Scripture: The Power of God

 

As an atheist, I no longer believe in the power of God. However, these verses explain why I so strongly believed in it as a Christian and why others are foolish even to the point of killing their own children when believing in such foolish notions. So long as a Christian keep in mind that the power is currently withheld until we start living according to righteousness over faith, then these verses should not be terribly detrimental to society and will hopefully encourage greater faith in righteousness. Christians simply need to wait until they see the real power before they put their faith in it.

 

Matthew 7:8-12

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

It is promised that we will receive when we ask, we will find when we seek, and that doors will be opened as we knock. Because of this promise, we are urged to follow the golden rule of doing unto others as we would have them do unto us. This rule sums up the entirety of what Jesus wanted from us and by believing in this rule and following this rule, these promises would come to fruition.

 

Matthew 9:16-17

“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

When the Spirit came and the people spoke in tongues, people accused them of being drunk on wine. While parables can pretty much say whatever you want them to say, this parable sounds to me as if it is referring to the power of God and how it is only placed into new people. In other words, the only ones who will receive the power of God will be those people who have indeed become a new creation who have died to sin and now live for love and righteousness.

 

Matthew 9:22

Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.”

This is a common phrase that Jesus spoke in many different verses. He claims that their faith has healed them or otherwise indicates that they did not have enough faith to provide a miracle. Thus, it seemed to me that our modern-day denial of this power was to blame for our lack of power. We no longer have the faith that God would perform miracles on our behalf. Of course, those who appear to have such faith find themselves or their children dead for lack of seeking medical attention or for driving without glasses.

 

Matthew 18:19

Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.

It seems pretty clear to me that God intended great power to come from those who believe. This is a rather large promise which clearly goes unfulfilled today. Plenty of sick people never recover despite the prayers of hundreds of devout ‘believers’ in Jesus. Instead of recognizing it as false or perhaps that they are in the wrong, they simply twist it to mean that this is no longer valid for today or perhaps that God must also agree with the desire and clearly he never agrees. If there is a hidden stipulation that God must agree, then why must he even use two people to begin with if it is already something he wants? Clearly, what he wants is for his righteous followers to have what they wish since they are righteous enough to make good decisions.

 

Mark 16:17-18

And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

People must think that this would only be a temporary thing. Since it does not say this, I did not presume it should stop. Tongues, healing, and immunity to poison should continue if we truly had the proper faith Jesus taught.

 

 

 

Luke 4:18-19

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

This is a quote from Isaiah which Jesus was claiming that he fulfilled. I found it interesting that his message was ultimately freedom from burdens and ailments and yet his message is now that of heaven for belief in sacrifice. Not at all the same kind of joy is found there since people already believed in heaven. The message then becomes that we no longer need continual sacrifices but that is hardly any better news. The real news was sight for the blind and freedom from oppressors. In particular, freedom from the spiritual rulers who are much like today’s spiritual leaders gaining wealth at the expense of the poor. The good news was the power of God to heal and save physical lives.

 

Luke 6:39

He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.

If Jesus is the teacher, then anyone fully trained should be able to be just like him: curing people, casting out demons, calming storms, walking on water, etc.

 

John 14:12-14

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Jesus did some fairly fantastic works and no one has yet to do greater. Supposedly Peter healed people with handkerchiefs that he had blessed, but no one was feeding thousands, walking on water, raising the dead, or calming storms. Paul himself was shipwrecked many times. So when do these greater works begin? Most Christians today consider Billy Graham’s preaching or preaching of other such evangelists’ to millions of people at a time to be greater works than Jesus’, but I certainly would not consider this the same kind of works Jesus was doing. Further, he followed up that we could ask for anything and have it done. Clearly the works are not merely preaching, but amazing feats of power.

 

John 17:20-21

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.

We all know the efficacy of Jesus’ prayers, and this was one of his final prayers. Now, it is indeed easy enough to presume this “oneness” only extends to some happy-feeling goodness of faith, but to say “just as you are in me and I am in you” is a bit too much like saying “make them as capable as I was through you.” It is also prayed for all who come to believe through their message and thus should extend to us as well in modern times.

 

1 Corinthians 2:4-5

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

Paul recognized the futility of trusting in man’s wisdom and emphasized that this is why the power of God is necessary. We cannot and should not merely take a person’s word for anything. If they claim to speak from God, they should certainly prove it somehow without wise and persuasive words. Power is still as necessary now as it was before—perhaps even more so.

 

1 Corinthians 12

The entirety of this chapter is about the multitude of gifts given to each member of the faith. Each gift or person is related to body parts of the body of Christ and it is expressed that all are necessary to make up the body. These gifts include apostleship, prophecy, healing, and miracles

 

1 Corinthians 14

Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy.

Gifts of the Spirit (including hearing from God directly) was to be eagerly sought after. Surely I did this myself crying out day and night for such wisdom and power. It is only reasonable to suspect, then, that everything written in this book comes directly from God, yes? Perhaps I never truly perfected the way of love to be worthy of such gifts.

 

2 Corinthians 1:20

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.

God, or at least Jesus on behalf of God, made many promises such as being able to ask for whatever we want and having it done. All such promises are supposed to be “yes” in God such that the “Amen” (meaning “let it be done” when translated) is spoken by us. Our prayers are supposed to be that effective but clearly they are not. If the promises are all yes, this would indicate to me that those praying yet not receiving are not truly on the right path—or else it is all bunk, of course. This also means that when two or more gather, anything they ask should indeed be done because the answer is already “yes” such that the “amen” can truly mean “let it be done” with full assurance it will indeed be done.

 

2 Corinthians 12:12

I persevered in demonstrating among you the marks of a true apostle, including signs, wonders and miracles.

As 1 Corinthians 12 stated, we cannot say that we do not need any particular part of the body. One such part is apostles, and apostles are marked by signs, wonders, and miracles. Clearly, then, such power should remain.

 

Galatians 3:2

I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?

To ask such a question regarding how one received the Spirit is to indicate that there must have been a visible and knowable receipt. What this is could be anyone’s guess: fire descending, speaking in tongues, rushes of wind, a glowing crest on their forehead, you name it. No matter, it must have been visible somehow. This means that one can know when they receive the Spirit and if we have not seen it, then we likely have not received it. This is not to say any one person is not “saved” but the verse indicates that one receives the Spirit via the proper faith: that of loving others as opposed to works of the law such as sacrifice—which is what Christianity holds to today in saying that Jesus died for their sins.

 

Ephesians 1:13-14

 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

To claim the Spirit as a deposit, it must be something knowable or recognizable. For example, when we provide a deposit to the bowling alley so that they know we will not run off with their bowling shoes, it would not be sufficient to merely tell them we have put something somewhere that they cannot see. Deposits do not work that way. Thus, this must have been referring to something more knowable in order for it to be a deposit and a guarantee for which we can put our trust in. This would clearly indicate more power than we see today.

 

1 Thessalonians 1:4-5

For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction.

They received power and the Holy Spirit which must have been visibly obvious things in order to proclaim one’s knowledge about something based upon them.

 

1 Thessalonians 5:19-20

Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt 

I noted that perhaps we should be allowing for prophecy even today lest we quench the Spirit. Of course, many doctrines do allow for this but usually for the benefit of asking for more money or straight-up stealing it by providing such supposed prophecies to those who pay for such fortunes.