For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God….Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age?…Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.

Words make things happen. They not only describe and propose actions, but words also bring about action—they result in getting something done. What is known as speech act theory helps us understand how the language of words may be used to result in change and action, and in Scripture we read about how God uses his words to make things happen, to create and recreate.

It is through the words of the Gospel of Christ that a person is changed and is reborn a new creation.

For example, we learn that in the beginning God created by speaking his creation into existence. He spoke and creation came into existence. “And God said…” and light, and the heavens, and the earth, and plants, and animals, and humankind were created (Gen. 1-2). His word brought about all that has been created. Even we can begin to understand in our own rudimentary ways how God’s word results in actions. A parent asking a child to do something results in something happening—an action. A commander issuing an order results in the movement of people and equipment. A judge sentencing a person for a crime changes their status and freedoms. Likewise, God’s word declares and changes people and their state, actions, and nature, especially in terms of the gospel of Christ.

What for Christians is most important to understand about words bringing about a change of state is the gospel. It is through the words of the gospel of Christ that a person is changed and is reborn a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). We can see this happening from the very beginning as the church spread throughout the Mediterranean region after Christ ascended to heaven:

In him [Jesus Christ] you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. (Eph 1:13)

It was the hearing of the true word, the gospel, that led to belief and the seal of the Holy Spirit. The apostle Peter writes,

…that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.” (Acts 15:7)

Read More