Unashamed

[15] So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. [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.” (ESV)

In these three relatively short verses Paul gives his mission statement. He tell’s his readers what he plans to do and gives the theme of the entire book. What fascinating about the book of Romans is that in a very interesting way the entire book is some what of an unpacking of these verses. Here Paul takes us behind the curtain so to speak and gives us his mission statement for his entire life.

Eager to Preach the Gospel

He says in verse [15] So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

A little History…

Paul had been saved for 20 years by the time he wrote the book of Romans

At this point he has written several different books or letters to local churches that he has planted.

All of which were heavy in gospel.

Think of the book of Galatians which in painstaking detail explains the ins and outs of the gospel. Paul goes on for six chapters explaining how salvation comes apart from following the law.

He was currently in the middle of his third missionary journey when he wrote the letter.

He as already planted several churches at this point.

Preached countless messages

He was currently at the church in Corinth dealing with all of their problems.

So in the middle of dealing with the screwed up Church in Corinth, currently on his third missionary journey which if you know anything about Paul’s missionary journeys you know they were no cake walk, after already writing several different letters and planting several different churches, and preaching countless messages on the gospel, and after being saved for 20 years.

What does it say Paul is eager to do? Preach the Gospel!

Think about that word eager for a moment? What do you think of?

Rocky - no matter how many times we would go on a trip he was always just as eager to leave.

Paul has that same desire that same excitement to preach the Gospel. But let’s take it one step farther and think through who Paul is writing too.

Because although it would be an indictment on me that I do not have that same eagerness to preach the gospel to those who are unsaved this is not who Paul is talking about. Although, I suspect he is also eager to preach the gospel to the unbelievers in Rome. Who though does he say he is eager to preach the gospel too?

So I am eager to preach the gospel to you.

Who was this letter written too? Who does the word “you” refer too?

Romans 1:7

[7] To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:

Paul is writing to the church in Rome. He is writing to people who have already heard, understood, and believed in the Gospel.

Here, Paul is 20 years after his conversion. He has gone on 3 different missionary journeys. Written letter after letter about the gospel. Planted several churches and had countless conversations with people about the Gospel and yet here he is jumping out of his skin because he is so eager to preach the gospel to people who already know it!

WHY????

So eager to preach this gospel to those who are at Rome that he can’t contain himself and he goes on to write the longest letter to any church found in the Bible. He goes on for chapter after chapter verse after verse breaking down the gospel and it’s not just for unbelievers.

We think of the Romans Road as an evangelistic tool for the lost which is great and yet that was not ultimately the purpose of this book. Paul was so eager to preach this gospel to the Christians at Rome that it’s like he couldn’t help himself and he just started writing!!

Verse after verse in this book Paul unpacks the beauty of the Gospel. He shows the glory and the majesty of the Gospel by explaining what it is to both the Jew and the Gentile. He goes into painstaking detail and helps his readers understand the implications of the Gospel.

Because the gospel is not something we ever move on from. AS one author put it it’s not the ABC’s of the faith it’s the A-Z of the Christian life.

Paul hasn’t moved on. He hasn’t left the simplicity of the gospel for some greater more advanced truth. It’s been 20 years and he is still exploring the depths of the gospel.

I think of NASA’s spacecraft voyager 1 and 2 who have been exploring space for over 43 years now. They are billions and billions of miles away from earth now and they just keep going because there isn’t an end to the majesty of space.

The same is true for the gospel. We will never plumb the depths of the gospel, never find its end, never be able to fully appreciate its beauty. Which is why after 20 years of faithful gospel ministry Paul is still eager to preach it, still eager to write about it, still eager to share it to those who know it and who are blinded to it a like.

No only does it say Paul is eager to preach the gospel notice the next phrase in verse [16] For I am not ashamed of the gospel

The word unashamed in these verses mean so much more than merely not feeling shame towards the gospel. It means that Paul glories in the gospel. Like a master painter after finishing his masterpiece sits back and revels in the beauty of his creation and unashamedly puts it on the wall for everyone to see. Paul after understanding the gospel sits back and revels in the beauty. He unashamedly puts it out for everyone to see and like the painter finds identify in the beauty of his masterpiece so does Paul find identity in the beauty of the gospel. He see’s the chance to preach the gospel as the highest honor of his life.

Big Idea: God wants us to eagerly and unashamedly preach the Gospel to ourselves, each other, and the world.

How could this be true how could there be something so magnificent to behold, so deep you can’t reach the bottom, so large you can’t find the end. SO magnificent that after 20 years of knowing and preaching the Gospel Paul still glories in it and is eager to preach it.

How is this possible for Paul, am I alone in being ashamed of the gospel? There’s times when i find myself ashamed or embarrassed by the gospel. I would never say it but my actions could not have been clearer. Not only was I reveling in the gospel or finding my identity in the gospel I was ashamed. How could this be… Why…

Paul gives us two reasons why this should never be the case. Two reasons why we can eagerly and unashamedly preach the gospel to ourselves, each other, and the outside world.

Two Reasons:

Explanation:

Look at how Paul describes the gospel in the very next verse.

16 For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

It’s very simple. We don’t need a master in hermeneutics to see this point. Why is Paul eager to preach the gospel? Why does he glory in the gospel? Why is he unashamed?

Reason #1: Because it is the power of God for Salvation

Interpretation:

Focus on that phrase “the power of God.” That is a little phrase that can be so easily overlooked so easily read and forgotten. But let’s slow down and think about why the Holy Spirit directed Paul to call the gospel the “Power of God.”

What comes to your mind when you think of power? True unrestrained power.

Lightning bolt

Volcano Eruption

Hurricane

Tornado

I think of the Sun – So powerful that if you walk outside right now even from 93 million miles away you can feel it’s heat and if you go out in the middle of the summer it’s heat can be so powerful that you can’t even stand in it.

Creation - God spoke into existence the universe full of stars that make our sun look tiny.

The Bible is consistently talking about the power of God. We use the word Omnipotent to describe how God is all-powerful and we clearly see that power through all of the things already mentioned and yet there is something fascinating going on in these verses when Paul calls the gospel the power of God. You see that phrase “power of God” is only used 12 different times in the BIble, and although, the bible talks about the power of God in many different ways about many different things the only thing in all of the scripture that is described as the “power of God” is the gospel.

Because outside of heaven the highest concentration of God’s power is not seen in a bolt of lightening, an erupting volcano, a tornado or hurricane. It’s not seen in heat of the sun or even in the creation of the universe.

The highest concentration of God’s power outside of heaven is seen in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Do you understand how incredible that is.

What is the purpose of this power? What is is for?

For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes

God’s power is seen in its highest concentration in saving man. That clearly shows two things. The height of God’s righteousness and the depths of man’s sin. If it takes the power of God in its highest concentration to save man that must mean that God is far holier than we can fathom and we are far more sinful than we care to admit. If we were genuinely good people who just needed a little help then it would not take God’s power in its highest concentration to save us. If we were decent people who just made mistakes here and there then God could save his power for something else something more needed and maybe when he had a spare minute give us a little boost.

Illustration:

I was helping my nephew the other day with an obstacle course out at my parent’s place and I tell you what this kid is good. He looked like Tarzan swinging from rope to rope. But there was a problem he couldn’t quite get started. He just needed a little boost to get going but the moment he was going he was adamant that I stop helping and watch him go and it was fun to watch him try as hard as he could to swing on those ropes to reach the end.

That’s how we typically think of the gospel. We like to think we a genuinely good people who simply need a boost. But If it takes the highest concentration of GOd’s power to get us where we are in our human nature to a right standing before God then we must truly be separated from God by a gulf that makes the grand canyon look tiny.

Think about the story of

Application:

It’s no wonder we are ashamed of the true gospel. It’s hard to admit how helpless we are apart from Jesus. It’s hard to admit how much help we need to stand before God someday clean. We so desperately want to play apart in our salvation. We so desperately want to earn some part of our salvation

Exhortation:

This tells us two things. How low we are and how high we must get. Ex. Rocket Ship16 tower of babel

Because it is the power of God for Sanctification

Explanation:

Interpretation:

Illustration:

bring back chase needing a boost to get started. We need a “boost” salvatioin but then we take it from there.

Application:

Exhortation:

Martin Luther: I preach justification by faith alone to my congregation every week quote....

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