Romans 1:16-17

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 to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”^[1]

The ‘gospel’ is the good news of Jesus contained in His own Word. It is good news because it brings salvation to every one who believes. That salvation does not come through simply believing or common ascent but through and by the life changing power of God. This ‘gospel’ is powerful because in it and by it our faith is steadily built up. The Apostle Paul writes that he is not ashamed of this ‘gospel,’ feeling no need to be embarrassed of who he is as a Christian or any fear of sharing it. Instead he understood the powerful effect of owning his faith and unapologetically sharing it with others.

We are living in a time when once again it is dangerous to share our faith or even to reveal we are followers of Jesus. We may not fear bodily harm as some in other parts of our world, but we do fear being labeled and ostracized. We fear being rejected and marginalized and so subscribe to the myth that our faith is a private matter. Our faith is anything but private because it has to everything to do with everything we do.

Perhaps one of the reasons we also hesitate to share our faith, beyond the embarrassment and fear, is that we take on ourselves the burden of how the person with whom we share will respond. The Apostle Paul understood that He was just the evangelist and that the response was the province of the Holy Spirit. The Word is powerful all by itself. It does not need our help, but when accompanied by a life lived in the realm of faith it becomes a powerful tool for transformation.

We are called to live in the realm of faith. This world has plenty of pleasures to offer the believer but they are not enduring and only serve to leave us on the dung heaps of life lost with no hope. A life of faith lived unashamed, on the other hand, brings a life of fulfillment that can be verified by the historical evidence, logical reasoning, and valid testimonies found in the ‘gospel of Jesus Christ.’ Let us resolve to go back and read and study the Word of God that our faith may be built up.

Dear Heavenly Father, you have left us such a powerful repository of transformative knowledge. Forgive us for being so ‘busy’ that we have little time to read it and study it. Forgive us, also, for owning you among other believers but being ashamed of your good news in the market place. Help us today to live more fully in the realm of faith, honoring You with our lives and sharing Your Word with others without fear or shame. Then honor our commitment of faith by vividly demonstrating the power of Your gospel in changed and changing lives as a result of our testimony so that we will see and believe the power of your gospel. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

^[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Ro 1:16–17.