I am not ashamed of the gospel...

Romans 1:1-17 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

The Gospel Exalted

1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, ² which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, ³ concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, ⁴ who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, ⁵ through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake, ⁶ among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;

⁷ to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁸ First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. ⁹ For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, ¹⁰ always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you. ¹¹ For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; ¹² that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine. ¹³ I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. ¹⁴ I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. ¹⁵ So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

¹⁶ 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 to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

Paul says,  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. Is that what we believe also? First that we are not ashamed of the gospel. Are we willing to stand for the gospel and proclaim it regardless of what the consequences might be. Paul suffered much. In 2 Corinthians 11:23-27  he writes about some of what he endured.

 Are they servants of Christ?—I speak as if insane—I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. ²⁴ Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. ²⁶ I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; ²⁷ I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

If we knew we faced those types of difficulties, would we still be able to say, like Paul, I am not ashamed of the gospel?  Jesus asks us that same question. In Luke 14:26-33  He says:

“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. ²⁷ Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. ²⁸ For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? ²⁹ Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, ³⁰ saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ ³¹ Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? ³² Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. ³³ So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. 

The cost of discipleship is indeed high, as Paul says in Philippians 3:8 : More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,   What we gain in knowing, walking with and serving Christ is far better that anything this world can offer and worth whatever this world might try to test us with.

Let's look at the second part of Paul's statement.  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes...  It is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. When we do declare the gospel, is that our primary motive, salvation for everyone who believes? Or do we use the Bible as a tool for debate? Trying to convince others that they should live morally and upright according to what God has said in scripture? Are we declaring the good news or are we just declaring our views and the rules we think the world should follow.

When we enter into a debate with others based on what we know to be the truth of the word of God we  have little hope of changing their minds. 1 Corinthians 1:18 says: For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.  There is no new sin that exists in our society and culture today that hasn't existed for thousands of years. All sorts of perversion and immorality, dishonesty, hatred, murder, worshipping other gods, these things have all existed throughout man's history. Our debating our rules, even though they may be God's rules, with them is not going to change their minds, let alone their hearts.

The power of the gospel, the good news is salvation. Paul continues:¹⁷ For in it(the gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. We can't share the righteousness of God with someone who has no faith. They must first have faith before they can receive the revelation of God's righteousness. While it is true that:  faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.(Romans 10:17) It is also true that as Jesus says the Holy Spirit is the one who convicts the world concerning sin and righteousness:

 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. ⁸ And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; ⁹ concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰ and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; (John 16:7-10)

Paul says:  “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”  The law was unable to change man's hearts. We will never convince others to live according to our standards, even if they are God's standards, by declaring the law. We are to declare the good news. Jesus says: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.(John 10:10)    We need to live the abundant life of Christ in order for us to declare it to others. 

Jesus says: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; ¹⁵ nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.(Matthew 5:14-16)

Our good works begin with living what Jesus calls the first and great commandment.

 "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." (Luke 10:27)

Our good works then also include doing the things that Jesus commanded and said we would.

 “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. ¹⁷ These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”(Mark 16:15-18)

 I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

Thank You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit for giving me the revelation of Christ. That because of my faith in Christ I can live righteously. Not my own righteousness, but the righteousness of Christ. I ask You Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit to walk with me, I yield to You that I might walk and talk in a way that show forth Your glory and Your light. Help me to resist the temptation to debate with other and instead empower me and embolden me to declare the good news of the gospel. What ever may come, I am not ashamed of the gospel because I know it is the power of You God for salvation to everyone who believes.  Amen