Are You Uunashamed Of The Gospel Of Christ Series

Romans 1: 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,[1] for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."[2]”

Dr. Martin Luther the founder of the Protestant reformation said, "St. Paul says that man is made righteous or just by believing in something that God has done for him. But what has God done for man to make him righteous or holy? He sent Jesus Christ to make us holy? He sent Jesus Christ to make us holy! Jesus kept the law perfectly, and yet He was punished by being put to death. He had not done anything wrong, but I have! That’s it! God punished Jesus in my place, by letting His own Son be punished by death. Now I am holy in God’s sight because I know and believe that Jesus is righteous and holy for me, and He has taken my punishment!" What Luther realized was that the Gospel is a Gospel of reformation. It is has the power to change our lives, and to change the way we live. Luther realized that the gospel is not simply another good message or even good medicine, but the very power of God to change the culture in which we live. More than in any other age it is this age in which we live in that needs to hear the Gospel message of Jesus Christ which will change souls for all eternity. It is this Gospel of Christ that saves it is not men’s ideas of the Gospel but only Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross that makes it possible for humans to experience the divine work of the Cross. It is not a message of condemnation, but it is a message of hope. It is this hope that we have through Messiah which makes it possible to receive the benefits of eternal life both presently through the indwelling of the Spirit and in the future sense to enjoy the Millennial reign of Messiah. In all this though in our present age in our present condition as it stands, the Body of Messiah needs to stand up on its own two feet and hear the Word of God. We are ashamed of Messiah and have made His word an open anathema. Instead of being the life giving force that our world needs we are exactly the opposite of what it needs. What the world needs is to hear the message of the Gospel not a message of opinion. If we are to stand upon the Word of God alone then we must reach out to those who are broken hearted who seek mercy, because it is this message that they truly need.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:9, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God." This verse is a picture of what we are to be as Christians. Peace in the Hebrew language is the word shalom. It signifies all is well. Israel is a people that God has covenanted with His blessing. Those who oppose Israel, the church, oppose God. Jesus Christ paid for the church with His very own precious blood. If God was hard on Israel in the Old Testament, how much more will He be on the church that was purchased with the very blood of Jesus! Judges 6:24 says, "The Lord is peace." Jesus said in John 16:33, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage: I have overcome the world." 1 Corinthians 7:15 says, "God has called us to peace." Paul also says in II Corinthians 5:18, "Now all these are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation." Reconciliation is the work of being a peacemaker. Paul continues in II Corinthians 5:19-20, "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us." Have we really gained so much or lost so much as to lose our minds? We have more than did our forefathers who walked before us with the expansion of time. Looking back what have we gained? More tradition? More lies? More hypocrisy? Yes to every single answer. More idol worship? As it stands for many Christians sadly instead of worshipping Messiah they worship a wooden idol which in turn leads them astray. As with the people of Israel when they received the ten commandments and Aaron lead them to worship a golden calf, because they were not patient enough for Moses to return.