omnipotence
Definition
Omnipotence (omnipotentia) is the attribute denoting God’s absolute power to accomplish his will and plan. In the theological tradition of this corpus, omnipotence is not explained as the ability to perform arbitrary acts, but as the absolute guarantee that God’s redemptive plan will reach its appointed end. Omnipotence and sovereignty are closely related: omnipotence refers to the power behind the sovereign plan.
Uses per Author
Watchman Nee / Witness Lee
Nee/Lee connect omnipotence directly to the assurance of salvation. God’s absolute power guarantees that the believer remains in his grip:
“Jesus said, ‘I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father… is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand’ (John 10:28-29). The hand of the Father and the hand of the Lord Jesus are two strong hands holding us.”
(Basic Elements of Christian Life, vol. 1, ch. 2)
God’s omnipotence for Nee/Lee is pastorally motivated: no one is strong enough to wrench the believer from God’s double grip.
Stephen Jones
Jones distinguishes God’s omnipotence (dunamis, the ultimate power) from human authority (exousia):
“We must recognize that sovereignty, the ultimate dunamis, belongs to God in heaven, while authority, exousia, belongs to man here on earth. Both are operative; both are real; yet they are realities of a different plane of existence.”
(Creation’s Jubilee, ch. 11)
God’s omnipotence for Jones guarantees that his plan — even if his desire (thelema) is temporarily resisted — ultimately reaches its destination.
E.W. Bullinger
Bullinger describes God as the great and infinite Creator whose works are the expression of his omnipotence:
“There can be neither works nor words without number. We can conceive how man can act and speak without design or meaning, but we cannot imagine that the great and infinite Creator and Redeemer either works or speaks without both His words and His works being in every particular absolutely perfect.”
(Number in Scripture, Part I, Chapter I)
“Because He is perfect, His works and His words must be perfect.”
(ibid.)