Many thanks again to Bud Hancock for underlining the importance to grasp the Power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Bud is an inspiration to my readers and they ask God to Bless him Richly.

Gibber! Gibber!

Chugley

What Has Happened to the Power of the Gospel?

By Bud Hancock

The Power of the Gospel

In Romans 1:16-17, the Apostle Paul said: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ (The Anointed One and His Anointing): for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith”.

There is so much truth in those two sentences, but it seems today’s Church leaders simply gloss over them and go on to the next item on their religious “agenda”, if they even give them any time at all. Meanwhile, the hurting and lost people who so badly need to hear and understand the truth are left in their lost and hurting conditions.

The greatest command to the disciples of Jesus Christ, after the command to love one another, was this: “…Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Jesus, the Head of the Church, His Body, stated simply and powerfully just what the power of His gospel could do: save people. But we need to delve a little deeper into that whole process of “being saved” to get a better and fuller understanding of that truth.

Look at the word translated “salvation” in Romans 1:16. It is the Greek word “soteria” (Strong’s 4991, pronounced so-tay-ree’-ah) and it means rescue, save, salvation, deliver, health. Soteria is a derivative of the Greek word soter (Strong’s 4990) which itself is a derivative of the Greek word “sozo” (Strong’s 4982, pronounced sode’-zo. This is one of the most important words in Paul’s gospel as it relates to the power of the gospel. It means “to save”, “deliver” and “protect”. It is translated in other scriptures as “to preserve”, “to be or make well” and to “be whole”. Paul used this word in Romans 10:9-10, speaking of the word of faith which he preached, stating that the word simply says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved (sozo). For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”. The word “saved” here is sozo and it should be understood that it means to be saved, healed, delivered, set free and made whole.

In spite of the simplicity of the words used by Paul in his letter to the Romans, today’s watered down religion appears to be afraid of declaring just how simple is the process of accessing it, as well as how extensive is the power of the gospel. As opposed to the words of Paul, stating that he was “not ashamed of the gospel”, the religious leaders of our age must be ashamed or they would boldly declare what the Holy Spirit was saying through Paul.

The World’s Version of SOZO

The Medical/Industrial complex spends most of its time developing new pharmaceuticals (drugs) to supposedly make every person on Earth well, but the truth is that the entire World has degenerated into a mass of sick people, suffering from so many diseases the Big Pharma/Medical/Industrial Complex cannot seem to keep up with them. And even if they could, the combining of various chemicals, while at times alleviating some suffering from disease, usually by deadening pain, has never offered complete health as the word “sozo” describes.

Today, we are witnessing a constantly exploding number of new “medicines” pushed out by the World’s Big Pharma “drug dealers”. They shamelessly promote their wares as being the answer to the suffering caused by all of mankind’s illnesses, promising relief from all manner of pain and disease. One need only research the revenue produced by the Big Pharma Medical/Industrial Complex (BPMIC) to understand just what a monstrosity it has become. Multitudes of people, including many Christians, place their faith in what the BPMIC promises, whether or not there is any truth or factual evidence to back up their statements.

In Jesus time on the Earth, there were also “physicians/healers” who used chemical compositions (potions) to try to heal people of their maladies. The Apostle Paul, writing his letter to the believers in Galatia, described these “healers” as “magicians”, “sorcerers”, “druggists” or “poisoners” who concocted their potions using the drugs known at that time. The word he used to describe their workings is “witchcraft”. It is translated thus from the Greek word pharmakeia (Strong’s 5331, pronounced far-mak-i’-ah) and it appears other places in God’s word as “magicians”. It is from the Greek word, pharmakeus (Strong’s 5332, pronounced far-mak-yoos’”) , derived from the base Greek word pharmakon which is the word translated as “a drug”, i.e. a spell-giving potion, a “druggist” (pharmacist, or “poisoner”) and by extension, a magician or sorcerer. These practices had been common long before the arrival of Jesus Christ who appeared to show men the truth that he was the ”Christ”, or the One Anointed with the power of God through the Holy Spirit. Just a little interjection of information here, in case you have not heard, the word Christ is NOT the last name of Jesus; it is the Greek word “Christos” (Christ in English) translated from the Hebrew word Mashiach which means the One Anointed with the power of God.

God had made certain promises to the Children of Israel regarding what they could expect if they obeyed His commands, and part of that promise was the ability to live free from sickness and disease. He displayed the early fulfillment of that promise as He led them out of slavery into the land they had been promised to inherit. They remained healthy and strong, and even their clothing and shoes did not wear out.

But the disciples of Jesus, those men who followed Jesus during His Earthly ministry understood the power of the gospel; they saw Jesus perform many miracles that demonstrated God’s power as He went from place to place, not only proclaiming His divinity, but demonstrating His love to people by healing them of all manner of sickness and disease.

After Jesus was ascended back to His Father in heaven, those same men took the same gospel and, using the Name of Jesus, preached the gospel and won multitudes of converts to Christ. At the same time, all those whom they encountered who were sick were healed when the disciples laid hands on them, just as Jesus had done.

Through the faith of the disciples and their obedience to the commandment of Jesus, the Body of Christ grew exponentially. In the same manner of men that we are seeing today, many of the political leaders of that time took notice of the growth and, fearing losing their control over the people if the growth continued, they used many evil and sometimes “religious” actions, from threats to torture to murder, to try to stop it; they were somewhat successful, especially during the time known as the Dark Ages. But, the light of the gospel, though it may have dimmed somewhat, was never extinguished. Though it might have seemed that darkness had totally blotted out the light of the gospel, God proved His faithfulness to His word and stirred his remaining true servants to rekindle the light that IS the power of the gospel.

Hurting people who desired to be healed and saved eventually found that the power of the gospel was still available and God provided the means, through His true servants, for them to hear and believe the good news and access the benefits that God had promised through His word.

The Power of the Gospel Today – Where Is It?

Right now, today, we are living in times when it seems once again that the Power of the Gospel has almost  disappeared. Instead of apostles, evangelists and teachers who went from village to village, city to city, often risking their lives to preach the gospel to the lost and hurting, we have “professional preachers” whose lives are underwritten by massive organizations with millions of dollars in revenue. Much of that revenue is used to promote their travels using private jets and accompanied by other luxuries. Instead of their main purpose being the spreading of the gospel with the intention of glorifying God, allowing the Holy Spirit to prove to the world that He is the Anointed One with the Anointing needed to not only save sinners but to deliver those who are demon-possessed and heal all who are suffering and dying from horrible diseases.

I am sure that there are still some good, honest and Spirit-filled ministers of God who, in a spirit of the Love of God, do use their revenues to take the gospel to the hurting masses and give the glory for any and all success to God, who promote God and NOT themselves, but I am also sure that a majority of so-called ministers are in the “business” of promoting themselves and “their ministries” above the God whom they claim to represent. God described them as “sounding brass and tinkling cymbals” (1 Corinthians 13:1). Paul stated plainly that those who fit in this category, claiming to spread the gospel, howbeit without true charity (agape, Strong’s 26, pronounced a-ga’-pay) or the God kind of love, profit nothing, aside from the personal fame they seem to prefer over the commendation of God.

Jesus became famous because as He traveled from place to place, He performed miracles and provided relief from suffering to ALL who professed faith in Him. As long as He lived on this Earth, he never once claimed any glory for Himself, rather He always gave it all to God, and that was what made Him, the miracle-worker that history proved Him to be.

Until and unless those called by God to be “ministers” actually learn what it means to minister (to serve others), and allow themselves to become vessels through which the Holy Spirit can work, the missing Power of the Gospel will remain missing, and that is a great shame.

Blessings and Maranatha!

Bud Hancock

budaroo@twc.com

Born and raised in a small textile town in North Carolina, Bud’s family moved to Michigan in the hope of finding better employment with General Motors.  After graduating from high school, Bud began an apprenticeship with General Motors to become a Metal Modelmaker.  Retiring after a 30 year career, which included an eight year stint as a Metrologist (Science of high precision measurement), he and his wife moved back to North Carolina to be near his elderly parents.  Shortly thereafter, with both of his parents having passed, he began a new career in the bank security/ATM business, advancing from an entry level technician to one of two North Carolina customer service managers for his employer.  Retiring again after 13 years, he and his wife of 51 years relocated to Tennessee where Bud began writing articles emphasizing Biblical teaching and geopolitical issues.  At age 75, he and his wife relocated to South Carolina with their Miniature Schnauzer, Baxter.  Bud continues to study God’s word and write articles on Christian living and geopolitical issues from the Biblical end times  perspective.