I) The Gospel Is For Everyone!
Let's be honest, folks. How often do you share your faith with others? To me, I find it to be the highest privilege to carry the gospel to the unsaved. It is not my effort that saves, it is instead the Holy Spirit that convicts; but while that is true we should have a burning desire to seek out and witness to the lost. We are saved unto good works, and there is no higher calling from God than to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.
In Romans 1:14, Paul writes that he is debtor to the Greeks and "barbarians", both to wise and unwise. Paul makes it clear that the Gospel--the Good News of Christ--is for all people. It doesn't matter if your home is in the White House or the outhouse, if you work in the world of high finance or shoveling manure in a barn, if you fight disease in the world of medicine or if you fight the forces of evil in the military, the gospel is for you.
How important is it to carry the gospel to others? Mega-important. God uses people to carry his message. While our Facebook ministry is growing, and there are internet ministries galore, it still takes people that God has gifted--saved, members of the body of Christ--to do those things.
Paul writes here that he is "debtor". The Koine Greek word for "debtor" appears seven times in the Greek New Testament, and refers to either someone that owes a debt, but also in one instance it is rendered "sinner". Think about that for a moment. Do you consider yourself in debt to your fellow man because of what Christ has done for you? It is because we are sinners, and Christ paid our debt. While it is true that our salvation is free, it is because our sin debt was paid in full by Christ and we have received the righteousness of God in Christ (Rom 4:23, 24). Because our sin debt is paid in full, we should feel a burden to those that do not have a saving relationship with God through Jesus. We should feel that we owe them.
If you were really hungry, starving in fact, and found an unlimited source of food, wouldn't you share it with others that are starving too? It has been said that witnessing is "one beggar showing another beggar where the food is".
We all have someone that we know that we have a soft spot in our heart for that has been through hard times. It might be any sort of problem--financial, marriage, health or employment problems. Often it is because we can relate since we have also gone through the same circumstance.
But look at how the Apostle Paul has expanded the scope of who he is in debt to. "Greeks" would not have just referred to those of Greek descent, but also anyone who was highly educated. It was a reference to the high mined, sophisticated elite. And the next term, "barbarians", was a reference to everyone else. John MacArthur notes in the MacArthur Study Bible that the Greeks would call anyone speaking a language other than Greek "barbarians". The reason why is that anyone speaking another language it sounded to the Greeks like they were saying "bar-bar-bar"--thus, barbarians. The Greeks used this as a derisive term.
Paul also states that he is indebted to the "wise" and the "unwise". Perhaps a better way to state this would be those that have "common sense" and those that are "foolish" (NASB). I know a woman that used to be a school teacher and also earned a degree in law. She was very book smart, but had no common sense. Wisdom is the proper application of knowledge, and this woman could not have poured water out of a boot if the directions were on the bottom!
But you see, salvation is for all people. It is for the book smart and the illiterate, the wise person and the fool. It is important to remember that we are all in a state of spiritual ignorance prior to coming to faith in Christ!
If you want to share your faith with someone, don't look at their pedigree or even their lack of one. Just remember that they are all in the same boat as you were once in--unsaved and blind to the truth.--JH
II) Let's Get Gung-ho!
15 So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.
Funny how words can be completely mistranslated from one language to another. The term "gung ho" is a term that was borrowed by a US Marine from the Chinese Industrial Corporation in the WWII era. He noted that in Chinese it meant "Work together-Work in harmony". Strange enough, the actual meaning is not the same as what the Marine had intended, it became a catch phrase in the Marines for someone that had a real passion about his job.
Think for a moment about your favorite hobby or sport. You learn as much as you can about it, you work hard at doing your best with the goal of doing the best or being the best that you can be in doing it. Motivation is not a problem, because you have a passion for it. You are gung-ho about that activity, perhaps even your job.
We all have or have had a "gung-ho" attitude toward something in our lives. It may be a sport or activity, your family, your job. But the Apostle Paul was gung ho about his Lord, and gung ho about sharing the gospel with the lost. As we saw in verse 14, it did not matter to whom he would witness because he felt indebted to those people, Greeks, non-Greeks, sophisticated and those of poor social graces.
Paul was good to go; with every fiber of his being he was ready to go witness to his countrymen in Rome. It was a burning passion with him. In addition, his passion for the unsaved Jews ran so deep that he would be willing to go to Hell in their place:
Rom 9:3-4a For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites...(NKJV)
Paul was truly "gung ho" for his "countrymen", the Israelites. He was willing to himself be accursed--banned from heaven--so that they would respond to the gospel. Are you willing to witness to your friends, family and coworkers? How "gung ho" are you?
III) Don't Be Ashamed!
Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. NKJV
Many people that profess Christ are about the biggest cowards when it comes to professing their faith. You may say that is a strong statement, and I guess that is. But I do believe it is an accurate statement.
Many people are ashamed and afraid to share the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. Now let's just step back for a moment and think about this. We have the greatest news in the world. When belief and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior happens to an unsaved person, they are taken from death to life, from slavery to freedom, from Hell to Heaven. They go from being a son of Satan (John 8:44) to being a son of God. Why in the world would we be afraid to tell someone about Jesus? Because we are afraid of rejection, we are afraid that people will get angry with us, because we are afraid that people will think that we are "religious nuts." In short, we become ashamed.
I think that we should be ashamed if we are ashamed. Yes, you heard that right, we should be ashamed if we are ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Why? Because we have become self serving cowards by withholding the gospel message from ANYONE. We are all like George McFly from the "Back to the Future" movie, we are all saying "I just don't think I could handle that kind of rejection." He ends up with Lorraine because he disregarded the possibility of rejection.
I want you to understand that sharing the gospel is not only a duty, it is a privilege. Heroes are seen every day in the public forum; firemen saving children from burning buildings, paramedics bringing back people from the brink of death, policemen defending the innocent from the criminal, soldiers rescuing those held hostage by terrorists. But as valiant and meritorious as those acts and people are, you and I hold an even greater calling. We are not saving people not just for a few temporal years but instead being an instrument in the hand of God to bring people to Him forever out of the flaming, tormented prison of Hell.
We should never be surprised at persecution and resistance to the gospel message. Never. Fireman fight the flames, paramedics fight the rages of disease and trauma, policemen fight the assault of fist and bullet and knife and the soldier risks his or her life at the risk of grenades, rifle bullets and other explosive devices. And persecution because of the Gospel should be expected. Jesus did tell us
John 15:18-19--"If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you".
We should expect resistance, because darkness hates the light. Have you prepared yourself for the possibility of resistance to the Gospel of Christ? Be like a Boy Scout--be prepared.
Shame is one of the deepest of human emotions. Perhaps there is something from a person's childhood that they just can't let go of, or perhaps it was a decision made in the heat of the moment that has caused ceaseless regret.
Truth is, shame is actually a good thing within it's proper boundaries. It is one of those emotions that keep us from making the same mistake twice. Outside of those boundaries it can cripple and bind the mental state of a person; they become so preoccupied with what they have done that they go into a hermit like state. Weeks, months and perhaps even years go by with the person being isolated from some or all people. Some people never get over the shame from some events.
Many people claim Christ, yet they are ashamed of Christ and His gospel. The word gospel is translated from the Greek word for "good news". Why is it that some people are ashamed of the Gospel--the Good News--of Christ?I think that there are a few reasons.
First there is the aversion to speaking to someone about a serious subject. Our society has taught us that we should refrain from talking about religion and politics, and few things get people as riled up as talking about religion.
Second, some people are so afraid of being embarrassed if they are asked a question about the faith that they don't have a ready answer to. They are afraid that they will look bad in the eyes of the person to whom they are witnessing. However, I will tell you that after 13 years of witnessing to the lost that I still don't know everything, and I still get stumped on a question from someone every now and then. Quite honestly, I would be more than extremely skeptical should someone say that they know all about the Bible; no one knows the Bible completely. What I do is this--I promise to answer that question, if answerable, once researched. I would be more concerned that you not give an incorrect answer in haste than to delay that answer and give a good one.
Third, there is also the line of thought best explained by this question "Who do YOU think you are telling me that I am going to Hell?" People do not want to be told that they are wrong. You also have to understand that Satan does not want you to witness to the lost. He hates God, hates you as a Christian and does not want to see anyone else go to heaven. He will discourage you in any way he can, including giving you a sense of shame at the Gospel message. Some people that you are witnessing to may try to make you ashamed that you are witnessing to them. Just remember that you are carrying the message, and it is God in His Word that is telling the unsaved person that they are going to Hell.
Lastly, we are often afraid we will not succeed. We are afraid that we will fail, and we don't like to lose. Just remember that the Holy Spirit convicts and saves, not you. You are delivering the message for Jesus, it is not yours.
IV) The Righteousness of God
Verse 17 begins with the word "for", therefore it points back to the prior verse. You could even say "because". Paul is not ashamed to convey the gospel of Christ, because the end result is God giving the saved person "the righteousness of God". That person is saved from the unrighteousness of Satan and the world.
When someone confessed and trusts in Jesus Christ, they receive the very righteousness of God Himself. While it is true that each person will still sin, there is a marked difference in the life of the believer. Abraham himself received the righteousness of God because of his belief and trust in God:
Gen 15:6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. NKJV
Dr. A. T. Robertson in Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament states of the phrase "righteousness in God": a "God kind of righteousness," one that each must have and can obtain in no other way except "from faith unto faith", faith the starting point and faith the goal (quoting Lightfoot). In other words, God changes the saved person, giving him the righteousness of Himself in a legal sense, so that he carries the very moral uprightness of Jesus Himself when being judged by God. However, there is also a change in the person, the faith that is a "proof in the pudding" so to speak. Saving faith yields works.
Unless a person has a changed life, at least to a degree, then how can one be saved? There are many people that claim to be saved, but have no works or righteousness evident in their life. There are many "posers" that profess the faith.
"From faith to faith", according to John MacArthur in his Romans commentary, means "from faith to faith to faith to faith, etc., etc.. In short, faith is passed on from person to person. In addition, righteousness is increased from person to person; this is another reason why Christians should be vigorously involved in a local gathering of believers--a church. The last phrase shows that righteousness is increased from person to person, and this is best accomplished in a local body of Christ. If you don't think that it is important to be in a local church, open up your Bible and see how many times the church is referenced. If the church was not important, then why have the letters to the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Thessalonians-- nine books by Paul alone? These were letters to the brethen--the churches--of those cities. Sounds pretty important to me.
Rom 1:17-21
17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. NKJV
We have discussed the topic of salvation by works before, showing the fallacy in that line of thought. However, James teaches that "faith without works is dead" (James 2:20). Think about it this way
Salvation is NOT:
Faith + Grace + Works=Salvation.
Grace would not then be grace, which is defined as "unmerited favor"
Salvation IS:
Grace=Faith=Salvation=Works
In short, Faith through Grace yields salvation. It is a gift of God (Eph 2:8) and salvation in turn then yields works. Faith without the byproduct of works is a dead, worthless faith.
So, then what how does this relate to the above scripture? Two ways.
First, we should have such a burden to the lost that we want to witness to them. If you look at the entire block of scripture from verse 18 to 32, you can see what is called "the downward spiral of man". It includes most types of sin that you see in the world today, from idol worship to homosexuality to evil that has not even been thought of which is given "hearty approval" to by this group. There is an ongoing judgment on the unsaved; for instance, drug users get sicker as they go, those that abuse sex contract disease and so on. We should have a drive to see them delivered from these kinds of sin and into "the righteousness of God". It is not our job to change their minds, as they reject God as part of their nature, but instead our duty is to deliver the message.
Second, is knowing that the eternal wrath of God awaits those that do know personally know Jesus Christ. I don't know where people today get the idea that God is not the God of wrath, but the Bible sure does teach it just the same as it teaches that He is also the God of mercy. Read up on Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis, the unsaved masses in Revelation and other passages that show the wrath of God, and let me know if your heart does not break, feel a burden to, or feel the urge to witness to them, to see them come to faith. We owe them.
