Paul and the Gospel (Romans 1:16-17)

This sermon was preached on 29/6/2014

So far, in looking at Paul’s introduction to this letter, we have thought about his greetings to them (1:1-7) and his description of his prayers for them (1:8-15). In this third sermon on the words of his introduction we will consider how Paul regarded the gospel and how he summarised it. Of course, some do not regard these verses as part of the introduction, but see them as a kind of heading that describes the message of the Letter to the Romans. Whether they are part of the introduction or not does not really matter as long as we understand the meaning of Paul’s words.

The apostle’s attitude

Paul informs his readers of the outlook he had with regard to the gospel, which was that he was not ashamed of it. As we think about this response, it is obviously a personal one, which leads us to consider what kind of person Paul was.

To begin with, we can notice that Paul was a man with a towering intellect. He tells us that he studied at the feet of Gamaliel, the famous Jewish rabbi, which is a reminder that Paul had grasped the teachings of Judaism. His mind could take in the profoundest thoughts of those who had contemplated the ways in which God had revealed himself to Israel. In addition, Luke describes for us Paul’s encounter with the philosophers on the Areopagus in Athens and how he was able to quote their famous philosophers from the past and interact with their present ideas, or lack of them, about the unknown areas of existence. Paul was able to assess the greatest thoughts of the ancient world as well as the greatest ideas of Judaism. His assessment was that there was nothing in the message of Jesus about which a person should be ashamed in an intellectual sense.

Further we know that Paul was an individual with powerful emotions. He did not merely assess things in detached ways, instead he felt them. Indeed Luke tells us about what Paul felt when he saw the statues on the Areopagus and how his spirit was disturbed within him when he observed their ignorance about God and their wrong ways of depicting him. We know that some people can discuss important issues clinically. Paul was not such a person. Instead his whole man was involved in all that he thought. He hated what he considered to be wrong and he loved what he believed to be right. He was also sorry about what was wrong and delighted in what was right. The gospel had brought joy into Paul’s heart and therefore he was not ashamed of it; the gospel had brought peace into his soul and therefore he was not ashamed of it.

Again we can think that Paul was a very determined man regarding his choices. The one thing that can be said about him is that he could not be forced to do anything against his will. Some people can be ashamed inwardly of something but force themselves to affirm it outwardly because of other pressures on them, such as what can happen in the political world when a decision is made that a person feels embarrassed about. Paul was not such a person. His will was an expression of his desire to please God, and what pleased him about God was the gospel of his grace.

Are there any other reasons why Paul affirmed here that he was not ashamed of the gospel? One would have been the awareness that others had become ashamed of it because of opposition to the message of Jesus. The Christians in Rome would have been aware of persecution elsewhere and indeed even in Rome previously when Priscilla and Aquila were forced to leave there. So Paul would have wanted to assure the Roman believers that he was not like those who had become ashamed of the gospel because there was an element of danger connected to it.

They would also have been aware that some, particularly Jewish people who had begun to follow Jesus, had adjusted the gospel in order to reduce the possibility of trouble from their fellow Jews. Had Paul become like them? He assures them that he had not moved an inch from what the gospel contained and required. Compromise was not an option for Paul with regard to the gospel.

No doubt Paul was aware of the teaching of Jesus concerning those who were ashamed of him. The Saviour had warned people that if they were ashamed of him in this life he would be ashamed of them on the Day of Judgement. Paul did not want to endure such a future response from his Master. Therefore he was not ashamed of Jesus anywhere, whether in a palace or in a prison, whether speaking to the crowds or to an individual.

The challenge for us is that Paul here is not stating the aspiration of a hopeful man who wished to be something in the future. Instead here is the outlook of an honest man as he faced his immediate circumstances. Since his conversion Paul could look within and find no sense of being ashamed of Jesus and he could look without and say that there had not been a circumstance where anyone could say he had been ashamed. I wish I could say that, but I cannot. But we can resolve to be like Paul in this regard from now on.

What would someone say of me if I was ashamed of my father? He always did what was good for me. It would be terrible if I denied somewhere that he was my father because others did not like him. It would be terrible if I kept quiet in the presence of those who chose to deride him. If that is the case with that kind of earthly relationship, what can be said about me when I am ashamed of the One who has done far more for me than my earthly parents could? I cannot think of one justifiable reason for why a person who understands it and has experienced its benefits should be ashamed of the gospel.

The apostle’s awareness

Paul could have said many things about the gospel as he introduced himself to his readers. Of course, he knew that he would elaborate on such aspects later in this letter. What aspect would we have chosen if we were wanting to mention one feature as we began a letter? No doubt it would depend on the circumstances we were in and in which the recipients were in. Paul here chose to highlight the fact that the gospel was the power of God. After all, he was writing to those who lived in the city whose rulers imagined that they possessed the greatest power available on the earth.

Those inhabitants would have heard about the powerful messages from the leaders of Rome as they described the ways in which their security would be ensured, no matter the abilities of those threatening their empire. So they would have grasped something about the importance and meaning of power. Could there be a greater power than that of political and military Rome? The answer of Paul was yes, and it was explained in and contained in a message, the message of the gospel.

Of course, Paul is not saying that all aspects of God’s power is revealed in the gospel. Instead he reminds his readers of important features of his power that are connected to the gospel. What are they? It is a power that delivers and not destroys, it is a power that is easy to receive, and it is a power that unites what nothing else could bring together.

We can see that it is a power that delivers in Paul’s use of the word ‘salvation’. What kind of salvation does Paul have in mind? He is concerned with deliverance from divine judgement. Later in this first chapter of Romans he will describe this awful prospect, and will do so elsewhere in the letter as well. The only way in which this delivering power is revealed, says Paul, is in the gospel.

The apostle depicts the easiness of experiencing this delivering power when he tells his readers that it is known by those who have faith in the One the gospel describes. We can imagine that it would be with difficulty that an individual could obtain access to Caesar and experience his power. In contrast, through the gospel it is easy to approach God and speak to him and experience his power. Faith is dependence on Christ, says the gospel message. Does the gospel envisage such faith to be an arduous experience? Of course, we have to watch out for false faith, but the possibility of false faith is not a reason for suggesting that true faith becomes complicated and difficult. Nor can we make the problems encountered in the life of faith a reason for suspecting that faith in the saving work of Jesus must be obscure and complex. The question is, when we hear the gospel do we believe that Jesus provides salvation from the penalty of divine judgement on our sins?

In addition to showing its power in salvation and in its availability to all, the gospel also shows its power when it brings together those who embrace it. Paul here mentions the big divide that existed between Jews and Gentiles, and how there was a complete separation between them. The gospel brought them together through first coming to the Jews and then going to the Gentiles. Paul was writing to a church in which Jews and Gentiles existed together. Later in the letter he will deal with complications that some Jews felt through having contact with Gentiles. Such had lost sight of the great wonder that had taken place when the gospel had united them together. The gospel does what nothing else can do – it removes all barriers caused by sin, whether the barriers of age, class or race.

The content of Paul’s gospel

The word ‘gospel’ means good news. Merely repeating the word without an understanding of what it signifies is to say nothing. What do we mean when we say that the gospel can do this or that? Paul here provides a definition of the gospel. He is not providing a slogan. A slogan is a kind of statement that entices a person in without saying everything that is important (indeed often it does so without saying anything that is important, which is the problem of many sound bites that are expressed today). In contrast, a definition is meant to highlight the important and cause the listener to think about the message.

What is the Christian gospel about? Paul says it is concerned with the righteousness of God, which must lead us to ask what the righteousness of God is. We can answer the question by saying that it is something that God is, it is something that God requires and it is something that God provides, and when we see the righteousness of God in these ways we will understand the gospel.

When we say that God is righteous, we are saying that he is upright and opposed to sin, that he will not love, practice or tolerate unrighteousness. All he does, he does righteously and for his own glory. They are connected together, which is a reminder that anything that is not done for God’s glory is unrighteous.

Because God is perfect, he knows what righteousness is. Because God is sovereign, he requires righteousness from his subjects. If he does not insist on righteousness he would cease to be perfect. Because he is the judge of all his creatures, he will punish them for unrighteousness and reward them for righteousness. He has summarised his righteous requirements in the Ten Commandments, although we must remember that these requirements are not limited to a mere external conformity as Paul himself had once imagined. The righteousness that God requires is constant and perfect conformity to his requirements. Paul will deal with our relationship to God’s law in Romans, both as fallen creatures and as forgiven sinners, and explain in more detail several aspects of it.

The problem we have with God’s righteousness is not that it is too demanding. It was not hard for Adam to keep God’s requirements before he disobeyed him in the Garden of Eden. It will not be hard for God’s redeemed people to keep God’s requirements in heaven. In the present, the problem we have as sinners is our inability to keep God’s requirements. We are responsible to keep them, but we cannot do so. Even worse, we do not even want to do so as sinners. But God continues to require us to do so.

The good news of the gospel is that the righteous God provides righteousness for the unrighteous. The righteousness that he provides was worked out by Jesus when he lived and died on earth. He obeyed the law for us and paid its penalty for us. This righteousness is freely offered to us. It is a perfect righteousness that once received is ours forever.

How do we receive it? Paul tells us in this verse, by faith. There have been a variety of ways in which the phrase ‘from faith to faith’ has been interpreted. Some say it means that the righteous life is a life of faith, that it cannot be lived without faith in God (and Paul’s use of the phrase from Habakkuk that the just will live by faith would seem to agree with that interpretation). Others say that Paul means the harmony of faith found in Jews and Gentiles (it was first found in the Jews and then found in Gentiles, which is true, but may not be the truth intended here). Another view is that Paul is suggesting that the faith of each believer develops, becomes stronger, which again is true, but it is impossible to imagine Paul suggesting that a person with a strong faith is more righteous than a person with weak faith – we are classified as righteous not because of the strength of our faith but because of the Object of our faith, Jesus. So I would suggest that the phrase means that the righteous live by faith in Christ, which is the message of the Book of Romans.