The Power of the Cross

“Lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.” 1 Cor. 1:17. “For the word of the cross . . . is the power of God.” Verse 18. What power is there in the cross or in the word of the cross? It is the power that can put an end to the old man and his works, the power that frees us from sin, and the power that puts to death the works of the flesh. This power frees us from everything we have already recognized as sin and from all the things that we will come to recognize as sin as time goes by.

The power and might of the cross, the work of the cross, is to crucify—obviously! The nails hold the one who is crucified tightly on the cross so that he cannot get away or go where he wants to go; and in a relatively short time, he dies. So the work of the cross is, simply, to put us to death according to the flesh. First, we die once and for all to our own selves, to our great and mighty “I,” in every area where we see it. Thereafter, we die little by little to the sin which we gradually learn to recognize and crucify by faith.