?For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.?

This morning we want to camp for a while at Romans 1:16 in order to ask and answer for ourselves the question ?are you ashamed of Jesus??

Many will say to themselves that they are not ashamed of Jesus. But what about the ?Gospel of God??

Paul began the letter to the Romans telling them that he was ?separated? to the gospel of God which was promised in the Old Testament.

The Old Testament foretold of the coming Messiah. Paul says that the prophets of the Old Testament preached the ?gospel? (?good news? or ?glad tidings?) about Jesus Christ our Lord who was declared to be the Son of God.

Several passages clearly teach and foretell about the coming Messiah. Take for example Psalm 2 verse 7 and 12:

Psalm 2:7: "I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.?

Psalm 2:12 ?Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.?

During this season we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and the widely accepted passage of Christmas has to be Isaiah 9:6:

?For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.?

Paul continued his letter by stating that the gospel or ?good news? was all about Jesus Christ. That may seem to be a simple statement, but it bears reminding that the whole of Christianity, our faith, our hope, our life is based on the simple but profound truth that the gospel is about Jesus Christ.

There are three things we want to understand this morning. The first is that the gospel of Jesus Christ is a simple message. That is not to say that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not profound and in many ways doctrinally and theologically complex and difficult. It is simple in the sense it is as easy for a child to understand and believe in.
There are so many myths and untruths concerning the gospel of Jesus Christ that we can hardly cover them all in one morning. In fact I am not going to even cover them. Throughout this study perhaps you will be able to recognize the myths and untruths concerning the gospel.

Paul was ready to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ because he was ?not ashamed of the gospel? of Jesus Christ. There were many in Paul?s days as there are in our day which will laugh and scoff at our belief in the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I. The Simplicity of the Gospel

Let?s look at Ephesians 1:3-14 this morning.

There are several aspects to the gospel which make it seem very difficult to understand. In the first place Paul uses the words ?chose? and ?predestined? in regard to our salvation. Those words are difficult for westerners to hear because it takes away any ?goodness? or ?worthiness? on our part and gives God the glory for saving us.

Secondly, and maybe even more difficult is the words ?blood? and ?sin.? The simple message of the gospel cannot be sanitized by removing or downplaying the message of the cross which included the brutality and reality of the blood of Christ as well as the dark truth of sin which separates us from God.

The third and sometimes the most objectionable aspect of the gospel is the simple way in which we receive forgiveness and salvation. It is through ?trust? and ?belief.?

Why trust and belief? In James 2:19 it says that even the demons believe in God and they tremble. But they do not trust God.

Paul tells the Ephesians that after they heard the message of Jesus Christ, they trusted in Him and believed the claims of Jesus and were sealed with the Holy Spirit.


II. The Power of the Gospel
1 Thessalonians 1:5
III. The Person of the Gospel
2 Timothy 1:8 ? 14

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Published on: 2006-01-01 (1804 reads)