I Am Not Ashamed (Romans 1:16)
How can you be bold in a hostile age? See how Romans 1:16 answers our shame with God's power: the gospel still saves everyone who believes, Jew and Greek.
Introduction
We come to an apropos statement for our moment in American history: I am not ashamed of the gospel. Paul’s soul was so gripped and mastered by the gospel, that he was set on fire[i] with eagerness to travel to the Roman Christians and preach the gospel. Then he says why: For or “because” the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek (1:16). Again, why is the gospel powerful to save? For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” Let’s focus our hearts on this phrase today: I am not ashamed of the gospel.
Application: The assassination of Charlie Kirk has opened a slumbering nation to the reality that evil exists. There are demonic spiritual forces that intertwine with our own sin to do evil in our world. And they want you to cower in fear. They want you to self-censor and be silent. They want you to be ashamed of the gospel. But the Word of God says NO! Our big revealing of evil, of course, is a daily reality for our brothers and sisters across the world. This past week at Classis, we saw a video from Uganda. In one village, a Muslim girl converted to Jesus. She was then martyred for her faith. The Muslims wouldn’t let her have a Christian burial. Surprisingly, a Muslim imam stepped in and allowed it. He stood next to her coffin as the pastor preached the gospel. After, he called the pastor and said he wanted to meet. The pastor admitted he was afraid for his life. The imam said he wanted to be baptized and follow Jesus! Because of him, 9 other imams and 68 other Muslims gave their lives to Jesus! I am not ashamed of the gospel. Then reports of 90 Christians murdered by Muslims in the Congo. I am not ashamed of the gospel. Then Brother Ashur, a disabled Assyrian Christian in France who leads livestreamed Bible studies, was gruesomely murdered live by three Muslims. I am not ashamed of the gospel.
Theme
Paul exhorts us to stand up for Jesus Christ and his gospel in the face of the demonic forces of our world.
The Reality of Being Ashamed
The fact that Paul states I am not ashamed shows us the reality of being ashamed. ἐπαισχύνομαι (epaischýnomai) is being disgraced or bringing shame that leads to distance between you and the thing you’re ashamed of. Illustration: If you’re bragging all week about beating your rival in a game of one v. one basketball or pickleball, everyone comes for the event, you lose, then you feel an overwhelming sense of shame because now not only is everyone roasting you, but you feel completely alone and distant from them.
Jesus said we’re tempted to feel ashamed of him: “whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels” (Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26). Paul exhorted Timothy, “do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord… but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God” (2 Tim. 1:8). Why? God “saved us and called us to a holy calling” (1:9). For Paul, that meant “I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me” (1:11–12). Application: The reality of being ashamed is real. OURC: in what practical ways are you ashamed of the gospel? The Muslims, the Marxists, and just your regular old unbelieving but nice neighbor and family member are going to try and make you feel ashamed! Don’t talk too loud at Starbucks. Don’t have a Bible out when your family is over for a birthday. For all I know, we already have a target on our backs like many other churches in America and may be disrupted at some point. Are you going to be ashamed? Martin Luther said, “To be ashamed of the Gospel is a fault and cowardice in pastors, but to contradict it and not to listen to it is a fault of stupidity in church members.”[ii] That’s so Luther! Paul confronts the reality of being ashamed.
The Reasons for Being Ashamed
Let me give you seven reasons for being ashamed.
First, we’re ashamed of the gospel because it sounds like foolishness. “Let me get this straight, God became man, died, rose again, and says that if I only believe I can have eternal life?” It’s a fairy tale to the world. When we measure the gospel according to the world’s wisdom, yes, it sounds foolish to say we don’t need to do anything to earn salvation. This is why “no other religion is so offensive to the pride of man.”[iii] The ancient Romans measured the claims of Christians against their wisdom, calling them “atheists,” since all rational people were supposed to know the gods have bodies, but Christians said He is an invisible spirit. The gospel is foolishness to the carnal mind because it cannot understand the spiritual (Rom. 8:5).
Second, we’re ashamed of the gospel because it seems powerless. Yes, it is when measured according to the world’s power. The gospel is proclaimed in words, not at the tip of a sword or gun. It’s powerless, humanly speaking, to effect any change. But Paul said, “the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Cor. 1:25). I think the main way we see this shame in so-called Christian churches today is the emphasis on everything but the Word or the Word-plus, especially plus music. “I mean, if we just preach the Word that’s not effective enough for the modern person.” We feel ashamed when we don’t see the gospel “working.” Let me ask you, what’s going to happen when social and political pressure gets worse? I think we’re going to have a lot of empty strip malls and commercial buildings.
Third, we’re ashamed of the gospel because of its lowliness. Our Savior left the glorification of eternity for the humiliation of this world. He was conceived out of wedlock, he was a carpenter’s son, he didn’t go to the best schools, he didn’t have an army around him, he didn’t have a crown of gold on his head, he had no vast land holdings. Then he was crucified! Crucifixion was shameful even to the Romans who had laws about mentioning it! Our whole religion is one of lowliness and weakness. We see this in those who follow Jesus.
“Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Cor. 1:26–29).
Fourth, we’re ashamed of the gospel because of its exclusivity in a pluralistic world. In the first century, there was a pantheon of gods, “but you say only this God is real and can save?” Today, we’re bombarded with “coexist” as a religious mantra.
Fifth, we’re ashamed of the gospel because it seems to lead to licentiousness. As we’ll see in Romans 6, the charge of the legalistic Jews was, “If grace super-abounds beyond all our sins, should we continue in sin that grace might abound all the more?” Our temptation is to divorce the gospel from the law and use just the law to get people to behave. That’s legalism.
Sixth, we’re ashamed of the gospel because it sounds dangerous. Jesus is Lord, not Caesar! They said of Christians that they turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). They said they were upsetting the public peace. Application: How true this is today and will it be in coming years? Will you be shamed to tone it down?
Seventh, we’re ashamed of the gospel because of our own fearfulness. When we fear those who can destroy our bodies more than He who can destroy both body and soul in hell, we’re ashamed of the gospel. Robert Haldane once said “the fear of opposition and contempt…often leads to the corruption of the gospel.”[iv]
There are many reasons for being ashamed. Look in the mirror, beloved.
The Remedy for Being Ashamed
What’s the remedy for being ashamed? How can I be bold? How can we at OURC stand up and be counted among the faithful? How can we be used by God to make a dent in the darkness? Paul doesn’t just assert I am not ashamed of the gospel; he says why in that little word: for. Illustration: Imagine a car windshield. When a rock hits it, and a small crack develops, you have to deal with it quickly. If not, that little crack starts to move and get bigger until the windshield needs to be replaced. Application: So, if you have a little shame, you have to take care of it asap else your entire faith will be irreparable.
What’s the remedy for being ashamed? Most fundamentally, you have to be confident that the Bible you hold in your hands is the Word of God. It’s as simple as that. Why? Because if God has not spoken to us, we have no fundamental basis for knowing anything about him, his world, how we can be saved, and how we are to live. Everyone relies on some revelation to live—whether it’s Scripture from God or new philosophies and ideologies invented in the last 15 minutes. Because Scripture is the Word of God, I am not ashamed of the gospel!
What’s the remedy for being ashamed? Grasp your need of the gospel. “I’m lost,” but God has come to find you. “I’m separated from him,” but he’s come to bring you back to him. “I’m a sinner,” but he’s the Savior. “I’m ashamed of what I’ve done with my life,” but Jesus came to bear your shame and give you confidence to live for him! Gospel: Do you know your need today? Do you know that Jesus is the remedy? Come to Jesus today by putting your trust in him and following him.
What’s the remedy for being ashamed? Grasp the power of the gospel: the power of God for salvation (1:16). God saves. The gates of hell cannot prevail against the power of the gospel. God wins in the end!
What’s the remedy for being ashamed? Grasp the universal applicability of the gospel: to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek (1:16). When you realize the gospel meets your deepest need, is powerful to meet it, and is the gospel that everyone else needs too, you’ll say, I am not ashamed.
Conclusion: Standing Unashamed
To be unashamed of the gospel means we’re going to be shamed, persecuted, and attacked. This is a given. But we need to leave here confident that if we hold forth the gospel, the Holy Spirit will be poured upon us as individuals and as a congregation to revive us, and through us, to revive our community. We need to leave here confident that even if we’re persecuted, we’ll be preserved; and if preserved, it’s to propagate the gospel to conquer our culture from within, without swords, but by the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Will you stand with me against the tide of the world? Will you stand with me no matter who walks in those doors and mocks? I am not ashamed of the gospel!
[i] Philip, 23.
[ii] Luther, 150.
[iii] Haldane, 1:95.
[iv] Haldane, 1:95–96.