Notes from: Sermon and Outline Bible for Romans & Utleys Commentary on Romans
Title: For I am not ashamed of the gospel
Theme: To show the importance of witnessing
Text: Romans 1:16-17
“ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17 AV)
Introduction
These two verses contain one of the greatest summaries of the gospel ever written. It is a clear declaration of God’s power to save all who believe, no matter their nationality or condition.
It begins with Paul’s clear proclamation that he is “not ashamed of the gospel of Christ”
The word ashamed means, “feeling shame, guilt, or disgrace; feeling inferior or unworthy”.
Inferior or Unworthy
We are familiar with the feeling shame and guilt. Jesus tells us that if we are ashamed of Him with others He will be ashamed of us before the father _ Luke 9:26 But the focus I see is the “inferior and unworthy”. The trick of the enemy.
Romans 8:37-39 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. (38) For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, (39) nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Isaiah 54:17New King James Version (NKJV)
17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,
And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the LORD.
The dread of hell is that you'll wake up to the power that God has given you.
THE WORST NIGHTMARE TO THE DEVIL IS THAT YOU WILL DISCOVER WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST.
HELL’S WORST NIGHTMARE IS THAT YOU WILL WAKE UP AND BELIEVE THAT
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me Phil 4:13
Greater is he who is in me 1 John 4:4
No weapon formed against me shall prosper Isaiah 54:17
I am more than a conqueror Romans 8:37
I am not bound I am free
Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Now if we have read just a small section of Paul’s writing we would not be surprised by this verse. He did not believe that the gospel of Christ was inferior nor was he embarrassed to tell everyone he met about this gospel of Christ.
But don’t be fooled he could have been ashamed (feel inferior).
Why?
1. Because of the moral degeneracy of the society. The sinfulness. And the awesome promises of the gospel.
2. Because he was a Jew.
3. The unbelieveablity of the Gospel. A man came and claimed to be God and died on a cross and now we can all be forgiven. This had never been heard before.
4. It was not uncommon in Paul’s ministry to be rejected. Not just by people but by whole communities. His life was threatened in Berea, he was laughed at in Athens, and the Greeks mocked his message.
Yet Paul still proclaims, I am not ashamed. These are some of the excuses that we use not to witness to the lost. 1) Because society is so bad we don’t want to tell them that they are wrong. We don’t want to embarrass them. We even say, “There is no hope”. Yet there is hope and his name is Jesus
Luke 9:26 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; 9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
2) Because of our differences in race or social status we don’t try to reach everyone. We limit ourselves to those whom we are most familiar with and then we don’t take the plunge
3) We feel that we are not smart enough, or we don’t know enough to witness. Well you will never feel like you know enough. We must witness. God can use any ones testimony or witness to win a soul. Yet it is hard for him to use our silence with out a “reason for the way we live”.
4) We are afraid of persecution and ridicule. Yes this is true. You may be and will be rejected. But sometimes you are just planting a seed. We don’t do the convicting or the saving God does.
Now let us look at three reasons why Paul was not ashamed of this gospel
I. It is the good news
That is what this word gospel means, good news.
Luke 2:10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
II. It is the power of God to save
Power = dunimas, explosion. Transformation. Something happens when person truly meets God. There is a change. It is an explosion of the heart.
Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. (2) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Titus 3:5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Growing up I was reminded so much of the free gift of God. How to be saved and what it meant. What I was not reminded of enough is what it did. It is almost as if people were setting me up for failure and if I make it out I was a Christian. But wasn’t sure if I was going to make it.
III. Salvation “unto salvation”
Salvation means deliverance: deliverance from being lost, deliverance from sin, deliverance from all future judgment, delivers from our enemies; It also means to make well, to heal, to restore to health, to make both physically and mentally whole.
It as one who is drowning needing help.
▣ "salvation" In the OT, the Hebrew term (yasho) primarily referred to physical deliverance (cf. Jas_5:15), but in the NT the Greek term (sôzô) refers primarily to spiritual deliverance (cf. 1Co_1:18; 1Co_1:21).
IV. This gospel is universal “first to Jew then Greek”
This is not saying that one is better than the other or “more special” but this is the way that God has chosen to bring the gospel. First through the Jews then to the Gentiles.
“ For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans10:12-13 AV)
V. It is the Revelation of God’s righteousness for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from
Man believes himself to righteous. He believes that he can be righteous. He sees himself as doing just enough. Yet when God shows up it shows man as who he is. He shows the imperfection of man and the perfection of God
Notice these words: “faith to faith” and “the just shall live by faith”. What does that mean? “the whole life of the believer is to be a life of faith, from beginning to ending faith, faith to faith. This is not just a one moment event but a life long continual belief. As we talked Wednesday, “faith without works is dead”. So there is a continuance.
While this does refer to the believer's moral lifestyle, it primarily concerns his legal standing before the Righteous Judge
“ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
VI. From Salvation Faith to Growing Faith
faith to faith: as it is written,
Christianity is a gift which is expected to become a characteristic and a lifestyle.
There are several possibilities in translating this phrase. The Williams NT translates it as "the Way of faith that leads to greater faith." The main theological points are
1. faith comes from God ("revealed")
2. mankind must respond and continue to respond
3. faith must result in a godly life
Luke 2:52 KJV And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
VII. Living by Faith “the just shall live by faith”
The just shall live by faith.” (Ro 1:16-17 AV)
Quote from: Habakkuk 2:4 also used in Galatians 3:11 & Hebrews 10:38
Habakkuk 2:1-4 I will stand my watch And set myself on the rampart, And watch to see what He will say to me, And what I will answer when I am corrected. (2) Then the Lord answered me and said: "Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. (3) For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry. (4) "Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Conclusion
Well what about you? Do you believe in the power of the gospel?
You should have a piece of paper. I want you to write down three people that you need to share the gospel with.
That is what I like about these teachers here today. They boldly proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. They stand and they “preach the gospel”. They are not ashamed.
