March 5, 6:00 p.m. 
Speaker: Conrad Mbewe
Topic: Not Ashamed of the Gospel
Passage: Romans 1:16–17

Message Summary: 

As he opens his letter to the Romans, Paul introduces the gospel that he proclaims. And he tells us he is not ashamed of this message because it is the gospel of God.

This isn’t the way Paul usually introduces the gospel. Usually, he introduces it as “the gospel of Jesus Christ.” But in this case, he wants to make it abundantly clear that this is the good news of the Creator of the universe, the Governor of history, the Redeemer of His people, the coming Judge of the living and the dead. Paul goes on to tell us that this message has been promised by God across the Old Testament. And he tells us who is at the center of this message: the Son, Jesus Christ (Romans 1:6–8).

By His grace, God has enabled Paul to preach this gospel in many parts of the world. But Paul is now eager to bring the message to Rome, the capital city of the world, that he may win souls there (1:13–15).

Paul’s desire to preach the gospel to all is something that every preacher should be able to attest to. We should grasp his reason and sense the beating of his heart as he pens Romans 1:16–17.

The Gospel Is the Power of God to Save.

The reason that Paul glories in the gospel is that it is the power of God to save sinners.

The God who has made this entire earth with all its complexity and enabled it to hang on nothing—the God who has made the galaxy to be but a dot on the canvas of the universe; the God who is above all of creation, who holds the power that holds all things together—it is His power that gives life to dead souls through the gospel.

One reason Paul could proclaim this gospel is that he had experienced its power. He was a proud and arrogant man, full of self-righteousness. He had a driving passion to bring Christians to nothing. And then Jesus Christ met him. That arrogant, proud individual was brought to his knees. His world and his ambitions came crashing down, broken into pieces at his feet when Christ said to him, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:5).

And then Paul began to see that this Jesus was the fulfillment of all of the promises in the Old Testament. That he needed to throw away any effort at self-righteousness so that he could embrace Christ alone.

Jesus at that point destroyed Paul's arrogance and turned him into an individual who loved God, loved the people of God, and wanted to live for God alone.

What brought about that change was the power of God. And Paul wanted others to experience that same power.

Have you, like Paul, experienced God’s converting power? If all you have is cerebral information that has not given life to the dead, put light where there was darkness, broken the chains of slavery to sin, and made you free, I’m not surprised that you are ashamed of the gospel. But if that power has transformed you, how can you be ashamed of this gospel?

The Gospel Is for Everyone Who Believes

It doesn’t matter who you are. The power of God saves indiscriminately.

It might be the self-righteous who have been in Christian circles since birth and have spent their lives building a tower of self-righteousness, hoping to someday, somehow reach God. The power of the gospel sweeps all that away and brings them to embrace Christ and Christ alone.

Or it may be someone on the opposite extreme, who has literally lived in the gutters of life. In sexual immorality, drunkenness, and drug addiction. The same power is able to rescue them and enable them to be proclaimers of this same message.

The Gospel Is a Free Gift

In the gospel, God gives us a gift that is completely free—a gift that is given by grace. It is the gift of a righteousness that enables us to stand before God, both now, and on the final judgment day when His wrath is poured out.

This gift is the righteousness of God, the righteousness of God’s own Son. Instead of dealing with us as our sins deserve, God deals with us according to a righteousness that was procured by another. Not only are we forgiven of sin, but Christ’s perfect righteousness is credited to our account.

The righteous God who does not overlook sin deals with it in the person of His Son.

This is a gift we only receive. We don’t add anything to it. Surely that should humble us. You cannot boast about faith because faith is simply you reaching out as a beggar so that He might give you His gift. And that is what He has done for us.

This is a perfect sacrifice, a perfect gift, given to us freely from a perfect God. Surely we of all people should want to proclaim this gospel to all. We should be moved to go to lands where Christ is not known and be willing to pay with our very lives so that men and women might come to know this great God.

In the gospel, we may say to them, “There is a full and free righteousness for you. Come just as you are. And experience this full and free salvation in the person of God’s own Son. I came as a beggar, and He poured upon me grace upon grace. He can do the same for you.”