Title: Gospel of Power/Romans 1:14-17
Believers should know that not all problems of faith can be solved with a confession of 'I believe in the Lord'. People who call themselves believers are making countless confessions of 'believing', but the reason they are shaken and show weak faith is because they do not know the spiritual gifts. In other words, because it is not a faith that is deeply immersed in the meaning of the true gospel, it is inevitable to show a faith that is shaken from time to time without joy and stability.
Verse 14 says, “I am indebted to both Greeks and barbarians, both wise and foolish.” It is often said with this verse, 'We are indebted to the gospel'. 'How could the gospel have come to our country if missionaries had not come in the past? The reason why the gospel has been so prosperous in our country and churches have been established throughout the country is because all the missionaries did not hesitate to come to our country and do missionary work. We owe the gospel. Now you have to pay that debt. To that end, we must also diligently send out missionaries.' Doesn't almost everyone say this? It is a claim to pay off debts for the gospel.
But if we really owe God the gospel debt, can we pay that debt? If it is the debt of the gospel, it is of course the debt of life. Will we be able to repay the debt of life? Can we give life to others? When the Apostle Paul said that he was a debtor, he did not mean that he had to share the gospel with others so that they would believe it because he had received the gospel.
So, who is in debt? If God made us know the gospel, it was not meant to be saved and live well. Numerous characters in the Bible are called by God. All of these people were called as instruments of God's plan, not to save individuals. So, being called by God means that you have something to do. In other words, he was called as a vessel to contain the gospel. Therefore, the job of those who are called is to preach the gospel with the gospel. 'God made me know the gospel and the Lord Jesus Christ so that he can use me as a vessel to share the gospel'. This is the heart of the debtor.
Then, why does God call someone to make the gospel known and share the gospel? The reason is that there are God's chosen people in the world. It is God's work to save His people from their sins. After all, Paul said 'debtor' because he knew that 'someone like me was called not because I am precious, but because there are God's chosen people in the world'. In other words, I was not called because I was good, but because of you. This is the meaning of the debtor.
That's why the Apostle Paul says in verse 15, "Therefore, as far as possible, I want to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome." The word 'therefore' has the meaning of concluding the preceding statement. In other words, 'I was called because of you. Therefore, I want to preach the gospel to you in Rome as well.'
So are we today. People stop thinking that God made him a believer because he loved me. However, if God loves us and calls us to go to heaven, why would he keep us alive in the world? We are alive in the world, not because of my strength, not because I am good, but because I have work to do. Its job is to preach the gospel. Preaching the gospel means that there is a chosen one who needs to know the gospel and come to God. In the end, we must know that we are called by God and are alive today not because of our personal lives, but because there is a work God wants to do through us. I am alive because of someone. This is living as a debtor. Because of this, you have nothing to do but share the gospel.
It doesn't matter when the gospel is preached in our country. Also, the day the missionaries came in is not the day the gospel came in. The important thing is whether we know the true gospel now. What if there were churches all over the country? The question is whether there is a spiritual gift that Paul wanted to share, that is, the true gospel of Christ. When Christianity says that religion does not lead us to Christ, but the gospel leads us to Christ, who is the true life, what we need to examine deeply today is 'Do I know the true Gospel?' And if you know the gospel, if the Lord Jesus Christ lives in your heart, you must not forget that God made me know the Lord because of someone other than me. And the gospel must be shared through you.
Then how do we live to share the gospel? Again, sharing the gospel doesn't just mean talking about Jesus. Verse 16 says, “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.” What we should think about in these words is that we are not ashamed of the gospel, and that the gospel is the power of God to all who believe.
Not being ashamed of the gospel does not mean praying in a restaurant without paying attention to others or pushing out tracts to people walking by. These are not abilities. The gospel doesn't require us to do anything, and power is not a power given to get us to do something.
To understand the apostle Paul's words that he is not ashamed of the gospel, we need to understand the meaning of the word 'shameful'. Last Wednesday's sermon also talked about what humans feel ashamed of. It is a sinful human nature to feel shame. Shame is the feeling that humans and humans feel about themselves that they lack compared to the other person. In other words, shame is an emotion that appears in competition and comparison. However, the shame in the Bible refers to the shame before God, not the shame that appears in the comparison between humans and humans. God is holy and pure. Dirty people can't help but feel ashamed in front of them. A person who feels ashamed will act to cover up his or her shame. After eating the forbidden fruit, what Adam did when he realized that he was naked was to cover himself with fig leaves. A believer's effort to work hard before God can also be said to be an effort to become a human being who is not ashamed. It is human beings who try not to expose their shame by covering them with ethics and religious behavior.
But God removes the fig leaves and puts his own skin on them. This means that God will hide the shame and shame of mankind in the future. In the end, the meaning is clearly revealed by the blood of Jesus that covers all our shame and transgressions. Therefore, believers in Jesus do not come to God with shame and shame because of the gospel, but as people of righteousness whose shame and faults are hidden in Christ. This is the power of the gospel. That is why we say that we are not ashamed of the gospel.
We are not ashamed of anyone. As the people of God clothed with the righteousness of Christ, who will put us to shame? No one can put me to shame, so why should I be afraid of people? If you know Christ and live by the blood of Christ, there is no need for anyone to fear or be ashamed. There is no need to be ashamed of not being able to pray, no need to be ashamed of not knowing the Bible, and no need to be ashamed of not being able to evangelize. There is no need to be ashamed of being poor or illiterate. The righteousness of Christ covers all our transgressions, so why are we conscious of people and feel shame in front of them? Being ashamed of yourself in shabby clothes in front of those in good clothes, all these things are because you believe in Jesus without the power of the gospel. You should know that this is not sharing the gospel.