Unashamed!

Let’s open our Bibles to Romans Chapter 1. We will focus on verses 16-17 where Paul says he was unashamed of the Gospel. Likely in response to difficulties that the church faced in Rome.

Shame is still in play today!

We see this kind of shame pressure played out most days in our culture where media seeks to drive opinion and control morality. We don’t have to look far or wait long to see the constant attempt to shame people for beliefs that are scientifically true, morally clear, and Spiritually beneficial. Just this past week, Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham said girls shouldn’t have to compete against biological men in women’s sports or share locker rooms with them. This created a firestorm of media pressure. The backlash came fast, labels, outrage, accusations of hate.

Sophia has her supporters who attended her game in Seattle. Two teenage girls ended up being accosted by a Seattle Team owner. The owner who would like to claim she is loving, kind and tolerant, berated the teens with an expletive laden shame rant. No one wants to experience that.

When all eyes come upon you. We want to belong. We want to be liked. We want people to say nice things about us. So when the social pressure comes, it’s tempting to allow the opinions of others, media, or the culture be an excuse to back down or retreat.

When pressed, Sophie stood firm, ‘I said what I said… it’s common sense,’ and, ‘I have beliefs, I have morals, and I’ll always stand on those and be true to who I am… I’ll never falter in my beliefs.’

This shows how our culture still tries to shame people out of conviction and a prime example of someone not allowing her convictions to alter.

As we look at Romans, Paul is under pressure to tone down his preaching. The Roman church likely faced the difficulties of being counter cultural as they believed, taught, and preached the most important issue of life and death, eternal damnation or salvation. Understand, this is not merely a minor cultural war issue. It’s not debating as to whether pineapple and pizza goes together. It’s not something we should hide from because its no longer popular to be a Christian because we might face criticism.

Paul’s point is this: when the gospel is true, you do not drop the truth just because the crowd wants you to blush.

Let’s read

Romans 1:14–17 gives the heartbeat of Paul’s ministry. He says, “I am obligated both to Greeks and barbarians, both to the wise and the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.” Paul is obligated, eager, and unashamed because the gospel is not merely a religious opinion. It is the saving power of God, revealing the righteousness of God, creating the people of God, and humbling the pride of man.

That language matters because Paul is not speaking into a neutral world. He is speaking into a culture built on honor and shame, where public disgrace could destroy reputation, relationships, and social standing. Jews, Greeks, and Romans all had different honor codes, but all of them would find something offensive in the gospel. The message of Christ crucified looked cursed to Jews and foolish to Gentiles, yet Paul could still say, “I am not ashamed.”

This message unfolds in three movements. The gospel connects you to a cursed cross and refuses the shame. The gospel creates a family out of despised people and refuses the shame. The gospel crucifies pride and stands in Christ’s sacrifice, love, and forgiveness.

How might people try to shame Christians and why might the Christian church in Rome feel shame?

First

The Gospel connects you to a cursed cross and refuses the shame.

Let’s Read:

1 Corinthians 1:23–25 CSB

23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. 24 Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, 25 because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

Paul says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel.” He had every human reason to be tempted toward shame, because the gospel is centered on a crucified Messiah. As 1 Corinthians 1:23

For Jewish hearers, the cross carried a scandal. Deuteronomy 21:22–23 says that if a man committed a capital crime and was executed and then hung on a tree, he was under God’s curse, and the body must not remain there overnight lest the land be defiled. In context, the hanging is a public display of judgment. The assumption would be that Jesus was a criminal who died a criminal’s death. So how could he be the Messiah. How would and why would an all powerful God allow his Annointed One to die that way? And how could they have killed God if that’s what He claimed?

That is why a crucified Messiah would sound scandalous to many Jews. Israel expected a Messiah of victory, restoration, and vindication, not one publicly displayed in the place of curse. People hearing the Gospel might scoff and say, you are saying,

‘ God’s Anointed stood under judgment.

‘

That is why Paul later explains that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. Jesus did not bear the curse for his own sin, but willingly stood in the place of condemned sinners so that sinners might receive blessing instead of judgment.

See man’s wisdom says, “People are basically good, with only a few flaws. But overall most people are good, kind, and peaceful.” So human wisdom in it’s weakness, thinks it sees the world and the need correctly. I’m basically good, I just need a little self-improvement. The Bible says, you and I are basically flawed and need more than self-improvement. We need to die and receive new life. Not an improved morality, but an exchanged life. Our sin for His righteousness and His death for our life and His resurrection so we can walk in His power.

Now going onto the populace of Rome:

For Greeks and Romans, the shame was no less severe. Crucifixion was the death of slaves, rebels, and the publicly disgraced. It was not merely execution; it was humiliation weaponized. Romans used crucifixion to strip a person of dignity and make that suffering a warning to everyone else. Greeks prized eloquence, beauty, reason, and cultured strength. Romans prized conquest, honor, power, and visible triumph. So when Paul preached a crucified Lord, he was preaching what many heard as absurdity to the mind and disgrace to the eye.

That is why Paul’s statement is so bold. He is saying, in effect, “I will not blush for the message that the world mocks.” He is not ashamed of the cross because what looked like weakness was actually God’s saving power. What looked like curse was actually substitution. What looked like defeat was actually victory.

The bridge to today is not difficult. Many modern people are willing to admire Jesus at a distance, but they do not want to be identified with a cross that demands repentance, denies self, and claims moral authority over their lives. Ancient people feared public disgrace. Modern people fear loss of autonomy, loss of platform, exposure of guilt, and restriction of desire.

The ancient world asked, “Will this shame me before others?” The modern world mocks the claim on your autonomy and selfishness, “Will this tell me I am not my own lord?” In both cases, the gospel confronts human pride before it heals human brokenness.

That means the cross still offends. It says sin is real, guilt is deep, and self-salvation is impossible. It says a man must repent, a woman must repent, a family must repent, and every one of us must bow before the crucified and risen Christ. That is why some people are still ashamed of the gospel.

They do not mind inspiration; they mind surrender.

But Paul says the very message that wounds our pride is the message that saves our soul.

Let me ask you, depending on the crowd or people around you,

-Do you hide your Bible?

-Do you change the station from Christian music?

-Do you take off your cross necklace?

-Or do you live openly for the Gospel no matter where you are and who you are with?

Because the Gospel is much more than a message of guilt. Guilt is real, sin is a problem, but God is not in the business of having a bunch of sorry, sloppy, downtrodden people. He is creating new life and a new family through the Gospel! This another reason Paul is not ashamed of the Gospel.

2. The Gospel creates a family out of despised people and refuses the shame.

Galatians 3:28 CSB

28 There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Paul says he is obligated to Greeks and barbarians, to the wise and the foolish, and that the gospel is for everyone who believes, first to the Jew and also to the Greek. That means the gospel is not private therapy for one kind of person. It’s not simply a social club for a select few or people like you. It is God’s public declaration that he is creating one people through Jesus Christ. Galatians 3:28 says, “There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus.” The gospel does not erase human distinctions, but it relativizes them under a greater identity in Christ.

This was difficult for Jews. Israel had been marked out by covenant signs, especially circumcision, food laws, Sabbath practice, and separation from idolatrous nations. Those markers had preserved Jewish identity across generations. Israel was God’s distinct people, his covenant portion among the nations. So for many Jews, the thought of free association with uncircumcised Gentiles, not as guests in the outer court but as full brothers and sisters in Messiah, felt scandalous. It could appear to blur holiness, weaken identity, and disregard the distinctions that had shaped Jewish life for centuries.

This was also difficult for Romans and Greeks. Jews were often seen by Gentile elites as strange, provincial, conquered, and stubborn. Their monotheism looked narrow. Their covenant practices looked odd. Their refusal to dissolve into the religious melting pot of the empire made them appear awkward and socially troublesome. So for a Greek or Roman to hear that salvation came through the Jewish Scriptures, through the Jewish Messiah, and that he must stand on equal footing with Jews rather than over them, this too struck at human pride.

The gospel therefore humbles both sides before it unites both sides. Jews cannot boast in covenant badges. Gentiles cannot boast in philosophy, status, or empire. Everyone enters the same way: by grace through faith in Christ. Romans 1–4 repeatedly presses toward that reality: one faithful God, one saving righteousness, one family in Abraham through Messiah Jesus.

That presses directly into the modern church. People still want communities that mirror their preferences, politics, class, ethnicity, and comfort zone. Many are willing to join a church that feels like their tribe in religious clothing. But the gospel creates a family out of unlikely, awkward, once-separated people. The gospel tells the successful man to stand beside the struggling addict, the lifelong church attender to embrace the brand-new believer, the politically red Christian and politically blue Christian to bow to the same Lord, and the culturally comfortable saint to make room for the brother or sister who does not look, speak, or think like the majority. That kind of church can feel uncomfortable to the flesh, but it is beautiful to Christ.

Paul is not ashamed of that kind of church.

-Where have you found yourself judging other believers based on their background rather than the basis of the cross?

-Where have you observed yourself judging the body of Christ, worship, the looks of other Christians rather than the content of their faith and commitment to the Gospel?

3. The Gospel crucifies pride and stands in Christ’s sacrifice, love and forgiveness.

Paul is not ashamed of the gospel because he is not trusting in himself. In 1 Corinthians 15:1–4 he reminds believers of the gospel he preached, which they received, on which they have taken their stand, and by which they are being saved: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. The gospel is not first a human achievement but a divine accomplishment. Christ died, Christ was buried, Christ was raised, and faith receives what Christ has done.

1 Corinthians 15:1–4 CSB

1 Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

That is why Romans can say the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. The emphasis is not on arbitrary favoritism, but on a clear, gracious offer. God has provided the Savior, announced the terms, and calls sinners to repent and believe. Faith does not earn heaven. Faith receives heaven’s gift because Christ has already purchased salvation through his cross and resurrection. The hand that receives mercy does not buy mercy. It simply stops pretending it can survive without it.

That matters because Christian language can sometimes become unintentionally prideful even when it sounds humble. A person may say, “I do not know why God chose me,” and mean to magnify grace. But if that language muddies the Bible’s clear call that everyone who believes will be saved, it can accidentally suggest that salvation is arbitrary, mysterious in the wrong way, or disconnected from the plain promise of the gospel. It can sound like, “I do not know why I am special and you are not,” when the better testimony is, “I was not special at all. I was guilty, helpless, and empty-handed, and Christ saved me when I trusted him.” Romans strips boasting out at the root.

A vivid illustration of this appears in Ordinary Angels, the 2024 film based on the true story of Sharon Stevens helping Ed Schmitt while his daughter Michelle suffered from a rare liver disease and urgently needed care. The family was drowning in debt, pressure, exhaustion, and practical impossibilities. Sharon rallied the community, raised support, relieved crushing burdens, and helped create a way forward when the father simply could not solve the crisis on his own.

What makes the story striking is not merely the kindness shown, but the father’s difficulty receiving it. He feels the weight of responsibility. He is the dad. He believes he should be the one to fix this.

That instinct contains something noble, but pride can twist even a noble instinct into a destructive burden.

If it becomes, “Because I should care for my daughter, I must not need help,” then a true responsibility mutates into a false savior.

Grace begins to feel like insult because grace exposes inability. He can resent the very mercy that may save his daughter because it forces him to admit what he cannot do.

That is exactly how many people respond to the gospel. They do not necessarily reject the idea of grace. They reject the humiliation of needing grace. The gospel says, “You cannot pay this debt. You cannot cleanse this guilt. You cannot conquer this death. You need help you do not deserve.” Pride says, “I will fix it, earn it, delay it, reinterpret it, or wait passively until something mystical happens to me.” Faith says, “I cannot save myself, but Christ has done what I cannot do, and I gladly receive what he has finished.”

That humble receiving does not earn salvation. It abandons self-salvation.

This point also speaks to believers who live under lingering shame. Some know the facts of the gospel but still fear that their sin was too filthy, their failure too deep, or their past too public to be truly covered.

They may attend church and speak Christian words while inwardly living as though rejection is still just around the corner.

But God’s promise to his people is not anchored in emotion, status, or flawless memory. Hebrews says, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you,” and because of that promise believers can say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.” The answer to enduring shame is not stronger self-talk; it is stronger faith in the Strong, Sovereign Savior who keeps His promises and is Pleased to fulfill them.

2 Corinthians 1:20 CSB

20 For every one of God’s promises is “Yes” in him. Therefore, through him we also say “Amen” to the glory of God.

“Paul had every reason to sit down and say, ‘I’ll never live this down.’ He not only imprisoned Christians, he instigated and approved of Stephen’s murder.

“Early on, Paul said, ‘I’m the least of the apostles.’ A little later, he said, ‘I’m the least of all the saints.’ Near the end, he said, ‘I’m the chief of sinners.’ He wasn’t getting more sinful; he was getting more honest. The closer he walked with Jesus, the smaller he saw himself and the bigger he saw grace.” But instead of hanging back in the shadows, he stood up and said, ‘Let me tell you how far God’s grace can reach.’

He did not build a ministry of image management.

He built a ministry of testimony.

He wasn’t trying to keep people from finding out what he had done;

he was trying to show people what God had done.”

Conclusion

There are those of you today, who live in quiet, chronic shame. Will you move from self‑protection to testimony:

Stop hiding what Christ has already forgiven.

Stop saying, “My past disqualifies me,” when God says, “My grace re‑commissions you.”

The problem with pride is that it is a dangerous and deceptive sin. Nothing brings more destruction to our nation, homes, and relationships than a prideful spirit.

Adrian Rogers says, “Pride is a problem that all wrestle with, and those who think they don’t have it probably have more of it.”

A good self-image or self-esteem is not pride, neither is receiving honor or awards we’ve worked for.

Pride is an attitude of independence from God; it is a spirit of ungratefulness to God. A prideful person esteems himself better than other people.

Be careful that you are unaware of the problem of pride!

here are some of you here today who are religious. You agree with Christianity in general. But if you’re honest, grace offends you at some level. Like Ed Schmitt in Ordinary Angels, you may be blinded by your commitment to a good idea. Ed kept saying, “I’m the dad; I have to fix this,” even though his bank account was empty and his house was being foreclosed. In his mind, that meant, “I will not accept help.” In the same way, someone can say, “I’m a good person. I know the Ten Commandments. I’ll keep trying until God has to forgive me or accept me.” That mindset doesn’t lead you to grace; it keeps you from receiving the grace of the gospel.today+2

Others take an overly positive view of human nature and their own heart. “Most people are good, like me. Why would anyone need to die in my place? That seems harsh. I just need a little self‑help.” But let me ask you: could your assessment of yourself and of God be a bit prideful and blind? Are you open to that possibility? And if it is reasonable that God’s wisdom and God’s plan are wiser than yours, will you talk to him about it? Will you pray and seriously consider his offer of grace in Christ?lwf+2