“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. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” Romans 1:16-17
Why would Paul say this? Why would he say that he’s not ashamed of the gospel? The reason is simple – and found in the very next verse: because in it the righteousness of God is revealed. Catch that? A man is embarrassed to tell self-righteous sinners that their sin is so bad, their condition so critical, and God’s holiness so comprehensive, that the only way to salvation is through the cross of Christ. This is the great uniqueness of the gospel for in it, indeed, God’s righteousness is clearly shown. But sin is, for all intents and purposes, self-righteousness. It’s the act of determining good and evil on one’s own terms. Thus, a sinner, in that way, is calling God a liar about His righteousness. He’s saying to God, “You don’t get to determine what’s good and bad, right and wrong, I do!”
But Paul isn’t embarrassed by it. He’s not reluctant to tell the truth of the gospel because he sees in it the integration of both God’s absolute holiness and His mercy. There’s an easy mistake to make and that’s to play one of God’s attributes over against another. Many do this in regard to the gospel. With the gospel of Jesus Christ, God is both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Christ. His holiness demands perfect obedience and punishment for sin. In Christ we have both, so that God’s righteousness is satisfied. He isn’t a sentimental grandparent, slightly senile, just happy to see the kiddies, handing out cash and candy to them regardless of their behavior. No. He’s the holy God who took the sin penalty upon Himself at the cross.
Modern man is quick to talk about God’s love all while hating His holiness. But why have the cross if punishment of sin – the sacrifice – isn’t necessary? And why is sacrifice necessary? It’s surely because God is holy and the wages of sin is death. So, in all, Paul knows, and so should we, that we deserve judgment and wrath because of our sin. Sin isn’t, in this case, a mere abstraction. It’s something we’ve done. It’s who we are apart from Christ. We’re sinners and a sinner is a hater of God who wishes Him dead so that he/she can have their own way with reality even though that would, indubitably, destroy us. God’s mercy is that He has held back the logical consequences of our choice and even now provided His Son so that we may be redeemed.
To struggle with being ashamed of the gospel is, therefore, to not fully understand what’s going on. It’s to fall for the great myth of humanism, which is that we aren’t really that bad, after all. We mean well. Sure, we make some mistakes but we’re good at heart…well, most of us. This is the nonsense we tell ourselves to appease our guilty consciences. In one way of thinking it’s true – that is, if we only compare ourselves to others. If our standard is ourselves, most people aren’t all that bad. Slightly messed up, yes, but certainly not morally depraved. That’s the root of the problem. To compare God’s righteousness to our own is a crazed and preposterous thing to do.
All of this is to arbitrarily dismiss the utter holiness of God. The concept is traumatizing to us. God’s righteousness has been scaring mankind since Adam and Eve hid in the garden. Why? Because His holiness exposes our sin-sick condition. For this reason we’re hardly unbiased. Non-believers hate the righteousness of God in the same way criminals don’t like police.
The answer to this is the very thing we reject: the gospel of Jesus Christ. It allows us access once again to God. It tears down that wall of separation between us because our sin is removed by the perfect sacrifice. This whole affair is folly to the world for the simple reason that it subconsciously and consistently suppresses knowledge of God’s holiness and cherishes its own false righteousness. Paul isn’t deceived.
He’s proud, in fact, and so should we be. The day that Christians are ashamed of God’s righteousness is the day they’ve lost the power of the gospel. What the world needs is salvation from sin and only the gospel will bring it because all other attempts are based on the false notion that man can work his way back to God on his own terms. Christianity is the religion of Jesus Christ. All religions are the same save for this one because they all have the same premise: that we’re not so bad that we can’t fix ourselves through some observance or ritual.
Also, and this shouldn’t be missed, especially in this day when the history of the faith is either unknown (even within the church) and/or mischaracterized and maligned. The truth of Jesus Christ is advanced through preaching. This is to say that it’s not advanced through force or government programs, policies or regulations. Any and all attempts by men – either individually or through some organization – to make themselves and others righteous must and will fail because salvation is from the Lord. Salvation by any other means than by Christ are man-made. But since men are dead in sin that’s like giving a corpse aspirin. There is no remedy to sin and death but the cross of Jesus Christ.
Paul has been imprisoned in Philippi (Acts 16:23,24), chased out of Thessalonica (Acts 17:10), smuggled out of Berea (Acts 17:14), mocked in Athens (Acts 17:32), regarded as a fool in Corinth (1 Co 1:8,23) and even stoned in Galatia (Acts 14:19). Nevertheless, he remains eager to preach the gospel.
Furthermore, the gospel was proclaimed through debates and reasoning, not force. They engaged any and all who opposed the truth about Christ – with ideas, not weapons or government force! And all were defeated in these debates, to the praise of God (1 Co 1:20-25, 31)! They lost and responded predictably, either by mob violence or by complaining to the authorities and lying about the apostles (Acts 16:20-21). Jason, in Acts 17, after Paul had reasoned with the Jews in the synagogue at Thessalonica, became jealous and formed a mob, setting the city in an uproar (Acts 17:2-9). Jason was lied about to the officials and only after paying a bond was he given his freedom.
The thing to remember is that Paul was always reasoning with unbelievers. Christianity is the faith of reason and peace. As Christ went to the cross without a fight, for our sake and our redemption, so must we be peaceable and meek in our demeanor, yet bold with the truth. Paul was not ashamed to talk about sin because he knew the righteousness and love of Christ. This is the big idea of the gospel and it conquers all. Sinners will sometimes respond with hostility to it because it exposes their great problem: the holiness of God.
The thing to remember is that in Christ, through faith, we have perfect righteousness imputed to us. This is God’s doing, not our own. So, this is precisely what we should be proud of. To be ashamed of the gospel is to be convinced of the righteousness of men, not God. The trick to living the good life in Christ is to marvel at the righteousness of God for in it the mercy of Christ shines brightest.
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