The apostle Paul reminds me here of a little terrier straining at the leash: bursting with eagerness and interest, life and curiosity. Paul says in verse 13 that he had planned to come to Rome — but had been hindered. And in verse 15 he says, ‘I am eager (bursting) to preach the Gospel at Rome.’ He’s straining at the leash. Paul also reminds me of David and Goliath! Rome was like the giant Goli­ath. Rome was the capital of the world. The seat of government; the symbol of imperial pride and power. It was an imposing and impressive place. It was also, as you can imag­ine, a place of idolatry and immorality. A place of high culture but also of so­phisticated sinning. An intimidating place to visit for any preacher! Rome was not the tourist attraction that it is for us today. The modern equivalent of Rome might be Mecca! Imagine going to Mecca as a missionary! Paul was like little David. According to tradition he was a little man, unim­pressive in appearance. Yet this little man could say, ‘I am eager to come; I want so much to come; I can’t wait to come to you; I’m rarin’ to go!’ Like David, he could have said, ‘I come against you, not with sword or spear or javelin — for the Lord doesn’t save with these, but I come in the name of the LORD Almighty.’ The only weapon that Paul had in his backpack was the Gospel — yet he wasn’t afraid! Indeed, he relished the challenge. He says, ‘I am not ashamed of the Gospel.’ (v. 16). This is likely a nega­tive way of stating the positive — an example of litotes. (So James Philip and Moffatt). It’s a deliberate understatement for effect. E.g. you ask me how I am. I answer, ‘Not bad,’ which really means, ‘I’m good!’ Or, if some­one says, ‘Not happy, Jan!’ it really means they’re very angry and upset! So when Paul says, ‘I’m not ashamed of the Gospel,’ he means, ‘I’m im­mensely proud of it; it’s the news that I’m proud and confident to proclaim.’ Of course it’s possible to be ashamed of the Gospel — sadly! Who hasn’t been? Jesus alludes to it in Mark 8:38, ‘If anyone is ashamed of me and my words ... the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in His Father’s glory.’ Paul alludes to it in 2 Tim: 1:8, ‘Do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me His prisoner.’ That, however, was not Paul’s problem. I hope it’s not a problem for you either.

What made Paul unashamed of the Gospel? Why did it fill him with won­der, admiration and confidence? Is it because he had special courage and resources that nobody else had? Not at all! He was proud of the Gospel because:

The Gospel is the Power of God⤒🔗

The Gospel is words — it’s a mes­sage. It’s an account of what God has done for us in Christ – but it’s more than that. It’s power. (The Greek word is ‘dunamis’: from which we get words like: dynamite, dynamic, dynamo, etc). The gospel is not of­fering some new concept or philoso­phy; nor is it presenting merely a good idea, or simply offering good advice. If that’s all the gospel is — we would have every reason to be ashamed of it. Good advice won’t save us, even if it is well meaning and well intended.

The Gospel is the operation of a power — the power of God. ‘To preach it therefore is to let loose an immeasurable power among those who hear it.’

We have a fascination with power. As a little boy it was the attraction of trac­tors, excavators, aeroplanes, boxers and wrestlers! As a man it is the fas­cination of governments and rulers and business executives. Remember Rome too had a fascination with power — it had reason to be proud of its power structures; it had the military hardware to subdue nations. Their naval power ruled the waves. Their cultural power gave the world great literature, law and art. Their technical power constructed the great roads, many still in use today. There was one thing however, that Rome, or Caesar, or governments, or culture, or law could NOT do: these things could not change lives.

Whereas the Gospel has the power to transform and change lives. It changed Paul; the Gospel gripped him, humbled him, and radically changed his life on the Damascus road. It changed the way he viewed himself, from one who was ‘blameless’ to the ‘chief of sinners’. He saw it change the lives of others too. Have we not experienced it in our own lives? Has God not recon­ciled us to himself through Christ, forgiven our sins, made us children, put his Spirit in us, changed us? As the world sees it, the Gospel doesn’t look much like power at all. It looks like weakness — spoken by ordinary and fallible people, and believed by wimps. The Gospel uses words which are invisible things. This Gospel instead of telling people to stand up on their own two feet is asking them to become in­stead like children and depend on Jesus. Yet this Gospel is the power of God to all who believe. There is no need to be ashamed of it.

The Gospel is about Salvation←⤒🔗

The Gospel is power with a pur­pose. There is such a thing as power without purpose. I have a friend who has a museum of more than 300 old engines of various types which he has rebuilt. Visitors can visit the museum to see and hear the engines running. It’s a very impressive sight and sound. It’s mu­sic in the ears of the collector. But what do these engines do? Nothing! They don’t empower anything.

There is also power which is pur­poseful — I’m glad of it every time I switch the kettle on or press the light switch. And there is power which is positively destructive. We have seen examples of that recently in Christchurch and in Japan.

What kind of power is the Gospel? The Gospel is power with a pur­pose. It can be both destructive and constructive. It has the power to condemn and cast a soul who re­jects it into hell.

It has also the power to save a soul from hell. It’s the power of God unto salvation. It has the power to rescue men and women, boys and girls, from the penalty of sin; from the power and dominion of sin; and ulti­mately from the presence of sin (bringing us into the immediate pres­ence of Jesus). That’s nothing to be ashamed of!

If you knew that someone had found the cure for cancer, would you be ashamed of telling others? No! You’d want to proclaim it as loudly and widely as possible. You’d want to say, ‘this is where to go, this is who you must see, this is the treatment that you need.’ The Gospel is the only cure there is for the eternal ills of men and women; it’s nothing therefore to be ashamed of. It’s something to be proud of!

The Gospel is for Everyone←⤒🔗

The Gospel is for everyone. It’s for men and women. It’s for boys and girls. It’s for Greeks and non Greeks. It’s for the wise and the foolish. It’s for learned and unlearned. It’s for rich and poor. It’s for the Jew and the Gentile; it’s for the Muslim and the Hindu. It’s for the Anglican and the Catholic. It’s for the Baptist and the Presbyterian. It’s for the religious and the irreligious. It’s for the good and the bad. It’s for the truckie and the bikie. It’s for the guy with the tat­toos and the earrings and the Blund­stones. It’s for your neighbour and mine. It’s for you and me. No one is excluded! It’s for every type of per­son, of every age, colour, nation and language.

We need never worry if perhaps our message is unsuitable! No mat­ter who you meet, you know that the Gospel is suitable for them. It’s tailor made! ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ (Romans 10:13). There’s no need to be ashamed of that!

The Gospel Reveals Righteous­ness (v. 17)←⤒🔗

What does the Gospel reveal? Per­haps you might say, ‘the love of God’, ‘the mercy of God,’ or ‘the grace of God’? That’s only partly right. Paul tells us however that the Gospel reveals supremely ‘the right­eousness of God’. This is a key word and an important statement. Indeed, this is the central theme of the letter to the Romans. This verse is some what like the contents page of the letter.

Righteousness is what God is. Right­eousness is what God does. Right­eousness is what God requires of us all. Righteousness is what we all need to be right with God. We don’t have a righteousness of our own. There is none righteous — not one! We could never in a million years earn it or achieve it. But in the Gos­pel righteousness is revealed — and is royally bestowed on everyone who believes. In the Lord Jesus Christ we have the righteousness that God is completely satisfied with and that passes His scrutiny. When we be­lieve upon Christ, His righteousness, His holiness, His perfect satisfaction is put into our account, and we are declared by God (amazingly) ‘righteous’!

This text became for Martin Luther ‘the gateway into heaven’. He writes,

Night and day I pondered it until ... I grasped the truth that the righteous­ness of God is that righteousness whereby, through grace and sheer mercy, he justifies us by faith. There­upon I felt myself reborn and to have gone through open doors into para­dise. The whole of Scripture took on a new meaning, and whereas before the righteousness of God had filled me with hate, now it became to me inexpressibly sweet in greater love.

Luther wasn’t ashamed of the gos­pel.

The Gospel is Received by Faith←⤒🔗

The Gospel is the power of God to everyone who has faith. The only way to receive this Gospel and re­ceive this righteousness is through faith in the Lord Jesus. Everyone receives it in exactly the same way — no matter who they are — whether Jew or Gentile. There are no exemp­tions or special categories or concessions or small print. It has always been this way — as we shall see in chapter 4; and it remains this way. Paul told the jailor, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.’ (Acts 16:31). All we need to do is to accept this gift of God (it is a gift — not a wage or reward) with a believing heart.

Some of you are members of the NRMA (in other states the equiva­lent organisation would be RACV, RACQ, or RACWA). Very wise! Membership carries certain privi­leges; one of which is the right to be rescued when your vehicle breaks down. Let’s say you are driving to Sydney. You smell something burning – and then you see smoke coming from under the bonnet. It’s coming from the head gasket. You pull in to the hard shoulder. You are relieved to know that you have a rescuer — a saviour — in the NRMA. What do you do? Just wait for help expecting that NRMA should automatically know your problem? After all, you’ve been a member for years! No! You call 131 111. You tell them your problem, where you are, and then you can ‘unworry’. You must call to be rescued.

The Bible tells us who are broken down and ruined that we must call to be rescued, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ (Rom. 10:13). You must call! You must believe. You must receive.

It is not because of any value my faith has that God is pleased with me. It is only because Christ’s satisfaction, right­eousness and holiness make me right with God. And I can receive this righteousness and make it mine in no other way than by faith alone.Heidelberg Cat. 61

The righteous will LIVE by faith! The Gospel is all about LIFE — abundant life; eternal life; life to the full. The opposite of life is death. There is a choice. The wise will always choose life!

It’s nothing to be ashamed of!