Millions of Christians live under a gospel of grace without power. Grace is only half the good news. Power is the rest. A gospel without power is an insufficient gospel.
In Luke 4, Jesus stood in a familiar synagogue in Nazareth. There He announced his mission to the world as He read from the scroll of Isaiah (Isa.61:1-3). In that prophetic text, He outlined his three-year mission on earth. Preach the good news. Heal the brokenhearted. Set captives free. Release prisoners from darkness.
Jesus declared that He was the fulfillment of that text and then spent the next three years putting that mission statement into practice. He preached the good news of the kingdom of God. He healed the sick, cast out demons, cleansed the lepers, raised the dead, and at all times loved the broken.
When He sent out the twelve and the seventy, he commanded them to do the same. He then declared to his followers, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” We too are to do what Jesus did. We are to offer grace but also access to the power of the kingdom of God.
A gospel with power does more than forgive sins. It frees and transforms. For years I have watched faithful, forgiven Christians continue to live in bondage to anger, depression, shame, fear, and lust year after year. They have prayed, cried, repented a thousand times, and sat at the feet of counselors and pastors looking for keys that would free them from their oppression. At best they have learned to manage their sin or their “issues” but have not truly found freedom. Are they saved? Yes. Are they forgiven? Yes. Are they free? No. But God’s word says:
So, if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed. (Jn.8:37)
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (2 Cor.3:18)
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. (Gal. 5:1)
Every time the gospel was preached in the New Testament power was on display along with the grace of God. Power allowed people not just to hear about God’s grace but to experience it. Experiencing God always has an exponentially greater impact than simply hearing about Him. Most churches enable their people to hear about God week after week. Not so many enable them to experience Him as well.
When God’s power is manifested, we experience Him. When we experience Him, like Moses on Sinai, we are changed. Where significant transformation in the lives and hearts of God’s people has not been profoundly experienced, then, perhaps, an insufficient gospel is being preached. “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power” (1Cor.4:20). God is not content to simply be talked about. He wants to be experienced.