“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
And here, by way of introduction, is Paul’s entire point of the letter wrapped up in a simple aphorism. He states emphatically, that he is not ashamed of the gospel (Cf. Mark 8:38), then explains why.
In the first place, ἐπαισχύνομαι (ashamed) means to experience a painful feeling or sense of loss of status because of some particular event or activity. For Paul, who had quite the resume amongst the jewish rulers and community, believing and preaching the good news of Jesus Christ’s death, burial and resurrection was no loss of status, and it was certainly worth suffering for. Actually, it was worth more than anything else in this world (Cf.Philippians 3:4-11).
The reason why is that he understood the value, the scope, and the efficacy of the gospel he preached. It was the power of God unto salvation (Cf. 1 Corinthians 1:18). It was for everyone who believes—Jew and Greek alike (Cf. Galatians 3:28 and Romans 10:12). It revealed God’s righteousness—both God’s attribute as revealed in the person of Jesus Christ and our standing as possessing the righteousness of God imputed in the person of Jesus Christ—from faith to/for faith.
That is, the gospel is based on faith through and through. God’s faithfulness sends Christ (Cf. Romans 3:21-22). Our faith is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-10) that enables us to grasp Christ. We demonstrate that faith in God’s promise by growing up into faithful men and women of God (Ephesians 4:13-15).
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