For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

Romans 1:16-17

In these verses. Paul is speaking of the gospel; many people talk about the gospel, so much so that I sometimes wonder if they know what it is. Let’s review, “gospel” means “good news”. In the New Testament, the good news that is mentioned is the good news concerning the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that makes it possible for each of us to be saved by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus.

With this in mind, consider what Paul is saying here: It is that he will share the good news with anyone and everyone who will listen, and that he is neither ashamed nor afraid to do so, because it is the power of God that brings salvation.

The power of God !?

Do most of us think of the gospel that way?

I don’t know, but I suspect not… or maybe just not all the time.

Not only is the gospel the power of God to bring salvation, it reveals the righteousness of God, and that righteousness that is by faith―  “The righteous will live by faith.”

That’s a lot to get your arms around, yet as I think about it, we have an example of what this means to help us understand what God wants in our lives, the example of Abraham. Remember the story? God went to Abraham, then called Abram, and told him to pack up the entire household of servants, flocks, herds and, oh yes, his wife, and head out into the countryside and God will give them a land flowing with milk and honey, somewhere out there…

And here comes the amazing part: Abram actually did it! Yes, that’s right, he actually did it… would you?

The important point about old Abraham was that in spite of the fact that he wasn’t perfect, he chose to believe God, and when God gave His word to Abraham about this promised land, he believed God, and, even more impressively, he acted as though God’s promises were already fulfilled. That is righteousness in God’s eyes.

So, what does God want from us? He wants us to understand that the gospel is power, and that we have it to share with others in both word and deed. We do this in faith, because we believe God and His promises, and live our lives accordingly, because we love Him who first loved us.