I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek.For I am not ashamed of the Good News of Christ, because it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first, and also for the Greek.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.For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
14 sermons cite this verse
… also to you who are at Rome. 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. For in the gospel, a righteousness from God has been revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last. Just as it is written, the righteous will live by faith. The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth of God by their wickedness. And so we know about God as plain to them because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power, divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what is made so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him. But their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. …
So I'm eager to preach the gospel to you in Rome because 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. For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith. As it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. This is Paul saying, this is the greatest news in all the world. people can be made right with God through faith in Christ. There's no better news than that. In all the world, there's no better news to tell anyone on the planet that they can be made right with God through faith in Jesus Christ. And so he says, there's no better news. We've got to make sure everybody hears this. So then what Paul does, starting in verse 18, is he starts making the case for why they all need to hear it. Why everybody needs to hear the gospel. So that's this book. …
… again, but now. The thesis statement for the book of Romans is way back in chapter 1, verse 16 and 17. 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. For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. So, there we had it, the good news of the gospel, the solution for which Romans 1, 18 through chapter 3, verse 20 is the problem. And you can see it right there in verse 17 of chapter 1, the righteousness of God is revealed. And then 3, 21, now the righteousness of God has been manifested. So, we're picking back up with the theme from chapter 1, verse 17. And what did we have in between? Chapter 1, verse 18, the wrath of God revealed. You can see that. The righteousness of God, the wrath of God, and now we have finally come back to pick up this great theme, the righteousness of God, which is revealed from faith for faith. …
… in Holy Spirit filled power in the simple preaching of the gospel. Just planting the seed and letting God take it has incredible results. Paul said that in Romans 1, I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God to salvation. Of course, he uses human messengers. That's the point in verse 29. The farmer puts in the sickle, so he has a part in it, plants the seed, and he puts in the sickle, but it is God that makes it grow. 1 Corinthians 3, I planted the seed in your hearts. Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. And the results may not be suddenly, not immediate, but eventual, eventual. Give it time. Walk away. Let it grow. See what God does with it. Don't fret it. Not your responsibility. Plant the seed. Walk away. Galatians 6, Paul said, in due season, you will reap if you faint not. Now there's a larger point before I close this out with the last one. Bearing fruit is natural. It's just part of the process. It's the normal result of planting seeds. As I said, there's enough life in the seed itself, in the DNA of the seed and potential in the soil. If the soil is good and receptive for life to happen, the seed of truth planted in an open heart will produce spiritual results the Associated Press put out a release some time ago. I cut it out and kept it. It was done …
… Because that's how he does things. I don't know. Ask him. The Bible says in Romans 1, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. Oh, I don't agree with that. That's your problem. You don't agree with that. You see, God is advancing towards humanity in an order that He set. That's the way He does things. Remember, in the first round, when he kind of advanced towards everyone, we ended up with the Tower of Babel. Remember that. So then he tried another way. Took Abraham out of his land, out of his father's house. Brought him all the way to a land. And he says, listen, Abe. This is the place, the land. I'm going to give you a seed and I'm going to turn that nation into a blessing. And through that nation, all the families of the world will be blessed. …
… and out of that, out of the, the, the Jews, we see, of course, our savior, Jesus Christ. Romans chapter one, verse 16, you'll see it there. It says for I am Paul's talking about this, not ashamed of the gospel. What's the gospel? The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, because it's the power of God that brings salvation to, say it with me, everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. So people are saved because of the new covenant. People are saved, Jews and Gentile alike, by grace through faith. We're saved because of what Jesus did for us. In John chapter four, verse 22, salvation, the Bible says, is from the Jews. So you can see this Jewish thing we have going on. But we part ways with Judaism when it comes to the person of Jesus Christ. That's the defining line in the sand. We believe that Jesus was and is the Messiah. The Jews don't believe that. What I would challenge you to do is to engage in conversation with Jewish people. …
… the good news of Jesus is for you as well. I like that word power. I like that word power because the Bible says in Romans chapter one, verse 16, for it is the power of God unto salvation. The power of God. We're not ashamed of the power of God. We're not ashamed of the gospel. Jesus said, if you're afraid or ashamed about me on earth, the father is going to be ashamed about you in heaven. I'm not ashamed about my faith. I want to be bold about my faith. I'm not bragging about what I've done. I'm just bragging about what he's done. Somebody asked me the other day, Pastor Chad, do you get nervous before you preach? Not when I'm on my key line pants. No, I'm good. No, I don't get nervous about preaching because when I preach, my job is to brag about somebody else. If I tried to make this impressive about me, I'd be shaking in my key line. But because I'm trying to tell everybody about God, I get bold about the cross. I get bold about my faith. Come on clap if you want a boldness to rise up in you. I don't care what anybody thinks. I don't care what anybody says. I don't care what anybody criticize. I got to get the message of the good news of Jesus out of my life. …
… Let me begin reading at verse 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. For in it, that is in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith. As it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. We saw last week that word for, gar in the Greek, and you will become acquainted with that word throughout this series. translated for, F-O-R, at the beginning of verse 16, connects these two verses with the previous verse, 15, where Paul said he was eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. And so, verses 16 and 17 provide reasons. Why is Paul set apart for the gospel of God? Why is he so eager to preach this gospel. He gives reasons. We saw last week in verse 16 several reasons. What's so good about the gospel? Number one, it's the power of God. Number two, it is the power of God unto salvation. Number three, this salvation is for everyone who believes. …
… not only in this book, but in the whole Bible. Romans chapter 1, verse 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. Now, we can point out in one sense that this verse is simply a continuation of the argument that has come before in verses 8 through 15. You see that it begins in English with the word for, F-O-R, translating the Greek word gar. We'll have occasion to learn a few Greek words in the study of Romans. That's one that will be important as it often indicates a connection or gives a reason. And so, verse 16, for is connecting with verse 15, namely, where Paul explains that he is eager to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome. So, now he is explaining why he is so eager to preach the gospel. So, this is a continuation of that argument, but it's more than that. …
… so Paul is going to get in our grill a little bit are you ready for this four things Romans chapter 1 verses 14 through 17 the first thing I want you to notice is and this is Paul speaking I just kind of wrote down kind of what I thought he would say the debt I owe number two the drive I show and number three the decision I make and number four the deal I take I just outlined for you maybe the most important verses in scripture because these verses kick-started the protestant reformation do you know what the protestant Reformationists. I'm glad you asked because only three people lifted their hand. The Protestant Reformation was a 16th century movement that challenged corruption and unbiblical teachings in the Catholic Church. It was an emphasis on salvation by faith through grace, an emphasis on the authority of scripture, and an emphasis on birthing Protestant churches. Martin Luther, John Calvin, Zwingli, and Knox were a part of the Protestant Reformation. …
Well, we're talking about everything from the beginning of the book of Romans, the gospel. I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. And then Paul unfolds the bad news and then the good news, and we see justification by faith in chapter 3, and then the glories of the gospel unfold from chapter 3, verse 20, all the way to chapter 8, verse 30. And in verses 28 to 30, which we read earlier, you have a summation of the glories of our salvation. It's a secure salvation because verse 28 says, we know that God causes all things to work together for good. If all things work together for good, then nothing can work together for bad. He causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. His purpose and His call determine that everything is going to work together for good. Then Paul looks at those wonderfully familiar terms in verse 29, for those whom He foreknew, those whom He predetermined to set His love upon, He predestined. …
… All the life comes from the seed. I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, says Paul in Romans 1.16, because it is the power of God unto salvation. It is the gospel, it is the seed that has the life. 1 Peter 1, you're begotten again by the word of truth. It is the Word itself, the gospel truth, that has the power. So it's foundational to all who engage in gospel ministry to understand this. No human being, no human strategy, no human technique can produce any spiritual life. No matter how persuasive you might be, how clever, how good your illustrations might be, how culturally savvy you might be, no matter how you may structure the environment to make people feel like they're at home in the world, nothing that a human being does plays any role in spiritual life and growth. You can't produce the new birth. You can't cause spiritual growth. And that's what we saw in John 6 last week, in verse 65, that no one comes to salvation unless the Father draws him. …
I'm going to read it, and then we're going to open it up and see what it has for us. This is the Word of God. This is His power. Paul says, I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God under salvation. When you open the Bible, what you're doing is you're detonating a bomb. When you open the Bible, you're taking a knife, turning it in toward yourself, and thrusting. Did you know that? A philosophy is not a power. A philosophy or a set of ethics is something that you have to pick up yourself, and you have to live into it to give it power. The gospel, however, picks you up and lives into you to give you power. You've never heard of a philosophy. I mean, there's lots of philosophies, you know? There's post-modernism and deconstructionism, which is big now. After World War II, there was existentialism. Before World War II, there was a linguistic analysis. Have you ever heard of any of those philosophies? Changing a whole community, converting an entire village, putting families back together, lifting people up out of poverty and oppression. Have you ever heard of that? No. Because those things are not powers. …
… Remember what Paul said in chapter 1 of Romans beginning in verse 16 He says for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God under salvation To everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Now listen to what he said. He says the gospel message. In the church of Jesus Christ, the gospel message is the power of God. What is the gospel message? Here's the gospel message. That Jesus Christ came into this world, the incarnate Son of God. Born in Bethlehem. lived his life, short life of 33 years approximately, went to the cross to atone for your sin and my sin, was buried in a borrowed tomb, was resurrected the third day as the living Lord, and ascended to the Father, seated at his right hand, and one day is coming as Lord and Master and Judge and King of all of life. That is the gospel. That is the only message that has ever been placed on the face of this earth that can change a man's eternal destiny. …