"The Gospel is the power of God for salvation."
Many, many people today would argue that it is mere foolishness and openly scoff and treat the gospel with derision. And, the Bible not only agrees with this view, it explicitly anticipates this view. But it does so with this caveat. It is foolishness to the spiritually dead.
How does this work?
This does not merely say faith comes by hearing the Word of God. No, this verse shows the logical order of faith. How can dead people hear? Dead people are beyond hearing, spiritually dead people cannot hear the Gospel which is a message of the Spirit as much as it is a message carried by words. For a carnal mind cannot hear what the Spirit is saying through the Gospel. A carnal mind only hears things according to the nature of the world, but this word carries a life of its own, which is not according to this world, it is a supernatural word, a word from beyond this life and it carries a life which is from beyond this world. It is a message that brings life just like an apple seed carries the life of an apple tree within its husk. And that life from God bears no relation to the life which flows from the earth. "
So then the first work of the Holy Spirit upon dead people is to give them spiritual ears. They hear the message of the Gospel as if for the first time, maybe they have heard it a hundred times before, but today has salvation come to their house. Today has the sovereign grace of God visited upon them and given them eyes that they should see, and ears that they should hear. The first work of the Spirit has created a new heart or inclination in the soul, now they have a will to believe, and the Spirit continues to work on the soul- the mind and wash away the objections to the faith. The result of this inner and secret work in the "womb" finally comes to fruition with a confession of the mouth: "Jesus is Lord". A new creation is born. The Word of Life in Christ Jesus has reproduced after its own kind.
So then, hearing has come by the word of God. The carnal mind has awakened from the deadness of spiritual death. Now the Gospel of life in Christ Jesus makes sense, its realities are brought near. The sinner feels its own deadness, and it begins to long for light and life. And that life, that power of salvation has come with the word which they now hear, and now all the stumbling blocks to faith, all the resistance to belief has been swept away, or is being swept away. That word has brought an ability to hear, and that hearing has brought understanding, and that has brought belief, and that belief has brought new life, which in the fullness of gestation brings a new birth.
A new spirit.
A new life.
A new birth.
Resurrection from death.
Resurrection is not only the story of the risen Christ, it is the repeated message of Easter for all who believe.
Many, many people today would argue that it is mere foolishness and openly scoff and treat the gospel with derision. And, the Bible not only agrees with this view, it explicitly anticipates this view. But it does so with this caveat. It is foolishness to the spiritually dead.
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18And yet the Scriptures declare that it brings the power and reality of new life to dead people. The Gospel came not to make bad people good- but to make dead people live.
How does this work?
"Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Romans 10:17Many, "leaning on their own" (natural or carnal) "understanding" read right over the top of this verse and it comes to the mind as- "Faith comes by hearing the Word of God" But that's not what it says nor is it what is intended. Yes faith does come by hearing the word of God but the word of God also and primarily delivers our pair of spiritual ears.
This does not merely say faith comes by hearing the Word of God. No, this verse shows the logical order of faith. How can dead people hear? Dead people are beyond hearing, spiritually dead people cannot hear the Gospel which is a message of the Spirit as much as it is a message carried by words. For a carnal mind cannot hear what the Spirit is saying through the Gospel. A carnal mind only hears things according to the nature of the world, but this word carries a life of its own, which is not according to this world, it is a supernatural word, a word from beyond this life and it carries a life which is from beyond this world. It is a message that brings life just like an apple seed carries the life of an apple tree within its husk. And that life from God bears no relation to the life which flows from the earth. "
"And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness." 1 John 5:19Our carnal life, the life which we inherit from our earthly parents, which comes from this world, is from below, the life which flows from above is the seed in the Gospel message.
So then the first work of the Holy Spirit upon dead people is to give them spiritual ears. They hear the message of the Gospel as if for the first time, maybe they have heard it a hundred times before, but today has salvation come to their house. Today has the sovereign grace of God visited upon them and given them eyes that they should see, and ears that they should hear. The first work of the Spirit has created a new heart or inclination in the soul, now they have a will to believe, and the Spirit continues to work on the soul- the mind and wash away the objections to the faith. The result of this inner and secret work in the "womb" finally comes to fruition with a confession of the mouth: "Jesus is Lord". A new creation is born. The Word of Life in Christ Jesus has reproduced after its own kind.
So then, hearing has come by the word of God. The carnal mind has awakened from the deadness of spiritual death. Now the Gospel of life in Christ Jesus makes sense, its realities are brought near. The sinner feels its own deadness, and it begins to long for light and life. And that life, that power of salvation has come with the word which they now hear, and now all the stumbling blocks to faith, all the resistance to belief has been swept away, or is being swept away. That word has brought an ability to hear, and that hearing has brought understanding, and that has brought belief, and that belief has brought new life, which in the fullness of gestation brings a new birth.
A new spirit.
A new life.
A new birth.
Resurrection from death.
Resurrection is not only the story of the risen Christ, it is the repeated message of Easter for all who believe.
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." Romans 1:16
"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." Colossians 3:1
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