The Gospel

Unashamed of the Gospel

Romans 1:16 ESV

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.

The Gospel is offensive to the sinful nature of man.

Paul states that he is unashamed of the Gospel because he knows that there might be some who are ashamed of it.

The Christians in Rome needed to be prepared that many might be offended by the Gospel.

Why would anybody be offended of a message that brings salvation?

Because of what it calls us to do:

Matthew 10:34–39 ESV

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Jesus is worth any cost that will come from sharing the Gospel.

There will be a cost when you share the Gospel.

You may be rejected by your friends.

You may harassed by your coworkers.

You may be punished by those who have authority over you.

However, the cost of sharing the Gospel will be worth when you see others find life in Jesus.

The Power of the Gospel

Romans 1:16 “for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes”

The Gospel is the power of God for salvation.

Paul wants us know that the very power of God rests in the Gospel.

It is the message of the Gospel that saves, not the messenger.

It is not the power of YOU that saves but the power of GOD that saves.

We can have confidence that the gospel will work no matter our abilities to share it persuasively.

The power in this message is coming from an all-powerful and infinite God.

The word to convey power in Greek is “dynamis,” which is where we get the word dynamite

This word is used in other places throughout the Bible to describe the miracles of Jesus.

When we are faithful to share the Gospel we get to take part in a powerful miracle from God.

The Gospel is salvation to everyone who believes.

This passage tells us that it is a message for everyone, but it only saves those who believe.

There is not a certain type of person the Gospel is meant for, it is meant to be shared with everyone.

Often times we come up with excuses to not share the Gospel with certain people because we don’t believe they are “open” to the Gospel.

God takes away this excuse from us by telling us it is for everyone and it is His power that will be working.

In order to experience the salvation found in the Gospel, we must believe it.

What exactly is this Gospel that we must believe in?

J.D Greear gives a great and short explanation of the Gospel in only one sentence.

God, in an act of grace, sent his Son, Jesus, to earth as a man so that through his life, death, and resurrection he could rescue us, reign as King, and lead us into the eternal, full life we were created to enjoy.

Living the Gospel

Romans 1:17 ESV

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

The Gospel is how we continue to be righteous.

The Gospel is not just how we become Christians, but it also how we continue to live as Christians

The Gospel must drive us to live by faith.

If our hope in growing closer to God is by doing more “christian things” instead of having our attention on the Gospel, our lives will become more about what we can do instead of what God has already done.

All of our Bible reading, praying, serving and sharing of the Gospel should point us to our need of God and His Gospel.