Paul's Gospel

Romans as a book is an interesting anomaly. Paul wrote it to a church he didn't start. It was a church he hadn't visited. He was planning to visit them (Rom 1:11-13), but he wasn't familiar with it personally. Scholars believe Aquila and Priscilla were from there, exiled by Emperor Claudius with the rest of the Jews, so that may be where Paul got his information. So he's writing to a group of early believers and he wants to visit them ... so he wants to prepare them. What does the Apostle Paul think is of first importance this "church of the unknown," so to speak? Well ... obviously ... the gospel.

I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 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. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "But the righteous man shall live by faith." For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. (Rom 1:13-19)

His obligation was "to preach the gospel" to everyone. Look what he says about this gospel. "I am not ashamed of the gospel." Why would he be ashamed of the gospel? Well, he tells of that in the letter to Corinth. The gospel is an offense to some. Jesus was a commoner, executed as a criminal by a most shameful means. The Romans would consider it outrageous. The Jews would consider it scandalous. But Paul ... was not ashamed. Why was Paul not ashamed? It's easy to miss this because of his "trail of fors" ... a series of "for" statements that require you to tunnel down and figure out what he's saying. "I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation." So, he's not ashamed because it is God's saving power. Don't stop there. First, this "saving power" requires belief ("for everyone who believes") without regard to nationality or human categories. Second, it is the power of God for salvation "for in it the righteousness of God is revealed." That's interesting. It is God's saving power because it reveals ... God's righteousness. God's justness, His equity, His "rightness" is displayed in the gospel.

Most of us don't think of the gospel in those terms. It's the "good news" of salvation ... and it is. It's about God's grace ... and it is. It's a good thing ... but Paul's primary thought was that the gospel displays God's righteousness, making it the power by which God saves. Now, Paul takes from there to the 11th chapter to lay that out, but that's his position. It's especially shocking because Paul begins with the premise that God's righteousness is first and foremost displayed ... in His wrath. "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." Another "for" link. And the rightness of God's wrath takes Paul all the way from verse 18 of chapter 1 to verse 20 of chapter 3 to explain. Think of that. First, God's wrath is part of God's righteousness, and the gospel is intimately tied to God's wrath. (Spoiler alert: How God's righteousness is displayed in God's wrath is explained in Romans 3:21-28.) Are you ashamed of the gospel? I'd bet each of is to some extent at some time or another. Are you aware that it is about God's righteousness? I'm quite sure most of us don't think of the gospel as being about His righteousness. And, since it is the power of God for salvation, I think we might want to think of it that way more often.