The power of the Bible to challenge a person’s beliefs
For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith. Feb 18-20, 2022
The power of the Bible to challenge a person’s beliefs is incredible and is a bedrock principle underlying a successful ministry. God’s minister should never depend upon his own eloquence, ingenuity, or skill but instead upon the Bible itself…a book which breaths the very breath of Almighty God.
Martin Luther’s transformation from unbelief to faith is astonishing to read. This Roman Catholic monk was challenged by one single verse in the Bible…not the entire Bible but one solitary verse…and that one verse brought him from belief in the Roman Catholic system to belief in a Person—in the Savior, Jesus Christ, and Him alone. Thus, began the Reformation of which all of us have received some benefit.
Here is his story. (Note for clarity: Luther’s Bible translation says, “The justice of God” rather than the “righteousness of God.”)
“I greatly longed to understand Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, and nothing stood in the way but that one expression ‘the justice of God,’ because I took it to mean that justice whereby God is just and deals justly in punishing the unjust. My situation was that, although an impeccable monk, I stood before God as a sinner troubled in conscience, and I had no confidence that my merit would assuage him.
“Therefore, I did not love a just and angry God, but rather hated and murmured against him. Yet I clung to the dear Paul and had a great yearning to know what he meant.
“Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the justice of God and the statement that ‘the just shall live by his faith.’ Then I grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise.”
This story is another example of why our ministry must be saturated with the Word of God and must be dependent upon the Word of God. We dare not substitute anything for God’s Word.
After all, one verse started the Protestant Reformation. One verse can do the same with us as well as everyone we meet.
Tom Swartzwelder was born again at the age of nine in an old-fashioned revival meeting. Tom received his B.A. from Tennessee Temple University and his M. Div from Luther Rice Seminary. He has pastored for nearly forty years in both bi-vocational and full-time roles. He provides practical how-to-do-ministry resources for the disciples of Jesus Christ. Tom’s latest book is “God Speaks–Today!”
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