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by Sandy Shaw
In Romans Chapter 1and at verse 15 , we read of how Paul is ready and eager and so keen to go to Rome and preach the Gospel - I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. The message of Jesus Christ - this is the word which I have preached wherever I have gone - and I am prepared to come to the capital of the Roman Empire and preach the same Word there and proclaim the same Lord Jesus Christ - crucified and risen.
I am not ashamed of the Gospel - Gospel is good news which is proclaimed to someone - it was used of news of a victory which will change the situation - or of someone coming to help if you were in trouble.
Were some saying that he might be ashamed or embarrassed to come and preach the same Gospel in Rome as he proclaimed elsewhere? It is possible to become ashamed of the Gospel - and this is why we can be so quiet and silent in certain situations or in particular company when we know we ought to be speaking out.
After all it is revolutionary - God becoming man in Jesus Christ - and Jesus was the Son of God - Who sheds His Blood and gives His life for peoples' sin and sins and sinfulness.
Jesus lays down His life because all men are sinners - and that has implications when it is refused and rejected.
Paul openly and publicly declares that he is not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ - and God ensures that this is incorporated into His Holy Word. I am not ashamed of the victory Jesus Christ won over sin for us - it is the power of God unto salvation.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ - His life - His ministry - His miracles - His teaching - His death - His Rising from the grave - all this is the power of God - the dynamite of God - the dynamic of God - to save men - from their sin - and to rescue and transform men.
This is the power of God to heal. This is the power of God to deliver men from bondage and from guilt.
No wonder Paul was not ashamed to preach all of this wherever he went – this full and wholesome and comprehensive Gospel - because it was for everyone who believes.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ can work effectively anywhere - Jerusalem - Rome - America - Africa - Scotland. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone who believes - without exception.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is unique – there is nothing like it anywhere in the whole world – it cannot be compared with anything else.
There is no other faith in the entire world whose leader is still alive - and we need to remember this when speaking with people.
Social class or education or colour or background does not limit the Gospel - all of these are unimportant.
It is to the Jew first and also to the Greek. This is God's way and God's will - to take the Gospel firstly to the Jew. God chose the Jews to be a channel for salvation to flow - and if they would not be that channel then God would turn to others.
Paul always followed this pattern - first he would take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Jews - he would search out the synagogues - and preach there - and only after would he go to the Gentiles.
He was not a man who was ashamed of the Gospel - it was and is the power of God to save - transform - change - deliver.
In the Gospel the righteousness of God is revealed - not just the Love of God - but the righteousness of God. This is the heart of the Gospel. The theme of the Gospel is the righteousness of God. This was the word Martin Luther wrestled with.
Righteousness can be condensed to 'rightness' - the rightness of God - God is always right. God is legally right and morally right and His Ways are right.
At that time a Judge would say - You are righteous - today we say right or innocent. Or he would say ‘wicked, and today we say 'guilty', or wrong.
Paul was concerned that people got right with God through faith in Jesus Christ - and that involves more than mercy and love - it also involves righteousness and justice.
There are some 613commandments of Moses - "I'll try and keep those" - and as a Pharisee Paul worked hard at it - and of the Ten Commandments, he managed to keep 9 out of 10 - but he could not keep - "You shall not covet". Then one day he met the righteousness of God, when the risen and living Jesus appeared to him - and he met mercy and love and forgiveness and being commanded too.
God is always in the right. That is why people should never say - "Why doesn't God do something?" It is almost implying that by not doing something He is wrong - and God is never wrong.
God wants to share His righteousness - and give us His righteousness - through Jesus. He is willing to put us in the right by clothing us with the righteousness of Christ - His righteousness - not ours. And when we grasp this, we have grasped the significant core of the Gospel.
I have given you My righteousness through My Son Jesus. This is what justified means – it is 'just if I'd' never sinned.
“Almighty God – enable me to see the light and truth and the riches and richness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ – that my sin and sins can be forgiven – that I can be washed and made clean – that I can live as though I had never sinned – because in Your sight, they are forgotten. What a God! What a Saviour! I bow and worship and give thanks for all Jesus Christ came to do – and continues to do. I bow in praise and adoration - in Jesus Name. Amen”
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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