Not Ashamed Of The Gospel

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.  

Romans 1:16 

Paul was not ashamed of the gospel. What is this gospel of which he was not ashamed? He articulates it succinctly in I Corinthians where he writes, ‘For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.’ This is the gospel in its simplest form. It centers upon the Person and work of Christ. All else we understand about salvation is founded and grounded in the truth expressed in these verses. From this simple statement of the gospel we can travel back to creation, the fall of humanity, and the first prophecy of the seed of the woman. We can trace the unfolding of the revelation throughout the Old Testament as all the prophets give witness to Christ. We can hear the testimony of the four evangelists as they show us Christ as King, Servant of Jehovah, Son of Man, and Son of God. We can behold His wonderful works and hear the gracious words that proceed out of His mouth. We can see Him heal the sick, raise the dead, cause the deaf to hear and the blind to see. Nothing Christ has ever said or done has caused us to be ashamed of Him. He has done all things well, right up to and including His substitutionary, atoning sacrifice on the cross. Therefore, Paul was not ashamed of the gospel and neither are we. It is the good news worth proclaiming to all people to the end of the earth. Of it we shall never be ashamed.  

Our Good and Wise God, 
we rejoice that You have revealed Christ to us. 
We praise You that we have the privilege 
to declare His Gospel in the world. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning