The Gospel: Not A Cause For Shame

Romans 1:16

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.

(Verse 16) – For I am not ashamed … - The Jews had cast him off, and regarded him as an apostate; and by the wise among the Gentiles he had been persecuted, and despised, and driven from place to place, and regarded as the filth of the world, and the offscouring of all things (1 Cor. 4:13), but still he was not ashamed of the gospel. He had so firm a conviction of its value and its truth; he had experienced so much of its consolations; and had seen so much of its efficacy; that he was so far from being ashamed of it that he gloried in it as the power of God unto salvation. People should be ashamed of crime and folly. They are ashamed of their own offences, and of the follies of their conduct, when they come to reflect on it. But they are not ashamed of what they feel to be right, and of what they know will contribute to their welfare, and to the benefit of their fellow-men. Such were the views of Paul about the gospel; and it is one of his favorite doctrines that they who believe on Christ shall not be ashamed, (Rom. 10:11; 5:5; 2 Cor. 7:14; 2 Tim. 1:12; Phil 1:20: Rom. 9:33; 2 Tim. 1:8; compare Mark 8:38; 1 Pet 4:16; 1 John 2:28).

The sense of the word is “to shame,” or to “put to shame” (God mostly as subject), perhaps to “be shamed or ashamed” (personally rather than publicly). The main point of the word is not “feeling of shame” but “disgrace,” i.e. , the shame brought by divine judgment, though sometimes with a stress on “being ashamed.”  We use the idea to refer mostly to a sense of emotion, and that is a mistake when considering the main point of the word used here.  Paul is not speaking of feeling shame, or even of the idea of boldness as opposed to hiding our commitment to the Gospel (though that idea is certainly present and is tangential to the main thought here.  The main idea is that of disgrace, or the absence of it.  In NT usage the same meanings are found: “to shame” (1 Cor. 11:4-5 ), “to bring to shame” (1 Cor. 1:27 ), “to be ashamed” (Lk. 16:3 ), almost “disillusioned” (Phil. 1:20 ). the word can mean “disgrace” (Heb. 12:2 ; Jude 13 ), with a play on the sexual sense in Rev. 3:18. Another form of the word means “what is disgraceful” (1 Cor. 11:6 ; Eph. 5:12 ; Titus 1:11). Yet another form of the word in the NT occurs only in Eph. 5:4 where it refers to “shameful talk.”

One must ask why it is that Paul finds it necessary even to say such a thing to believers.  It is not likely that many believers would find the Gospel a source of shame, or even would think of it in terms of shame.  The answer to the question lies in the idea introduced above – that what Paul is speaking of here is not the presence or absence of a feeling of shame so much as it is an assurance that the Gospel will never cause one to be disgraced, that is, that the trust in the Gospel will never be betrayed or proved to have been a foolish trust.  The essence of Christian commitment is trust in the promises of God regarding the Gospel of Christ.  Those promises must be trustworthy if they are to be of any value to those who grasp them.  God must be seen to be worthy of that trust.  That is the point of this statement.  The Gospel is worthy of trust because God is worthy of trust.  The Gospel is His word to us concerning what God will do for those who trust Him.  He will save them utterly, bringing them to His own house in heaven for all of eternity.

This is borne out by the use of the connective at the beginning of the verse.  “For” introduces a causal phrase telling us why it is that Paul was so anxious to preach the Gospel to the Romans (V15).  He had great confidence, the greatest of confidence in the promises of God that he was commissioned to preach.  He could proclaim them with great confidence and certainty that they were utterly trustworthy and completely dependable.  In the following couple of verses Paul gives us at least eight reasons why he is not ashamed of the Gospel and why no one who places their trust in the promises of God ought to be concerned about the trustworthiness of the Gospel promises.

First, he is not ashamed because the Gospel is Good News.  No rational person would be ashamed of such good news!  The gospel is a glad proclamation of news that would make anyone happy!  We could see why someone would hesitate to proclaim bad news.  The sad thing is that some have made the Gospel bad news.  They have made it about the fact that men are condemned by God and have emphasized the negative rather than to see and proclaim the good news itself which is that God has provided a way for men to be right with Him.  That is the focus of the Gospel.  It is good news, not bad news.  Surely, the Law must communicate to men that they are lost, but the Gospel is not about the lost-ness of men, it is about the goodness and mercy of God in providing a solution for that problem.  The problem pre-existed the coming of Christ to earth, dating from the fall of man.  Man’s lost condition in endemic to his make-up, a function of his nature and the Gospel offers the solution to that condition, it is not the cause of it. 

A second reason why Paul is not ashamed of the Gospel is because it is the way of salvation.  It is not just good news; it is the most important good news possible.  It is about our own personal salvation.  This is not news of a program of off a mere offer, but rather of that which effects salvation, actually affects it for God’s people.  We are like swimmers drowning in a vast ocean of water who have no hope in themselves or like explorers sinking quickly and finally in quicksand.  There is no hope of self-extraction.  The Gospel is about a rescuer who comes and snatches us from the jaws of death and sets us up on solid, safe ground once again.  Paul was not ashamed of the Gospel because it actually does something very valuable and essential to our well-being!

A third reason why Paul was not ashamed is that it is God’s way of salvation, and not man’s way.  One of the great themes of the Bible is the theme of man’s way versus God’s way.  Man’s way results in ruin and condemnation.  God’s way results in redemption and eternal blessedness.  There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof is the way of death!  God’s way is the way of life and it a salvation that is God’s salvation and not man’s.  This is important because God’s salvation is a salvation that will stand the test of time and that will be efficacious, even unto eternity future.  This is not a scheme that men have dreamed up, but is the very plan of God, emerging from His mind and from His mind alone.

A fourth reason is that the Gospel is powerful, powerful enough to accomplish all that God intended it to accomplish.  The promises of God rest on the sure work of Christ.  That work, finished for all time, argues powerfully before the throne of God for the satisfaction of the wrath of God on the behalf of the elect.  The Gospel is powerful enough to satisfy the holy and righteous indignation of God against sin.  It is powerful enough to avail and to render Him satisfied and fully propitiated on the behalf of those who will believe.  There can be no greater power than this in all of the created universe.  The Gospel is the power of God in action – effecting salvation and bringing the mercy of God to within the grasp of sinners.

A fifth reason that Paul was not ashamed of the Gospel is that it is a Gospel for everyone – everyone who believes.  The delimiter of the body of the elect is not any human thing, but is a delimiter of God’s own setting.  Salvation is not limited to any single group, nor is there any group of people excluded from its provisions.  The redeemed hail from all races, and all colors.  No nation is excluded, and no nation is included because of any human thing or consideration.  It is God Who chooses, and that choice comes from all human groups without human distinction.  The Gospel is for everyone who believes – according to the gift of faith given by God.

A sixth reason that Paul was not ashamed is that God has revealed this way of salvation to us.  This really speaks of two ideas – first that is not a human idea, but rather was one that God revealed to us.  Man could not have thought of it himself, nor could he have discovered it himself.  It would have remained forever hidden and unknown had God not revealed it from heaven.  Further, it suggests joy in that God did, in fact, reveal it.  He didn’t have to, but He did.  What grace and what mercy!  What tremendous power and majesty!  It is the very word of God, His salvation revealed by His own hand from heaven.

A seventh reason is that it concerns the revealing of a standard of righteousness that is from God, which is what we need.  the requirement of the character of God is that men stand pure before Him, or that they be consumed by that holiness to which they cannot attain themselves.  The Gospel is a righteousness of God revealed from heaven and as such stands as the only provision of righteousness that will stand the scrutiny of a holy God at the time of judgment.  The are many forms of righteousness in the world.  Many different kinds of human righteousness are erected, some of them prodigious and impressive indeed.  But all of them are insufficient.  None can withstand the examination of God that will come on judgment day.  Only the righteousness of Christ, imputed by God, the essence of the Gospel, will stand when God turns His eye upon the individual in the terrible day.  All other righteousnesses will fade and melt in the heat of His perfect holiness.  If man is to stand in that day, it must be in the righteousness revealed by God from heaven – found only in the Gospel.

The eighth and final reason why the apostle Paul was not ashamed is that the means by which this glorious gift becomes ours is faith, which means that salvation is accessible to everyone who believes!  Salvation does not come by works, nor by sacrifice, nor by the sweat of the brow.  It comes by believing the word of god and receiving the free gift of God.  Salvation is by grace through faith – and not of ourselves.  Paul tells us in Ephesians 2 that it is the gift of God.  The reason why God did it this way, and not in some other way, was that it might not give any man any occasion to boast.  Salvation is entirely of the Lord and that is reason enough for Paul to not be ashamed, but to boast in the power of God’s Gospel!

Paul was not ashamed, but was anxious to preach the Gospel to those to whom God had sent him because he was convinced of the truth of the Gospel and that he would never find that his faith had been placed in vain and that his trust placed in the promises of God revealed in the Gospel would be secure.  He was convinced, as he said elsewhere, that God would finish that work that he began!

I can trust in the Gospel and lean wholly upon it.  It is the very power of God, and it is utterly trustworthy.