Text: Romans 1:16-17
Theme: Not Ashamed of the Gospel
Greetings: The Lord is good and his love endures forever.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION: The theme verse of the Epistle to Romans is “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” (Romans 1:16).
The whole epistle of Romans is divided based on this verse. In the first eight chapters Paul describes God's righteousness through faith (Romans 1–8), then from 9-11 chapters he says that all are treated equally by God irrespective of whether Jews and Greeks (Romans 9–11), and finally the potential life of the righteous is found in Romans 12–15. This epistle might have been penned from Corinth in AD 55 or 56, during the reign of Roman Emperor Nero (Acts 20:1-3) (Romans 15:25).
The believers in the church at Rome were of both Gentile and Jewish descents. For his missionary endeavours in Spain, Paul sought financial support from the believers at Rome (Romans 15:24, 28). The epistle of Romans is called the Gospel of Paul. Because he explains the link between salvation and good deeds.
This month we will meditate passages related to mission and missionary activities.
Today, I would like to share from Romans 1:16-17 under the theme “not ashamed” that is “I am not ashamed of the Gospel.”
This passage talks about the
Pride of the Gospel, Power of the Gospel and the Person of the Gospel.
1. Pride of the Gospel - Not ashamed (Romans 1:16)
“The Gospel shows people their wounds and bestows on them love. It shows them their bondage and supplies the hammer to knock away their chains. It shows them their nakedness and provides them the garments of purity. It shows them their poverty and pours into their lives the wealth of heaven. It shows them their sins and points them to the Savior.” ? Billy Graham
Some of the versions put different words or shame:
“For I am not the least bit embarrassed about the gospel. I won’t shy away from it.”(The Voice). “It’s news I’m most proud to proclaim, this extraordinary Message of God’s powerful plan to rescue everyone who trusts him” (The Message). “I want to preach it because I’m not ashamed of the good news.”(NIRV). “I am not ashamed to tell people the good news. God uses that good news to show his great power.” (EASY).
The word "ashamed" (Epaischunomai) refers to a state of fear, shame, and unwillingness to speak up or take action out of a fear of being embarrassed. Because I am a gospel preacher, I will never feel guilt, exposure, or shameful fear. (The Austin Precept). A believer's pride is the gospel because it provides salvation. For the sake of humanity, Jesus despised shame (Hebrews 12:2).
Saying, "I am not ashamed of the gospel" (Euaggelion) implies that one is proud to be a Christian, proud to be an evangelist, and proud to be a believer in an environment of atheists, agnostics, and nominal believers. The gospel is both good and wonderful news.
Paul made this statement that he was unquestionably unashamed of the Gospel not from the palace, not from the comforts but after imprisoned in Philippi (Acts 16:23, 24), chased out of Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-9), smuggled out of Berea (Acts 17:10-15), mocked at Athens (Acts 17:32), regarded as a fool in Corinth (1Corinthians 1:18 23), and stoned in Galatia (Acts 14:19). Neither ridicule, nor criticism, nor physical persecution could curtail his boldness. (2 Corinthians 4:5-18; 11:23-28; 12:9). After all this he thundered that nothing could separate him from Christ and His gospel of love (Romans 8:37-39).
The Puritan William Gurnall: “The Gospel is the chariot wherein the Spirit rides victoriously when He makes His entrance into the hearts of men.”
E. Stanley Jones said: “Religions are man’s search for God; the Gospel is God’s search for man. There are many religions, but one Gospel.”
Roy Gustafson “Religion is the story of what a sinful man tries to do for a holy God; the Gospel is the story of what a holy God has done for sinful men.”
Martin Luther, preached the true gospel of salvation by faith alone through grace alone in Christ alone—to unbelievers.
2. Power of the Gospel (Dunamis)– Everyone should be saved (Romans 1:16)
In the epistle of the Romans, the word "Soteria" -salvation - occurs five times. The gift of salvation is from God.
The power of the gospel is always provided to everyone rather than imposed upon anyone. In Greek, the power is Dunamis. It is an innate force, exists within a thing. It’s dynamic, living, working, ongoing, and fruitful action or transformative power. It is the ability to achieve something in motion, capacity to generate a powerful impact, and triumphs over opposition. The words Dynamo, Dynamite comes from Dunamis. Example, a cycle dynamo. Power exists but produced when wheels rotate, pressure applied on the tyres.
The gospel has inherent power. We do not give power to it. (Enduring Word). Paul does not say that “the gospel brings power, but that itself is power, and that’s God’s power.” (Morris).
Paul mentions on the reference to the Power because “Power is the one thing that Rome boasted of the most. Greece might have its philosophy, but Rome had its power” (Warren Wiersbe).
The word "Gospel" begins with two letters "G and O". "Go" is the first part of the Great Commission. Jesus told his disciples to go after they receive power (Dunamis) of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8).
With that Dunamis we can overcome the gates of Hell. The hell shall not prevail against the Church. The Dunamis of the Holy Spirit convicts, and convinces, and converts the hearers of the Gospel.
The rice, wheat, milk, soap, clothes and food will not convert a person, cannot convince a person. Such people will not stand in the tests.
The preaching of the gospel shows Man's sin, wickedness, depravity, and lustfulness, it highlights who is a hearer and where he stands. The Gospel seems like horrible news to a sinful heart.
The powerful man’s preaching always brings shivering on the sinners, When it is presented with power, it brings fear and trembling. The listeners frequently respond with contempt or dismiss it with theories, arguments, and ideologies.
The purpose of the preaching the scripture is to lead a person “from Faith to Faith”. "From faith" refers to being engrafted into Christ and placed in a justified state. "To faith" indicates that we have Christ as our source of virtue. The power of the gospel edifies the believers, leads to maturity in Christ and in his virtues.
Our existence and our very being are based on faith. There are two types of faith: maintaining faith and justifying faith. Faith enables us to gradually become more holy. It is a growing, enduring, and steadfast faith. It comes through hearing and reading the scriptures.
Our Salvation has three tenses: past, present and future, saved, being saved, and will be saved. In the past we were saved from the penalty of Sin (John 3:14-15). In the present, we are always being saved from the adverse consequences of the power of sin (Galatians 6:8).In the future, we will be saved from the presence of sin (Romans 13:11). Our salvation is from sin, Satan and self. Three tenses has three status for the believers such as Justification (Past), sanctification (present) and glorification (Future).
3. Person of the Gospel – Through Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:17)
The name Jesus Christ is the combination of two office or orders. The order of messiah, the order of ruler. He is the saviour, he is the ruler. Saving. Romans 1:1-7: gives descriptions of Jesus Christ.
Paul has already explained that Jesus has two natures, He is the Son of Man and the Son of God. Son of Man indicates the human nature of Jesus. He moved with all characteristics of a man with flesh and blood. Yet, without Sin. He is the seed of David. He is the promise of God to reign as King forever.
The title Son of God refers to the Divine nature he possessed and had the spirit of holiness. He had attested this nature through his resurrection power after his death on the cross. He is the promised one and found in the Scriptures. He is the channel of grace.
Paul says that he was an apostle of God through Christ. His main work was bringing obedience among the Gentiles. Today, the purpose of my preaching is to strength faith, be proud of the gospel, preach boldly to everyone everywhere every time. Also, to bring the unborn to a reborn experience. “Those that would not be convinced by Gospel of Christ would be convinced by nothing” (Matthew Henry).
Paul committed to the person called Jesus and he decided to proclaim that person’s message all around the globe. Paul understood that Jesus is the saviour of the world. Jesus is sufficient for the salvation of the whole world. Jesus is such a wonderful compassionate saviour.
Jesus appeared to Paul and convinced him that he was the messiah and the saviour. Cursed is the man who has hanged upon the tree (Deuteronomy 21:23, Galatians 3:13). Paul was not ashamed of a person called Jesus, who was treated as cursed. Hence, Paul is attached to that person through prayer and the word of God.
Sri Sathya Sai Baba indicated that Jesus taught simple, practical lessons, supported through His own example of compassion and love, demonstrating how we can cultivate these divine qualities. Jesus served the poorest of the poor and taught His followers that whenever we serve the needs of the poor, the needy, the hungry and the diseased, we are serving God (Matthew 25:34-40).
Swami Vivekananda: “The Church tries to fit Christ into it, not the Church into Christ”. “If I, as an Oriental have to worship Jesus of Nazareth, there is only one way, that is, to worship him as God and nothing else”
Polycarp, a disciple of John, Bishop of Smyrna. He confessed: "Eighty and six years I have served Him, and He has done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King and Saviour? You threaten me with a fire that burns for a season, and after a little while is quenched; but you are ignorant of the fire of everlasting punishment that is prepared for the wicked." Then while he was burnt he said: "I bless you, Father, for judging me worthy of this hour, so that in the company of the martyrs I may share the cup of Christ."
Conclusion:
Are you proud of the Gospel? Did you experience the power of the Gospel in your life struggles? Who is Jesus for you?
