Subject One Hundred Thirty-seven

THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL

Scripture: Rom. 1:16-17

1. The gospel is the power of God
   1. The gospel is not only a blessed message, but it is also the power of God.
   2. Since the source of the gospel is God, therefore it is the power of God. The power of the gospel is equal to the power of God.
   3. Give practical examples to prove that the gospel is powerful in saving all kinds of people. The entire life and living of a great sinner is changed after he believes in the gospel. There has never been any teaching as powerful as the power of the gospel.
2. The power of the gospel is based on God’s righteousness
   1. This portion of the Scripture shows us that the gospel is powerful because God’s righteousness is in the gospel. Any religious method demands that man cultivates a moral conduct, that is, establish his own righteousness. There is no need to explain what righteousness is. Do not say that righteousness means lawfulness; people understand that it refers to man’s works. Only the gospel of God is based on God’s righteousness. Man’s righteousness is imperfect and weak, but God’s righteousness is perfect and powerful. Man’s righteousness is changeable, but God’s righteousness never changes. The religious method is based on man’s righteousness, and teaches that a man can be saved only if he can do good. But the fact is that no one can do good. God’s saving way is that through His righteousness God has accomplished the work of salvation for us.
   2. We are all sinners before God. According to God’s righteousness, we all should be sentenced to death. But God sent the Lord Jesus to die for our sins. Thus the death of the Lord Jesus fulfilled the righteous requirement of God.
   3. Because the death of the Lord Jesus has fulfilled God’s righteous requirement, today God’s righteousness demands that He must forgive and justify those who believe in Jesus. Thus God’s righteousness, through the death of Christ, saves all those who receive the Lord Jesus. Because it is unchanging and powerful, God’s righteousness makes the gospel powerful.
3. The power of the gospel is based on God’s life
   1. The gospel of God not only contains God’s righteousness but also God’s life. Romans 1:17 says that the gospel gives life to those who believe, and this life is the life of God.
   2. God’s saving way is that man may be forgiven of his sins and delivered from perdition on the negative side, and that man may be one with God on the positive side. The negative side is accomplished by God’s righteousness; the positive side is accomplished by God’s life.
   3. The gospel of God causes man to obtain righteousness as well as God’s life. To obtain God’s righteousness is to be justified; to obtain God’s life is to be regenerated.
4. How to receive the power of this gospel
   1. Confess that you have no righteousness, only sin; that you have no life, only death.
   2. Believe that the Lord Jesus died and was resurrected. The death of Jesus takes away our sins, fulfills God’s righteousness, and gives us His righteousness. The resurrection of the Lord abolished death and gives us the life of God.
   3. This gospel is out of faith unto faith. The Scripture says that the just shall have life and live by faith. Thus you must believe in Christ and in the word of the gospel. By believing, you will receive the power of the gospel of God, the righteousness of God, and the life of God.