Not Ashamed of the Gospel - Romans 1.16-17
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation of 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.
“The righteous shall live by faith.
The gospel that Paul presented as a means of salvation would have sounded ludicrous to non-Christian Romans. They held that philosophy, wealth, and military might were honorable pursuits, but to commit one’s life to a poor crucified Palestinian carpenter was laughable. Who is a candidate for the gospel? Well, the New Testament teaches that the simple, the humble, the weak, and the dregs of society are all prospects for eternal life, as are the educated, the wealthy, and the powerful. However, everyone who comes to Christ is de facto poor in spirit (Matthew 5.3). Scripture recognizes only one class distinction, those who are true spiritual descendants of Abraham and those who are not, that is, those who receive the gospel and those who reject it: You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise(Galatians 3.27-28). That salvation should come to one through the life of another is counter intuitive in our own day, to Roman culture it was preposterous. The Romans extolled the virtues of temperance, prudence, fortitude and justice. But the Christian extols love as better than prudence, long-suffering as better than fortitude, and kindness better than justice. Man’s fundamental problem is not his resolve to do what is right, but that he is alienated from God. He cannot rectify his moral dilemma until he confronts his spiritual emptiness. In short, mankind has a sin problem that can only be remedied by the power of the gospel.
NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL
Christians too often underestimate the power of the gospel. They fail to recognize the manner in which God works to reconcile a lost world to himself; his work of salvation is accomplished without any help or cooperation from the sinner being saved. Salvation is solely God’s work, from first to last. Of this gospel Paul writes that he is not ashamed. However, that is not to say that he was never humiliated or that he often suffered because of the gospel. Indeed, there is an extensive theology of suffering associated with faith in Christ (Luke 9.23-27; 14.27; Philippians 1.29; 2 Timothy 1.8), and more particularly with the life and ministry of Paul (Acts 9.15-16). Indeed, it is hardly possible to disassociate Paul’s gospel from his suffering. One readily compares the life of Paul with the great suffering prophets of the Old Testament, men, who for the sake of God’s Word, had been exiled, beaten, stoned, sawed in half, imprisoned, thrown to the lions, cast into fires, and excluded from the company of society. The list of Paul’s sufferings and persecutions take up several pages of Scripture (2 Corinthians 9.16-12.10). Perhaps it is ironic that the man who so rigorously persecuted the first generation of Christians should find that it was his suffering that often became a platform for advancing the gospel: I want you to know, believers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the believers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear (Philippians 1.12-14). Suffering for the gospel was a way of life for Paul, a way of life that he encouraged others to join: Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which has now been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the God, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me (2 Timothy 1.8-12).
The distinction between confidence in a gospel of the cross and the degradation and shame that accompanies its advocacy is an important one. Christians should expect to be excoriated because of their unwavering faith in Christ. Their identity with the cross is an identity with Christ himself (1 Peter 4.12-16). The shame suffered by Jesus (Hebrews 12.2, … for the joy set before him he endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God) is an example for believers; consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted (Hebrews 12.3). Jesus, stripped and nailed to the cross, did not succumb to its shame, but persevered in obedience to God’s purposes in salvation. Even in an unrestrained society such as ours, where nakedness is often flaunted, there is still great shame in being forcefully stripped for the purposes of abuse. It was thus for our Lord and yet he, for the joy set before him, disregarded its shame that he might accomplish salvation for those who are appointed to salvation by God (Acts 13.48). Everyone who trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ for his or her salvation will be saved – this is the power of the gospel.
Humiliated, reviled, abused, publicly and privately disgraced but never ashamed of Christ, may be the lot of the confessing believer. The Christian claims to know the truth, the only truth concerning salvation (John 14.6) and for this claim he or she may be assured of attack at some point by those hostile to Christ. Ironically, there is no room in our pluralistic society for the absolutes of the gospel, despite it being a gospel of grace. Its exclusivity to Christ dooms it to be marginalized by the cultural mainstream, but Scripture is clear when it declares that there is salvation in no other name except the matchless name of Jesus (e.g., Acts 2.21, 38; 3.6; 4.10, 12). As it was for the apostles (Acts 4.17-20) so it is for the contemporary believer: the voice of the world will attempt to silence you. For example, consider how teachers in the public school system are muted by public policy when it comes to the facts of the thanksgiving holiday. You may give thanks to anyone you please, but do not mention the name of God. The faith of the pilgrims cannot be addressed in the public arena. Some time ago a newscaster wrote: “School administrators statewide [Maryland] agree saying religion never coincides with how they teach thanksgiving to students. … Teaching about a secular thanksgiving counters the holiday’s original premise as sated by George Washington in his Thanksgiving Day proclamation: ‘It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor.’”
POWER OF GOD FOR SALVATION
A complete biblical understanding of salvation must be full orbed in that it includes the complete work of redemption, namely, all that God does on behalf of the believer which is comprised of his election, his predestination, his calling, his regeneration, his justification, his sanctification (which is his obedience that comes from faith), and his glorification. All of this is part and parcel of the Christian’s trust in Jesus to impute to him a righteousness that has its origin in God and is utterly devoid of any merit that one might presume comes from “good works” designed to appease God’s righteous wrath. There is no book of the Bible that more explicitly explains this truth than Paul’s presentation of the gospel to the Romans. Of course, as I noted a couple of weeks ago, Paul does not consider the preaching and teaching of the gospel to be limited to the initial conversion experience of the believer. Rather he has in mind the full course of the Christian experience, from the first moment of confession to final victory when he stands before the Lord at his triumphal return.
Those who rejected Christ never dampened Paul’s fervor for the gospel; indeed, such a rebuke was further evidence of the power of God for salvation. The gospel has inherent in it a life-changing, life-transforming power. Though the preaching of the cross appears foolish to the unbeliever (1 Corinthians 1.18), it nevertheless contains the power of God to effect salvation in the elect (Romans 10.11-15; cp. Acts 13.46-49). Schreiner comments, “The succeeding context of 1 Corinthians 1 clarifies that the power of the gospel lies in its effective work in calling believers to salvation (1 Cor. 1:23-24, 26-29). The preaching of the Word does not merely make salvation possible but effects salvation to those who are called. The inseparable connection between the power of God and election is also revealed in 1 Thess. 1:4-5. Paul knows that the Thessalonians are elect (v. 4) ‘because’ his gospel … did not come to you in word only but also in power; cf. also 1 Cor. 2:4-5)” (Thomas Schreiner, Romans, p. 60).
In Romans, as in other Pauline texts, salvation has both a present and a future sense, though there is a strong eschatological emphasis on salvation that focuses on the great Day of the Lord, when the believer will be spared the judgment of God’s wrath (cp. Romans 5.9, 10; 13.11; 1 Corinthians 3.15; 5.5; 15.2; 1 Thessalonians 5.8-9; 1 Timothy 2.15; 4.16; 2 Timothy 2.10; 4.18). Of course, Paul’s gospel entails more than just a future sense to the gospel. There is a present life-changing reality to the gospel, for example, But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2.4-5). Thus, Paul’s doctrine of salvation encompasses an already-but-not-yet understanding of the believer’s future hope. Consequently, salvation is both a present and future reality. “Salvation has been inaugurated because the eschaton has penetrated the present evil age (Galatians 1:4), but it will not be consummated until the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:13-14). When Paul refers to salvation, he especially has in mind the saving promises made to Israel in the Old Testament” (Schreiner, p. 61).
John Piper comments, that the power of God for salvation as future oriented is consistent with Paul’s other references to the final triumph of the gospel. To the Thessalonians Paul writes: But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 2.13-14; cp. 2 Corinthians 7.10; Hebrews 9.28; 1 Peter 1.5). More germane to our study of Romans is Paul’s comment in 5.9-10, Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved by God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! It is evident that salvation has both a present and future dimension (cf. Piper’s sermon notes www.desiringgod.org/library/sermons/98/062198). Douglas Moo comments on Paul’s use of salvation:
"Moreover, his focus is eschatological: “salvation” is usually the deliverance from eschatological judgment that is finalized only at the last day. Characteristic, however, of Paul’s (and the NT’s) outlook is the conviction that these eschatological blessings are, to some extent, enjoyed by anyone the moment he or she trusts Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. It is because of this ‘already’ focus in Paul’s salvation-historical perspective that he can speak of Christians as “saved” in this life. “Salvation” often has a negative meeting – deliverance from something – but positive nuances are present at times also, so that the term can denote generally God’s provision for a person’s spiritual need. Particularly, in light of Romans 3:23 and the use of “save” in 8:24 (cf. vv. 18-23), “salvation” here must include the restoration of the sinner to a share of the “glory of God.”” (Douglas Moo, NICNT Romans, pp. 66-67)
Of course, the gospel does not elicit faith, or make salvation possible in the lives of receptive people. Paul’s language is exacting: the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes (or is believing). The verb is in the present tense and indicates an ongoing action. The gospel is the means by which persons are regenerated and divinely enabled to repent and believe. Their faith assures them of their future salvation. This is the obedience of faith of which Paul wrote in his salutation (v. 1.5). Paul insists throughout Romans that faith ought never to be mistaken for a work that is to be rewarded by God, it is a gift (Romans 4.4-5), but neither is it a passive activity. People are responsible to believe the truth of the gospel, but the gospel is God’s work from first to last.
NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL
Christians too often underestimate the power of the gospel. They fail to recognize the manner in which God works to reconcile a lost world to himself; his work of salvation is accomplished without any help or cooperation from the sinner being saved. Salvation is solely God’s work, from first to last. Of this gospel Paul writes that he is not ashamed. However, that is not to say that he was never humiliated or that he often suffered because of the gospel. Indeed, there is an extensive theology of suffering associated with faith in Christ (Luke 9.23-27; 14.27; Philippians 1.29; 2 Timothy 1.8), and more particularly with the life and ministry of Paul (Acts 9.15-16). Indeed, it is hardly possible to disassociate Paul’s gospel from his suffering. One readily compares the life of Paul with the great suffering prophets of the Old Testament, men, who for the sake of God’s Word, had been exiled, beaten, stoned, sawed in half, imprisoned, thrown to the lions, cast into fires, and excluded from the company of society. The list of Paul’s sufferings and persecutions take up several pages of Scripture (2 Corinthians 9.16-12.10). Perhaps it is ironic that the man who so rigorously persecuted the first generation of Christians should find that it was his suffering that often became a platform for advancing the gospel: I want you to know, believers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the believers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear (Philippians 1.12-14). Suffering for the gospel was a way of life for Paul, a way of life that he encouraged others to join: Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which has now been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the God, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me (2 Timothy 1.8-12).
The distinction between confidence in a gospel of the cross and the degradation and shame that accompanies its advocacy is an important one. Christians should expect to be excoriated because of their unwavering faith in Christ. Their identity with the cross is an identity with Christ himself (1 Peter 4.12-16). The shame suffered by Jesus (Hebrews 12.2, … for the joy set before him he endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God) is an example for believers; consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted (Hebrews 12.3). Jesus, stripped and nailed to the cross, did not succumb to its shame, but persevered in obedience to God’s purposes in salvation. Even in an unrestrained society such as ours, where nakedness is often flaunted, there is still great shame in being forcefully stripped for the purposes of abuse. It was thus for our Lord and yet he, for the joy set before him, disregarded its shame that he might accomplish salvation for those who are appointed to salvation by God (Acts 13.48). Everyone who trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ for his or her salvation will be saved – this is the power of the gospel.
Humiliated, reviled, abused, publicly and privately disgraced but never ashamed of Christ, may be the lot of the confessing believer. The Christian claims to know the truth, the only truth concerning salvation (John 14.6) and for this claim he or she may be assured of attack at some point by those hostile to Christ. Ironically, there is no room in our pluralistic society for the absolutes of the gospel, despite it being a gospel of grace. Its exclusivity to Christ dooms it to be marginalized by the cultural mainstream, but Scripture is clear when it declares that there is salvation in no other name except the matchless name of Jesus (e.g., Acts 2.21, 38; 3.6; 4.10, 12). As it was for the apostles (Acts 4.17-20) so it is for the contemporary believer: the voice of the world will attempt to silence you. For example, consider how teachers in the public school system are muted by public policy when it comes to the facts of the thanksgiving holiday. You may give thanks to anyone you please, but do not mention the name of God. The faith of the pilgrims cannot be addressed in the public arena. Some time ago a newscaster wrote: “School administrators statewide [Maryland] agree saying religion never coincides with how they teach thanksgiving to students. … Teaching about a secular thanksgiving counters the holiday’s original premise as sated by George Washington in his Thanksgiving Day proclamation: ‘It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor.’”
POWER OF GOD FOR SALVATION
A complete biblical understanding of salvation must be full orbed in that it includes the complete work of redemption, namely, all that God does on behalf of the believer which is comprised of his election, his predestination, his calling, his regeneration, his justification, his sanctification (which is his obedience that comes from faith), and his glorification. All of this is part and parcel of the Christian’s trust in Jesus to impute to him a righteousness that has its origin in God and is utterly devoid of any merit that one might presume comes from “good works” designed to appease God’s righteous wrath. There is no book of the Bible that more explicitly explains this truth than Paul’s presentation of the gospel to the Romans. Of course, as I noted a couple of weeks ago, Paul does not consider the preaching and teaching of the gospel to be limited to the initial conversion experience of the believer. Rather he has in mind the full course of the Christian experience, from the first moment of confession to final victory when he stands before the Lord at his triumphal return.
Those who rejected Christ never dampened Paul’s fervor for the gospel; indeed, such a rebuke was further evidence of the power of God for salvation. The gospel has inherent in it a life-changing, life-transforming power. Though the preaching of the cross appears foolish to the unbeliever (1 Corinthians 1.18), it nevertheless contains the power of God to effect salvation in the elect (Romans 10.11-15; cp. Acts 13.46-49). Schreiner comments, “The succeeding context of 1 Corinthians 1 clarifies that the power of the gospel lies in its effective work in calling believers to salvation (1 Cor. 1:23-24, 26-29). The preaching of the Word does not merely make salvation possible but effects salvation to those who are called. The inseparable connection between the power of God and election is also revealed in 1 Thess. 1:4-5. Paul knows that the Thessalonians are elect (v. 4) ‘because’ his gospel … did not come to you in word only but also in power; cf. also 1 Cor. 2:4-5)” (Thomas Schreiner, Romans, p. 60).
In Romans, as in other Pauline texts, salvation has both a present and a future sense, though there is a strong eschatological emphasis on salvation that focuses on the great Day of the Lord, when the believer will be spared the judgment of God’s wrath (cp. Romans 5.9, 10; 13.11; 1 Corinthians 3.15; 5.5; 15.2; 1 Thessalonians 5.8-9; 1 Timothy 2.15; 4.16; 2 Timothy 2.10; 4.18). Of course, Paul’s gospel entails more than just a future sense to the gospel. There is a present life-changing reality to the gospel, for example, But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2.4-5). Thus, Paul’s doctrine of salvation encompasses an already-but-not-yet understanding of the believer’s future hope. Consequently, salvation is both a present and future reality. “Salvation has been inaugurated because the eschaton has penetrated the present evil age (Galatians 1:4), but it will not be consummated until the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:13-14). When Paul refers to salvation, he especially has in mind the saving promises made to Israel in the Old Testament” (Schreiner, p. 61).
John Piper comments, that the power of God for salvation as future oriented is consistent with Paul’s other references to the final triumph of the gospel. To the Thessalonians Paul writes: But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 2.13-14; cp. 2 Corinthians 7.10; Hebrews 9.28; 1 Peter 1.5). More germane to our study of Romans is Paul’s comment in 5.9-10, Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved by God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! It is evident that salvation has both a present and future dimension (cf. Piper’s sermon notes www.desiringgod.org/library/sermons/98/062198). Douglas Moo comments on Paul’s use of salvation:
"Moreover, his focus is eschatological: “salvation” is usually the deliverance from eschatological judgment that is finalized only at the last day. Characteristic, however, of Paul’s (and the NT’s) outlook is the conviction that these eschatological blessings are, to some extent, enjoyed by anyone the moment he or she trusts Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. It is because of this ‘already’ focus in Paul’s salvation-historical perspective that he can speak of Christians as “saved” in this life. “Salvation” often has a negative meeting – deliverance from something – but positive nuances are present at times also, so that the term can denote generally God’s provision for a person’s spiritual need. Particularly, in light of Romans 3:23 and the use of “save” in 8:24 (cf. vv. 18-23), “salvation” here must include the restoration of the sinner to a share of the “glory of God.”” (Douglas Moo, NICNT Romans, pp. 66-67)
Of course, the gospel does not elicit faith, or make salvation possible in the lives of receptive people. Paul’s language is exacting: the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes (or is believing). The verb is in the present tense and indicates an ongoing action. The gospel is the means by which persons are regenerated and divinely enabled to repent and believe. Their faith assures them of their future salvation. This is the obedience of faith of which Paul wrote in his salutation (v. 1.5). Paul insists throughout Romans that faith ought never to be mistaken for a work that is to be rewarded by God, it is a gift (Romans 4.4-5), but neither is it a passive activity. People are responsible to believe the truth of the gospel, but the gospel is God’s work from first to last.