We are instruments of salvation in God’s hands
In spite of many obstacles, Saint Paul always remained “eager to preach the gospel” and was “not ashamed of the gospel.” He told the Christians in Rome that the gospel is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith” (Rm 1:16, emphasis added). What does it mean to say that the gospel is “the power of God for salvation”? What is this “power for salvation”?
Power for salvation is the power of God to bring about the salvation of the person who hears and receives the message of the gospel. Let’s return again to Romans chapter 10. After pointing out that in order for people to hear the gospel, there must be a preacher, St. Paul asks, “How can men preach unless they are sent?” (Rm 10:15). This short but profound question reveals that when we become evangelists, it is because God has called and sent us. But we know that when God sends anyone to do His work, He also equips them for the task. The Lord puts His power into the hands of His emissaries. He makes us into instruments in His hands. He works through us.[1]
The grace of God accompanies the kerygma
What this means is that when we share the gospel with strangers, friends, co-workers, or loved ones, when we talk to people about the salvation story of Jesus Christ and help them turn from sin and accept Jesus as Lord, it is different from when we talk about anything else. It is different from discussing the best place to buy groceries, or debating a new law, or collaborating on the family schedule, or explaining how to use the newest smartphone. It is different from any other kind of interaction. The difference is that, when you share the kerygma, your words are accompanied by God’s grace. The Holy Spirit “backs up” the gospel. It has the power of God Himself behind it.
When you discuss supermarkets or smartphones, the goal is to make earthly life easier or better. But when you share the kerygma, the goal is to bring about a spiritual conversion of the heart, to open the eyes of the spiritually blind. But that is also what God wants. Since God’s ultimate goal is to bring every person to heaven, He will be working with you and me, imbuing our words with his power, especially those words which proclaim His Son Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, as Lord and Savior.
The gospel itself is a message that in a sense contains grace. It is a truth that God accompanies with grace.[2]
“Power for salvation,” then, is the grace of the Holy Spirit that God gives to convert hearts and transform lives in Jesus Christ. This grace gives life and power to our evangelizing. It also enters into the hearts of people and turns them toward God, and eventually, through faith and baptism, makes them into children of God (see 1 Jn 3:1) and a new creation (see 2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15). When we receive and answer the call to evangelize, the Lord begins to make us into powerful instruments of the Holy Spirit for this work of salvation.[3]
This is true in whatever evangelizing activity we may be engaged in (including teaching the faith, spiritual encouragement, etc.); but there is a special power in the kerygma specifically. This is what St. Paul says: The gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith” (Rm 1:16, cf. 1 Cor 2:4-5). The kerygma, in its simplicity, and even in its “foolishness” (in the eyes of the world), is God’s chosen means to save those who believe in His Son Jesus (cf. 1 Cor 1:21). God has given it power, so that it leads to the forgiveness of sins (see Jn 15:3), makes people holy (see Jn 17:17), and gives people eternal life (see Jn 6:68). This is what it means to say that the kerygma has power.
[1] This truth demands of us that we seek God so that we can hear His voice. Knowing that all baptized Catholics are called to evangelize, we must seek God through intense prayer to hear Him call us anew, to receive a personal “sending.”
[2] It is worth noting that the gospel is not just accompanied with grace when we preach it. It contains power also when we meditate on it in our times of prayer, hear it in the liturgy, and receive its fruits in the sacraments. In this way, it continues to save us.
[3] We, for our part, must let God’s grace transform us, striving to make ourselves better and better instruments in His hands.