God always wins. Victory is already complete. We, as heirs and joint heirs with Jesus join in and enjoy this victory. This is because God is the God of all power and He gave to us this power.
This power is revealed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s the gospel of grace. Paul describes the gospel as the gospel of the grace of Christ. There is power in that gospel.
Romans 1:16 says “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek”.
You cannot separate power from the gospel. If you try to, you will be left with nothing but religious double speak. Nice sounding religious stories with no anointing to change people’s lives. You will have nothing but a different gospel filled with words.
In 1 Corinthians 4:18-20 Paul writes about this. Here it is in the NLT.
18 Some of you have become arrogant, thinking I will not visit you again.
19 But I will come—and soon—if the Lord lets me, and then I’ll find out whether these arrogant people just give pretentious speeches or whether they really have God’s power.
20 For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power.
What was happening here is that others had come to the Corinthians and said to them “we are to be your spiritual fathers”. Paul was the one to bring the gospel to the Corinthians and he was their spiritual father. He hopes to one day make his way back to Corinth to see them in person, so he writes them this letter.
Basically, Paul is saying to them. I’m coming back to see you as soon as God allows me to. When I get there, we’ll just see about these smooth talkers. These arrogant people who just give pretentious speeches. I’m not coming to listen to their fancy speeches, or check on their teachings, I’m coming to check on their power.
In the majority of churches today, there is this figure head behind a pulpit that has been put on a pedestal by people who are ignorant to the true gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no power in their messages, only smug and smirk stories that make them appear to be religiously astute.
Paul goes on to write in 1 Corinthians 2:4,5 (Good News Translation).
4 and my teaching and message were not delivered with skillful words of human wisdom, but with convincing proof of the power of God’s Spirit.
5 Your faith, then, does not rest on human wisdom but on God’s power.
Acts 1:6-8.
6 So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;
8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall BE My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
Notice in that verse 8 that He did not say you will go and witness. He didn’t say you will DO witnessing. He said you will BE My witnesses. It’s all about being and nothing about doing. Yes, doing comes out of being, but it’s not burdensome when He is doing it in you, through you, and to you.
Romans 15:18,19.
18 For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed,
19 in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
It is in the power of the Spirit that signs and wonders result. The gospel cannot be preached without the power of signs and wonders. This is the convincing proof about the power of God’s Spirit residing within us.
Words without power do not equal the gospel. You cannot separate them. On the flip side, you can’t always live the gospel based on experience. That’s true. However, if I simply read the bible and don’t have an experience, that’s just religion. That’s why I always tell people to study the bible, not read it. Religion is form without power. Religion is what happens when the Spirit is absent.
If reading the bible does not lead you into an encounter with God, then what’s the purpose. It’s a waste of time. It’s nothing more than performing a duty and feeling proud when you finish. The key to experiencing a revelation from God while studying the bible is to study it in the same Spirit that it was written.
Our goal in studying the bible is not to learn the bible. Our goal is to get to know the author. I don’t study the bible so that I can come up with another teaching. I study the bible to get a deeper revelation of who God is and to experience His presence.
Reading the bible will help you with knowledge of the principles of the Kingdom of God. Studying the bible will help you enter into the presence of the Kingdom of God. Principles are fine, but presence is better.
If you read the bible and it doesn’t strengthen your relationship with God it’s useless. It’s like studying the owner’s manual of a new car and never driving it. The goal is to get to drive the car, not to memorize the manual.
You cannot separate signs and wonders from the gospel. They are entrenched in the gospel. Jesus said this in Mark 16:17,18 (NLT).
17 These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages.
18 They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”
Jesus didn’t say just the Jews. He didn’t say just the Charismatics. He didn’t say just the Pentecostals. He said “those who believe”. This is very important to understand. The people didn’t believe Jesus when He spoke truths and people today don’t believe Jesus as He is still speaking truth. How? Through His Word. Jesus was the Word when He walked the earth and Jesus still is the Word as the Holy Spirit “walks” the earth.
You can’t separate the Spirit and Word or else all you have is a form of godliness without power. Bill Johnson says it this way. “It’s hard for fruit to be produced in our life like it was in the early church when we are more committed to a book they didn’t have then we are to the Holy Spirit they did have”.
A.W. Tozer said “If the Holy Spirit were taken away from the New Testament church, 90% of what they did would have come to a halt. But if the Holy Spirit were taken away from today’s church, only 10% of what it does would cease”
2 Timothy 3:1-5 reads this way. (NAS)
1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
Another translation says “filled with narcissistic, money-grubbing, pretentious, arrogant, and abusive people”. Does that sound at all like today? Just look at our government and political leaders. Oh yeah, don’t forget the Mega-church pastors and evangelists. I’ve got nothing against big churches until they guilt people into “tithing” or else they will be cursed. Or when they preach another gospel of works and performance to keep the people in bondage. Tithing…another false teaching. See my teaching on tithing called “What About Tithing”.
3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.
Jesus had a response to those who did not believe His Truth Words. It’s found in John 14:10-12. (NAS)
10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.
11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.
12 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.
If you can’t, won’t, or don’t believe because of my words then believe because of my works. Signs and wonders are entrenched in the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you’re sick, there’s healing in the gospel of Jesus. If you’re worried, there’s peace in the gospel of Jesus Christ. If your marriage is in trouble, there’s reconciliation in the gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s all because of the power of the gospel.
It’s not just in words. It’s in the proof of the power in the gospel of Jesus. If you don’t believe the truth of gospel, then ask someone who has been healed, delivered, set free from bondage, had their marriage restored, had their tormented minds released, or had their relationship with their children made right.
In Acts 19, scripture reads that God performed extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul. This confirms what Jesus said in John 14:12. The Spirit was so strong in Paul’s life that when they took handkerchiefs from Paul’s body to the sick, diseases and evil spirits left them. Just study verses 11 and 12 of Acts 19.
Experience is important. You cannot realize the power of the gospel without an experience. Experience brings with it understanding and deeper truth.
So, given that, we always ended our home teachings with the following declaration and I’ll end this teaching the same way. “We wrap faith around the truth that has been presented, and believe for a deeper revelation of this truth that leads to an experience, resulting in understanding”.
Grace and Peace. Mark Kunerth.
The Grace Report | By: Mark Kunerth 