Unveiling the Power of the Gospel: Living with Conviction and Courage
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Paul shares a profound truth that resonates through the ages, revealing how truth produces conviction and courage in those who believe it.
Romans 1:16-17
Romans 1:16-17
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.
This is now the climax of the introductory greeting to the assembly in Rome. This establishes the theme for the rest of the letter (so don’t loose sight of it) and for his life. That is the power of the Gospel.
Without the gospel, and without the power that the gospel is, there can be no salvation, no deliverance, no life. Everything that God wants for us is to be found in the gospel, and Paul is going to spend the rest of his letter explaining every facet of it.
And with the Power of the Gospel, Paul is planning on coming to the most powerful city at the time, to spread the Good news of Jesus Christ.
Romans C. Paul: Convinced of the Power of the Gospel (1:16–17)
John Stott recounts a comment made by Scottish theologian James Stewart concerning this passage: “There’s no sense in declaring that you’re not ashamed of something unless you’ve been tempted to feel ashamed of it” (Stott, p. 60)
We often think of Paul as invincible, yet he was human Paul himself
3 I came to you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.
Paul fears not the Gospel but to come. He spoke before royalty, rabbis, rulers, and rabble—to him, it made no difference. As he is about to demonstrate to the Romans in subsequent chapters, all are in need of the gospel.
4 Look, his ego is inflated;
he is without integrity.
But the righteous one will live by his faith.
In Verse 17 Paul quotes something God said to the prophet Habakkuk. God’s statement was one of comfort to Habakkuk, who was at this wits’ end with God. That’s why Habakkuk is called the questioning Prophet. In Habakkuk God said that he was going to use a nation more wicked than Israel (Babylon) to punish Israel, this produced cries and complaints of injustice from the Prophet.
I have heard it said that: “Habakkuk was embarrassed, ashamed of God’s inaction and his choices.”
Paraphrased, God’s answer to Habakkuk was this: “I am about to reveal something to you, Habakkuk, that I want you to record so that a herald may go and proclaim it (Hab. 2:2). It is a revelation of my righteousness, and will put to rest your fears of inaction and injustice. In the meantime—until my righteousness is revealed—you who are righteous are to trust me, to live by faith. There is nothing you can do to ‘fix’ the situation. You will have to live by faith, not by sight, until what I have written is accomplished” (Hab. 2:4).
Now, fast forward to A.D. 57. Paul is writing to a community of Christian believers living in the most powerful city in the world. Just three years prior to his letter, the reign of the Roman Emperor Claudius (ruled A.D. 41–54) had ended. Claudius had banished all Jews from Rome around A.D. 49–50 because of the continuing disruptions “instigated by Chrestus” (a misspelling of “Christ,” scholars agree; recorded by the historian Suetonius in Claudius, 25).
Paul met Aquila and Priscilla for the first time in Corinth, where they settled after being kicked out of Rome (Acts 18:1–2). Supposedly, when Claudius’s reign ended, Jews were allowed to return to Rome. But the banishment no doubt had an unsettling, disruptive effect on the young body of believers in Rome.
Unfortunately, this was just a foretaste of what Rome would give to the church in years ahead.
Paul himself would suffer a martyr’s death at the hands of Nero along with multitudes of believers during Nero’s reign. Could the believers in Rome have wondered where God was in the midst of their suffering under Claudius? Could they have been embarrassed, even ashamed, as Habakkuk had been, that God was seemingly doing nothing to rescue them? Could they have felt powerless to act, wanting to do something but not knowing what to do?
Paul had read Habakkuk, and he knew that the Roman believers needed a revelation from God—some good news in the midst of their confusion.
And so he writes verses 16 and 17 to them: the gospel is God’s good news and Paul is the herald who is not ashamed of the circumstances or of God. Why? Because God’s righteousness is revealed in the gospel! The pagan power of Rome (like the pagan nation of Babylon in Habakkuk’s day) is no match for the power of God which is the gospel, Paul says.
Do not think that God’s power is absent—it is here in the gospel! And God’s righteousness will be revealed against all manner of sin everywhere. In the meantime, the righteous must live by faith. Rather than thinking you are powerless to change Rome, the gospel gives you the power of God to change lives.
Shift to today
Shift to today
Fast forward to our current era, where believers may feel powerless against cultural shifts. Western Civilization is said to be in a “post-Christian” phase. Believers can feel powerless to effect the tides that bring constant pressures. Pressures to conform to a different way of thinking, a different lifestyle, a different and even sometimes contradictory life.
What we need is the same thing that Habakkuk needed in 600 B.C. and oppressed believers needed in A.D. 50. a revelation of good news from God.
The Gospel is that revelation.
The message remains the same – the gospel is the revelation we need, and every believer is called to be a herald of this good news. In a "post-Christian" phase, the gospel remains a powerful force for transformation, and each believer, armed with conviction, can impact the world.
11 so my word that comes from my mouth
will not return to me empty,
but it will accomplish what I please
and will prosper in what I send it to do.”
Paul is proclaiming in Romans 1:16–17 a fresh insight into the truth of Isaiah 55:11: “So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
This gospel does not contain the power of God. It is the power of God to everyone who believes it and lives in it (ek pisteos eis pistin; by faith from first to last), first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
Starting with Israel, the gospel is flowing to the nations, and Paul is inviting the Romans to partner with him in that proclamation of power and now through this book Laughlin Community Church
Next Steps
Next Steps
As we reflect on Paul's convictions, let us internalize the truth that the gospel isn't just a historical account; it's a living, transformative power. Like Paul, let us be heralds of this divine message, unashamed and unwavering in our commitment. The righteousness of God is revealed through the gospel, empowering us to live with conviction and courage in a world that desperately needs the light of truth.
Pray
Beloved, let us go forth, empowered by the gospel, and be the change that God's righteousness brings to the world!
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, together with the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all. Amen.