Power (Miracles) (1411) dunamis by Greek Word Studies

Power (1411) (dunamis from dunamai = to be able, to have power) power especially achieving power. It refers to intrinsic power or inherent ability, the power or ability to carry out some function, the potential for functioning in some way (power, might, strength, ability, capability), the power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature. Dunamis (Click here for all the NT verses that use dunamis) is a key word in the NT being found in 115 verses in the NAS most often in the Gospels and especially by Dr. Luke and in the Revelation (Matt. 7:22; 20" class="scriptRef">20-Matt.11.21" class="scriptRef">11:20, 21, 23; 13.54" class="scriptRef">13:54, 58; 14.2" class="scriptRef">14:2; 29" class="scriptRef">22:29; 24.29-Matt.24.30" class="scriptRef">24:29, 30; 25:15; 26:64; Mk. 5:30; 6:2, 5, 14; 9:1, 39; 12.24" class="scriptRef">12:24; 13:25, 26; 14:62; Lk. 1:17, 35; 4:14, 36; 5:17; 19" class="scriptRef">19" class="scriptRef">6:19; 8:46; 9:1; 10:13, 19; 19:37; 21:26, 27; 22:69; 24:49; Acts 1:8; 2:22; 3:12; 4:7, 33; 6:8; 8:10, 13; 10:38; 19:11; Ro 1:4, 16" class="scriptRef">16" class="scriptRef">16, 20; 8:38; 9:17; 15:13, 19; 1 Co. 1:18, 24; 2:4, 5; 4:19, 20; 5:4; 6:14; 12:10, 28, 29; 14:11; 15:24, 43, 56; 2Co 1:8; 4:7; 6:7; 8:3; 12:9, 12; 13:4; Gal. 3:5; Eph. 1:19, 21; 3:7, 16, 20; Phil. 3:10; Col. 1:11, 29; 1Th 1:5; 2Th 1:7, 11; 2:9; 2Ti 1:7, 8; 3:5; Heb. 1:3; 2:4; 6:5; 7:16; 11:11, 34; 1Pe 1:5; 3:22; 2Pe 1:3, 16; 2:11; Re 1:16; 3:8; 4:11; 5:12; 7:12; 11:17; 12:10; 13:2; 15:8; 17:13; 18:3; 19:1) and translated variously as: ability, 4; meaning, 1; mightily, 1; mighty, 1; miracle, 2; miracles, 17; miraculous powers, 3; power, 83; powers, 6; strength, 2; wealth, 1. There are some 369 uses of dunamis in the non-apocryphal Septuagint (LXX). Matthew and Mark fittingly use dunamis as a proper name of God = "Power" (see Matthew 26:64 , Mark 14:62)! Dunamis is the implied ability or capacity to perform. It conveys the idea of effective, productive energy, rather than that which is raw and unbridled. Dunamis is the word generally used by Paul of divine energy. Scripture uses dunamis to describe deeds that exhibit the ability to function powerfully (deeds of power, miracles, wonders) (eg, see Mt 11:20, 23, 13:54, 58, etc) Sometimes dunamis is used to represent an entity or being that functions with remarkable power, especially being used to describe angel as powers (eg, see Romans 8:38-note Ephesians 6:12-note) There is an instructive use of dunamis later in 2 Timothy where Paul describes men... holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power (dunamis); and avoid such men as these. (See 2 Timothy 3:5-note) (Comment: The point is that the so-called godliness of these men is a sham and devoid of any real divine power to break the power of Sin. Those who practice such deception enjoy the enjoy expressions of evangelical worship but they are violently at odds with the gospel’s internal effects of subduing sin and nurturing holiness. They lack the inherent ability or capability, the dunamis, because they lack the indwelling Spirit Who strengthens with power for which Paul prays in Ephesians 3:16 (note) The corollary is that those who possess the indwelling Spirit and divine dunamis have the inherent ability to wage victorious battle with the believer's three mortal enemies, the world, the flesh and the devil, all seeking to turn us from God and unto self -- flesh -- and its ungodly, unholy attitudes and actions. One can readily see the importance of praying for believers to be strengthened with dunamis power through the Spirit in their inner man - see Ep 3:16-note) William MacDonald comments on Paul's reminder to Timothy of his access to God's "dunamis" writing that... "Unlimited strength is at our disposal. Through the enabling of the Holy Spirit, the believer can serve valiantly, endure patiently, suffer triumphantly, and, if need be, die gloriously." MacDonald quotes F B Meyer It is power. It is His power. It is great power; nothing less would suffice. It is exceeding great power, beyond the furthest cast of thought. This is the power which God used in our redemption, which He uses in our preservation, and which He will yet use in our glorification. Lewis Sperry Chafer writes: Paul wants to impress the believer with the greatness of the power which is engaged to accomplish for him everything that God has purposed according to His work of election, predestination and sovereign adoption." (MacDonald, W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson) Note that in his letter to the Ephesians Paul did not pray that believers might be given divine power but that they might be aware of the divine power they already possessed. ( Ep 1:18, 19, 20-See notes Ep 1:18-19; 20). I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power (dunamis) toward us who believe. (What kind of power is Paul praying for?) These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places Through Christ we have the resource of God’s own supernatural power, the very power (dunamis) He used to raise Christ from the dead. It is of utmost importance to understand that God does not provide His power for us to misappropriate for our own purposes. He provides His power to accomplish His purposes through us. When our trust is only in Him, and our desire is only to serve Him, He is both willing and “able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us” (Ephesians 3:20-note). Although God promises us and provides us with His dunamis power, we must learn wait upon His timing (Acts 1:8) and also be willing to humble ourselves that His power may be perfected in us (2Cor 12:9). Note that Jesus Himself had at least in one sense the same power available to believers today (see Lk 4:1,14,18 ...God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power) Barclay writes that dunamis... can be used of any kind of extraordinary power. It can be used of the power of growth, of the powers of nature, of the power of a drug, of the power of a man’s genius. It always has the meaning of an effective power which does things and which any man can recognize. (Barclay, W: The Daily Study Bible Series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press) John MacArthur reminds us (as Paul was reminding Timothy) that because the "resources we have from our heavenly Father are power and love and discipline, when we are vacillating and apprehensive, we can be sure it is because our focus is on ourselves and our own human resources rather than on the Lord and His available divine resources." If God has told us to do something this verse takes away the excuse "I can't do it, it's too hard". (MacArthur, J. 2 Timothy. Chicago, Ill.: Moody Press.) (Bolding added) Dunamis is the root from which we derive the English word dynamic, (synonyms = energetic, functioning, live, operative, working) which describes that which is marked by usually continuous and productive activity or change. That which is dynamic is characterized by energy or forces that produce motion, as opposed to that which is static. Another English word dynamite, is derived from dunamis and since dunamis is used by Paul to describe the "power of God", some have suggested that the gospel is "God’s dynamite". This is misapplication of this English derivative in an attempt to try to picture the life saving power of the gospel. Dunamis does not refer to explosive power, as if the gospel will blow men to bits but as discussed above, it refers to intrinsic power. The gospel is dynamic, God’s dynamic, and so is powerful in the transformation of human lives. Regarding dunamis power available to believers today the Open Bible comments that... "The power of the Holy Spirit was not designed solely for the first-century church. Rather, all Christians are indwelt by the Spirit and thus have His power available (1Corinthians 6:19). However, living the Christian life under the Spirit’s power must not be thought of as simply allowing the Spirit to take control while the believer does nothing. Believers still must live the Christian life, though they do it through the Spirit’s power. Romans 8:13 (note) says, “if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” It is you who are to put to death the sinful deeds of the body, but you are to do it through the Spirit’s power. Christians who struggle in their own strength to live the Christian life will fail. They must by faith appropriate daily the power of the Holy Spirit (Ro 8:4; 8:5 -see notes Ro 8:4; 8:5). Described practically, this means that believers trust the Spirit to empower them in specific instances such as sharing their faith with others, resisting temptation, being faithful, and so on. There is no secret formula that makes the Spirit’s power available. It is simply a reliance on the Spirit to help." (The Open Bible: New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers) Dunamis is the word most often translated as "miracles" ("miraculous powers") {compilation of articles: Miracle (ISBE); Miracle (Torrey); Miracles (Naves); Miracles (Smith); Miracles (Baker's); Miracle (Easton); Miracle (ATS); Miracles (Holman) } are defined as an extraordinary work of God, generally though transcending the ordinary powers of Nature; an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs; an event that is contrary to the established laws of nature and attributed to a supernatural cause. Tyndale Bible Dictionary defines a miracle as... A divine act by which God reveals himself to people. The classical definition of miracle assumes that it is contrary to natural law, but this is a misnomer for two reasons. First, many of the miracles of the Bible used nature rather than bypassed it (e.g., the wind that parted the Red Sea, Ex 14:21). Second, there no longer is a concept of “absolute natural laws”; rather, a phenomenon that is not readily explainable may reflect laws that scientists do not yet fully understand. In Scripture the element of faith is crucial; a natural approach cannot prove or disprove the presence of “miracle.” The timing and content of the process can be miraculous, even though the event may seem natural. The revelatory significance is also important. In every case God performed the miracle not merely as a “wonder” to inspire awe but as a “sign” to draw people to Himself. (Elwell, W. A., & Comfort, P. W. Tyndale Bible Dictionary. Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers) Power as used by Paul here in 2 Timothy conveys the idea that Timothy (and all believers) have the God given inherent ability necessary for meeting difficulties and for the fulfillment of the service committed to us. God never commands us to do what He does not also enable us to complete. God gives us the power to overcome all obstacles and to face all dangers. In Colossians Paul has an instructive use of "dunamis" explaining that... "for which (that he might present every man complete in Christ) also I labor (kopiao = engage in hard work implying difficulties and trouble and speaks of intense toil even sweating and straining to the point of exhaustion if necessary), striving (agonizomai - was used of an Olympic athlete giving their best as they competed in the games) according to His working (energeo = active work producing effect), that is working (energeo) in me in power (dunamis) The struggle is carried on in proportion, not to Paul's natural powers, but to the mightily working energy of Christ within him. All his toil and hard labor would have been useless apart from God’s power (dunamis) in his life. Paul was most himself when he was least dependent on his own resources. So it is for all persons in Christ. We are not reliant on our own power, but that of Christ whose Presence works mightily within us. This truth answers the question often asked “How was it possible for one man (and a man with a thorn in the flesh!), even with the help of fellow-workers, to accomplish so much?” Day by day, yes even moment by moment Christ’s enabling Spirit was at work within Paul’s entire person, bestowing dunamis power upon body and soul. (see note Colossians 1:29) Peter uses dunamis to describe God's power which provides believers everything we need to live the Christian life writing.. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord seeing that His divine power (dunamis - Christ’s inherent power is the source of the believer’s sufficiency - His power saves us in the first place, and His power energizes us to live holy lives from then on - this power is active, dynamic, and compelling—and it is mightily at work on our behalf. We don't always sense it, but it is there and available nonetheless) has granted to us everything (do you really believe this?) pertaining to life (life to the fullest, as God intended and as is now possible only in Christ) and godliness (eusebeia = living reverently, loyally, and obediently toward God), through the true knowledge (epignosis - an intimate and complete knowledge - as His divine power is the source of godliness, so true, full knowledge of Him is the channel - to know Him is eternal life [John 17:3] and progress in knowing Him is progress in godliness) of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. (See note 2 Peter 1:3) John MacArthur in a thought parallel to the passage in 2 Peter explains where we get this dunamis power writing that... It is the Word of God that infuses us with power, but there’s nothing worse than feeling like an impotent Christian. In Acts 1:8 we read, “But ye shall receive power.” The Greek word for “power” is dunamis, which means “miraculous power” or “dynamite.” Now someone might say that you ought to be exploding all over the world with this tremendous power. But you say to yourself, “Exploding! I don’t even fizzle. I feel like a dud.” Someone else might say that you ought to be out there winning people to Jesus Christ. But you say, “Are you kidding? Not me. I’m like Moses, I—I—I—I can’t talk” (cf. Exodus 3:10). Sometimes we get hung up with our impotence because we really don’t know the “power” available to us. Listen, the Word of God will infuse us with “power.” From my own life I’ve realized that the more I know about the Word of God, the less I fear any situation, because the Word is my resource." (MacArthur, J., Jr. How to Study the Bible. John MacArthur's Bible Studies. Chicago: Moody Press ) (See related online studies by Dr MacArthur [1] How to Study Your Bible: Interpretation [2] What it Takes to Study God's Word; [3] Steps to Solid Study) In a key passage in Acts Jesus explains to His disciples that they.. shall receive power (dunamis) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses (martus - English "martyr") both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth. (Acts 1:8 ) John MacArthur commenting on Acts 1:8 writes that because of this dunamis power... All believers have in them spiritual dynamite for use of gifts, service, fellowship, and witness. They need to experience the release of that power in their lives through not grieving the Spirit by sin (see Ephesians 4:30-note), and being continually filled and controlled by the Spirit (see Ephesians 5:18-note). The latter takes place as believers yield moment by moment control of their lives to Him, and is the same as yielding their minds to the Word (see Colossians 3:16-note). (MacArthur, J: Acts 1-12; Acts 13-28 Moody Press) MacDonald adds that dunamis in Acts 1:8 describes power which... is the grand indispensable of Christian witness. A man may be highly talented, intensively trained, and widely experienced, but without spiritual power he is ineffective. On the other hand, a man may be uneducated, unattractive, and unrefined, yet let him be endued with the power of the Holy Spirit and the world will turn out to see him burn for God." (MacDonald, W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson) J Vernon McGee agrees with the previous comments on dunamis in Acts 1:8 adding that... "Although it is our business today to get out the Word of God, there is no power in us, there is no power in the church, but there is power in the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit Who moves through an individual or through the church or through a radio program. The question is whether we permit Him to do so." (McGee, J V: Thru the Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson) (See his Mp3's on Acts) What does this dunamis power to be a witness for Jesus look like? It radically touches our inner complexities—who we are deep inside. Not only must we have the message, the gospel, but we should seek to have the compliment made of us that Sir Henry Stanley gave David Livingstone after discovering and spending time with him in Central Africa: “If I had been with him any longer, I would have been compelled to be a Christian, and he never spoke to me about it at all.” David Livingstone’s witness went far beyond mere words because it was not his power but God's supernatural inherent (dunamis) power flowing through him. May the compliment be given to Livingstone be multiplied in our lives beloved, for the glory of God alone and for His Kingdom. God protect us from the danger of forgetting that we cannot do what God can do and that God will not do what we can do. Kenneth Wuest says that dunamis... "power in the sense of that which overcomes resistance or effects a change" (In Mark 5:30 literal Greek = “Jesus, perceiving in Himself the out from Him power going out”) It was some of (Jesus') supernatural power which He felt leaving Him in the accomplishing of the miraculous cure". (Describing the effect of the gospel Wuest writes) Paul chooses dunamis to describe the effectual working of the good news of salvation (See Romans 1:16 -note For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power [dunamis] of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.). Dunamis is power, natural ability, inherent power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or, power which a person or thing exerts or puts forth. The gospel is the inherent, omnipotent power of God operating in the salvation of a lost soul that accepts it. “Unto” is eis a preposition often signifying result. The gospel is God’s power resulting in salvation to the one who believes. The definite article is absent before “power,” “The gospel is a power of God.” Denney says, “It does no injustice to render a ‘divine power.’ The conception of the gospel as a force pervades the epistles to the Corinthians; its proof, so to speak, is dynamical, not logical. It is demonstrated, not by argument, but by what it does; and looking to what it can do, Paul is proud to preach it anywhere.” Vincent says that the gospel is “not merely a powerful means in God’s hands, but in itself a divine energy.” It is the good news of salvation energized by the Holy Spirit. Our word “dynamite” is the transliteration of this Greek word but not its translation. Dunamis does not refer to an explosive powder. The Greeks knew nothing about gunpowder. The gospel is not the dynamite of God. It is a sweet and loving message of mercy and grace which the Holy Spirit in sovereign grace makes operative in the heart of the sinner elected to salvation before the foundation of the universe." (Describing the effect of dunamis in Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3:20 (note) "Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power [dunamis] that works [energeo] within us") "The power (dunamis) that is putting forth energy in us (energeo), is the operation of the Holy Spirit in His work of sanctification. God is able to do for us and answer our prayers according to the efficiency, richness, and power of the working of the Spirit in our lives. This latter is determined by the yieldedness of the believer to the Holy Spirit. Thus, the saint determines what God is able to do for him. In His inherent ability, there is no limit to what God can do in and through the saint. But the saint limits the working of God in and through him by the degree of his yieldedness to the Spirit." (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans) (Bolding added) (See note on Ephesians 3:20) William Barclay writes that dunamis... "literally means power; it is the word from which dynamite comes. It can be used of any kind of extraordinary power. It can be used of the power of growth, of the powers of nature, of the power of a drug, of the power of a man’s genius. It always has the meaning of an effective power which does things and which any man can recognize." (Barclay, W: The Daily Study Bible Series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press) Vance Havner emphasizes the importance of the necessity of a spirit of "power" in ministry writing that... "We are seeing much today of service without the spirit. There is an appalling ignorance of the Person and work of the Holy Spirit in our great church bodies. It is not what is done for God that counts, but rather what is done by Him, the work of His Spirit through our yielded wills. Programs, propaganda, pep, personnel, these are not enough. There must be power. God's work must be done by God's people God's way."...He adds "The Quakers got their name from the fact that they trembled under the power of the Spirit. At least their faith shook them! Too many of us today are shaky about what we believe but not shaken by what we believe."...Too many people assemble at God's house who don't really believe in the power of God. Having begun in the Spirit, we live in the flesh....Never has the church had more wire stretched with less power in it. "All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down." Sad to say, we seem not even to know that we have not the Spirit in power. If He ceased His work many church members would never know the difference. Like Samson, we wist not that He has departed, but we keep "shaking ourselves" in the prescribed calisthenics...Our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and only when we see them so and rend our garments can we be clad in His righteousness alone to stand faultless before the Throne. And not only that, but the believer who would live and work in the power of God must rend the garments of self‑sufficiency and tear up the vestments of the flesh if he is to go clothed in the Lord. God will not drop the mantle of His Spirit around the dirty raiment of our own goodness. We must rend our own clothes if we wear the garment of God....Walking in the Spirit is exactly what the name means: not taking a "step" or a "stand" to pose like statues on the rock of a Bible truth, but living day by day in the name of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. A. W. Tozer comments on the spirit of power Paul refers to declaring that... We are turning out from the Bible schools of this country year after year young men and women who know the theory of the Spirit-filled life but do not enjoy the experience. These go out into the churches to create in turn a generation of Christians who have never felt the power of the Spirit and who know nothing personally about the inner fire....The only power God recognizes in His church is the power of His Spirit whereas the only power actually recognized today by the majority of evangelicals is the power of man. God does His work by the operation of the Spirit, while Christian leaders attempt to do theirs by the power of trained and devoted intellect. Bright personality has taken the place of the divine afflatus. Everything that men do in their own strength and by means of their own abilities is done for time alone; the quality of eternity is not in it. Only what is done through the Eternal Spirit will abide eternally; all else is wood, hay, stubble....We have the blessed Holy Spirit present, and we are treating Him as if He were not present at all. We resist Him, disobey Him, quench Him and compromise with our hearts. We hear a sermon about Him and determine to learn more and do something about it. Our conviction wears off, and soon we go back to the same old dead level we were in before. We resist the blessed Comforter. He has come to comfort. He has come to teach. He is the Spirit of instruction. He has come to bring light for He is the Spirit of light. He comes to bring purity for He is the Spirit of holiness. He comes to bring power for He is the Spirit of power...God Almighty is saying to us, “I am not wanting to wake up the power that lies in you. Ye shall receive the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon you!” That is a different thing altogether. If we had only to be awakened, the Lord would simply have gone around waking us up—but we need more than this. We need to be endued with power from on high...many Christians spend a lot of time and energy in making excuses, because they have never broken through into a real offensive for God by the unlimited power of the Holy Spirit!...Many persons preach and teach. Many take part in the music. Certain ones try to administer God’s work—but if the power of God’s Spirit does not have freedom to energize all they do, these workers might just as well have stayed home." ><>><>><> Power Outage - The silence awakened me at 5:30 one morning. There was no gentle whir of fan blades, no reassuring hum from the refrigerator downstairs. A glance out the window confirmed that a power outage had left everyone in our neighborhood without electricity just as they would be preparing for work. I realized that alarm clocks would not sound, and there would be no TV news. Coffee makers, toasters, hair dryers, and many telephones would be useless. Beginning a day without power was simply an inconvenience and a disruption of routine—but it felt like a disaster. Then I thought of how often I rush into the day without spiritual power. I spend more time reading the newspaper than the Bible. Talk radio replaces listening to the Spirit. I react to difficult people and circumstances in a spirit of fear rather than the spirit of "power and of love and of a sound mind" that God has given us (2 Timothy 1:7). I must appear as spiritually unkempt as a person who dressed and groomed in the dark. Our power outage was short-lived, but the lesson remains of my need to begin each day by seeking the Lord. His strength is not for my success or well-being, but so that I will glorify Christ by living in His power. —David C. McCasland (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved) There’s never a lack of God’s power In prayer and reading His Word, For Jesus in heaven is listening- Your prayer will always be heard. —Hess The human spirit fails us unless the Holy Spirit fills us. ><>><>><> AND LOVE: kai agapes: (Col 1:8 1Pet 1:22 see Torrey's Topic "Love to Man") Elsewhere Paul explains that... the love of God has been poured out (past completed event at moment of salvation - picturing a lavish outpouring to the point of overflowing - God’s love is not rationed drop by drop but is from an endless divine reservoir, cp John 4:14, 7:38, 39) within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (see note Romans 5:5) "Copy and paste the address below into your web browser in order to go to the original page which will allow you to access live links related to the material on this page - these links include Scriptures (which can be read in context), Scripture pop-ups on mouse over, and a variety of related resources such as Bible dictionary articles, commentaries, sermon notes and theological journal articles related to the topic under discussion." http://www.preceptaustin.org/2_timothy_17.htm#Power

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Power (Miracles) (1411) dunamis

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