The Power of God and Salvation

Good Wednesday Dear Church,

I hope and pray that you are having a wonderful sunny-though slightly chilly afternoon. Tonight at our Wednesday Bible Study we will be talking about Romans 1:8-17. One of the fascinating things about this paragraph is that phrase in verse 16, the "power of God for salvation." This means at least two things. First, this means that God is a powerful God. In fact, he is not just somewhat powerful, but he is all-powerful, omni-potent. We have a bit of power, a bit of potency. We are semi-potent. But he is omnipotent and all powerful. But secondly, it also tells us that God uses his power. And what does he use his power for? He uses his power for salvation. God's power goes to work for our salvation! Isn't that amazing? And how does he do that?

In the "gospel."

Where is the greatest power of God exerted, greater even than when he created the world? Greater than when he brought Israel out of Egypt? Greater than when he let the Cubs finally win a World Series? 

In the gospel. Specifically where? In the manger. On the cross. In the empty tomb. In the ascension. When he returns to judge the living and the dead. The whole of the gospel from start to finish is the powerful God working in a marvelous and awesome way to reconcile all things to himself, to announce freedom to the captives, to justify the condemned, to give life to the dead, to reconcile the estranged, to adopt the orphans, to make heirs out of rascals. It is on the awful, blood stained executioner's cross that the angels from ages long ago desired to look. It is at the empty grave where earth itself trembled in joy. That is where the glory of God shone the brightest, the word of God resounded the clearest, the armies of hell cowered the lowest. This is the power of God.

It is this power of God for salvation that we invite you to explore with us tonight as we continue our study in the book of Romans.

In Christ,
Pastor Matt