A Powerful Gospel, Part 1

Greetings! Vickie and I are excited about the turn of this New Year and everything that God has planned and is doing! We pray God’s best for you in 2013.

With that being said, I’ve been pondering something regarding our Christian lives and the direction of the Church. Let’s begin by looking at Romans chapter 1. Did you know that there is such a thing as a powerless Gospel, and it is being preached around the world and particularly in America today? In Romans 1:16, the Apostle Paul wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation.” That word power is dunamis, not exusia. Dunamis means, “dynamo, dynamite, the miracle power of God.” Paul says the Gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation.

Today, particularly in America, I believe that we’re seeing variations of the Gospel being preached, even in Christian churches from Christian pulpits. There is a message going forth that sounds good, and it stimulates the senses, feeds the flesh, and builds the ego temporarily, but it lacks the power of God that brings about true salvation. I want to discuss that topic in this series of blogs as I’m concerned about it. I do a lot of reading and try to keep up with current events and what’s going on in the Church. I visit various ministries, travel around, and I observe. I’m going to be very honest with you. We’ve gotten to a place where it almost seems like the kind of coffee we serve is more important than what is being preached from the pulpit. “Oh, I’m going to that church ‘cuz they’ve got Starbucks!”

It’s like if we can just give them the biggest muffins, the best coffee, and the chewiest chocolate chip cookies, then maybe, just maybe, they’ll come back. Meanwhile, many times the Gospel that’s being preached under the Christian banner is a powerless Gospel. A powerless Gospel can feed a hungry man, clothe the naked, or visit the lonely in prison, but it lacks the ability to bring about true, radical transformation.

The Bible says that Jesus went everywhere preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom while He was on the earth, and everywhere He went preaching, the power of God was demonstrated. How do we know? Because He healed all manner of sickness and cast out demons; He cleansed the lepers; He raised the dead! There was true evidence of the power of the Gospel of Christ being manifested.

In many church circles today, we’re afraid to demonstrate the power; we’re afraid to preach the message. Why? Because it is offensive to many people. Many people are looking for a psychology/therapy session every Sunday morning at 10:00 AM. “Come to group session; we’ll talk about it.” But where’s the power of the Gospel of Christ being demonstrated?

The Apostle Paul said, “I’m not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.” It has the ability to set the captives free. And I want to remind you of this: God did not save you just so you can be forgiven! God didn’t save you just so you can get to heaven. That isn’t found anywhere in the Word. God didn’t save you so you can feel better about yourself. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say that God didn’t save us just so we can become better people.

Too many people are going to church because they think it will make them a better person. That’s like evolution. Over the course of time, that’s how a form of Darwinism has come into the church’s mindset. Christianity is not an evolutionary process; it’s a transforming process! Do you understand? That’s not to say that we don’t grow, live, and go on. The world and many in the Church would have us to believe that mankind is still evolving and that somehow we’ve become so much better than we were thousands of years ago. Really? If that is so, can you explain to me why more people have been brutally killed and slaughtered in the last hundred years than in all of the years prior to it in known history? Four thousand babies are murdered every day here in America. Can you explain that to me if we’ve become so much better at becoming humans? “I go to church so that I can be a better person.” Going to church ain’t gonna make you a better person!

What we need is the Gospel of Christ to become a reality in our lives, and the Gospel of Christ carries with it the power to transform us!

In Him,
pg