Themes from Romans - Not Ashamed of the Gospel

[George]

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for
the salvation of 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,[c] just as it is
written: "The righteous will live by faith." --Romans 1:16,17

What is the Gospel? People speak of the gospel in different way,
resulting in different meanings. Many these days depict the gospel as
the love of God poured out, and that would be right. For others the
gospel is about forgiveness, that would also be correct. Yet for many
the gospel is a license to do whatever they without regard to God's
holiness and judgement. This last view is certainly unbiblical. The
gospel is NOT lawless, and nowhere in the bible are we ever given
license to sin.

In this passage above Paul highlight several key issues, first by
stating that he is not ashamed of the gospel. One might wonder why
would anyone be ashamed of the gospel? well if we were to speak of the
gospel in proper terms, while we are weak in our faith, we might feel
some hesitation about expressing the full measure of the gospel. A
proper expresssion must not only speak of God's love, mercy and grace,
but also His righteousness, Holiness and His judgement. As Paul
states, "For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed,"
righteousness is the opposite of the sin that is in our very nature.
This righteousness comes from God, given to us by faith, and God
reveals it to us. Therefore the gospel is meaningless without the
understanding the gravity of our sin, the greatness and holiness of
God, that demands a righteous and just judgement to be exacted upon
sinful humanity. This understanding results in repentance and the
desire to please God through love.

This Gospel is the one that has "the power of God for the salvation of
everyone who believes." A gospel that is makes it clear that God's
righteous justice has been satisfied by His holy Son on our behalf. As
a result God considers us to be righteous by faith in His Son.
Therefore we are to walk in a manner that is worthy of His calling.