1 Corinthians 4:20 Commentary and Bible Study

Of course the kingdom of God is in word, if we are talking about God’s Word, and God’s word is powerful. But the apostle Paul is not talking here about God’s word. If he were, the expression would be wrong – ‘For the kingdom of God is not in word’. It is in word. It is spread by the word of God; it is established in our hearts by the word of God; it is through the Word of God that God’s saving power to us is mediated. So he would not be right, if he was referring to the Word with a capital W. But he isn’t. He is referring to our word, the words of the proud ones at Corinth.The kingdom of God is not in our words, but in the evidence of power in our lives. That is the sense of the passage. He is talking here about what we say, by comparison with what we do or how we live. The kingdom of God is not in your words, but in the evidence of Christ’s power and work within you. So sometimes we have to look for the practical manifestation. We have to look for the outworking.