Romans – A Treatise
Chapter One
THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL
Scripture Reading: verses 16-18
FOR I AM NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST: FOR IT IS THE POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION TO EVERY ONE THAT BELIEVETH; TO THE JEW FIRST, AND ALSO TO THE GREEK. FOR THEREIN IS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD REVEALED FROM FAITH TO FAITH: AS IT IS WRITTEN, THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH. FOR THE WRATH OF GOD IS REVEALED FROM HEAVEN AGAINST ALL UNGODLINESS AND UNRIGHTEOUSNESS OF MEN, WHO HOLD THE TRUTH IN UNRIGHTEOUSNESS.
These verses present a large subject. They find their center in the expression the opening lines of the Epistle: “the gospel of God concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” Paul is the great herald who is preaching the Name which he at one time trampled under foot, the Name of the Anointed One of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now Paul speaks of this Gospel as God's power “unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile.” Notice the power of the Gospel.
We live in a world of power. These powers are divided into good powers and the powers of evil. We are constantly subject to one or the other. On one hand is the power of God; on the other Satan’s. Man is an intelligent being, willingly submitting either to God’s power or Satan’s. Satan is called “the god of this world who has blinded the minds of them that believe not lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ should shine unto them.” Satan is called “the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” and “the prince of the power of the air.” He has many emissaries who are called demons, and the entire chapter of Ephesians 6 is taken up with the armor that God has supplied His people in order that they “might withstand the wiles of the enemy and, having done all, to stand.” Thus, the evil one has certain powers both in the spiritual and material realm, to which we may subject ourselves in disobedience to God – such conduct is called unrighteousness. This is the subject in the passage before us.
On the other hand, we have the power of God. Here is the power to save people from sin, from the inevitable fate of the wicked, and from eternal death. This Gospel is power unlimited, eternal, and irresistible within the framework of God’s eternal purpose, and fully sufficient to achieve all that God intended. This tremendous power is primarily the power to save from sin and death, being fully efficacious unto redemption, the nature of which is revealed in the terms of the gospel itself. It is salvation from the wrath of God and eternal death of the soul, a salvation of such a nature that only God could provide it or make it available to people. No human scheme or device could ever be effectual for such a purpose as salvation from sin and death and the endowment of mortals with the glory of eternal life.
This is just as real and far more potent than any other influence or power manifest in the world. The Gospel is called God’s power unto salvation to everyone that believeth. We have already mentioned that man is an intelligent being, and within the realm of his choice lies the decision regarding whether to be subjected to the power of God or Satan. Subjecting ourselves to the power of Satan is easy, requiring only that we follow the natural instinct of our corrupt heart, for “the heart is deceitful above all things and irrecoverably wicked.” In other words, we are submitting to the power of Satan if we live a negative life and set at naught the claims of God, giving no recognition to the sovereign authority of the Lord Jesus in our lives. If we continue as such we are sinners and will eventually find ourselves in a lost eternity. Such is New Testament – “If ye die in your sins, where I go, ye cannot come.”
On the other hand, the Gospel calls us out of darkness into light, from out of the power of Satan into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love. As an intelligent being, man has the option regarding whether to listen, refuse, or neglect the Gospel. If we listen then that Gospel becomes the power of God unto salvation and we are saved by it. Paul says:
I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved . . . For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures; And that He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once. (1 Cor. 15:1-6)
That is a plain statement of the meaning of the proclamation of the Gospel – a truthful presentation of the death, burial, and manifest resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ on account of sin. It is not simply that the Lord Jesus died as a martyr or even as the Son of God, as if it were a historical fact having no bearing on life. In other words, it is not simply that the Lord Jesus died. The truth that is presented in the Gospel is that Christ died for our sins. That is the first truth that we have to accept otherwise we are unsaved, headed for a lost eternity. Here are three important and candid questions needing personal attention. (1) Believing the Gospel, i.e., God’s power unto salvation to every one that believes. (2) Putting a personal name in 1st Corinthians 15:3, “how that Christ died for [my] sins.” (3) Becoming aware personally that my sins caused Jesus Christ to die on Calvary’s Cross.
We are not now thinking of the Lord Jesus as dying because of man’s hatred or because of Satan’s opposition. Rather we are thinking of Him as willingly going to the Cross of Calvary as sin bearer. He said, “No one taketh my life from me, I lay it down of myself.” Concerning His death, the prophetic Scripture said, “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him.” He died for our sins. If we realize that the Lord Jesus died for our sins then our hearts will become contrite and we will confess before Him that we are sinners, deserving eternal judgment. But the Lord Jesus took our place and made atonement for us on Calvary so we might go free. That is the Gospel we accept, obey and by which we are saved. He who truly accepts this Gospel will find in it the power of God unto salvation. Though definite and challenging, the way of salvation is exceedingly plain and simple. This is the Gospel of which Paul was not ashamed; the Gospel presented to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile. For the first time, God presents salvation to the people who had trampled under foot His grace presented in their Messiah, Jesus Christ. It reveals the magnificence of God’s grace.
