Not ashamed of the gospel

Good morning brothers and sisters,
Here Paul turns the corner from greeting to substance. This first line, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of salvation for everyone who has faith..." is a core statement for anyone who's interested in evangelism. Paul's argument in this passage is that through creation everyone can see something about God's power. Through creation we see God's creativeness and we even see something about God's love because of the seeds of love planted in each of us. Because we can all see these things, we are all called to worship God. Instead of this, many people in history have turned to idols, worshiping created things instead of the creator.

The overall theme of the first two chapters of Romans is that we all should know God but we all fall short. In this section Paul shares a bit about how gentiles should know God from creation but turn to idols instead. In the next section he will discuss how the Jewish people, who come to know God through a special revelation and relationship also fall short. At the end of these two chapters, Paul has made a case that we all should know God, but we all turn away. By making our sin and error clear, Paul gets his audience ready to hear God's cure for this situation. That cure is the gospel, the good news of God's amazing grace in Jesus Christ. No wonder Paul is not ashamed of the gospel. I hope we grow stronger each day in our ability to say the same.

God bless,
Sam


Romans 1:16-23

16For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “The one who is righteous will live by faith.” 18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth.


19For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse; 21for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened. 22Claiming to be wise, they became fools; 23and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.