In Romans 1:16 the apostle Paul wrote, “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.” In this verse we see that it is God alone who has the power to save all who believe in Jesus Christ – for it was this same [power] that raised Jesus from the dead.
Acts 2:24 states,
“Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.”
Acts 5:30 states,
“The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.”
Acts 10:40 states,
“Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;”
The “power to save” means that God alone can change one’s condition from “condemned” to “not-condemned”, and to change one from “spiritually dead” to “spiritually alive”.
Romans 8:11 states,
“But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken [make alive] your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.”
Ephesians 2:1 states,
“And you hath he quickened [made spiritually alive] who were dead in trespasses and sins.”
John 5:24 states,
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
These verses further underscore that God alone has saving raising changing power.
Too often, though, it seems today that men and women alike will receive God’s gift of salvation, yet they will never allow God’s power to bring about the change that He desires in their everyday lives. Yes, it is true that we will quote 2 Corinthians 5:17,
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away: behold all things are become new.”
But we do so without ever considering how powerful of a change that God’s salvation is meant to effectively bring in an individual’s life.
We must understand that for God’s power to dynamically change our everyday lives, we must through faith allow God to change us. For it is only God who can change us into the person He wants us to be. Many have tried on their own to bring about change – only to fail miserably because they relied on their own self-direction, self-will, and self-power. Many have read and embraced John 14:15 which states,
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
However, if a child of God attempts to keep the Lord’s commandments apart from the power, direction, and will of the Lord – one will find himself battling with self-glory instead of being God-honoring with their lives.
God’s power to change our lives will become very evident in our lives if we choose to submit ourselves unto His transforming power as so stated in Romans 12:1-2,
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
The Scriptures also teach that God’s power can bring about a “good work” (or if you will, a “Divine work”) in our lives if we will surrender our lives unto His use.
Philippians 1:6 states,
“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”
Philippians 2:13 states,
“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
Ephesians 2:10 states,
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
The question that now remains is, “Are you allowing God’s power to change you completely? Or, are you limiting God’s power to change your life because you are unwilling to present your life unto Christ’s use?”
