THE GLORY OF THE GOSPEL

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.  (Romans 1:16)

I am glad someone told me about Jesus!  Who told you?  Maybe it was your parents, a Sunday School teacher, Vacation Bible School worker, a preacher, or a friend—if you are saved then someone, somewhere, sometime shared the Gospel with you.  That’s all it took to bring you into eternal life.  This is the glory of the Gospel!  It was Paul’s passion and it needs to be ours.  The Apostle makes three great, “I am,” statements in Romans 1:13-17.  We will examine those.

There is a glorious mission (v.13-14).  I am responsible: “I am a debtor….”  Our mission is glorious in its scope—to give the whole world the Holy Word.  How are we doing in discharging that debt?  Every minute there are souls slipping out into eternity—dying without Christ and without hope—and no one has shared the Gospel with them.  Are we paying our debt?  We may argue, “I thought salvation is free!”  It is!  Don’t we sing, “Jesus paid it all”?  The next line though is, “All to Him I owe.”  We owe a debt of gratitude for grace given to us, and the debt is paid when we extend that grace to others.  Our sacred obligation is to share the Gospel with all.

There is a glorious motivation (v.15).  “I am ready,” Paul declares.  The Apostle was motivated by His devotion to Christ and desire for the salvation of souls.  It was not an impulsive reaction, but an intentional response.  He knew the cost of commitment.  The old hymn states it like this:

Ready to go, ready to stay, ready my place to fill;

Ready for service, lowly or great, ready to do His will.

The Gospel is grounded in the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary.  Paul was ready then to lay down his life for Christ in sharing the Gospel.  Jesus still bears the marks of His mission.  Paul said, “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.”  (Gal.6:17).  Do we suppose we would be ready to die for Him when we are not ready to live for Him?

There is a glorious message (v.16-17).  I am regretless: “I am not ashamed….”  Paul says later, “I am free from the blood of all men.”  (Acts 20:26).  There were no regrets.  The blood was off his hands, on their heads, and for many on their hearts!  Paul was not ashamed because of the power of the Gospel.  He had experienced its transforming power!  The Greek word for “power,” used here is “dunamis,” from which we get the word dynamo—an engine of energy.  Paul was not ashamed of the provision of the Gospel.  It was for all who believed.  The plan of salvation is available to all.  God made a way where anyone might be saved—all we must do is believe in Christ.  God stands ready to give us His life, if we will only trust Him with our life.  Paul was not ashamed of the promise of the Gospel.  It brings us into right standing before God.  God cannot lie—what He promises He performs!

We have heard the joyful sound:
Jesus saves! Jesus saves!
Spread the tidings all around:
Jesus saves! Jesus saves!
Bear the news to every land,
Climb the steeps and cross the waves;
Onward!—’tis our Lord’s command;
Jesus saves! Jesus saves!