"The Power to Change" Romans 1: 16-17

Brent Witten

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Romans 1:16–17

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We should not be ashamed to share the Gospel with everyone for it is powerful and displays God's righteousness.

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Transcript

Introduction

In Pew Research Center telephone surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019, 65% of American adults describe themselves as Christians when asked about their religion, down 12 percentage points over the past decade. Meanwhile, the religiously unaffiliated share of the population, consisting of people who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular,” now stands at 26%, up from 17% in 2009.

Both Protestantism and Catholicism are experiencing losses of population share. Currently, 43% of U.S. adults identify with Protestantism, down from 51% in 2009. And one-in-five adults (20%) are Catholic, down from 23% in 2009. Meanwhile, all subsets of the religiously unaffiliated population – a group also known as religious “nones” – have seen their numbers swell. Self-described atheists now account for 4% of U.S. adults, up modestly but significantly from 2% in 2009; agnostics make up 5% of U.S. adults, up from 3% a decade ago; and 17% of Americans now describe their religion as “nothing in particular,” up from 12% in 2009. Members of non-Christian religions also have grown modestly as a share of the adult population. (https://www.pewforum.org/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/)

As you can clearly see, our own land is in desperate need of the Gospel of Jesus Christ now more than ever. As Christians, we have the answer to what people are seeking for. We have the message that can change their lives and give them purpose and meaning. But, more than that, we have a Gospel that has the power to cleanse their hearts from sin and grant them eternal life.

Let us read Romans 1: 16-17 together. The Apostle Paul writes these words under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Background: Paul is longing to come to the Christians at Rome so he can share the Gospel and be encouraged by them. Paul is speaking to church that has a mix of Jew and Greek speakers. And, base on Paul’s line of argumentation in the Letter to the Romans, it is likely that there is some tension between the two ethnicities. Paul makes it clear that they are united in their need for the Gospel. Paul is going to give them the reason for his hope and trust in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and why they too can find power in this same Gospel that they have received.

The Greek word for ashamed epaischunomai means “to experience a painful feeling or sense of loss of status because of some particular event or activity.” Paul is willing to lose his status in the community and among his fellow religious brothers to gain the life that he has found in Christ. He considers this loss a small price to pay in comparison to knowing Christ and the power of His resurrection. (Phil.) Therefore, Paul is not ashamed of this Gospel.

Are we ashamed of the Gospel? Do we ever shrink down in shame or embarrassment when in the presence of those who are in opposition to the Gospel? Are we worried about what people may think of us? Are we worried that we’ll lower our social status when we express our belief in Jesus as God and the Savior of the world? Paul gives us three reasons he is not ashamed in just these two verses.

We should not be ashamed of the Gospel because:

1. It is the power of God unto salvation.

Throughout scripture, we see God’s power demonstrated in mighty acts of deliverance on behalf of His people in the Old Testament. From the salvation of Noah and his family on the ark, to the deliverance of the Israelites from the Egyptians, to the restoration of Jerusalem and the Temple after their captivity in Babylon and Persia, God displayed His mighty power.

In Acts 1:8 (CSB), Jesus says,

8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Jesus promises that His disciples will receive power shortly after His ascension into heaven. At Pentecost, 10 days later, they do. The Holy Spirit moves on those gathered there that day and 3,00 people believed and were baptized. God’s Spirit is moving in miraculous ways as His Gospel is being spread from tiny Jerusalem to the epicenter of the Roman empire.

Although this movement of God is powerful, it is not demonstrated in the typical ways we see power exhibited in our world.

It is not a power that comes from any real or perceived physical strength or superiority. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:9–10 ,

“9 He (being Jesus) said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. 10 So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Paul makes it clear that God’s strength is perfected in his weakness. Paul says he would rather boast about his weakness if it would bring about the power of God inside him. He welcomes the suffering and hardship for he knows it will benefit to the sharing of the Gospel of Christ. He concludes with this great line--”When I am weak, then I am strong.” (CSB)

2. It is not a power that comes from some cleverly devised scheme or plan. In 2 Peter 1:16, the Apostle Peter writes,

“For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; instead, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty” (CSB).

The Apostle Peter makes it clear that they were eyewitnesses to Christ’s power. These were not second-hand accounts, but first-person encounters. Paul had his own blinding encounter with Jesus on the road to Damasus. This power knocked him off his feet and called him to be an apostle for Christ.

3. It is not a power that comes from position or ranking. According to 1 Corinthians 4:1

4 “A person should think of us in this way: as servants of Christ and managers of the mysteries of God” (CSB).

Paul says that the Corinthians should think of them as “servants of Christ and managers of the mysteries of God.” Jesus, in speaking of how things are ordered in His kingdom, put it this way to his disciples: He said that those who wish to be first will be last, and the last will be first. (Luke ).

4. It is not a power that comes from persuasive arguments or slick marketing campaigns. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2:10–13,

“10 Now God has revealed these things to us by the Spirit, since the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except his spirit within him? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God. 13 We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people” (CSB).

We learn that it is God’s Spirit that communicates with us in our very depths. He is the only one who truly knows the true hearts and thoughts of an individual. It is God who convicts the heart of sin through the proclaimed Word of God in the power of the Holy Spirit. Does this mean we do not learn how to be better persuaders? No, by no means. We are called to “contend for the faith once delivered to all the saints” (Jude 1:3). We are called to “be ready to give an answer for the hope that lies within us” ((1 Pet. 3:15). But, even with all of that, we must trust in God’s working though us to reach others for the results. For some, the Gospel will be a welcome light shining in a dark room; for others, it will be light blinding them in their sin. Some will choose to embrace the light; others will hide their faces from it and persist in their darkness.

Where then does this power come?

It comes from being willing to die on a cross. It comes from denying oneself, taking up your cross daily, and following Him in obedience. This power comes in humiliation, not exaltation. It is power that comes when one is willing to empty themselves of pride, pretense, and position. It is true wonder-working power that comes only through the blood of the Lamb—Jesus Christ. This is the only power to bring about salvation in one’s life.

2. It is for everyone who believes.

Who is this salvation for? The next part of v. 16 makes it clear that it is for everyone who believes. He gives an order or a priority in the plan of God revealing His Gospel to the world. He begins first with the Jew, His chosen people. God chose to reveal Himself to His covenant people beginning with Abraham in Gen. 12. He gave His commandments and the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. He provided Himself, His power, His presence as He abode with them in their sojourn through the wilderness. He took up residence among them in the Tabernacle, and subsequently, the Temple on the mountain in Jerusalem. They had all of the advantages that a people could have. Jesus was one of them—a Jew—and He had the lineage on both sides to prove it. But sadly, John 1:11 testifies that “He came to His own and His own did not receive Him.”

Amazingly, this was not a death knell to the spreading of the Gospel. Rather, it was this very rejection by the Jews that propelled the Gospel forth to the Gentiles as Paul skillfully elaborates in Romans 11. Their initial rejection of Christ proved to be to the benefit of the Gentiles. In fact, this was Paul’s primary mission—to share the Gospel with the Gentiles. Paul’s missionary custom was upon first coming to a new city or region to visit the local synagogue and proclaim Jesus as the Messiah. He would sometimes win new converts there, but would eventually be forced from the synagogue. It was then that he would share the Gospel message with Gentiles. Paul reminds us that this was God’s plan from the beginning that many believers would be brought in from the Nations. God’s temporary hardening of the Jews allowed God’s plan to be accomplished. This mystery as Paul refers to in Galatians and elsewhere is this carefully orchestrated by God and executed by Jesus. This temporary hardening caused the Jews to call for Jesus to be crucified and Barabbas to be released before Pilate. However, all people will have the opportunity to repent and turn to Jesus, the risen Savior for forgiveness and hope of eternal life.

The Gospel has no ethnic or racial barriers. It is the only true hope of the reconciliation of one with another in this world. The Gospel makes us all equal for it is said that, “we are all level at the foot of the cross.” We will always have differences between us in terms of color and background, nationality and language. But, we can all be brought together under the power of the Gospel working in our lives. This is something all Christians should be able to celebrate together. When people outside of the church see Christians of all stripes worshipping together, it should confound them and bring them to wonder what kind of people can accomplish such things.

This Gospel is for everyone who believes. Scripture reminds us that belief or “faith comes from hearing and hearing by the Word of God” (2 Cor. 5:17). Let us not be ashamed to share the Gospel for it is at work in transforming souls. The Holy Spirit accompanies the preaching, teaching, and reading of God’s Word and convicts the heart of sin. Let us be liberal in sowing the seed with the Gospel for we know not the result but we know the One who is at work in people’s lives. Let us trust Him with the results.

3. In it, God’s righteousness is revealed in our lives through faith.

The last reason we see that we should not be ashamed of the Gospel is that in it, God’s righteousness is revealed in our lives through faith. The very nature of the Gospel reveals God’s character and one of those attributes is righteousness. God is the standard for what is right and just. God always does what is right and in line with His character. Lamentations 3: 23 makes it clear that “God changes not.” Our character, however, is suspect.

We are sinners—Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden and we have followed in this manner (Rom. 3:23).

The punishment for sin is death and separation from God (Rom. 6:23).

Christ’s sinless, righteous life, followed by His death on the Cross satisfied God’s desire for justice. Christ took the place for us and our sin by dying on a Cross. He fulfilled God’s righteous requirement for a sin offering. “He who knew no sin became sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21).

We see that God is the one who initiates faith in our lives. You know, as a Christian your faith starts out as a simple seed. It grows and matures as you learn more about Christ through His word. It takes root as we experience hardships and struggles and opposition. Faith is a process. Yes, there is an initial faith, but faith must grow and mature. We are justified by Christ and our sins are considered forgiven, but we are continually being sanctified and made more like Christ each moment and each day.

God helps to bring about the completion of faith so that we might be presented to Him as blameless before Him in Christ.

Closing

Today, the question is simple: Do you believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ as I’ve laid out this morning and as scripture teaches? Will you repent of your sins and turn and follow Jesus as Lord and Savior? Will you commit to faithfully follow Him in all He commands? Today is the day of salvation. Now is the time. No one is promised another moment or another day. Make your decision while you still have an opportunity.

Let us pray.