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October 16, 2019
In keeping with the mandates of Scripture, such preaching offers a voice of authority not of human origin and not subject to cultural vagaries (Isa. 40:8; 1 Thess. 2:13; Titus 2:15).
The Bible does not tell us how we can fix ourselves to gain God’s acceptance or perfect our world (Gal. 2:15–20). If the Bible were merely about improving our performance or refining our competence, then we would be our own saviors. Fundamentally and pervasively, the Scriptures teach the inadequacy of any purely human effort to claim divine approval or to achieve God’s purposes. We are entirely dependent on the mercy and power provided through our Savior to be what he desires and to do what he requires. Grace rules—as both the most powerful motivation and the only true means of Christian
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However well-intended and biblically rooted a sermon’s instruction may be, if the message does not incorporate the motivation and enablement of the grace of God that culminates in the ministry of Jesus Christ, then the preacher proclaims mere self-improvement.
How can all Scripture center on Christ’s redeeming work when vast portions make no mention of him? The answer lies in learning to see all of God’s Word as a unified message of human need and divine provision (Luke 24:27; Rom. 15:4).
The riches of God’s Word are no one’s private treasure, and when we share its wealth, we participate in its highest purposes.
Whether your studies take place through a seminary, a Bible college, or a program of personal reading, they will be more rewarding when you realize how each element prepares you to preach with accuracy and authority for the sake of others’ growth in grace.
Ultimately, preaching accomplishes its spiritual purposes not because of the skills or the wisdom of
a preacher but because of the power of the Scripture proclaimed (1 Cor. 2:4–5).
The human efforts of the greatest preachers are still too weak and sin-tainted to be responsible for others’ eternal destinies. For this reason, God infuses his Word with his own spiritual power.
Word. The Bible makes it clear that the Word is not merely powerful; it functions without literary peer or human limitation. The Word of God
creates:
controls:
convicts:
performs his purposes:
overrides human weakness:
Preaching that is true to Scripture converts, convicts, and eternally changes the souls of men and women because God’s Word is the instrument of divine compulsion, not because preachers have any power in themselves to stimulate such godly transformations (although human
powers can certainly bring about all kinds of worldly changes, including those that masquerade as the products of heaven).
Logos, or Word
By identifying Jesus as his Word, God indicates that his message and his person are inseparable. The Word embodies him.
By his Word God brought the world into being (Gen. 1), and Jesus is the Word by whom “all things were made” (John 1:1–3; Col. 1:16) and who continues “sustaining all things by his powerful word” (Heb. 1:3). The Word uses his Word to reveal his person and to carry out all his purposes.
Paul rightly instructs the young pastor Timothy to be a workman “who correctly
handles the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15) because the Word of God is “living and active” (Heb. 4:12). Scriptural truth is not a passive object for examination and presentation. The Word examines us. “It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).
Preaching is a redemptive act in which Christ himself ministers to his people, by his Spirit opening and transforming their hearts with the truth that same Spirit inspired in the pages of Scripture.4
dunamis,
When preachers perceive the power that the Word holds, confidence in their calling grows even as pride in their performance withers. We need not fear our ineffectiveness when we speak truths God has empowered to perform his purposes.
