Friday, September 14, 2018: Romans 1:16-17
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
While we might refrain from living out or sharing the gospel because we don’t completely grasp the doctrines of our faith (see devotion for Monday, September 10, 2018), another reason we struggle to engage in spiritual conversations is because we feel ashamed of our faith. As Christian beliefs fall out of favor with a growing segment of the population, it’s easy to fear standing out from the crowd. We might be ashamed because we are afraid that someone might judge us for being a Christian, and therefore weaken our relationship. We might be afraid that if we share the gospel, our friends will think that we are judging them. But Paul taught that we ought not be ashamed because of what the gospel truly is: the power of God for salvation.
When we think of the power of God, His power in creating the world comes to mind. Genesis teaches us that God spoke, and the universe and the worlds were born. We might also think of God’s power as something mighty like the sun. But Paul says that it is the gospel that is the power of God. The gospel has the power to raise a person who is dead in sin to life in Christ. That is real power! If we believe that the gospel is the power of God—the same kind of power that created worlds and wakes the dead—then we will not be ashamed to share it with anyone.
- What makes you want to be ashamed of the gospel? What answers could you have to these objections?
- Why is the gospel not an object of shame?
- Thank God for the gospel message that is able to redeem and save the most broken of sinners and bring them into a relationship of restoration, joy, and peace.