{"id":123,"date":"2012-01-09T23:55:55","date_gmt":"2012-01-09T22:55:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=123"},"modified":"2012-01-09T23:55:55","modified_gmt":"2012-01-09T22:55:55","slug":"i-am-not-ashamed-of-the-gospel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=123","title":{"rendered":"I am not ashamed of the gospel"},"content":{"rendered":"

The apostle Paul was on his way to Rome. He was planning a church-planting expedition on to Spain and wanted to visit the church at Rome for the first time on his way through. So he wrote the letter which comes to us as Romans to introduce himself to the church there and to explain the gospel which he preaches.
\nWhat is the gospel?
\n\tPaul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God\u2014 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures
\nThe gospel was foretold and foreshadowed by the prophets in the Jewish Bible, the Old Testament. The gospel was the culmination of God\u2019s masterplan of salvation which unfolded over thousands of years.
\n2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son,
\nThe gospel is all about Jesus, the Son of God,
\n3 regarding his Son,who as to his human nature was a descendant of David,
\nJesus was a man, fully human, descended from David the greatest King Israel ever knew.
\n4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
\nJesus was more than a human being. He was also the Son of God. As we have been thinking over Christmas, Jesus was the Word made flesh, Immanuel, God with us. And the proof we have that Jesus was indeed the Son of God, the Christ, the Jewish Messiah, but more than that King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the proof we have is that God raised his Son Jesus from the dead. The resurrection is God\u2019s proof to everybody of who Jesus really is.
\nSometimes it helps to get a fresh perspective on a passage if we look at another translation, and here is how The Message paraphrase puts verses 3 and 4.
\nHis descent from David roots him in history; his unique identity as Son of God was shown by the Spirit when Jesus was raised from the dead, setting him apart as the Messiah, our Master.
\nBack to the NIV as we read on
\n 5 Through him and for his name\u2019s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. 6 And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. 7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:
\nPaul, and the Christians at Rome, and every Christian everywhere are loved by God and called to be \u201csaints,\u201d holy people. And God has so many blessings for his people.
\nGrace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. <\/p>\n

The gospel is all about Jesus and the grace and peace he gives to everyone who follows him. So Paul writes
\n16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: \u201cThe righteous will live by faith.\u201d
\nThe gospel is
\nThe power of God for salvation
\n16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes
\nWe had a whole series of sermons last year on \u201cWhat is salvation?\u201d Salvation is an umbrella word for all the blessings God gives to His chosen people. In the Old Testament it meant rescue from slavery in Egypt in the Exodus, deliverance from evil and redemption from captivity. In the New Testament salvation embraces forgiveness of sins and escape from Judgment, and new life as we share Christ\u2019s resurrection life. Salvation includes eternal life and healing and wholeness and freedom from sin and death and the devil.
\nThe old question, \u201care you saved\u201d sounds dated. But it is still perhaps the most important question for anybody to answer. We still all need to be saved! D.L.Moody once said, \u201cIf we can get a man to think for just 5 minutes about his soul, he is almost certain to be converted.\u201d The gospel is God\u2019s power for salvation. The word power may remind our generation of electricity or of the atom bomb. In the world of Paul\u2019s time it meant more political or military strength. But the gospel of Jesus\u2019 Christ is God\u2019s power \u2013 a simple straightforward message which can transform lives. The gospel is God\u2019s dynamo and God\u2019s dynamite to save! And Paul is not ashamed of the gospel because in it he himself has found new life in Jesus Christ.
\nThe gospel is
\nA righteousness from God
\nVerse 17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed
\nRighteousness is a central theme in all of Paul\u2019s teaching. We find that word righteousness 35 times in Romans, and the related word righteous another 35 times! Applied to people, righteousness is talking about that gift of forgiveness and new life which changes us from God\u2019s enemies into God\u2019s children, no longer condemned as sinners but accepted as precious sons and daughters. By his grace, God puts us back in a right relationship with Him on the basis of Christ\u2019s death and resurrection. The gospel offers us that righteousness and all the blessings of salvation which righteousness brings with it. At the same time, the gospel shows us the right way we should be living, and then gives us all the strength we need to live in ways which are pleasing to God. In a passage which literally revolutionized the church and shaped the understanding we have today, the founder of the Protestant Reformation Martin Luther explained it this way.
\n\u201cI greatly longed to understand Paul\u2019s Epistle to the Romans, and nothing stood in the way but that one expression, \u201cthe righteousness of God,\u201d because I took it to mean that righteousness whereby God is righteous and deals righteously in punishing the unrighteous. \u2026 Night and day I pondered until \u2026 I grasped the truth that the righteousness of God is that righteousness whereby , through grace and sheer mercy, God justifies us by faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise. The whole of Scriptures took on a new meaning, and whereas before \u201cthe righteousness of God\u201d had filled me with hate, now it became to me inexpressibly sweet in greater love. This passage of Paul became to me a gateway to heaven.\u201d
\nSo the apostle Paul is not ashamed of the gospel because it has given even to him a new righteousness.
\nThe righteous will live by faith.
\n17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: \u201cThe righteous will live by faith.\u201d
\nPaul is quoting Habbakuk 2:4 where it says, \u201cThe righteous will live by faith\u201d or spelling out what that means, \u201cthe person who is righteous – will live by their faith.\u201d Here Paul turns the verse around and says literally, \u201cThe righteous by faith will live,\u201d that is, the person who is made righteous by their faith – will live. Elsewhere Paul makes the same argument from Genesis 15:6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
\nPaul is not saying that we earn our salvation by trusting God. Rather our faith is the channel by which God\u2019s blessing comes to us. Faith is not some kind of good work we have to do to deserve God\u2019s love. We never could earn or deserve God\u2019s peace. What Paul is saying is that we receive God\u2019s free gift of righteousness and salvation simply by believing God\u2019s promises and accepting them for ourselves, not just in intellectual assent but in in a commitment to trusting God which affects our whole lives. Somebody has said, \u201cBelief is a truth held in the mind. Faith is a fire in the heart.\u201d Paul had that fire in his heart. That is why he is so eager to share God\u2019s message of salvation with others. As the Message puts it in verse 5
\nThrough him we received both the generous gift of his life and the urgent task of passing it on to others who receive it by entering into obedient trust in Jesus. You are who you are through this gift and call of Jesus Christ!
\nSo Paul is not ashamed of the gospel because he himself has received God\u2019s salvation by believing God.
\n16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: \u201cThe righteous will live by faith.\u201d
\nThe message translation puts it this way.\tIt\u2019s news I\u2019m most proud to proclaim, this extraordinary Message of God\u2019s powerful plan to rescue everyone who trusts him, starting with Jews and then right on to everyone else! God\u2019s way of putting people right shows up in the acts of faith, confirming what Scripture has said all along: \u201cThe person in right standing before God by trusting him really lives.
\nPaul first experienced that power of God for salvation face to face with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus. So now his life was dedicated to making sure that everybody else would hear the gospel and have opportunity to respond to God\u2019s offer of eternal life.
\n5 Through him and for his name\u2019s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.
\nSo Paul says \u201cI am not ashamed of the gospel!\u201d Perhaps he had in mind the words of Jesus Himself: 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.
\nGod does not want any of us to ashamed of Jesus, or ashamed of the gospel. In the weeks to come we will unwrap this gospel and understand more of just how God saves us. We will learn more about the wonderful blessings the gospel brings to all of us who believe, and just how those of us who have experienced this power of God for salvation should now live our new lives.
\nBut for tonight I want us to take some more time to reflect on Pauls\u2019s words, \u201cI am not ashamed of the gospel!\u201d Are WE ever ashamed of the gospel? Are we ever ashamed of Jesus?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The apostle Paul was on his way to Rome. He was planning a church-planting expedition on to Spain and wanted to visit the church…<\/span><\/p>\n

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