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Dael Kurti; Romans 1:14-17 Unashamed
You are listening to the podcast of Recast Church in Mattawan, Michigan.
Good morning everyone. I'd just like to start out, kind of preview our talk this morning by just sharing a story that came to mind as I was preparing this passage. So a couple of weeks ago, I was on campus and I met a student, an American student, just kind of sitting alone, so I went up and started talking to him.
And I asked him, I said, you know, he's a very well-spoken, polite guy. And I asked him, I said, so do you have any kind of spiritual background? Do you consider yourself a Christian? And he said, oh yeah, I'm a Christian.
I believe in Jesus as my Lord and my Savior. Now when he said that, immediately I thought to myself, oh yeah, this guy's solid. Okay, he's a believer and I was going to, you know, speak to him on that level.
But I felt somehow inside, like checked in my spirit that I needed to return to this topic because something didn't seem right. So we talked for a little while. And I asked him, I said, well, do you feel like there's anything, you know, as a Christian that you're kind of wrestling with or thinking about or struggling with in your life?
And he thought about it for a second and he said, actually yes. To be honest with you, I'm really afraid to die. And I said, well, help me understand that. Tell me what that looks like for you. Why do you feel like you're afraid to die?
And he's like, because I just don't know if there's an afterlife. I don't know what happens after we die. So we talked about heaven. We talked about hell. And I asked him, I kind of returned to the topic again and I said, you know, let me ask you this question.
If you died tonight and God asked you, why should I allow you into heaven? What would you say? And he said the answer that most people give, even honestly most people who identify as Christians, he said, you know what?
I hope that God would accept me because I'm a good person and because I've, you know, I haven't done anything too bad in my life. I mean, I have made some mistakes but I've avoided most of the big sins and I have obeyed God's commandments, the Ten Commandments, as best I could.
And so it ended up being a great conversation. But what really was impressed upon me in this conversation is that this young man had the catchphrase or the tagline, Jesus is my Lord and my Savior. But when we dug a little bit deeper and tried to explore his understanding of the gospel, it wasn't there.
He knew the phrase but he didn't understand. He had not internalized the gospel. The passage we're going to talk about this morning is from Romans chapter 1. And I would just invite you, before we read it, if you do not have a Bible and you would like one to follow along this morning, then maybe just lift your hand up and somebody will get one into your hand.
And again, if you're visiting today and maybe you do not have a Bible in your home, please feel free to just walk out with that. That is Recast's gift to you. So Romans chapter 1 is where we're going to be this morning.
And as you turn there, let me just go over this again. I think we can't say this enough. This passage this morning that we're going to read talks about the gospel. And so my question is, what is the gospel?
We can't go over this enough. So let's just review briefly. What is the gospel? The gospel is built on two foundational pillars. And if you don't understand these two foundational truths, the gospel will not make sense to you.
So the gospel is built on these two foundational truths. Number one, God is holy. God is just. God tolerates no evil in his presence. He punishes sin. God is absolutely holy. This is column number one.
Column number two is that people, we, the human race, are sinful before God. We are guilty, all of us, of breaking God's laws. And we are under God's just and righteous judgment against sin. God is holy.
People are sinful and under judgment, a judgment that is coming into this world. Now, that being said, here's the gospel. God, in his great love for us, sent Jesus, the second person of the triune God, into this world, clothed in human flesh.
Jesus died to pay for our sins. He rose again, offering us new life. And your proper response to this message, that Jesus died for you and rose again, is to renounce your sin and your self-effort and to trust in the finished work of Jesus alone on the cross as the full and complete payment for your sin.
That is the gospel. So with that in mind, let's read our passage this morning. So we're going to just read Romans chapter 1, verses 13 through 17. Paul is writing here. I'm going to read from the NIV.
He says this, That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome. Verse 16. In this passage, we see several things spoken of about the gospel. What should be our attitude about the gospel message?
What is our obligation as Christians with respect to this message? What is the very character of the gospel? And what does the gospel bring to us? And finally, how is the gospel received? Those are the questions that we're going to hopefully be able to answer this morning from Romans chapter 1.
So let's join together now in worship and then a little bit later we will explore this passage in a little bit more depth. Again, this morning I would welcome you to turn to, again, Romans chapter 1. The verses will be here on the screen for you.
But if you have a Bible that you would like to use, you know, please do follow along in your Bible. Or, you know, some people like to follow along on their phones. I'm old school. I don't understand that.
But if that's the system that works for you, that's great. I will be referring to the New International Version this morning. Some of you have ESVs. I'll be referencing that as well. Let me go ahead and open us in a word of prayer.
Father in heaven, we humble ourselves before you this morning. The lyric to that song that we sang earlier, Rid me of myself, I belong to you. Father, I just ask that you would let us, each of us, let me become less.
And I pray that Jesus Christ, you would become greater. As we look into your word this morning, would you open our minds? Would you open our hearts to receive your teaching? And God, I ask that you would just help me to speak clearly.
I pray that nothing that I say would unnecessarily give offense or that it would be an error. I ask that you would protect me from that. And I ask that you would encourage this body today. Holy Spirit, there is nothing that will be done this morning of any value unless you do it.
And so, Holy Spirit, come. Would you anoint the teaching of your word? We want to hear from you. Thank you for the gospel. Open our eyes and our hearts to it, we pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
So, in the book of Romans, chapter 1, we see Paul just kind of opening with his usual set of greetings and then he works through the first chapter with personal comments for this church in Rome that he had not visited and he had not yet met face-to-face.
And then as we reach into about, I'm going to start with verse 14. We read verse 13 before, but we're going to pick it up at verse 14 and we're just going to go through this passage line-by-line, phrase-by-phrase and examine what is said here about the gospel.
So, let me go ahead and read verses 14 and 15 again. I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome, for I am not ashamed of the gospel.
We'll stop there. Now, Paul says three things reflecting his attitude about the gospel. Verse 14, he says, I am obligated. Verse 15, he says, I am eager. Verse 16, I am not ashamed. He says, I am obligated, I am eager, and I am not ashamed.
These are three striking affirmations. Let me read to you what John Stott, commentator, says about these three affirmations. The reason these affirmations are so striking is that they are in direct antithesis to the attitude of many in the contemporary church.
People nowadays tend to regard evangelism as an optional extra and consider, if they engage in it, that they are conferring a favor on God. Paul spoke of it as an obligation. The modern mood is one of reluctance.
Paul's was one of eagerness or enthusiasm. Many of us today would have to confess, if we're honest, that we're ashamed of the gospel. Paul declared that he was not. Let's look at verse 14. He says, I am obligated.
To whom? To Greeks and non-Greeks, to the wise and to the foolish. This is a parallel structure. The Greeks were those who are wise. The non-Greeks, literally translated barbarians, were foolish, pagan, dark, uncultured, whereas the Greeks were wise, seeking after wisdom, knowledge, philosophy.
And Paul is basically saying here that he is obligated to all nations, in light of Jesus' great commission, to preach the gospel to all people. Now, I found it interesting. He says, I am obligated to the Greeks and to non-Greeks.
Now, why would he say, I'm obligated to the Greeks and non-Greeks? Why wouldn't he say, I am obligated to God? Wouldn't it seem more reasonable to think that the obligation is to God? But I think we can think about this in this way.
For example, if I owe Steve $5, and I can't find Steve, so I'm going to give $5 to Rob, and I'm going to say, Rob, whenever you see Steve, please give him this $5. So Rob is obligated to Steve. Why? Because I've given him the money.
And in the same way, I think God has given to Paul a trust and a commission, and Paul is then obligated to the Gentiles to preach the gospel to him, because of the obligation he has received from God.
So now here's the question I had when I was working through this passage. Is this, when Paul says, I am obligated to preach the gospel, is this an obligation that is only for Paul? Because, I mean, he was an extraordinary individual called to a very special ministry.
So is this obligation only for Paul, or is this obligation also for us? Kind of rank and file Christians. Are we also obligated to preach the gospel? And so I'm going to answer that question just in two ways.
I'll say to you, first of all, you know, Paul was uniquely set apart for evangelistic missionary service. He records, you know, he recounts his own calling into ministry when he saw Jesus on the Damascus Road.
Jesus himself spoke to him and says, these are the words of Jesus to Paul. Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and witness of what you have seen and what you will see of me.
I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. So Paul was uniquely commissioned for evangelistic missionary service.
And this commission given to him directly by the Lord Jesus was affirmed by the elders of the church in Antioch years later. In Acts chapter 13 we read, So the obligation that Paul had to preach the gospel, it was in a sense a unique obligation because he did have a unique calling into vocational ministry.
It's not a calling that all of us have. Some of us may be called into evangelistic missionary service, but not everyone has a call to be a missionary or to be vocationally employed in this way. But having said that, is this obligation therefore needless for us as a church?
What about those who are not called into missionary service? Are we obligated to preach the gospel? And the answer to that is yes. And I'd like to give you three reasons why from the New Testament. First of all, in Matthew chapter 28, the great commission of Jesus was given to the whole church, not just to individuals.
In Matthew 28, Jesus says at the end of the great commission, go preach the gospel to all nations, and then he says, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Now had Jesus been speaking only to his apostles, or only to uniquely chosen special people, he wouldn't have said, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
The great commission of Jesus is given to the whole church. It will take the whole church working in unison to complete it. This is a generational commission. Secondly, everyday Christians are seen preaching the gospel in the New Testament.
In Acts chapter 8, there was the persecution as a result of Stephen's preaching. And it says the Christians of Jerusalem were scattered throughout Judea. And it said those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
In addition, in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 8, Paul speaking to the church at Thessalonica said, The Lord's message rang out from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, your faith in God has become known everywhere.
So everyday Christians are seen preaching the gospel in the New Testament. The third reason I'll give to you is that everyday Christians are commanded to preach the gospel in the New Testament. You can see, I'll just give you some verses, we're not going to read them, if you want to look them up on your own.
Philippians chapter 2 verses 14 through 16. Colossians chapter 4 verses 5 and 6. 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 9 all speak of our obligation in some sense or another as Christians to preach the gospel. 1 Peter 3 .15, a verse that many of you know, says, Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.
So my answer to the question about this obligation, is it for us or is it only for Paul? Paul had a unique calling into ministry, but all of us as Christians are obligated to do our part to share the gospel with those around us.
Paul was obligated, Paul was eager, and he was also unashamed. Now sometimes it's easy for us to think of these biblical characters like Peter and Paul, almost like we think of superheroes. You know, these people never felt fear, they never felt shame, but the very fact that he says, I am unashamed of the gospel, suggests to me that at one point or another he had felt the tendency at least to remain quiet when he should have spoken.
Why would he mention it otherwise? The temptation was there for him. I mean, think about this man's life. This is a man, Paul, who was trained at the feet of Gamaliel, one of the premier teachers of the Jewish religion in the entire nation of Israel, and Paul sat at his feet.
As a young man, Paul was on the fast track to becoming one of the leaders in the nation of Israel. He would have been on the Sanhedrin, the governing body. This is a man who was surpassing his other countrymen in his zeal for religion.
He received the praise of the Jewish leaders, and instead of embracing that life of honor and respect, he chose to follow a crucified Messiah and preach resurrection from the dead, a message that is a stumbling block to the Jews, giving offense, and a message that is foolishness to the Gentiles, inciting mockery.
As a result of his decision to follow Jesus, Paul was left impoverished. He was often imprisoned, he was insulted, he was beaten. Five times he received the punishment from the Jewish leadership of 39 lashes.
That's the same leadership that Paul had aspired to. He was receiving the 39 lashes from them. I can only imagine how humiliating that would have been to him, as they lashed him and thought to himself, this man had so much promise, and look at him now, he's humiliated.
So I think Paul knew the temptation, at least, to remain silent, to cave in and to be ashamed of the gospel. But this man now wants to preach the gospel in Rome. Rome was the capital city of the empire, a city that valued oratory, power, glory, strength, beauty.
Paul had none of those things historically. What we know from history is that Paul was short, he was bald, he had a hooked nose, he was a poor speaker, he was half blind, and he's going to go into Rome, the capital city of the empire, a Rome that values power and glory and strength and beauty, and he's going to preach the gospel.
How do you think he's going to be received? This is a man who was tempted to be ashamed of the gospel, but he declares that he is not ashamed. So the simple question is why? Why was he unashamed? Well, I can't give you a full answer to that question, but I believe the text gives us at least part of the question, the answer to that question.
Paul is unashamed of the gospel, verse 16, because of the very character of the message.
Let's look.
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 and then to the Gentile. I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God that brings salvation.
Let's think about that for a second. The gospel is the power of God. Leon Morris, commentator, says this. The gospel is not advice to people, suggesting that they lift themselves. It is power. It lifts them up.
Paul does not say that the gospel brings power, but that it is power. It is God's power that when the gospel is preached, this is not simply so many words being uttered. The power of God is at work. When the gospel enters anyone's life, it is as though the very fire of God had come upon him.
Friends, you and I both know we live in an age in which words are multiplied. Everyone has a blog.
Everyone has a book.
Turn on the TV, there's always some talking head going on and on about something. It's like the words never end and they're emptied of meaning. But the gospel is a word of power. It affects change in people.
1 Thessalonians 2 says this. Listen to what he says about the gospel. We also thank God continually because when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is the word of God which is indeed at work in you who believe.
1 Thessalonians 2 verse 13. The gospel is power. The very creative word of God by which he brought the universe into existence, his word to a lost and dying world is the gospel. But it's not a purposeless, aimless power.
It is an intentional power. It is the power of God for what? For salvation. You see, when it talks about salvation, it's picturing the end times judgment of God upon sinful humanity. Jesus says that he will return, he will judge the nations.
The judgment of God is coming upon this world and the gospel is in a sense God's word to a lost and dying world. Salvation means that this judgment is coming on the world, but God has given to us, those who believe in the gospel, God has given his decision, his day of judgment decision about our eternal destiny.
He's given that day of judgment decision to us retroactively applied to today. So we know in advance God's decision that we are declared not guilty. Listen to Romans chapter 2. For a day of anger is coming when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.
He will judge everyone according to what they have done. I want you to consider, friends, the word of God, the gospel. It is both warning and it is a message, an intentional powerful message of salvation able to deliver us from God's coming judgment.
You know, let us never think about the gospel message. Let's never speak about it the way we kind of speak about our favorite restaurant. You know, we say to our friends, well, you know, hey, you might want to try this restaurant if, you know, if it works for you.
I mean, you know, it's not for everybody,.
But hey, you know,.
Everybody's got their own favorite restaurant, but I really like this one, so you might want to think about it. That's the way we speak about our favorite restaurant. But let's speak about the gospel as the power of God for salvation to a lost and dying world.
It's not an optional extra. It's not just one choice on the pluralistic buffet bar. The gospel is the truth of God. So who's the gospel for? In the passage, it says the gospel is to the Jew first and then to the Gentile.
Now what is meant by that? Well, I think this likely refers to Paul's habit that when he went into a city, first what he would do is go search out a synagogue. And if there were not enough Jews in a city to form a synagogue, he would search out a place of prayer where the Jews would gather for prayer.
And he would give the Jewish people the first right of refusal. This was his practice in evangelism. It was also, I think, a theologically founded practice that he was giving the Jews the first right of refusal, he himself being Jewish.
But the gospel is the power of God for Jews and for Gentiles, for everyone who believes. Paul is unashamed of the gospel because of its character. It is the power of God unto salvation. But I will also say this, moving on in the passage, he is also unashamed of the gospel because of what it reveals and what it brings to us.
Let's continue. Verse 17. For in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed. That is a significant expression in the book of Romans, in the book of Galatians. In Philippians chapter 3, you see Paul returning to this theme of the righteousness of God.
Don't let your eyes just kind of skip over that phrase. It's not a throwaway phrase. The righteousness of God is incredibly important. Again, on the day of judgment, the court of heaven will come into session.
Jesus will take his place as judge. And on that day, those who have believed in Jesus Christ will be declared not guilty. And again, that courtroom decision, which is still in the future, is applied retroactively to those who are in Christ today.
God has already declared what his decision both is and will be. Righteousness, the righteousness of God, means that God imparts or reckons to the believer the very right standing of Jesus Christ when we believe.
This is a reckoned, or sometimes you will say imputed, righteousness. When a person believes the gospel, God declares that person righteous in his eyes. So this is a righteousness that comes from God, a right standing that comes from God.
This is nowhere more clear than in Romans 4, verse 5, where he says, To the one who does not work, but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. The gift of righteousness is not simply a legal declaration, though.
It is that, but it is more than that. It is an effective power in the life of the believer. God declares us right in his sight. Now, you might be thinking, as I've thought before, well, if God declares me, I became a Christian when I was eight years old.
God, at that moment, the moment I placed my faith in Jesus Christ and the gospel, God declared me righteous and reckoned righteousness to me. So I am right in God's eyes by basis of the gospel promise.
But then, maybe you're thinking like I was, my life doesn't always match up. I don't live a perfect life. I stumble all the time. But the gospel is not only a forensic declaration of righteousness. It is an effective power.
So what God essentially does when a person believes the gospel is he declares you righteous in his eyes and then he sets about working to bring you into consistency with his declaration. He declares it and then he brings it into existence in your life.
That's a process that we continue to go through throughout our Christian lives. So the gospel is a declaration of righteousness, but it is also an effective power that God is producing righteousness in us more and more until the day draws near.
This concept of righteousness from God is critically, critically important.
Because honestly,.
There are two kinds of righteousness. There's the righteousness that comes from God that I've just described to you. And then there is the righteousness that is derived from ourselves and our own efforts and our own striving and our own work.
And I can promise you, if you walk around the campus of Western Michigan University and you talk to those who have at least any kind of Christian background, most people, when asked the question, if I ask them the question, on what basis should God accept you into heaven?
On what basis are you right in God's eyes? I promise you, nine out of ten people will give an answer something like this. I'm a good person. Here are the things that I've done. I've tried to keep God's commands.
I've done A, B, and C. Right column. And in the left column, I have avoided these sins. Okay, we're not going to talk about the ones that I've stumbled into, but I have avoided these sins. So what are you doing when you outline the things that you've done and the sins you've avoided?
When you give God your resume like that, who are you trusting? Yourself. This is a righteousness that is derived from yourself. And it is the foundation of almost every religion in the world. I remember I was sitting in the office of a Muslim man one time, and I offered him a Bible.
And he said, I don't need to read the Bible.
And I said,.
Well, why don't you need to read the Bible? He says, because I already know what it says. I said, well, what does it say? He said, well, it just says be a good person, you know, follow God's commandments, and you'll be right with God and hopefully go to heaven.
Just be a good person. That's what Islam teaches. It's not what the Bible teaches. But he had in his mind this self-created, self-earned righteousness. Friends, can I tell you this? If you don't hear anything else, hear this.
A righteousness derived from self. A righteousness that is earned or self-created is utterly inadequate before God. It cannot reverse the effects of sin. It cannot save you on the day of judgment. It cannot bring new life.
Your resume is insufficient before God. You need the gift of righteousness from God, not a righteousness that derives from your own character. Again, the core issue is dependence. Are you depending on yourself or are you depending on the promise of God?
When a man or woman empties himself or herself of pride and self-effort and says, I am unworthy of any kindness, God, that you might show me. The only thing I deserve is the wrath of God. I cast myself on the finished work of Jesus alone at the cross.
I place my trust and every last bit of it in you. That person is justified and declared righteousness in God's eyes. A right standing is a gift of God received by faith. It is not something that is earned through our own efforts.
And that's reaffirmed in verse 17. Let's look at verse 17. For in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed. Now we're going to find out how this righteousness is applied. A righteousness that is by faith from first to last.
Just as it is written, the righteous will live by faith. The ESV actually gives a more literal translation. It says, for the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. Now this phrase, from faith to faith, is actually the more literal translation.
The NIV takes a little bit of liberty to give kind of an interpretive translation. It's given a lot of rise by scholars as to what this actually means. What does it mean, from faith to faith? Some scholars have said, well maybe it means from Old Testament faith to New Testament faith.
Maybe it means from a less informed faith to a more informed faith. I mean, after all, we see in the lives of the disciples that it says they believed in Jesus. And then a couple of chapters later it says they believed in Jesus.
And you're thinking, well didn't they already believe in Jesus? Well their faith was growing. They were coming to greater and greater degrees of faith. Maybe it means from a smaller faith and a weaker faith to a stronger and greater faith.
Honestly, my thought is all of these interpretations read a little bit too much into the text. I think what Paul is saying here and what the NIV is trying to communicate is that faith is the response that God desires in the gospel hearer.
He's being rhetorical. He's saying that the gospel is both received and retained from start to finish, from beginning to end, by faith. It is by faith alone. And what is faith? Faith means an attitude that acknowledges your insufficiency before God and relies utterly on the sufficiency of God.
It is a cessation of self-effort and clinging to the promise of God revealed in the person of Jesus. The opposite of faith is a self-reliant pride. A pride that says I'm right with God because of some excellency or worthiness in myself.
The gift of righteousness is from beginning to end by faith. And Paul concludes his message with a quote from the book of Habakkuk, chapter 2, verse 4. The righteous will live by faith. Now here's another sentence that scholars like to argue about.
I won't bore you with the details. But I honestly believe if you have an ESV, you'll look down at the bottom. There's a footnote there which gives an alternate translation. And I believe that that is probably the best way to translate this passage.
The ESV footnote, I think, captures it. It says the one who by faith is righteous shall live. If you are righteous in God's eyes, by faith you will live. If this morning you have abandoned your pride and self-effort and instead have cast yourself on the finished work of Jesus at the cross, then God declares you righteous in His sight and you will live.
You will live eternally with Him. You will not be cast into eternal death that we call hell. You will live. If you are right with God by faith, you will live. John 3 .16,. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
If you are righteous by faith, you will live. John 6 .40,. For it is the Father's will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life and I will raise Him up on the last day.
If you are righteous by faith, you will live. John 11 .25, Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection, I am the life. He who believes in Me will live even though he dies. This is the promise of the Gospel that as we are righteous by faith, God will give us life.
This is a message to a lost and dying world from our sovereign God. Let's not be ashamed of it. Let's be eager to share it. Those who are righteous by faith will live. Let's pray together. Father, thank You for the promise of life.
We do not deserve anything from You except maybe judgment. God, I ask that You would just give us eyes to see and hearts to receive Your Gospel. May we be self-emptied. May we embrace Your Gospel by faith alone.
Oh Father, if there is somebody here this morning that is trusting in their own righteousness for salvation, I pray that You would break that pride and that You would bring them to the cross that they may be emptied of self and they believe wholeheartedly in the cross of Christ.
God, I pray that Your Gospel would find deep rooting in our hearts, that we would not be ashamed, but that we would be proud of this message and eager to share it. Father, we commit ourselves to You and we pray in Jesus' name.