Not Ashamed (Romans 1: 16-25)

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Background

Romans 1:1 NET 2nd ed.
From Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.
We are going to look at Gospel and why it is so important. Also, its part of our target text.

Paul - Doulos - Servant vs Slave

δοῦλος - one who is solely committed to another, slave, subject

Why is this important?

We need to understand the the context of which the “loved by God and called to be saints” (v7) received this letter.
We tend to think of the Great Colosseum, Great army’s, The Size of the Empire, Gladiators
Cultural Climate: Rome was full of immorality
Religious Climate: Rome was full of Idols and Polytheistic
Political Climate: Rome’s Persecution of the Church
Like us today, and with every Christ Follower throughout history, They are pushed and pulled by their culture
There is a lot of noise surrounding their daily walk with Christ.

Target Text

Romans 1:16

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

I am not ashamed -

The “Idea” of the Gospel was “Foolish”
1 Corinthians 1:17–31 “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—and not with clever speech, so that the cross of Christ would not become useless. For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will thwart the cleverness of the intelligent.” Where is the wise man? Where is the expert in the Mosaic law? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made the wisdom of the world foolish? For since in the wisdom of God the world by its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believe by the foolishness of preaching. For Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks ask for wisdom, but we preach about a crucified Christ, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. Think about the circumstances of your call, brothers and sisters. Not many were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were born to a privileged position. But God chose what the world thinks foolish to shame the wise, and God chose what the world thinks weak to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, what is regarded as nothing, to set aside what is regarded as something, so that no one can boast in his presence. He is the reason you have a relationship with Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.””
The Roman’s in their own eyes are superior in every aspect of life.… but this Jew, One Man, Who Died.......... Paul Says.......… I........Am........Not........Ashamed!!!!

the Gospel -

15:1 Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel that I preached to you, that you received and on which you stand,

2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

3 For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received—that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures,

4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures,

Power of God for Salvation -

This is the heart of the passage.
A commentator says this:
Romans 3. Theme: Righteousness from God (1:16–17)

“To say that the gospel is “power” is to acknowledge the dynamic quality of the message. In the proclamation of the gospel God is actively at work in reaching out to the hearts of people. The gospel is God telling of His love to wayward people.”

It’s not saying God has no power outside the Gospel, but that the Gospel’s transformational effects are the outworking and showcasing of one of God’s most powerful Attribute.… His Grace!
What A Concept!!!!!

...to the Jew First and also to the Greek.

This was to communicate that God’s Salvation was open to anyone who “Believed”
Remember the Jews are battling the mindset of being the “chosen” people.
Thousands of years of being the chosen people
Thousands of years of “them” having to become one of “us” (A Jew)
Thousands of years of “Clean” vs “Unclean”
Thousands of years of “Us” vs “Them”

Romans 1:17

The NET Bible (Second Edition) (Chapter 1) 17 For the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith, just as it is written, “The righteous by faith will live.”

...the righteousness of God

God gave us SINNERS our way to our own Righteousness, by staying Righteous Himself. Providing the Atonement for us!
The Atonement’s:

Moral Influence - Jesus Christ came and died in order to bring about a positive change to humanity.

Ransom - Jesus Christ died as a ransom sacrifice, paid either to Satan (the most dominant view) or to God the Father.

Christus Victor - Jesus Christ dies in order to defeat the powers of evil (such as sin, death, and the devil) in order to free mankind from their bondage.

Satisfaction Theory - Jesus Christ’s death is understood as a death to satisfy the justice of God.

Penal Substitutionary Theory - Jesus Christ dies to satisfy God’s wrath against human sin.

Governmental Theory - Jesus Christ suffers the punishment of our sin and propitiates God’s wrath. Jesus dies on the cross therefore to demonstrate the displeasure of God towards sin.

Scapegoat Theory - Jesus Christ dies as the Scapegoat of humanity.

...from faith to faith

God’s saving power (The Gospel) Starts with “Faith” and Ends with “Faith”

...the righteous shall live by faith

This is a call back to Habakkuk 2:4
What was going on during that time?
The Fall of Assyria who God used to punish Israel
Now God will use Babylon to punish Assyria and Judah.
The Question was… How can God use a wicked nation like Babylon for His purpose?
What was going on in Rome?
Uncertainty, Persecution, Small Movement, All the Things we talked about in the beginning
God was saying to them Stay Steadfast, Stay Focused, despite everything going on around you.....… Live by Faith!

Why be Unashamed??

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness,

We already established that Rome was a hotbed of immorality!
The Suppression of Truth was like trying to push a ball under water - effort.

19 because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

How do we know they are not just ignorant of the truth? God made it plain to them
The obvious things about God were made plain.

20 For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse.

This is a portion of theology called “Natural Revelation”.
Special Revelation is God speaking to us in a special way, i.e. the Bible
Natural Revelation is God making himself known through the natural processes of nature and its systems. i.e. The Cosmos
Cosmos - Derived from the Greek word kosmos, which means "order" or "harmony," the term is used in astronomy to describe the entire physical universe as a unified whole, encompassing all its components and phenomena.

21 For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts were darkened.

This is the natural progression of pride. God’s reverse card.…
They became more enlightened? No
Their Enlightened hearts unlocked the Light? No
to be futile — verb. to be or become useless as a consequence of being purposeless or incapable of producing results.
Thoughts - Mind
Hearts - Spirit

22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools

Look how Smart we are..… We are so smart we figured out there is no God!

23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.

Remember - we are still in Rome...… Greek/Roman god’s Everywhere, Major exposure to Egyptian Iconography.
In our context - What does this sound like? You are a god king..… Thou Art little god’s
There is tremendous Theological Richness in this statement
Exchanged
Glory - Proximity
Image - Imago Dei

24 Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor their bodies among themselves.

Therefore - God is not a Helicopter Parent

25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

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