POWER POINTS
By Richard Burkard
(With apologies to TV/radio preacher Jack Graham)
It's one thing to have a great new idea. It's another thing to have it pass or fail in real-life. I've learned that the hard way over the years with business ideas. One of them was a Frisbee sport for individuals or doubles. It failed miserably, even though it had a name which I thought would attract some interest – because I put the word “power” in it.
Plenty of people want power. Some run for political office, hoping to obtain it. TV comedian Tim Allen made a catch-phrase out of it, seeking “MORE POWER!” And it seems fair to say a few ministers in churches have been driven by a thirst for power as well.
For years, various Sabbath-keeping Church of God groups have defined the Holy Spirit as a power, instead of a third part of the Godhead. The main verse used to verify this is Acts 1:8, where Jesus gives farewell instructions: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you....” (NASB) Romans 15 refers twice to “the power of the Holy Spirit” (verses 13, 19, NIV).
They're not alone in this view. Before Creflo Dollar became a national name among TV preachers, I heard him on Atlanta radio while driving to work in the morning – and he rattled off this phrase often: “The burden-removing yoke-destroying power of God, which is called The Anointing.” The NIV Study Bible indicates “anointing” can be a Scriptural synonym for the Holy Spirit (1995 ed., p. 1909). The Greek root chrisma provides us with the idea of a “charismatic” movement – yet that word only appears in the New Testament three times, in I John 2.
United Church of God President Victor Kubik put it this way in a May-June 2014 Good News article tied to the feast of Pentecost: “The Holy Spirit is the power and the essence of God – not a third divine person, as many people believe.”
I credit God for provoking me to dig deeper beyond that sentence, to examine the description “power of God.” I wondered: is there really only one Bible definition?
Beyond the Spirit
Other articles on this site have shown COG's tend to put God in a box by claiming there's only a single definition of a key term – and sadly, it's occurred with this phrase as well.
“But to them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God,” Paul declares in I Corinthians 1:24 (KJV unless noted). Huh?! The power of God is Jesus Christ – not the Spirit?
The apostle didn't stop there. Only six verses earlier we read “the preaching of the cross is....to us which are saved.... the power of God” (1:18). Wow – that power has moved beyond the Godhead, to preaching! And not necessarily about the Kingdom of God, but “the cross of Christ” (verse 17).
Add to that these words of Paul: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God to salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16). So the gospel can be considered the power of God as well!
For those who have accepted hardline definitions of these terms, this should provoke some serious thinking and study. It did for me. I opened a concordance to find out what the Bible says about power – and see if COG's had overlooked anything else.
Almost without fail, the Greek word for “spirit” in the New Testament is pneuma. It can refer to the Holy Spirit, what COG's call the “spirit in man” providing life (Matthew 27:50), an “unclean spirit” possessing someone (Luke 9:42), or simply a wind (John 3:8a).
“Power” has several New Testament roots – but the one which predominates when it comes to God's power is dunamis. It is used in describing the “power of God” (II Corinthians 6:7), the “power of Christ” (12:9) and “the power of the Holy Ghost” (Romans 15:13) – all three.
What can we know about Jesus Christ and power? Ephesians 1:20-21 indicates the Lord is “far above all principality and power....” Colossians 2:9-10 calls Him “the head of all principality and power.” (Different Greek words for “power” appear in those verses.) Yet after Jesus's arrest, He declared in a future time, “the Son of man [shall] sit on the right hand of the power of God” (Luke 22:69; see also Mark 14:62 and Matthew 26:64).
Now hold on here. Isn't Jesus seated at the right hand of God the Father? Based on Mark 16:19 and other verses, the answer is yes. So this should reinforce the point that the Father is the “power of God”. Along with Jesus the Son. Along with the Holy Spirit. And yes, along with other things.
Power Splits
COG's might say the Spirit is in the Father and Son, as part of their nature. Yet several verses suggest the Holy Spirit and “power” can be separate things.
Consider the way in which Jesus came to Earth. An angel told Mary, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you....” (Luke 1:35, emphasis added) COG's tend to put these two points together, perhaps based on the Moffatt translation which lacks an “and.” But the BlueLetterBible.org breakdown of Greek from the “Textus Receptus” indicates there really is an “and” separating those thoughts! So why mention the Holy Spirit in a different way, after stating it clearly?
Even before this, an Old Testament prophet was given words from God to Zerubbabel: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). We checked several translations, and only the Contemporary English Version seems to express this in a way which might be comfortable for COG's: “So don't depend on your own power or strength, but on my Spirit.” But most others do not.
After the resurrection, we learn in Acts 10:38, “...God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power....” CEV doesn't bail out COG's here – and that conjunction again is in the Greek. To say Jesus had “the power of God and power” would sound a bit silly. (Similar wording occurs in I Corinthians 2:4 and I Thessalonians 1:5.)
So I'm led to conclude the Holy Spirit can refer to things other than God's power – and the power of God is far more complex than the “power steering” analogy I heard from preachers in the 1980s. What else can we learn from the Bible about it?
Human Powers
Some of the first mentions of “power” in Scripture surprisingly do not refer to God. One refers to a human son, who became the father of a tribe.
“Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might.... and the excellency of power,” Jacob declares in Genesis 49:3. Many COG preachers connect Reuben with modern-day France, and emphasize the “unstable as water” description of verse 4. Yet Jacob (not necessarily God, as he never says, “Thus saith the Lord”) indicated his firstborn son was powerful – perhaps until Reuben squandered his rights away in sin.
As time moved forward, Moses displayed God's power to Egyptian leaders (Exodus 9:13, 16). He likely would say what other Old Testament “power players” said: “God is my strength and power....” (II Samuel 22:33; see also I Chronicles 29:11; Isaiah 40:26 29).
Yet the book of Hosea points out one notable exception. Jacob “took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God: Yes, he had power over the angel, and prevailed....” (Hos. 12:3-4) This seems to refer to the classic “Bible championship wrestling” match in Genesis 32 – and even before then, Jacob states, “And you know that with all my power I have served your father” (Genesis 31:6), referring to Laban.
It turns out God hands out several kinds of power – and they're not necessarily tied to the Holy Spirit. Humans have “power to get wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:18), and the simple “power to eat” (Ecclesiastes 5:19/6:2). II Peter 2:10-11 indicates angels normally have greater power than humans, but they're never shown to have the “power of God” if you define that as the Holy Spirit.
But sadly, humans also have the power to commit sin – such as covetous people having “the power of evil” (Habakkuk 2:9). Even Satan has powers to distribute (II Thessalonians 2:9) – even what Hebrews 2:14 calls “the power of death.”
The devil showed Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world” and tempted Him by saying, “All this power will I give you, and the glory of them.... if you therefore will worship me....” (Luke 4:5-7). Many COG ministers do not think Satan was bluffing, even though Satan is described as “the father of lies” in John 8:44. Yet Jesus prevailed over temptation – and even though He was a man, He displayed God's power on Earth in many ways.
“...The Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins,” the Lord declared in Mark 2:10 – and He shocked the Pharisees by not only doing that, but showing power to heal physical problems (Luke 5:17. Yet now after the crucifixion, II Corinthians 13:4 tells us Jesus “lives by the power of God.” If Jesus really was dead, He could not have resurrected Himself.
“Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father,” the apostle Paul explains in Romans 6:4. But uh-oh – the apostle goes on to write God's “own power” has “raised up the Lord....” (I Corinthians 6:14). COG ministers probably would say the Father used His (Holy) Spirit to do this.
The Power to Save
Yet we shouldn't interrupt the ultimate point of that verse: God “will also raise up us by his own power.” God truly displays His power in many ways – but perhaps the most valuable for believers is in the power to resurrect them to eternal life.
It all starts with redemption. “Now these are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power....” says Nehemiah 1:10. There was a national aspect to that, but there's also a spiritual aspect.
“But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he will receive me,” says Psalm 49:15. A statement like that requires faith – faith “not.... in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God,” I Corinthians 2:5 adds. And that faith brings the grace to save you. It is “the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effectual working of his power” (Ephesians 3:7).
II Timothy 1:8-9 refers to “the power of God, Who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling....” (We'll assume here the “who” refers to God.) I Peter 1:5 adds believers “are kept by the power of God through faith to salvation....”
That power will be evident to all when Jesus returns: “...they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30; see also Mark 13:26, Luke 21:27). Jesus will bring “the kingdom of God.... not in word, but in power” (I Corinthians 4:20).
Conclusion
You may think you have a lot of power right now. But Psalm 62:11 declares ultimately, “power belongs to God.” Romans 13:1 adds “For there is no power but of God; the powers that be are ordained of God.” Another psalm declares, “Great is our Lord, and of great power....” (147:5) It's power that Jesus said He now controls “in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18).
An old hip hop tune by Public Enemy encouraged people to “fight the powers that be.” But in the final analysis, maybe that's the wrong approach. Have you accepted God's power – in all its forms and over all things? (We didn't mention all of them here.) And have you accepted that power over own life? The Bible promises God will “rule by his power for ever” (Psalm 66:7). If you come under it, it can become “the power of an endless life” (Hebrews 7:16).
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© 2015, Richard Burkard, All Rights Reserved.