Pictures of Evangelism #3: Power posted by Yuen Woh Voon on Jan 26, 2012

The Apostle Paul, when writing to the Christians at Rome, describes the gospel as the power of God to save everyone who believes. “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile (Romans 1:16 NIV ).”

The Greek word for power is “dunamis” from which we also derive the English word “dynamite.” Yes, the gospel has power in itself. We never need to defend the gospel. We simply preach it and let it loose! Because it is the word of God, it will accomplish that which He has purposed and that is the salvation of all who believe.

The gospel is the power of God for salvation. Mankind is place under bondage because the power of sin. Sin has the power to keep someone in its hold, in its grip. Those under the power of alcohol or drug abuse, gambling or even sexual lusts find it almost impossible to quit their wasteful lifestyle. The victims may even acknowledge that they need to quit living this kind of lifestyle but an unseen power seems to immobilise their feeble will to change, to get out of this kind of destructive living.

The good news is that Christianity is not a religion with some lists of things to do or things to avoid.

The gospel of Jesus Chirst has the power to save. It gives power to the victim to quit his destructive lifestyle, to repent and to live to please God. This power is available to all who put their faith in Christ who Himself has overcome the devil’s wily schemes to tempt and to defeat Him. The gospel is able to save. It has the power to save.

The gospel is the power of God to save everyone who believes.

A person needs to believe; to rely on, to put his dependence upon, to trust in the provision of God for His salvation before he can avail himself of this power. He must be willing to put his faith in God’s provision of eternal life through His One and Only Son before he receives this power. God sent His Son into the world to die on the cross as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Some 40 years ago, I surrendered the Lordship of my life to Christ and decided to live to please Him. He then gave me the power to do so. He gave me the power to do what He wants, to serve Him and to glorify Him with my life. Everyday, when I encounter some opportunity to sin, to go astray, I can turn to Christ and receive His power to do the right thing.

When we share our faith, we are not merely converting people from one religion to another. We are giving them the power to be set free from their chains, the power to live to please God and no longer to please their own selfish desires which is the root of all kinds of problems.

This power is awesome. It can change people to do good when no other power is able to. It’s dynamite!