For the kingdom of God is not in speech, but in power.
ου γαρ εν λογω η βασιλεια του θεου αλλ εν δυναμει
10 Church Fathers comment on this verse
We conquer, he says, by signs, not by eloquence. As the greatest proof that our teaching is divine and that we proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven, we offer the signs that we perform by the power of the Spirit. Therefore, if those now exalting themselves wish to be great, then when I come, let them show whether they possess such power. Let them not display to me the splendor of eloquence, for this art is of no use to us.
“For the Kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” He, Paul, says: I will not look at your eloquence, for that is not what is needed, but at the power revealed in signs. For the Kingdom of God was preached and confirmed not by splendor of speech, but by signs performed through the power of the Holy Spirit.
For it is not enough for salvation to preach about the Kingdom of God. One must also act in a manner worthy of the Kingdom.
So, as I recall, Abba Macarius, the first hermit of Scetis, raised a dead man. A certain heretic, a follower of Eunomius, was using every art of disputation to overthrow the purity of the Orthodox faith, and had already deceived many.
Then right-believing men, greatly troubled by such a danger, asked blessed Macarius to come to them and deliver all right-believing Egypt from such peril of unbelief.
Macarius came. When the heretic approached him with his art of disputation and wished to entangle him by Aristotelian sophistry, which Macarius had not learned, the blessed one put an end to his verbosity with apostolic authority, saying: "For the Kingdom of God is not in word, but in power."
Let us not deceive ourselves by falsely believing that we can be justified on the day of judgment by faith alone, without any good works.
"The Kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." The Kingdom of God is that in which God reigns. It is chiefly in the heavens. Yet on earth also it was established by Jesus Christ, and it is His Church.
This is both because the one will of God reigns in Her and because in Her are given the divine powers necessary "for life and piety." In the same sense, each believer, becoming a member of the Kingdom of God on earth, uses the rights and means of salvation granted to him.
The Kingdom of God thus becomes the possession of every Christian. It is within him (Lk 17:21), and it can be revealed not in knowledge and speech, but in the power of faith and virtue. This is what the Apostle speaks about.
“For the Kingdom of God is not in word, but in power,” that is, it is spread not by learned arguments or eloquence, but by the power of the Spirit of God, with which its heralds are clothed. “We conquer,” says St. Chrysostom in the person of the Apostle Paul, “by signs, not by eloquence. As the greatest proof that our teaching is divine and that we proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven, we offer the signs that we perform by the power of the Spirit.”
The farther he proceeds, the more definitely and clearly the Apostle shows the various shortcomings of the Corinthian Christians. At the same time, his reproving pastoral voice rises more sharply, filled with indignation and threats.
He points to pride as their special defect. Since pride springs from a false opinion of one's own worth, he promises to test their worth. Yet first he declares that only spiritual and moral grace-filled power deserves respect.
The supposed power recognized by the Corinthians, for example in eloquence, does not deserve such respect. The Apostle said all this as a good and wise teacher, in order to change the Corinthians and direct them to the true path even before his coming.
For this same reason he first sent Timothy. Wise rulers also act in this way, sending messengers to their faithful subjects to prepare them for a worthy and joyful meeting with them. Only unfaithful and wicked servants need the unexpected appearance of those who have authority over them.
If this is so in ordinary wise governance, then in spiritual guidance preventive measures of meekness and love are still more necessary. With these the Apostle Paul hastens to the Corinthians, although it seems some of them needed severe measures, such as the incestuous man discussed later.
According to Saint John Chrysostom's explanation, the Apostle here rises chiefly against those proud of eloquence. Therefore he presents the Apostle as if saying to the Corinthians: "Now the arena and the time belong not to rhetoricians, but to Apostles who proclaim the truth and confirm it by signs performed by the power of the Spirit.
Thus, if those who now exalt themselves wish to be great, then when I come let them show whether they have such power. Let them not display to me the pomp of eloquence, for that art is of no use to us."
Brethren, the holy Apostle Paul teaches that “the Kingdom of God is not in word, but in power” (1 Cor 4:20). Let us not needlessly stir up divisive disputes over differences of words, when they lead to the one power of the Kingdom of God.
Therefore he adds: "For the Kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." We conquer, he says, by signs and not by eloquence. The greatest proof that our teaching is divine, and that we proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven, is the signs we perform by the power of the Spirit.
Thus, if those who now exalt themselves wish to be great, then when I come let them show whether they have such power. Let them not display to me the pomp of eloquence, for that art is of no use to us.
This is the true meaning of the power manifested in the Kingdom of Christ the Lord. The Holy Church was founded by the preaching of the holy Apostles, "the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs" (Mk 16:20).
The Holy Church, by the power of the Spirit of God dwelling in Her, is what She is. By the power of the Spirit of God, simple people become Christians. By this same power they remain Christians and ascend to the final degrees of Christian perfection.
Then it begins to manifest itself in them openly and tangibly. Thus the essence of Christianity consists in the manifestation of the powers of the Spirit. Their absence exposes the false direction of those who boast in the word of truth.
It also exposes the moral falsity of those who claim true Christian perfection for themselves. Saint Chrysostom touched here on the power of the Spirit insofar as it was manifested in the first planting of the Church on earth.
But elsewhere he reveals with the same persuasiveness the truth that, in the life of Christians, if there is anything essential and valuable, all of it proceeds from the Spirit.
On this point one may reconcile the first opinion with the present one. That is, by power one may understand life, or the working of salvation, and everything essential in the Christian, adding this: insofar as all this is the fruit of the power of the Spirit of God.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 11 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS