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 for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith." (Rom 1:16-17)Why did he write that? Well, he had just said that he was "under obligation" to "preach the gospel." So he was telling us that, despite his claim in the letter to Corinth that the gospel is an offense to some (1 Cor 1:18-24), he was not ashamed to do that.
Why was Paul not ashamed? Because "it is the power of God for salvation." The good news is what God uses to save ... anyone. "Everyone who believes." That's powerful. From whence comes this power? "For in it the righteousness of God is revealed." Let's restate it, then. The gospel is powerful. It saves people. It saves those who believe. It is capable of doing this because God's righteousness is revealed in it. (Note, again, that it is "from faith to faith" -- to those who believe.)
Do you think about the gospel in those terms? Sometimes it feels like a story or even a cliché. Paul says it is powerful. Do you think of the gospel as powerful? More interesting to me these days is the reason it is powerful. Do you see how the power of the gospel is in its revelation of God's righteousness? "Now wait a minute," some may say, "don't we already know about God's righteousness?" Apparently not. It takes the gospel to reveal that. So is your gospel primarily about revealing God's righteousness? I would contend that a gospel devoid of God's righteousness is not the gospel Paul is talking about.
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