When I was a teenager, I was first an agnostic and then I became an atheist. Of all places I was in a church when I made the transition to an atheist. It was my conclusion that the worship around me was not real and all of life could be explained by natural science. I even felt sorry for people who were giving themselves to serving God because that would be a miserable pursuit and complete waste if God does not exist.
That was my conclusion for the next four years. Now my perspective is vastly different. If God does exist and he sent his son to die for us, the just for the unjust to bring us back to God then that is a game changer. Now instead of being a wasted effort, then serving God is of the highest value. It is the treasure we would sell everything to possess.
What happened to me to have such a different view? Now I believe with all my heart that God exists. Now I know God personally. I experienced the power of God spoken of in Romans 1:16-17. Now I can identify with Paul who wrote our passage. He was obligated to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ. He was not ashamed of the gospel. He was eager to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17)
The Apostle Paul penned these words that are considered the central thought of Christianity. At one time he dedicated his life to stamping out Christianity. He was helping put to death the leaders of this movement following Christ. Then the power of God totally changed his direction. Paul was breathing our murderous threats against Christian leaders. He had secured documents so he could arrest them.
On his way to Damascus the power of God changed his life forever. In leading up to his declaration that he is not ashamed of the gospel he said he was eager to preach the gospel and obligated to preach the gospel.
The gospel is the power of God.
What could transform a teenager who felt sorry for ministers for wasting their lives for an empty cause? That transformation would lead to a life that would exclaim, I want every decision I make, everything I say and do to be to further the cause of God’s kingdom on earth. It is the power of God that transforms. The gospel is the power of God.
The gospel can transform the social elite or the social outcast. The gospel can transform the corporate CEO or the gang leader. The gospel can transform the family man and the gospel can transform the criminal. The gospel can transform the rich and the poor. All people need the gospel. There is not one too high or too low. The gospel can transform all walks of life. No one is out of reach to the power of the gospel.
The gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ. The good news was proclaimed and waited for since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God the relationship with God and man was broken. We inherited the sin nature, and we have all sinned. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
All religions have in common that God is holy, and we are sinners. God is holy and pure like the snow on the top of the Himalayas. Man is impure like the mud in the mud puddle on the side of the road. You can’t mix the two together without making the pure impure. So every religion has some system of doing some religious duty to become pure to reach God.
It could be through some ritual of fasting. It could be through doing a pilgrimage. It could be burning candles at a church or lighting incense at a temple. There are countless ways people attempt to become pure to reach God. But we can never get pure enough. We can never reach up to God. He must come down to us. Jesus left heaven and became man and died on a cross and was raised from the dead. This is the gospel that Paul once opposed but now he is not ashamed. He is under compulsion to preach this good news.
It is the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ that is the power of God unto salvation. For by grace, you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
There is more power in the gospel than the most powerful waterfall, than atomic energy and all the armies of the earth. The Gospel is the power of God for salvation and nothing else is.
Salvation to everyone who believes.
The Gospel, the power of God for salvation affects you personally when you believe. The conclusion of the gospel is to believe in Jesus Christ. Belief is more than accepting facts.
With faith you trust your life. There is a repentance. A turning from sin to God. When marching a turnaround is called an about face. The gospel affects you personally when you believe.
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, (John 1:12) The gospel cuts across social status for everyone to come to God in the same way. That way is in humility dying to our own selfish desires and trusting God with our lives.
The gospel is the same regardless of where you come from. The gospel is for everyone in every hemisphere every family of the earth. Christ died for you. For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, (1 Peter 3:18). It is the same gospel with the same power of salvation for everyone.
You may share with Paul having a dramatic salvation experience. You may have your own Damascus Road encounter with God. It may be your salvation experience is totally different. You may have a quiet change in your heart. In any experience the power of God is undeniable. It is not a matter of how God worked in your life for your salvation. The important thing is God has worked in your life and you have believed in Jesus Christ and experienced salvation.
There may be people who receive advantages in advancing up the social ladder by being born into a privileged socio-economic sector of society. There is no such privileged class when it comes to the power of salvation. It is available to all. The imbalance comes when people do not have the chance to hear. That is why Paul was compelled to share.
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Romans 10:14-15)
When Paul believed in Jesus Christ he changed from a persecutor of the gospel to a proclaimer of the gospel. The gospel has the power to change those who believe. The gospel is the power of God for everyone who believes. That is what we are offering when we proclaim the gospel. The good news. To know the power of God for salvation in your life. We are not ashamed of the gospel.
In the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed.
To be in fellowship with God requires a holy sinless life. It is what you can never achieve on your own regardless of your pursuit of purity. It is a gift of God. We have all live sheep gone astray. When you recognize that, when you turn from your sones and place your faith in Jesus Christ you receive the righteousness of God.
When you have put your faith in Jesus Christ, He dwells within You. From that point on God looks with you and sees the righteousness of Christ. God looks upon you and sees holiness and justice. God looks upon you and finds you not guilty in judgement of sin.
You were a sinner doomed for eternal death and because of believing in Jesus Christ, because of the gospel and the power of God you are clean. You have eternal life in Jesus Christ. Jesus’ death on the cross has made the payment for your sins.
That is why the gospel is urgent. That is why the gospel is good news. That is why Paul was obligated to preach the good news. Your response to Jesus Christ will determine your condition before God. Your faith in Christ will determine your condition as condemned or forgiven in the sight of God.
When you die you will stand before God. No number of good deeds will save you in the time of judgment. Only the gospel and the power of God. Regarding our salvation and our standing before God Jesus said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26) Only if Jesus is your savior will you stand forgiven in the day of judgment before God.
In Christ we are saved from eternal separation from God. With faith in Christ experiencing the power of the gospel we are saved from hell. We are saved to spend eternity in heaven.
I became an atheist at age sixteen and later put my faith in Jesus Christ to experience the power of the gospel at age twenty. People were asking what happened to you. You seem different. You seem happier. The gospel has the power to save all who believe. Only the gospel has the power to save.
It is no wonder that Paul was not ashamed of the gospel. He knew the power that changed his own life. Only in the gospel will you know salvation. Have you found the power of God in your life. Have you put faith in Jesus Christ that his death on the cross would count for you to pay the penalty for your sins? This is the time to put your faith in Jesus Christ now.
Pray this prayer. God, I thank you that you loved me and desire fellowship with me. I acknowledge that you are holy and that I am a sinner. I thank you that you sent your son Jesus Christ into this world. I thank you that he lived a sinless life and was crucified on the cross buried and rose again for my sins. I turn from my sins to belief in Jesus Christ. I ask you that the death of Jesus Christ count for the payment of my sins. I dedicate my life as a follower of Jesus Christ. Amen.
