“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. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”” (Romans 1:16–17, ESV)
In the previous verse, Paul categorized his audience as being made up of Greeks and Barbarians (to the Greek, anyone who isn’t Greek). In these verses the categorization is different–Jews and non-Jews. In either case, it’s evident that Paul feels a calling to preach this gospel to everyone.
I first remember this passage from a summer camp I attended with my youth group when I was in junior high. Our theme for the week was Not Ashamed. There were many tears at the altar as I, along with many of my friends, confessed to the sin of being secret Christians at school and secret sinners at church. We would no longer be ashamed of our faith. If memory serves, this was the camp where I first felt a calling to vocational ministry (though at the time I had no idea what that would entail). I’m quite sure that the promises I made to God at the altar that week were only occasionally fulfilled once we returned home.
These verses remain precious to me now, even as I’m still growing in boldness, even as I’m still trying to figure out what it means to be in vocational ministry.
For Paul, and for the saints in Rome, the unashamed declaration of the gospel that Jesus is Lord meant social and economic marginalization at best, and, on the pendulum’s darker side, boiling oil or being fed to the lions, for the entertainment of Nero and his exhilarated throngs.
The overall theme of Paul’s letter emerges here. This dangerous good news is worth the risk because of what it contains. God has finally revealed his righteousness. N.T. Wright uniformly defines “righteousness” as “God’s covenant faithfulness”. Read this way–God has finally revealed how he will be faithful to his covenant. The standard Reformed reading would be more like–God is finally made provision for the unrighteous to share in his own moral perfection. I’ve read some really good books arguing over which of these Paul intended. I think he meant both.
How is this gospel to be received? By faith. What will be the result? Those who respond with faith will become “the righteous”, those to whom God has displayed his covenant faithfulness, those who have been enabled to share in God’s own righteousness. Those who live. Life can be found in no other way.
—————–
Click here to learn about my new book Unveiled, The Transforming Power of God’s Presence and Voice.
2 Comments
So many times in life it seems we demand mutual exclusivity in the realm of doctrinal stances, when in reality, the answer is both. Thank you for opening my eyes to the symmetry of these verses…
What I love here is that the gospel of Christ is merely not a bunch of words but “the power of God in salvation to everyone who believes…”. It is the power of God that gives life to the dead.
We saw this when the gospel was first preached in Genesis 3:15. We saw this when Ezekiel preached to the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37:1-14. We saw this when Christ called out to a very dead Lazarus to “Come out!”
Something that R.C. Sproul once said that was shocking and rubbed me the wrong way when I first heard it. This teacher said, “The gospel is not for everyone but it is only for those who believe!” Immediately I thought, “Surely, we are to ‘go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.’” (Mark 16:15)?
But taking Paul literally here, the gospel is the power of God in salvation. Those who who hear the good news and believed, they are saved.
Later on in Romans, Paul backs up this point:
But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:8-9)
Preach the word of Christ so that all of creation might hear it and receive faith to believe and trust in His Name (Mark 16:15 cf. Romans 10:17).
Thank you for your exhortation for all of us to “grow in boldness”. I believe that if we truly and fully know that the gospel is the power of God in salvation, this should stir us up to fully walk out the Great Commission of Christ because of the power that is given to us by God on High.