January 16, 2023 – Monday
Romans 1:16 NIV
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
Comments
I literally love how verse 16 begins, For I am not ashamed of the gospel. Somehow it reminds me of the last phrase in Joshua 24:15 (underlined), 15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
There is much more to the verse than the opening phrase, but here are the two phrases stuck together, For I am not ashamed of the gospel and as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. The question though is why Paul begins verse 16 with For I am not ashamed of the gospel? It is a question he immediately answers, because it [the gospel] is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes. And in case you did not understand what everyone means, Paul adds first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. In Paul’s world there were only two classes of people Jew and Gentile, and God’s salvation was for all of them Jew and Gentile alike.
Then look at what Paul says in the very next verse, 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is from faith to faith, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” The gospel is not only the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes, but it also reveals the righteousness of God. How is God’s righteousness revealed? Paul is telling us God’s righteousness is revealed to those with faith as he quoted from Habakkuk 2:4, the righteous person will live by his faith. Without our faith, God’s righteousness cannot be revealed to us and it has to be a faith we live out day by day.
Bottom Line: Like Paul we should not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We should live out our faith in Him and what He has done for us day by day
Prayer: Almighty God, Give us the strength of our faith to live it our every single day thanking You and Your Son for our salvation. – In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
RileyD, nwJ
Riley D. Driver – Pastor
Calvary Chapel of Dayton
in Beavercreek