Romans
1:16 (NASB) - "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for
salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."
In
this verse Paul describes the Gospel as “the power of God for salvation.” Oh
that this would burn into our hearts. Paul had great confidence in the Gospel
of Christ. It is God’s only way of saving men from their sins. How does a
Christian demonstrate that he is ashamed of the Gospel? One way is obvious. We
do not declare it to others. By our actions we declare we don’t really believe
its power. But
there is another much more subtle way we demonstrate we don’t believe the power
of the Gospel--when direct all of our focus towards the Law without the Gospel.
We bewail all of the evil in our
nation. We talk about Roe v. Wade and the great wickedness of abortion. We cry
against homosexuality and same-sex marriage and transgender restrooms. Every
generation has had particular sins to focus upon. In the 19th century it was
slavery. In the 1920’s it was alcohol and the prohibition.
In the 1960s it was the drug culture, sexual promiscuity and the removal of
prayer from schools.
On
one hand, we must always speak clearly on moral issues. All sin is an assault
against the holiness of God. But we must never preach morality apart from the
Gospel. The Bible never tells us to go into the world and cry against sin apart
from the Gospel. If it were possible to get every man to
begin living a moral life he would still die and go to hell. The truth is, this
world will never be made righteous. It will remain an evil age until Christ
returns and creation is renewed. The Gospel, however, declares that Jesus "gave
Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil
age" (Gal. 1:4).
As
you speak against the evils of our age never forget that evil actions are
merely the fruit of a sinful heart. Only the Gospel of Christ can deliver us
from sin. May we be careful not to speak loudly against sin but then become silent
regarding the Gospel. We must always speak about sin in the context of Christ
Jesus our Savior. He alone can deliver men from their sin. The Gospel alone is
the power of God unto salvation. May we never lose our confidence in the Gospel.
