God Strengthens Us

Hello all,

Wanted to forward a weekly email newsletter that I received from Desiring God Ministries this week. You can go here to read it. I would highly recommend reading it. It spurred my soul on and reminded me once again of my need for Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection.

In the newsletter, John Piper once again points us to the gospel - this time emphasizing that God strengthens his children through the gospel. His main text in Scripture is Romans 16:25-27. He writes,

If any king ever had the right to display all his glory by stepping on the backs of a rebellious people, it is God. But what does he do? He displays his glory by making his people strong. “Now unto him who is able to strengthen you . . . be glory forevermore . . . .” God magnifies his glory by making you strong with his gospel. God feels no threat from your strength at all. In fact, the stronger you are in faith and hope and love through the gospel of Jesus Christ, the greater he appears. God does not secure his strength by keeping his people weak. He magnifies the glory of his strength by making his people strong.

So what kind of strength is this? Piper answers with the following:

What kind of strength does Paul mean that God is able to give? Well, God can give whatever kind of strength he wants—“By my God I can leap over a wall” (Psalm 18:29). But here he means the same kind of strength that he referred to in Romans 1:11-12, “I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen (stērikthēnai, the same word as in 16:25) you—that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.” The substance of this strength is faith in Jesus Christ.

Piper concludes about the need for God strengthening us through the gospel,

The heart of the gospel is that Jesus Christ, the righteous one, died for our sins and rose again, eternally triumphant over all his enemies, so that there is now no condemnation, but everlasting joy, for those who trust him. You never, never, never outgrow your need for this gospel. You don’t begin the Christian life with this and then leave it behind and get stronger with something else. God strengthens us with the gospel to the day we die.

Toodles!