*Washington DC…simply “D.C.”
*It is the center of the world’s, superpower…”hegemony” (hedge-em-mah-knee)
*Hegemony: Dominance of a single nation over all others…that’s us at this point in history.
*Many people around the world long to be citizens of the US…it confers great privilege and opportunity.
*DC is home of “POTUS”…the acronym for the most powerful human on the planet…president of the united states.
*His every move is tracked round the clock in command centers and over watched by military power.
*DC is a place where it is easy to lose your mind.
*DC can create its own reality…unreality
-The most important time in history is right now, the most important thing is what I am doing.
*Never mind that there are massive monuments that the world’s most powerful people can see every day that speak of long dead former most powerful people.
*Lincoln’s statue is larger than life, Washington’s monument is taller still…but the guys they memorialize are long, long gone.
*Just like the folks who are the most powerful now will be someday.
It’s not that their work isn’t important…it’s just that their importance is very temporary and limited.
*Rome was the DC of Paul’s time…but even more so…it was not just a capital city of a ruling nation…it was the city that ruled the world.
Rome was the hegemony of its time.
Being a citizen of Rome, like Paul was, conferred special privileges and protections.
Paul lived during a period known as the “Roman peace” (Pax Romana)
Rome ruled the world and there was in the vast Roman empire…
1. Relative peace (no major wars)
2. Roads (you could travel easily for the first time between regions)
-They were built so the Army could get places quickly and supplies could reach them as they deployed…not weather dependent…paved
-In 4 years (around the time that Paul wrote Romans)…1000 miles of paved roads were built.
3. A Common Language (you could go anywhere in the empire and find Greek speakers)
*Much like English today
4. A Common Culture…not that there weren’t diverse cultures, but the Roman culture had spread to extent that there were points of contact all across the empire.
Because of these unique features it was the best possible time for the gospel to spread…Paul traveled around 15,000 land and sea miles planting churches…taking advantage of his Roman citizenship…the peace, the roads, the language, and cultural commonalities.
And like our DC…Rome was then, a place where unreality reigned.
They were controlling the known world, it was a place of culture, arts, wealth, education, military power, and a drive for sensual pleasure.
All time was now, and there was nowhere more important in the world to be.
The emperor Claudius kicked the Jews out of Rome in 49AD
It was because the Jews were fighting over some guy named “Chrestos”
A corruption of the name “Christos”…Christ.
He kicked them all out…Christian and non-christian Jew alike…he didn’t have time for that nonsense.
Claudius was the most important person, in the most important city,…he would have none of their intramural fighting over some unimportant dead Jew named Crestos or Christ…or whatever.
So…get out!
But five years later…the Jews were back in Rome…but Claudius was no longer there.
Where was he? He was dead.
Poisoned…most likely by his own wife.
So, Paul is writing to the church…made up of Gentile and Jewish followers of Christ in Rome…in the very heart of the world’s superpower.
A church made famous both for its location and its diversity…a church that was a miracle of the gospel…but still in need of further understanding of the power of the gospel.
Let’s read two verses from Paul’s letter.
Rom. 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
Some say that = the rest of Romans is commentary on those two verses.
Three things we will look closely at
1. Paul is not ashamed of the gospel
2. Because the power of God for everyone’s salvation is revealed in the gospel
3. The gospel has the power to save because it reveals the righteousness of God
A. Not ashamed of the gospel
I have long seen this verse as evidence that Paul was a courageous, fearless…champion…full speed ahead…bold as a lion.
That challenged me.
I have seen this verse wrongly…the truth is even more challenging.
He was a courageous, champion of the faith…but he didn’t perceive of himself as being that way.
I told my granddaughter Norah, when we are at coffee a few weeks ago that I think she is remarkable…she has endured a lot in her short life…I think she has endured very well for a child.
She looked puzzled, when I said it…so I asked, “Do you know remarkable means?”
“Yes” She said nodded.
Then I realized what I was seeing on her face…she knew what it meant, but she didn’t think it applied to her.
I said…”Norah, truly remarkable people never actually feel remarkable, they just are.”
Paul was remarkable…but he didn’t see himself that way.
1Cor. 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
*Earlier in that letter he wrote this…
“I didn’t come with eloquence or great wisdom when I told you about the gospel…because I was resolved to not make it about me…because clearly it’s not about me…it is about Jesus…If you want to know the truth…I came in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.”
1 Corinthians 2
“But that’s okay…because my message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.”
Paul knew himself…he knew how others often perceived of him.
In 2 Cor he wrote “some say this about me…His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.”
So, imagine as he is preaching he hears people in the audience whisper “That’s the guy who wrote that letter we’ve been passing around…look at him, listen to him…he’s just a normal guy.”
*Acts 26…Paul was telling the governor of Judea about the gospel, and the governor couldn’t take it anymore…he interrupted him…shouting…
“You are out of your mind! Your great learning is driving you insane.”
That encounter was part of what eventually got him to Rome at long last…but as a prisoner.
Paul was not an impressive person, tradition says he was not much to look at physically.
So I don’t think he said “I am not ashamed of the gospel” because he was full of such confidence…in fact we know why he was not ashamed…he tells us directly.
“Because it is the power of God.”
This was not a declaration of self-confidence “I’m not ashamed…because I am Paul and I don’t get embarrassed or afraid.”
His confidence was based on the power of God not himself.
The first century, when Paul lived…and places where Paul went…were not more open or more friendly to the gospel than Wichita is in 2025…not more open than your workplace, or school, or neighborhood.
*In fact, the opposite is probably true.
I say this as a reminder that the gospel spread in a time and in places that were openly hostile to the faith…it still does
Aaron addressed this two weeks ago.
We must not use the opposition we face or insecurity and inadequacy we feel, as reasons to back off or back down on speaking and living the truth of the gospel.
Certainly, we are not to do this in annoying, intentionally controversial ways…but we must kindly and calmly…live an unashamed of the gospel kind life.
So don’t read this “I am not ashamed” as Paul communicating great feelings of self-confidence, adequacy, never having hesitation or being intimidated…this is clearly not so.
Read the entire verse…”I am ashamed of the gospel because.”
Because of what Paul?
B. Because it is the power of the God for the salvation for everyone who believes.
Everyone has a worldview…it is the fundamental perspective from which one addresses every issue of life.
Alvin Toffler said that “Every person carries in his head a mental model of the world–a subjective representation of external reality.”
We see “out there” what we are seeing “in here.”
Some conclude…all perspective is subjective (in here) and the real “out there” is unknowable.
*So “you have your truth and I have my truth”… is the prevailing belief system…because we can’t really know true truth.
This is of course nonsense, but it is assumed by people who don’t even know they have a worldview.
People believe things, that shape what they value, that determine what they do…how they live.
If I believe that “truth is unknowable”
What I most value is… “What makes me feel good, what gives me comfort, security.””
What I will do then is “live for myself”
What we believe shapes what we value shapes what we do.
Worldviews matter in the most practical of all possible ways…its not just that what we “see” in here is what we “see” out there…its another step…
What we “see” in here…inevitably is what we “do” out there…and who we will become.
People often shape their own worldview, then it shapes them…or misshapes them.
A philosopher named Wittgenstein, an early post-modernist…believed that no one can really have a coherent worldview…because its impossible to really know what is real.
What has he just done when he says that no can have a worldview?
He has given us his worldview…it is a self-refuting statement.
Its like saying “There are no absolutes; everything is relative”…a statement that, if true, is false.
In the same way his anti-worldview is a world-view…everyone has one…you cannot escape it.
But there is only one ultimate reality…so not everyone’s view of the world is true.
I am not chasing rabbits here…this ties into the power of the gospel.
Gospel means “good news”…it is the good news of the power of God to save all who believe.
This is a statement of exclusivity…the gospel above all other belief systems…all other religions, all other worldviews…is the one that is real, true, and matches what is out there.
You can see when Paul said he is not ashamed of the gospel…it is because it is THE power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.
As he traveled 15,000 miles proclaiming the gospel and planting churches for 20 years prior to writing this letter to the church at Rome…how many different worldviews do you think he encountered?
How many of those who held those belief systems…believed they were right? 100%
Paul was beaten, stoned, imprisoned because what he was convinced of ran counter to the prevailing belief systems of his time…and those belief systems are always tied to values and then to actions.
The gospel, like all claims to truth…messes with how we live…not just how we think.
Ultimately what we do flows from what we believe.
So Paul is not ashamed of the gospel…BECAUSE…it is the power of God for salvation.
He may have felt intimidated, or insecure…but ultimately what drove his actions…was what he really believed.
The gospel is God’s power for our Salvation:
-From sin and death
-To relationship with God…and all that that relationship entails.
About 8 years Aaron Lewis did CPR on a man in the WSU library when he was a student there.
Physically speaking Aaron saved him both from something and to something.
He saved him from physical death (temporarily of course)…Aaron resuscitated the man he didn’t resurrect him.
But also saved him to more physical life…more time with future kids, grandkids…friends, service, meals, walks.
But maybe he saved the man to go on and do evil things.
In a similar way we are saved by the gospel from the results of separation from God and saved to the results of relationship with God.
This salvation is for everyone who believes
This is the inclusive nature of the exclusive gospel.
The gospel is an invitation to all to leave what it not real and true, and believe…value…do what is real and true.
Not just a change of mind about theological facts…a change of everything.
There is only one way…but all are invited to this one way
First for the Jew…they were the first to receive the invitation…and God still has an open invitation to them.
Then for everyone else (non-Jews).
Paul is not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe, because in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed.
C. The righteousness of God revealed in the gospel
The gospel, the good news, the message of what God has done in Jesus Christ reveals…God’s righteousness.
Its very important to know what this phrase means…it is the turning point for this passage.
I should say it’s very important that we know how this verse “lives”
It is mean to be lived not merely comprehended.
God’s righteousness:
There are several ways people have viewed this phrase.
Martin Luther before his conversion saw this merely as a description of God’s character…he is holy, just, does what is right.
This was certainly not good news for a man acutely aware of his own sins…God’s righteousness in this sense only revealed his hopelessness.
When Luther realized that God’s righteousness was not just a standard by which we fail to measure up(it is this)…but it is also a gift by which we are set free…his life was changed.
Righteousness from God.
This is describing God’s gift to us and his power in us in the gospel.
When we by faith, believe the gospel and receive God’s gift…we are declared “not guilty” and at the same time we are plugged into a new source of power for change to live out this righteousness.
Legal righteousness (being declared “not guilty) precedes moral righteousness (heart change over time).
President Trump, like all presidents has the authority (power) to pardon those guilty of crimes.
This authority has been increasingly abused but it is there none the less.
Trump can commute a sentence (shorten it) or he can pardon a sentence…erase it…he cannot, however, provide new power to change a person’s heart and life.
Aaron helped that man’s heart resume beating in the WSU library…but he could not change his heart.
I read years ago of a man who helped a young boy gain the ability to use his legs.
-The man enlisted the help of others to pay for and perform surgery and physical therapy that empowered the child to walk.
-He kept up with the boy as he grew to be a man…many years later he said this…
“I wish I could say that he went on to become a teacher or doctor or really anything other than what he did become…a murderer who will spend his life in prison.”
Then he said this…”I helped him learn to how to walk but I didn’t help him learn where to walk.”
*Maybe he tried…but we cannot change hearts…only God can.
God has pardoned us through Christ…he has laid on him our guilt…we are declared not guilty.
But God has also given us the power through his Spirit to live in freedom…increasingly so as we walk in obedience to him.
The order is important here…the pardon precedes the change.
We do not clean ourselves up first…we cannot…we come as we are.
We do not earn the pardon by our actions…but the pardon will show up in in our actions.
So let’s go on…
Paul says that this gift and power of God is by “faith from first to last.”
My understanding of what this phrase means is that what we experience in the Gospel…relationship with God that transforms the rest of our lives is always about faith…it never really about our ability or efforts.
Faith from first to last…doesn’t mean that effort doesn’t matter, it just means that effort doesn’t earn.
When I was a boy I wanted to be near my dad because I enjoyed his presence and his pleasure.
-I put forth effort to please him and be near him…not to earn what I didn’t have, but to experience what I wanted more of…him.
This is even more true of God.
What God does to declare us “not guilty” is received through faith.
What God does to make us “like Christ” is also about faith.
*What Paul calls “the obedience of faith” is not “obedience leading to faith” but “faith leading to obedience”
*Faith receives the gift…the gift changes both our status before God (we are not guilty) and our essential orientation in life…we are free and we want to move farther into that freedom.
*The righteousness of God that has been revealed is a past, present, future reality.
*Justification: We have been saved: declared “not guilty”
*Sanctification: We are being saved: becoming more like Christ…learning to live in his freedom.
*Glorification: We will be saved: the final transformation of our whole selves in the future.
*All this is from God…by faith, from first to last.
III. APPLICATION
Sometimes when have I shared the gospel I have used an illustration about trying to “jump to Hawaii”
Imagine the entire human race is lined up on the California Coast…in order to be saved you must jump to Hawaii…several thousand miles away.
The very worse jumper…simply falls off the shore into the surf.
The very best jumper…goes significantly farther…almost 30 feet, that’s the world long jump record.
In comparison to one another…there is a huge difference (30 feet vs. maybe a foot)
But in comparison to the goal, the place of safety…they are both equally, hopelessly far away…thousands of miles away.
The gospel is good news…that’s the meaning of the word…because it announces that God accepts us as we currently are.
We don’t look around and compare with each other…that is a silly and useless comparison.
I read about a pastor who died…someone close to him said he was “The greatest Christian since Jesus.”
First of all, Jesus was not a Christian…he was the Christ.
Second…it is an empty statement…in the end, when we are in the presence of the Lord Jesus…the maker of heaven and earth…there will be no comparison…there is no comparison now.
Not us to him…or us to each other…we are all equally hopeless without him…and equally hopeful with him.
All we have to do is receive his offer in faith…a faith that will by its very nature be accompanied by growing obedience.
If you have not transferred your trust to Christ…would you do so this morning?
You will never become acceptable to God through your own efforts.
Perhaps you are a Christian but feel perpetually hopeless…inadequate…always falling short.
Your feelings of failure and inadequacy may be well founded…and even helpful if they drive you continually to God.
But feelings of insecurity about your relationship with Christ are not helpful…or useful.
Scripture says it is important that we know we know…not hope, that we have eternal life.
No good father would keep his child guessing as to whether that child is loved and accepted.
It doesn’t mean the father accepts all that the child does…that is not a good father.
But the Father accepts even as he continually corrects.
*Example: Two very different ways of living
1. A person who fails to live up to what they know God would want them to be and do but who is secure in his or her relationship with God.
*Not taking God for granted…but failing and then moving back toward God and being forgiven.
*Failure in this case does not lead to rejection or wrath…failure leads to correction, and redirection…and restored relationship.
*Failure leads to repentance and grace…and grace leads to hope for ongoing change.
2. A person who fails to live up to what they know God would want to them to be and do and is insecure in his or her relationship with God.
*Failure for them feels fatal…failure breeds more failure…failure breeds fear of trying…fear of being exposed.
*Failure leads to faking…”I’m supposed to be better than this…I cannot let anyone see the truth.”
*Failure leads to despair…”What’s the use, why try?”
These two ways to live are described in what I call:
Hide and slide and Mess up, fess up, move on
1. Hide and Slide (insecurity)
2. Mess up, Fess up, Move on (Security)
2 Cor. 7:10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
1 John 1:9