May 24, I am not ashamed
For I am not ashamed of the Gospel.
Romans 1:16
The Jews had cast him off and had despised Him – this learned Hebrew who had become a relentless preacher of the Gospel. He was slandered harshly (I Corinthians 4:13) but held fast to the truth. He was not ashamed. He had been changed by the grace of Christ our Lord, and from that time forward he never allowed his feet to slip on the journey of his calling to represent the truth of Jesus to a dark world. This man, Paul, was given the breath of the Spirit’s inspiration to pen one of the simplest yet most incredibly convicting and motivating statements ever to be considered among Christians – “I am not ashamed of the Gospel.”
The enemy, Satan, would like nothing more than to have you and I become ashamed, or in the least, quiet about the Gospel. For, Satan’s diabolical purpose stands the same as from the very beginning: to blind people from knowing the truth. In 2 Corinthians 4:4, we are given a summary of his scheme:
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Paul, blinded by his own religious pursuits, was brought into the light of the Gospel and experienced the glory of Christ. So for Paul, he was in no way ashamed. And, he challenged new believers in a place hostile to Christian faith to remain unashamed.
With consideration of Rome (the location of this young church to whom Paul wrote these words), there was indeed temptation to be ashamed. The attitude of the most powerful city on the earth stood antithetical to Paul’s announcement of the power of God. The message of Romans 1:16 proclaimed the reality that all, including Rome, was utterly dependent upon the power of the Gospel for salvation, and for life itself.
The Gospel does not merely disseminate principles on how to live. The gospel proclaims facts:
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance [: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures (I Corinthians 15:3-4).
The facts are clear: Jesus died; Jesus rose again. In Him and in Him alone is the only way to receive a life of righteousness (Romans 1:17) – a righteousness that brings us to a place of peace with God and saves us from our godless and condemned state (Romans 1:18).
On this truth, Paul had a fixed purpose of heart and an unwavering attitude of mind: I am not ashamed. Paul gloried in the gospel alone – he gloried in the cross of His Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Galatians 6:14).
Mankind has bought into self-sufficiency, self-reliance, and self-righteousness. And many are those who remain blinded to the truth of the Gospel. So today, may we receive from God’s Word the call to be unashamed of the Gospel. May our hearts continue to break over those blinded to the truth by the god of this world.
There is no telling what God can do through us when this becomes our fixed purpose of heart and our attitude of mind: “For I am unashamed.” Today, may each of us reawaken to the sacred beauty, power, and necessity of the Gospel message.
Blessings.