'I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation for everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'the righteous will live by faith'.
The youth group I grew up in was called 'unashamed' and it was based on this passage. It was a reminder that we should not be embarrassed by the gospel. The fact that Paul has put it so bluntly that he is not ashamed of the gospel, perhaps suggests that there has been a time when he was embarrassed by it. This is encouraging as Paul is no longer in that place of feeling ashamed as he is now boldly proclaiming the gospel. If that can happen for Paul, then it can happen for the likes of you and me too.
What reason is there to be ashamed of the gospel? 'Has God reconciled us to himself through Christ, forgiven our sins, made us His children, put His spirit within us begun to transform us, and introduced us into his new community?' (Stott, 1994) ...This is the incredible gospel!
It is through the gospel that we get to know the 'righteousness of God': 'God's just justification of the unjust, his righteous way of pronouncing the unrighteous righteous, in which he both demonstrates his righteousness and gives righteousness to us. He has done it through Christ, the righteous One, who died for the unrighteous...' (Stott, 1994). His righteousness is a gift and the direct result of trusting Jesus as the Son of the living God.
The gospel is powerful and it is for everyone.
Reason no. 1110 :)
No comments:
Post a Comment