The Power Of God For Salvation

Children’s Bible Page 1223

Introduction: Martin Luther and You

I want to begin the message today telling you a tiny bit about Martin Luther in Germany in 1515.

And I want to do that because God used the passage I am preaching today to save Martin Luther’s soul and then use him to spark the Protestant Reformation,

It was during a time that the church in Germany was not preaching the gospel.

Instead, they taught that you had to follow certain rules, and serve the church in certain ways, and even use physical money to buy forgiveness from God through the church.

And Luther was a very religious man to the point where he was a Monk, which was a person who fully dedicated themselves to God through disciplined study and service to the church.

Yet, while Luther was a disciplined student of the Scriptures and servant of the church, he was not happy or at peace because he recognized that He could never fully satisfy the demands of God.

I mean, the Old Testament alone contains 613 commands, and by failing to follow one just one time, he was no longer perfect, and can’t do anything to make up for that imperfection.

I mean, it doesn’t matter how many times you obey, 1 million obediences still do not cover up even 1 disobedience.

Even if you could make a 99.99% on the test, if you have one error, you can never make a 100%.

And Luther, in his heart of hearts, knew something was wrong and He knew God was not pleased with him.

Yet, in a culture like ours in 2024, we are so bombarded by so many distractions and worldviews and narratives of information coming at us from every angle, that some will live their entire lives without being stopped in their tracks long enough to even consider what their standing is before God.

Yet, while it is the case that we can be distracted by all the noise, the truth still shows up deep down in each one of us.

The truth that something isn’t right.

The fear that I am not enough.

The constant need to try to fill and satisfy some void.

Even for Christian people, we are all too often tempted to think, well, I’m not a good Christian.

I mean, there’s so much more that I should be doing that I don’t do.

I’m not enough. I don’t measure up.

I’m tempted to feel that way all the time, daily.

And it’s such a common feeling, we are sometimes tempted to think that’s how God wants us to feel.

As if God wants us to live with at least some kind of low level guilt and shame that, “Yeah, I’m a Christian, but I need to do more. I need to be more. I need to obey more.”

As if God kind of loves you but still feels a certain low level disappointment in you all the time until you really get your act together.

Maybe we are all more similar to a 1500s German Monk named Luther than we thought.

But, our passage today addresses those very thoughts and feelings with the truth of the gospel.

In the first two sermons of Romans, we have seen Paul defend His authority to write as an apostle of God and we heard Paul’s warm greeting of love and care for the Christians who made up the church in Rome,

And now, in verses 16-17, Paul is going to state the very theme of His letter.

If someone were to give you the assignment to write down in two sentences what the whole book of Romans is all about,

You would get an A+ on that assignment if you simply wrote down the words of Romans 1:16-17.

For, you could even say that verses 16-17 hold within themselves everything else that Paul is going to explain and expound upon throughout the rest of the letter.

Would you follow along as I read?

Romans 1:16–17

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

I want us to see three truths this passage shows us:

1. Do Not Be Ashamed Of The Gospel

In verse 15, right before our passage today, Paul completed his greeting by saying that he is eager to come to preach the gospel in Rome.

He now tells us he is not ashamed of the gospel.

There are many reasons why Paul and the Roman Christians would have been tempted to be ashamed of the gospel, and it is the same for us today.

The most obvious in the context is the fact that Paul has just stated in the prior verses that the gospel is for Jews, Greeks, and Barbarians.

In other words, the gospel is for all kinds of people no matter their cultural or ethnic backgrounds, which in our flesh is embarrassing and something to feel ashamed of.

Think about it, we are hardwired to feel the most comfortable with the kinds of people that are most like us.

In my flesh, I am the most comfortable with people who have a similar background, ethnicity, socio-economic status, beliefs and values, and cultural expectations.

Imagine for the cultured educated Romans to now be viewed in the same groups with the country bumpkin barbarians.

Imagine the Jewish people with thousands of years of history of God’s favor toward them now sharing that favor with all other nationalities of people.

Imagine what it would have been like for the Jew and the Greek to have a barbarian called as one of their pastors and leaders.

It’s potentially embarrassing and shameful.

The groups that our flesh is drawn to are groups that honor people like us, not people different than us.

Yet, Paul is saying He is not ashamed of a gospel that puts the uneducated barbarian in the same family with the same amount of honor as himself, a highly educated Jew.

Another reason we are tempted to be ashamed of the gospel is going to be crystal clear when we start reading the rest of chapter 1 next week.

Not being ashamed of the gospel means fully embracing a message that I have utterly failed.

I have failed to accept the most fundamental thing about me:

That I am a creature who should acknowledge and honor my Creator.

It means fully embracing the message that I have sinned and in so doing have rejected the very one who created me, and I can’t do anything on my own to make that right.

That is shameful.

Maybe the most common reason we are tempted to be ashamed of the gospel is our fear of other people.

Jesus told his disciples in

Mark 8:38

38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

The Roman world was not going to love and accept the truths about the gospel of Jesus Christ anymore than our world does today.

Paul wrote in

1 Corinthians 1:22–23

22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,

People naturally want to be entertained and filled with knowledge that will honor themselves and make themselves great.

People don’t want to hear that they are sinners who can never save themselves.

It seems foolish to them.

When we express our faith in front of others, we can fear being embarrassed by placing faith in what cannot be seen.

I know I can look back on times where I wish I would have been proud to speak about Jesus, but instead, I gave into fear.

Listen, I know it can feel daunting to speak up about Jesus at school, at work, and in your neighborhood.

One more reason I think many of us struggle to be bold with the gospel and not be ashamed is because we don’t think of ourselves as very good Christians.

It’s like: yeah, I believe in Jesus, so I’m saved, but I couldn’t share the gospel with someone else.

I’m just not a good enough witness.

I don’t know enough about the Bible.

I don’t pray as much as I should.

Then, we are tempted to think about the missionary, or that great Bible teacher, or that natural encourager, or that person who seems to so easily talk about Jesus, and we just think, see I’m just not like that.

I’m just one of your below average Christians.

But, we are going to see throughout the rest of this passage what it is about the gospel that leads Paul to not be ashamed of the gospel, but to be proud of the gospel.

And when you understand this, God will use it to lead you to be unashamed as well.

Romans 1:16

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.

2. The Gospel Is God’s Saving Power For All Who Believe

Let’s make sure we are all on the same page on what the gospel is.

The word “gospel” simply means good news.

Back in ancient times, when an army went out to battle and won, they would send a messenger back to the king to proclaim the good news of victory to him.

In the same way, the gospel is an announcement about the victory God has won for us in Jesus Christ through His sinless life, His sacrificial death in our place for our sin, and His victorious resurrection to defeat sin, Satan, hell, and death for us.

And Paul says he is not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

You see, when someone proclaims the gospel, that very announcement of God’s victory through Jesus’ death and resurrection has the power of God to save those who would believe.

1 Corinthians 1:18

18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

When the gospel is preached, it is not the power of the person’s will to choose to believe that leads them to salvation.

No, when the gospel is preached, it is the power of God’s gospel to do the effective work of salvation by causing them to believe.

Theologians call it the “effectual call,” because when God has chosen to save a soul, the announcement of God’s gospel is the power of God to bring faith in response to the message of the gospel.

The word Paul uses for power is the same root word where we get our word dynamite from.

The dynamite power for those being saved is in the announcement of the gospel for salvation.

This is why I choose not to give a traditional, walk the aisle, public invitation.

There is a theological reason why I choose not to do that.

Do I think it is wrong to do? No.

Do I look down on anyone who does it? No.

When I got saved, I walked the aisle during an invitation and many of you did, and praise God that you responded to the gospel.

Some people might think, well some churches just aren’t as evangelistic as they used to be since they don’t do alter calls.

That must mean that they don’t expect people to get saved.

Oh church, that is as far from the truth of my heart, I can tell you.

But God’s word says the announcement of the gospel is the power of God for salvation for those who believe.

Every once in a while someone will ask, if someone wants to get saved in your church, what should they do, since there is no alter call?

And I appreciate the question, but the answer is that if someone desires to be saved, it is because the power of the gospel announced has effected their heart, so what should they do?

They should repent and believe.

And that is something that God effects in the person as they hear and respond to the power of the gospel preached!

I want to always be clear about the gospel, I want to invite you to the gospel, I want to urge you to consider the gospel, I want to urge you to keep searching and keep pressing in and keep asking your questions, until the power of the gospel effects in you repentance and faith.

What I don’t want to do is give confidence to a person of their salvation because they were courageous enough to walk to the front of a room filled of people.

What I don’t want to do is leave someone with a sense of condemnation because they were too uncomfortable to walk down an aisle in front of a group of people.

You might say, well, didn’t you tell us earlier that Jesus said if you are ashamed of me and my words in this generation, Jesus will be ashamed of you when he comes in the glory of his Father?

Yes, I did say that.

Well, doesn’t that mean that if someone is too uncomfortable to walk down an aisle in front of a whole group of people that they cannot be saved?

No, that’s not what that means.

Because there are a lot of people out there who believe they are saved because they walked an aisle in front of a group of people but they never truly repented and believed.

And there are people out there who believe they can’t be saved because they cannot make themselves walk an aisle in front of a group of people although they repented and believed.

But, the saving response to the powerful announcement to the gospel is not walking in front of a group of people.

The saving response to the gospel is repentance and faith, and that is something that happens between the person and God.

Do I believe that someone who truly repents of sin and believes in the gospel will end up making that public in front of the church?

Yes, I do. I believe they will do that when they are baptized.

But, that will be done as the fruit of obedience to the the salvation God has worked in them not as part of the grounds for being saved in the first place.

You see, a lot of times us baptists will say that baptism is to be the first act of obedience in the Christian life.

And I understand why someone would say that.

But, I don’t believe it’s true.

Here’s why: a person could hear the announcement of the gospel of God during this service and the power of God could effect salvation in them as they repent and believe.

They will walk out of here fully saved.

And on the way home, they could turn to their spouse and ask forgiveness for a way they had sinned against them.

That would be the first discernable fruit of obedience sparked from their salvation that God effected in them through the power of the gospel when they repented and believed.

So, now baptism is not going to be their first act of obedience in the Christian life.

Do I believe that every believer should be baptized in front of the church? Yes I do.

But, I believe it is a process of growth and understanding for some just like every other act of obedience in the Christian life.

It shouldn’t be put off.

But, we believe that salvation comes to everyone who believes when they experience the power of God in the announcement of the gospel.

And the truth is, it is tempting to create an orderly outward process of steps in order for everyone to feel good about what is going on.

It looks good in a pastor’s meeting when you can show up with this many people have walked the aisle and this many people have been baptized.

But sometimes our orderly processes and denominational reports can tempt us to walk people through a linear system of steps when all the while the Bible says, “the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.”

Don’t worry about not leading people through an orderly outward process right away:

John 6:37

37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

Don’t force people to be baptized telling them their salvation is on the line:

Romans 10:11

11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

Romans 10:13

13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Well, how will you ever get people to be baptized and obey Jesus pastor?

Philippians 1:6

6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

John 14:15

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

It is my job to preach the gospel to call to repentance and faith and to hold out for you the joy of obedience.

It is the job of the Holy Spirit inside of you convince you of God’s great love to the place where you obey.

No doubt, there are ways that I need to obey today that I may be too blind to see today, but I do not rest in perfect obedience for salvation but in the gospel power that has led me to repent and believe.

The gospel is God’s saving power to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

What does that mean?

It does not mean that the gospel is a little more for the Jews than it is for everyone else.

No, Paul will be clear throughout Romans that the gospel is for all kinds of people, and there is no partiality in God.

But, God did especially choose the Jewish people to be entrusted with God’s words and works throughout Old Testament history, and the Jews were to show off the glory of God to the nations around them.

They were to play a special part in God’s redemptive plan even to the point of Jesus Christ being born a Jew in the line of Jews.

Although Paul was specifically called of God to be an apostle to the Gentiles, when you read the book of Acts, you learn that Paul began his ministry in every new place by going to preach in the Jewish synagogue.

Why did he do that?

Because God had first chosen the Jews to show off the work of redemption to the other nations around him.

So, any Jews who would believe would then assist Paul in his ministry to the Gentiles.

And we will read later in Rome that God has mysterious and glorious purposes his holding out salvation to the Jews, many Jews rejecting during this time while many Gentiles receive the gospel, leading to a Jewish revival in the end.

Reminding us once again that salvation is the work and power of God.

I hope in all of this, you are finding more confidence to be proud and unashamed of a salvation that is wrought entirely by the power of God through the proclamation of the gospel.

Paul goes on to say of the gospel:

Romans 1:17

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

3. The Gospel Displays God’s Righteousness Received By Faith

There are so many things going on in this verse that it takes the rest of the book of Romans to flesh it out.

But, let me finish by highlighting for us what we see here.

Paul says that in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed.

What does that mean?

Well, as we walk through the rest of the book of Romans, we will come to find that the phrase “in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed”; this phrase is like a diamond that reflects all different kinds of nuance of meaning,

But I want to highlight two main glorious things that it means:

Number one, in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed means that the gospel of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection put on display the right, good, powerful, beautiful, and glorious works of God’s saving redemptive work like no other display ever has before, and need not be a clearer display from the moment of Christ’s resurrection throughout eternity.

You think about that, it was right and good for God to kill an animal and to use the animal’s skins to cloth Adam and Eve after they sinned against God in the garden.

It was right and good and powerful and beautiful and glorious for God to powerfully and miraculously save His people out of four hundred years of slavery in Egyptian bondage.

It was a right, good, powerful, beautiful and glorious display of God when he collapsed the walls of Jericho, and he made the sun stand still for Joshua, and he brought Ruth and Boaz together and gave them a son, and he empowered David to kill the giant Goliath, and he saved Daniel from the lions’ den, and hundreds and hundreds of other displays.

But, the greatest penultimate display of the character of God’s righteousness shines forth in the greatest of power and beauty in and through the gospel of Jesus Christ, dead, buried, and risen again.

For in this gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed.

Number two, and the rest of Romans will make this crystal clear, in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed is not only speaking about God’s righteous character being put on display in the gospel,

It is also speaking of God’s gift of righteousness that God freely gives to all those who put their faith in Him.

Martin Luther has done everything he knew to do to be made right with God, yet He was still miserable and had no peace, because He knew that one tiny break of the law made him a lawbreaker and once you have sinned, you cannot do anything to take away from the fact that you are a sinner.

But then Luther read Romans 1:16-17, and he read that in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed and he came to see by the powerful work of God through the Scriptures that God in the gospel gives His own righteousness as a gift to sinners when they believe.

Gift Righteousness.

Some people call it “alien righteousness,” because it comes from something totally outside of ourselves.

God giving us the gift of righteousness means that in the gospel, he did not only forgive us of our sins and wash them clean.

That’s only the beginning.

The gift righteousness of God means when he forgave us of our sins and washed our slate clean, he also wrote on our slate every obedience that Jesus ever obeyed onto your slate, as if you were the one who has always obeyed.

The gospel truth for the believer is not only, “God loves you as though you have never sinned.”

It is also, “God loves you as though you have always perfectly obeyed.”

Oh church, never forget that. Bask in the gift righteousness of God. Jesus took all the wrath due the disobedient, so you could be gifted all the love and approval of the perfectly obedient.

Back to the verse, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith.”

Which is another unique expression.

Some translations say the righteousness of God is revealed beginning and ending in faith.

Which is a translation that certainly makes sense in the context because later on, Paul will say

Romans 10:4

4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Christ is it. He does not only begin the work of salvation in you, but he sustains it, and he finishes it for you.

Here’s what Luther wrote:

“Then I grasped that the righteousness of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us by faith. I then felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise…I broke through.”

And Paul puts an apostrophe on this idea by quoting a verse from the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk when he writes:

“The righteous shall live by faith.”

I got a new glimpse of what this looks like while I was watching college football yesterday.

I was watching a team who had a rookie quarterback, and the commentator was saying that she was talking to the coach earlier this week,

And the coach told his new quarterback that the starting job at quarterback this season is his job, and he doesn’t want him to go out there and play in the fear that if he doesn’t play well enough that he will lose that starting position.

Instead, he wants him to go out there and play free and have fun, and when he does that, he will learn from his mistakes.

And I thought, that is a great illustration for what it means that the righteous shall live by faith.

Because, when we place our faith in the gospel, God puts us in the position of forgiven, adopted child of God, gifted with the very righteousness of Christ loved not only as if we have never sinned, but as if we have always obeyed.

So, just like that coach filled that new quarterback with all the faith in the world that he can go out there and play free and have fun, and even make mistakes, and his position will not be taken from him,

We can walk out these doors today free to live in the love of Jesus, and give our best at following Him and find joy in obeying him, and not fear making mistakes and not drown under the fear that when we mess up, we are going to lose our righteous position with God.

So, when you get that horrible feeling that something isn’t right,

when you are paralyzed by the thought that you aren’t enough and you’ll never be enough,

when you evaluate yourself and think, “I am not a very good Christian.”

Go back to the gospel.

You are the only kind of Christian there is.

Christ took on the punishment for all that wasn’t right in you.

Christ was enough in your place.

Christ was the perfect Christian then gifted you with his perfection,

So don’t you go out of here believing that God feels the same kind of low level disappointment with you that you so often feel with you.

Go out there free, taking joy in obedience, knowing that your mistakes and sins are not going to cause you to lose your postion.

For He loves you just as if you have never sinned, and as if you have always obeyed.

So, do not be ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation, for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith, so, you, righteous one, go out and live by faith.

Let’s pray.