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.

Romans 1:16

The Apostle Paul was not ashamed of the Gospel message for He completely understood what it is. He knew that it wasn’t just Good News, although that’s what “Gospel” means. It is more than just information, for it is power― God’s power.

Consider for a moment Paul’s journey: He was a great up and coming Pharisee. He was full of zeal, so much so that he was a leading persecutor of the early church in and around Judea. He even left that area to travel abroad to Damascus to attack the believers there, but on the way, something happened to Paul, then known as Saul: He met the risen Christ face-to-face. We recall the story from Acts 9; Jesus demanded to know why Paul was persecuting Him!

Wait, hold on, wasn’t Saul persecuting the early church? Of course, that’s true, but if you attack the church, you attack the Head of the Church, the risen Christ Himself. That confrontation, and the events that followed began a process in which Saul, now Paul, was completely transformed into God’s Apostle to the Gentiles.

That transformation is the power of the Gospel.

For Paul who lived the transformation, it’s power and majesty were all too apparent:

What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ

Philippians 3:8

This transformative process was so great in Paul’s life that he came to consider all of the things of this world to be garbage, when compared to all that he gained in Christ.  We also have begun the process of transformation. Some of us have been undergoing transformation for many years, while others are just beginning. We have Paul’s example before us; how are we coming along? Are we ashamed of the Gospel?

I sure hope not, for it can complete re-make a person into the image of Christ, that is how powerful it is. May each of us reflect and consider how fortunate we are to have been so greatly blessed by our God.