Gospel of Pardon, Gospel of Power

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Scripture: Isaiah 61:1-2 (NLT)

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me,

for the Lord has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted

and to proclaim that captives will be released

and prisoners will be freed.

 

Devotion:

 

            Many people remember these words from Jesus lips in Luke 4:18. They are gospel words. They confirm to the crowds that God has in fact come to pardon them of their sins. When the gospel is preached today this is largely the good news that is proclaimed. However, the pardoning words of the gospel are not all that Jesus has to say about our salvation. There is more to the gospel than the knowledge that in the great by and by we will receive other facets of the gospel. While we cling to the gospel promise we can be assured that there is more to the good news proclaimed here that we can accept as a promise for our eternal lives.

 

            When we look deeper into the greatest salvation ever promised we can find more there to rejoice over. A gospel of pardon for our sins is certainly a great gift and promise for us to believe in. We can, however, look beyond the blessings of forgiveness. We find that Jesus has promised us a gospel of power to fight our spiritual battles. We may rest in the promise of pardon, but we can live our Christian lives in the power of the gospel. This verse from the book of Acts lays out for us the power of the gospel that is available to us: (Acts 10:39 NRSV)

 

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

 

            Through the power of the Holy Spirit God endowed Jesus with power to conquer Satan and the powers of darkness that envelope this word. That same power of the Holy Spirit lives within believers today. God did not shut off the power of the Holy Spirit to his people. People can and should base their lives on the fact that God’s Holy Spirit is at work in his church today. The fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. Are all available to believers today.

 

The gifts of the spirit, likewise, are still being distributed among God’s people. There is lots of disagreement over which gifts have ceased and which have continued. My belief is that if a believer needs a special gift in order to minister in a particular situation, then God will supply that gift for that situation. While not making it generally available. The church now has the complete Bible as a resource to provide power for ministry. Let us pray that we may wisely use the fruit and gifts of the spirit as we minister today.

 

Prayer:

           

            Lord, thank you for your great power in the gospel. May we learn to use these fruit and gifts to be a testimony to your continued presence and power in the world today. Give us discernment in our ministry to these gifts of the Holy Spirit. May your name be honored and magnified because you supply your people with all material, spiritual gifts that we need to face our dark and dangerous world. Amen.

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