In Christ, Part 1 - Not Ashamed

Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek."

For years, I've read this verse and assumed I knew what "the gospel" was. Like many of you reading this, I took it for granted that the gospel was only about repentance from sin and turning to God for forgiveness. I've always thought that the gospel was something that you taught to covert people to Christianity and get them into church. After that, you can move on from the gospel into the deeper things of God.

But as I was reading this the other day, I realized that was not what Paul was talking about! If we start with verse 7, we can see that this wasn't a gospel of conversion. As Paul was addressing his letter, he made it clear that it was written to "all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints..."

Then, when we jump down to verse 13, we read, "Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you..."

From these two verses, we know that Paul was writing to the church in Rome, not the general Roman population. These were people that had already put their faith in God. In fact, their faith was already so strong, that verse 8 says the whole world was talking about how they believed. These were solid, mature, completely committed Christians.

If that's the case, then why did Paul say this in verse 15?
"So, as much as in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also."
If the gospel in the next verse (that Paul was so unashamed of) was only about being converted to Christianity, then why would he be longing to go to a church full of Christians and preach it? Clearly what I assumed he meant by "the gospel" (that is, "ask Jesus into your heart) couldn't have been what he was actually saying.

The Gospel of Christ

Read verse 16 with me again, and notice that Paul did not say "the gospel of salvation".

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes..."

What gospel are we talking about? It's the gospel of Christ.

This is the same Paul to told us that we are the righteousness of God in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

It's the same Paul that told us that we have been crucified with Christ. (Galatians 2:20)

Paul is the one who told us that we have been blessed with all spiritual blessing in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3)

He's the one who wrote that we were raised up with Christ. (Colossians 2:12)

He also taught us that God supplies all our need by his riches and glory in Christ. (Philippians 4:19)

Paul tells us that Christ has redeemed us from the curse, so that we could live in the blessing. (Galatians 3:13)

And He is the one who said that Christ is in you, which is your hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)

This is the Gospel that Paul wanted to preach to the Roman church, the Gospel of Christ. This is the good news of who Christ is in us, and who we are in Him. It's the good news of what we received when we received Christ!

This goes so much further than teaching sinners to repent and be born again! That's where you have to start, because "you must be born again." But I'm telling you, the gospel has more to do with your life after conversion than it does with your life before.

A Continuous Salvation

This is the gospel that carries the power of God to save! And, I would suggest to you, this salvation is far more than being born-again. How can we assume that? Because the people that Paul was talking to were already "saved" - if we're using that term to mean "converted".  But as Paul was speaking to these believers - these "saved" people - he told them that the Gospel of Christ still carries the power to save them!

This Gospel of "in Christ" will continue to save you, even after you're born again.

It will save you from sickness.

It will save you out of trouble.

It will save you from poverty.

It will save you from fear.

But it only carries the power of salvation "to everyone who believes." 

The gospel will do what it says when you believe it. If you put your faith in what it says about forgiveness and eternity in Heaven, that's what you'll receive. But if you read what it says about healing or peace and choose not to believe it,  it won't have any affect on your life. Why? Because it's not true? Of course it is! But it will only save those who believe.

In this next series, we will dive into the "in Christ" truths of Scripture. But as we do, we have to remember that these truths only apply when we believe them. So today, let's continue to turn our ears to this gospel of Christ. Because our faith in the Gospel is what (continuously) brings salvation...and that faith "comes by hearing." Let's choose to believe the good news that God wrote out in His Word. 

Like Paul, I declare that I am not ashamed of this Gospel of Christ!

I'm not ashamed that I have eternal redemption in Christ.

I'm not ashamed to say that I've been seated with Christ in the heavenly places.

I'm not ashamed to declare that I have been made 100% righteous in Christ.

I'm not ashamed to tell you that I have been saved from sickness and poverty in Christ.

I know who I am in Christ. And I know who Christ is in me.

I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ!