Gospel Power-Romans 1:16-17

New Testament, Romans, Sermons

Romans 1:16-17

Memorize Rom 1:16-17 (the theme and thesis statement of Romans). “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'” (Rom 1:16-17, NIV).

How have I (you) experienced the power of God? As a general statement that is absolutely true, I know that it is only the gospel of God’s love and grace that transformed my hardened heart from a self-sufficient sinner, condemned unclean, to an unblemised pure virgin bride of Christ. But practically how did I experience the power of God? These are a few notable milestones in my life, which was possible only because of the power of God working in and through me, even before I became a Christian.

  1. In 1973, at age 18, I entered medical school in Kuala Lumpur as the youngest in my class and the 2nd to last student accepted.
  2. In 1980, I experienced the impossible feat of coming to the U.S. against all odds.
  3. A few months later I experienced the power of God that supernaturally brought forth my mysterious magical mystical conversion.
  4. In 1981, despite myself I experienced the power of God that compelled and enabled me to marry a woman I didn’t know by simply trusting in God.
  5. In 2005, after committing my “worst” sin of losing $1,000,000, I experienced the eternal power of God’s everlasting love for me, despite myself (Jer 31:3).
  6. In 2007, despite much strong protracted objection and opposition, the power of God enabled us to start West Loop UBF in Jan 2008.
  7. Ever since my conversion in 1981 I experience every day the conscious presence of God with me (Mt 28:20), even when I have a bad and horrible day, week, month or year. There is no greater comfort and joy and power in all of life than when I know and experience God’s presence as a daily reality.

Consider Rom 1:16-17 in four parts:

  1. The Power of God.
  2. Everyone Who Believes.
  3. The Righteousness of God.
  4. The Righteous Life.

Four characteristics of the gospel. Rom 1:16-17 says several things about the gospel:

  1. The Gospel is the Power of God. [Gospel Power.]
  2. The Gospel Saves Everyone Who Believes. [Gospel Faith.]
  3. The Gospel Reveals the Righteousness of/from God. [Gospel Righteousness.]
  4. The Gospel Enables us to Be Righteous. [Gospel Life.]

Rom 1:16-17 is the theme and the thesis statement of Romans in summary form. It summarizes Paul’s theology as a whole. James Montgomery Boice (Reformed theologian, 1938-2000; Romans, Grand Rapids: Baker, 2005) wrote that Rom 1:16-17 “are the most important in the letter and perhaps in all literature. They are the theme of this epistle and the essence of Christianity.”

The gospel is power. “These two verses (Rom 1:16-17) have an importance out of all proportion to their length.” “The gospel is not advice to people, suggesting that they lift themselves. It is power. It lifts them up. Paul does not say that the gospel brings power, but that it is (present tense= continually) power, and God’s (omnipotent) power at that.” Leon Morris on the gospel’s inherent power. The Epistle to the Romans (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988, 68.)

Three personal affirmations of Paul. After considering the Gospel of God’s Grace (Rom 1:1-7) and Gospel Enthusiasm (Rom 1:7-15), let us next consider Gospel Power (Rom 1:16-17). Reflecting on Rom 1:14-16 Paul says that the gospel is an unpaid debt to the world and the saving power of God. The first gave him a sense of obligation (he was entrusted with the gospel) and the second, a sense of conviction (if the gospel had saved him, it could save others). Even today the gospel is both a debt to discharge and a power to experience. When we grasp these truths about the gospel personally, we shall be able to say with Paul regarding the gospel:

  1. I am under obligation to all people (Rom 1:14).
  2. I am so eager to share the gospel with the world (Rom 1:15).
  3. I am not ashamed of the gospel (Rom 1:16).

Four subordinate clauses in Rom 1:16-17, each supporting or illuminating the one before (Douglas Moo):

  1. Paul’s pride in the gospel (Rom 1:16a) is the reason why he is so eager to preach the gospel in Rome (Rom 1:1:15).
  2. This pride stems from the fact that the gospel contains or mediates God’s saving power for everyone who believes (Rom 1:16b).
  3. The gospel brings salvation because it manifests God’s righteousness, a righteousness based on faith (Rom 1:17a).
  4. Scriptural confirmation for the connection between righteousness and faith (Rom 1:17b; Hab 2:4).

I. (The Gospel Is) The Power of God

I want to never be ashamed of Jesus. Why might people feel ashamed of (offended by) the gospel today?

  • “Liberals” (Gentiles) think it is too restrictive. Think Ten Commandments of “Thou shall not…”
  • “Conservatives” (Jews) think it is too easy. Just believe? That’s it?
  • “Intellectuals” (Greeks) think it is too simple. Believing a common criminal dying for you?
  • Fear of losing fun, losing face, losing friends, losing influence, being labeled a fanatic, being scorned, taunted, persecuted, rejected, etc.

The structure of Paul’s argument in Rom 1:16-17 is important. There are three subordinate clauses or conjuctions (γάρ is translated for/because) that support and/or illuminate the one preceding it. Observe:

  1. Paul is eager to preach in Rome (Rom 1:15) because he is not ashamed of the gospel (Rom 1:16a).
  2. Paul is not ashamed of the gospel (Rom 1:16a) because it is in the gospel that one finds God’s power for salvation (Rom 1:16b).
  3. The gospel has the power for salvation (Rom 1:16b) because it manifests the righteousness of God (Rom 1:17).

Paul gloried in the gospel. A positive rendering of Paul’s negative asserion, “I am not ashamed of the gospel” (Rom 1:16a) is “I have complete confidence in the gospel.” Was Paul ashamed of the gospel? In his thirteen letters, there’s no indication that he was ever ashamed of the gospel. In fact, Paul gloried in the gospel (Rom 5:2, 11; 2 Cor 10:17; Gal 6:14; Phil 3:7). Leon Morris, The Epistle to the Romans, 66.

Why did Paul state his assertion negatively? It is because to many in the Gentile world, and in particular Rome, the capitol of the world, “the message/word of the cross is foolishness” (1 Cor 1:18, NIV). Also, Paul was accused by his fellow religious Jews of being anti-Jewish or antinomian (Rom 3:8; 6:1, 15; 9:1-5). To not be ashamed of the gospel would thus require:

  1. Overcoming the fear of persecution, rejection and that others will be offended. “The hesitancy to ‘bear witness’ to the gospel was rooted in fear of suffering harm. The asseveration (emphatic declaration) that Paul is not ashamed in Rom 1:16, therefore, refers both to his willingness to confess the gospel in public and the overcoming of fear. These are not empty words in Paul’s case since he had already endured much suffering (2 Cor 11:23-27).” Thomas Schreiner, Romans. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998), 60.
  2. Overcoming the accusation of being an antinomian. “In Rom 6:1, 15, the apostle is warding off the possible conclusion that the gospel leads to antinomianism, i.e., the perception that ‘belief in the gospel of God’s grace leads to a life of fleshly indulgence.’ In other words, ‘if you believe a gospel that is apparently antithetical to the law, and doesn’t demand continuous works of the law, you will of necessity become lawless.’ This lawlessness, of course, would be something to be ashamed of. But, here in the opening of the letter, Paul wants to make it clear that his gospel is able to deliver the believer from sin; it is nothing less than thepower of God and for that reason he is not ashamed.” Greg Herrick, Study and Exposition of Rom 1:16-17.

II. (The Gospel Saves) Everyone Who Believes

“It is accordingly, solely from its object that faith derives its value. This object is uniformly the God of grace….Jesus Christ, God the Redeemer, is accordingly the one object of saving faith . . . The saving power of faith resides thus not in itself, but in the Almighty Savior on whom it rests….It is not strictly speaking, even faith in Christ that saves, but Christ that saves through faith. The saving power of faith resides exclusively, not in the act of faith or the attitude of faith or the nature of faith, but in the object of faith; and in this the whole biblical representation centers, so that we could not more radically misconceive it than by transferring to faith even the smallest fraction of that saving energy which is attributed in the Scriptures solely to Christ Himself.” B. B. Warfield (1851-1921; professor of theology at Princeton seminary, 1887 to 1921), “The Biblical Doctrine of Faith.”

Faith is not a work that possesses merit or worth. Belief (πιστεύω) and faith (πίστις) are key words in Romans. πιστεύω (248x in NT) occurs 21x in Romans, 7x in Rom 3:21-4:25, while πίστις (244X in NT) occurs 37x in Romans, 18x in Rom 3:21-4:25.

To “believe” is to put full trust in the God who “justifies the ungodly” (Rom 4:5) by means of the gospel, the cross and resurrection of Christ. Though intellectual assent cannot be excluded from faith, the Pauline emphasis is on surrender to God as an act of the will (Rom 4:18; 10:9).

Pauline (and NT) faith is not (primarily) agreement with a set of doctrines but trust in a person. Though not explicit here in Rom 1:16, another focus of Romans is the insistence that faith is in no sense a “work” (Rom 3:20, 27-28; 4:1-8; 9:31-10:8).

Therefore, although we must never go to the extreme of making the person a totally passive instrument through whom “believing” occurs — for Paul makes clear that people are responsible to believe — we must also insist that believing is not something we do (in the sense of “work”) but is always a response, an accepting of the gift God holds out to us in his grace (see especially Rom 4:1-8). As Calvin puts it, faith is “a kind of vessel” with which we “come empty and with the mouth of our soul open to seek God’s grace.” (Institutes 3.11.7)

“Believing,” then, while a genuinely human activity, possesses no “merit” or worth for which God is somehow bound to reward us; for salvation is, from first to last, God’s work.

Three tenses of salvation. Salvation is a broad concept that encompasses three tenses:

  • Past (Eph 2:8; Tit 3:5; 2 Tim 1:9): Justification.
  • Present (1 Cor 1:18; 2 Cor 2:15; Phil 1:12): Sanctification.
  • Future (Rom 5:9-10): Glorification.

When salvation occurs a believer is saved from the:

  • Penalty of sin: Justification, which gives us a new position as a new creation (2 Cor 5:17).
  • Power of sin: Sanctification, which gives us a new life by the power of God.
  • Presence of sin: Glorification, which gives us a glorious hope (1 Pet 1:3-4).

Gospel and salvation is not just for a future heaven. This means every believer is saved to a new position, a new life, and an entrance into God’s heavenly presence. Therefore, Paul is expressing his confidence that the truths presented in Romans will provide God’s power to deliver us from enslavement and bondage to sin. In other words, the “gospel” and “salvation” are not just for heaven, they are also for earth. God yearns to bring heaven down to earth in your experience.

Salvation for everyone means for both Jew and Gentile. While the gospel is for everyone, Paul states that it is “to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Paul uses this phrase to humble Jews and Gentiles who were at odds with one another in the Roman house churches. He wants to make them deeply aware that they depend entirely on mercy, not on themselves or their tradition or ethnic connections.

Neither Jew nor Gentile can claim superiority. Gentiles are not saved by Greek culture—or any other culture; they are saved by a salvation that comes through the Jews (Jn 4:22). This should humble us and strip us of any arrogance and boasting in any presumed ethnic superiority. Whether we fully recognize it or not, we are truly indebted to the Jews. Similarly, Paul says to the Jews, your salvation isn’t your own. It’s God’s and He gives it to whomever He pleases. The words “also to the Greek” (Rom 1:16b) would have been as offensive to the Jews as the words “to the Jew first” were to the Gentiles. The Jewish Christians needed to recognize that what they thought were Jewish prerogatives were, in fact, shared by the lowliest Gentiles who believed. Jews must humble themselves to receive unclean Gentiles into full covenant membership and to share all the blessings of the promises of Abraham.

What makes you feel powerless? At a circus a huge elephant was tied to an 18-inch stake. He could have easily pulled it out and be free. Why doesn’t he? He had tried to when he was a baby and was unsuccessful. The elephant concluded that he could never pull the stake out of the ground. So at the circus this massive creature capable of lifting whole trees was held captive by a puny stake. Aren’t many of us like that elephant? God has given us countless resources and the power of God to pull stakes out of the ground, but we’ve never trained ourselves by exercising our faith. Can the power of God and the power of faith release you from:

  • Frustration?
  • Worry?
  • Uncertainty?
  • Unhappiness?
  • Loneliness?
  • Depression?
  • Sorrow?
  • Anger? Losing your temper?
  • Blaming others?
  • Not taking personal responsibility?
  • Refusing to be accountable?
  • What to do with your life?

III. (The Gospel Reveals) The Righteousness of God

What does Paul mean by the righteousness of God? There are three options.

  1. An attribute of God, the righteousness that characterizes God. This righteousness may be either (a) God’sjustice(Rom 3:5, 25-26), according to which he always does what is right, or (b) God’s faithfulness, according to which he fulfills his covenant promises to his people.
  2. A status or position that God bestows on those who believe. It is therefore a righteousness that comes from God. Martin Luther gave eloquent expression to this view in the 16th century. Luther concluded that the righteousness of God that is revealed in the gospel is a gift of God given to sinners through faith. This righteousness is purely forensic or legal. It is a matter of our judicial standing before God, not our internal or moral transformation. Thus, Luther’s view is that Paul refers here to the righteous status that comes from God in the gospel through faith.
  3. An activity of God. The righteousness of God is God’s action of intervening on behalf of his people to save and deliver them. This idea has strong support from the OT (Isa 46:13; 50:5-8; Mic 7:9).

Martin Luther’s break through. “I greatly longed to understand Paul’s epistle to the Romans, and nothing stood in the way but that one expression ‘the justice of God,’ because I took it to mean that justice whereby God is just and deals justly in punishing the unjust. My situation was that, although an impeccable monk, I stood before God as a sinner troubled in conscience, and I had no confidence that my merit would assuage him.

Therefore, I did not love a just and angry God, but rather hated and murmured against him. […] Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the justice of God and the statement that, ‘the just shall live by his faith.’ Then I grasped that … through gift and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise.” “When I saw that Law meant one thing and Gospel another, I broke through.”

IV. (The Gospel Informs) The Righteous Life

“Most interpretations include the idea of a progression from one kind of faith to another: from the faith of the OT to the faith of the NT; from the faith of the law to the faith of the gospel; from the faith of the preachers to the faith of the hearers; from the faith of the present to the faith of the future; from the faith of words we hear now to the faith that we will possess what the words promise; from the faithfulness of God to the faith of human beings; from the faithfulness of Christ to the faith of human beings; from smaller to greater faith; from faith as the ground to faith as the goal.” Tom Schreiner.

Contrast “the righteous will live by faith” with “those who by faith are righteous will live.”

What can you do? Consider how you might encounter and experience the power of the gospel. How can you and I experience the power of the gospel and of God? Consider these and add to them:

  1. The love of God must be real to you (1 Cor 13:13).
  2. The grace of Jesus is fresh and new in your soul (2 Tim 2:1).
  3. The Holy Spirit is leading you (Ac 16:6-10).
  4. Your friendships and relationships are Trinitarian: All of Paul’s 13 letters are HOT (honest, humble, happy, open, transparent).
  5. Have a clear life goal and purpose (Phil 3:14). Know what God called and set you apart for (Rom 1:1).
  6. Do things beyond yourself. Paul was praying to go to Rome though he had no way to go there (Rom 1:10, 13).

A testimony of a righteous life. “The teaching of justification (righteousness through faith) has revolutionized my life and should do the same for everyone else. That is, since I know that through the finished work of Jesus, I am already right with God, this gives me a great desire to serve and worship Him, not out of mere fear, or the desire to get right with God, or keep in His good graces, or an attempt to get something from God, but from the basis of gratitude for who God is and what He has already done for me. It motivates me to serve and worship, and indeed to love God.For instance, I know that I am not on some type of works righteous tread-mill that I must keep up with or that I will fall off and God will not be pleased with me. He already is pleased with me through Christ. Thus, I am not worrying about not going to heaven because I might not be good enough (in and of myself, I know that I am not good enough!). I know that God has already accepted me, that I am currently in a right relationship with God and hence am not trying to earn or keep my good standing by my works. Jesus has done it for me. I already possess eternal life (1 Jn 5:13).” Justification — A Right Relationship with God.

Questions for reflection and discussion:

  • How is 1:16 the reason for 1:15?
  • Why might people be ashamed of (offended by) the gospel? Why is Paul not ashamed of the gospel?
  • Why do we need the power of God? Why can’t we save (change) ourselves by our own power?
  • What is the universality and the condition/restriction for salvation? What is faith?
  • How do you think Christians MISUNDERSTAND FAITH?
  • Why is the gospel the power of God for salvation?
  1. The word translated “for” or “because” is used three times in Rom 1:16-17. How would you explain this?
  2. Why was Paul not ashamed of the gospel (Rom 1:16a)? See 1 Cor 1:18; 2:4-5; 4:20; 2 Cor 4:7; 6:7; 12:9; Eph 3:7; 1 Th 1:5. Why might people find the gospel offensive? How and why is it a “stumbling block” and regarded as “foolish” (1 Cor 1:22-23)?
  3. What is the condition, universality and restriction for salvation (Rom 1:16b)? What are the 3 tenses of salvation (Eph 2:8; Tit 3:5; 2 Tim 1:9; 1 Cor 1:18; 2 Cor 2:15; Phil 2:12; Rom 5:9-10)? Why can’t we save ourselves (Eph 2:1, 4-5)? How does faith happen (Rom 1:10:17, 11-14)? How might faith be misunderstood as a work on our part?
  4. How might “first to the Jew, then to the Gentile” offend both Jew and Gentile?
  5. What does the gospel reveal? Explain the “righteousness of/from God” (Rom 1:17; 3:21-26; Phil 3:9) in three ways?
  6. How do you react when you think of the righteousness of God being imputed to you through the power of God? What feelings, if any, rise up in your heart? What response, if any, ought this to evoke in our souls?
  7. Explain “by faith from first to last” (Rom 1:17, NIV), “from faith to faith” (Rom 1:17, NASB), “from faith for faith” (Rom 1:17, ESV), “from start to finish by faith” (Rom 1:17, NLT)?

References:

  1. Douglas Moo —The Epistle to the Romans (New International Commentary on the New Testament, 1996).
  2. Douglas Moo —Exegetical examination of Romans. This course was recorded during a D.Min. seminar at the Carolina Graduate School of Divinity in May 2012.
  3. John Stott —The Message of Romans (The Bible Speaks Today, 1994).
  4. Tim Keller —Romans 1-7 For You (The Good Book Company, 2014).
  5. Romans 1:1-17: Epistolary Introduction. Sam Storms.
  6. No Apologies Necessary (Rom 1:16-17): Many references, good Bible study questions.
  7. Study and Exposition of Romans 1:16-17.
  8. The Power of the Gospel (Rom 1:1-7, 14-17) by Tim Keller.
Number of Views: 90