holy Spirit."
You see, the Word alone is dead. We know in Genesis 1 God spoke and things were created. That was power: His Word was with power, just as it is written of Jesus. Colossians 1:16-17, "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist."
It is written that God, "Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Hebrews 1:1-3)
And after the crucifixion but before His resurrection it was said, "Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people:" (Luke 24:19)
Ah, but He was so much more than a prophet! HalleluYah! "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
No mere prophet has the power to make those who receive him the sons of God! Only THE Son of God, who is God has such authority to do so and the power to make it happen! An angel can speak the word and a word of prophecy as he did to Mary "And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her." (Luke 1:38) but we have to look where the real power comes in, and who it was who made the conception of Jesus Christ happen, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible." AMEN!
Martin Luther said this in his sermon "The Law Ineffectual,"
"In this light Paul here portrays the false apostles and like pernicious schismatics, who make great boasts of having a clearer understanding and of knowing much better what to teach than is the case with true preachers of the Gospel. And when they do their very best, when they pretend great things, and do wonders with their preaching, there is naught but the mere empty “letter.” Indeed, their message falls far short of Moses. Moses was a noble preacher, truly, and wrought greater things than any of them may do. Nevertheless, the doctrine of the Law could do no more than remain a letter, an Old Testament, and God had to ordain a different doctrine, a New Testament, which should impart the “spirit...."
We give direction and power as to performing and living those precepts. For this reason our message is not called the Old Testament, or the message of241 the dead letter, but that of the New Testament and of the living Spirit.”
Look at Isaiah 51:7, "Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings."
Even in the Old Testament there were those who by faith KNEW righteousness, and IN their hearts was the law of God, as it is written of Abraham, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness," and of David, "Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin" (Romans 4:3, 6-8)
And again, "For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith." (Romans 4:13)
So here we see faith in operation, which is power, as Hebrews 11:1-3 declares, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."
Now how were the worlds framed by the Word of God? By God's power. So we see His Word and power combined because "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). Again, as Luther explained, it is in the Spirit there is the power, but just the letter alone, or our words alone, as those of a rambling philosopher devoid of Spirit, or the lecturer, or those who preach by knowledge and have never been born again, having not the Spirit, as Jude writes, "These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit." (Jude 19)
Luther further says in "True Preachers Commissioned by God,"
"These words are blows and thrusts for the false apostles and preachers. Paul is mortal enemy to the blockheads who make great boast, pretending to what they do not possess and to what they cannot do; who boast of having the Spirit in great measure; who are ready to counsel and aid the whole world; who pride themselves on the ability to invent something new. It is to be a surpassingly precious and heavenly thing they are to spin out of their heads, as the dreams of pope and monks have been in time past.
We do not so,” says Paul. “We rely not upon ourselves or our wisdom and ability. We preach not what we have ourselves invented. But this is our boast and trust in Christ before God, that we have made of you a divine epistle; have written upon your hearts, not our thoughts, but the Word of God. We are not, however, glorifying our own power, but the works and the power of him who has called and equipped us for such an office; from whom proceeds all you have heard and believed."
Let us then seek Him who is the Word and who endues us with power from on high by the Holy Spirit whom He promised when He left this earth to be seated in heaven at the Fathers right hand: Jesus, Yeshua, our Messiah, to whom all power belongs, and from whom all power flows. Be ye born again, and worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. Amen.
Wait, is this a contradiction? What is Paul saying here. After all, the Word is Jesus Christ (John 1:1 & 1 John 5:7) and "How shall they hear without a preacher? (Romans 10:14) - That's words after all. "And I have put my words in thy mouth," (Isaiah 51:16), and, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11)
And there we have it, in Isaiah: His word shall accomplish that which He pleases, and there is power. After all when Jesus spoke, "they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power." - Luke 4:32
I pulled this off Bibleref.com,
""So much of our practice of Christianity focuses on words being preached, read, or prayed. All that talk, though, is meaningless without the legitimate power of God behind it (James 2:26). Paul does not want the Corinthians to forget that he did not just introduce them to big ideas that can be captured and manipulated with words. He introduced them to the power of God available only through faith in Christ and the Holy Spirit."
You see, the Word alone is dead. We know in Genesis 1 God spoke and things were created. That was power: His Word was with power, just as it is written of Jesus. Colossians 1:16-17, "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist."
It is written that God, "Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Hebrews 1:1-3)
And after the crucifixion but before His resurrection it was said, "Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people:" (Luke 24:19)
Ah, but He was so much more than a prophet! HalleluYah! "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
No mere prophet has the power to make those who receive him the sons of God! Only THE Son of God, who is God has such authority to do so and the power to make it happen! An angel can speak the word and a word of prophecy as he did to Mary "And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her." (Luke 1:38) but we have to look where the real power comes in, and who it was who made the conception of Jesus Christ happen, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible." AMEN!
Martin Luther said this in his sermon "The Law Ineffectual,"
"In this light Paul here portrays the false apostles and like pernicious schismatics, who make great boasts of having a clearer understanding and of knowing much better what to teach than is the case with true preachers of the Gospel. And when they do their very best, when they pretend great things, and do wonders with their preaching, there is naught but the mere empty “letter.” Indeed, their message falls far short of Moses. Moses was a noble preacher, truly, and wrought greater things than any of them may do. Nevertheless, the doctrine of the Law could do no more than remain a letter, an Old Testament, and God had to ordain a different doctrine, a New Testament, which should impart the “spirit...."
We give direction and power as to performing and living those precepts. For this reason our message is not called the Old Testament, or the message of241 the dead letter, but that of the New Testament and of the living Spirit.”
Look at Isaiah 51:7, "Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings."
Even in the Old Testament there were those who by faith KNEW righteousness, and IN their hearts was the law of God, as it is written of Abraham, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness," and of David, "Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin" (Romans 4:3, 6-8)
And again, "For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith." (Romans 4:13)
So here we see faith in operation, which is power, as Hebrews 11:1-3 declares, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."
Now how were the worlds framed by the Word of God? By God's power. So we see His Word and power combined because "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). Again, as Luther explained, it is in the Spirit there is the power, but just the letter alone, or our words alone, as those of a rambling philosopher devoid of Spirit, or the lecturer, or those who preach by knowledge and have never been born again, having not the Spirit, as Jude writes, "These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit." (Jude 19)
Luther further says in "True Preachers Commissioned by God,"
"These words are blows and thrusts for the false apostles and preachers. Paul is mortal enemy to the blockheads who make great boast, pretending to what they do not possess and to what they cannot do; who boast of having the Spirit in great measure; who are ready to counsel and aid the whole world; who pride themselves on the ability to invent something new. It is to be a surpassingly precious and heavenly thing they are to spin out of their heads, as the dreams of pope and monks have been in time past.
We do not so,” says Paul. “We rely not upon ourselves or our wisdom and ability. We preach not what we have ourselves invented. But this is our boast and trust in Christ before God, that we have made of you a divine epistle; have written upon your hearts, not our thoughts, but the Word of God. We are not, however, glorifying our own power, but the works and the power of him who has called and equipped us for such an office; from whom proceeds all you have heard and believed."
Let us then seek Him who is the Word and who endues us with power from on high by the Holy Spirit whom He promised when He left this earth to be seated in heaven at the Fathers right hand: Jesus, Yeshua, our Messiah, to whom all power belongs, and from whom all power flows. Be ye born again, and worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. Amen.
