When Paul speaks of his work of planting and Apollos’ work of watering, he is talking about the seed, which Jesus explained is the message of God.

Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile” (Romans 1:16, NIV).

What is the source of power in the presentation of the gospel?

The primary power in evangelism is not in the messenger. The primary power is in the message.

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

The New Testament reveals four kinds of power in God’s Word.

1. The Power of Regeneration

The Greek word translated as “regeneration” is palingenesia. Palin means “again.” Genesia is derived from genesis, which means “existence” or “birth.” Regeneration means “existing again.” That is the nature of the new birth. It is starting a whole new life through God’s supernatural work.

Peter wrote, “For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God” (1 Peter 1:23).

Paul taught that “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

• The Power of Sanctification

Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5:25-27).

God uses His Word to confront us with the truth about ourselves and expose things in our lives that need to be purged or cleansed. God’s Word cleanses our lives and penetrates our motives (Hebrews 4:12).

• The Power of Transformation

God uses His Word not only to cleanse us but also to change us. The change is radical, not merely a psychological adjustment. Paul told the Romans in 12:2 that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. In 2 Corinthians 3:18, he says that this transformation process is step by step making us more like Jesus from “glory to glory.”

4. The Power of Multiplication

In the Parable of the Sower Jesus said that when the seed of God’s message lands upon good ground, it produces 30, 60, and 100 times as much grain. The power of God’s Word changes individual lives and multiplies through those lives to change others. As Jesus revealed in the Parable of the Mustard Seed, what begins as a small work can grow to enormous proportions. The power of God’s message multiplies through countless lives once it is received by a person whose heart is productive soil.

This blog post is not the original writing of Barron Greenwalt but an excerpt from MINC105, The Local Church in Evangelism, Global University