guest speaker: Cyril Florita
Romans 1:16–17 (NASB)
16 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. 17 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.”
We must grasp two (2) life-changing truths about the gospel so that we would faithfully
embrace it for ourselves and boldly proclaim it to others.
2 Reasons to Embrace and Proclaim the Gospel:
1) It Is God’s Power to Save (v.16)
2) It Is God’s Righteousness Revealed (v.17)
Explanation:
Paul’s epistle to the Romans served as an introduction to his apostleship and as a
demonstration of his gospel-ministry (1:1–6). Paul wanted to forge a relationship with
them by edifying them and strengthening their faith so they would partner with him in his
missionary plans for Spain (1:8–13; 15:28). Because of his God-given call and obligation
to preach Christ to all people, he expressed how he was eager to preach the gospel to
them (1:14–15).
And so, with our passage, at the beginning of verse 16, Paul uses the conjunction “for” to
give a reason as to why he was so eager to preach—he was not ashamed of the gospel and
had complete confidence in it. Then, for the rest of verses 16 and 17, he again uses the
conjunction “for” twice to further explain why he had such confidence in the gospel. For
reason #1, he presents how the gospel is the very power of God to save everyone who
believes. And for reason #2, he presents how the gospel reveals the righteousness of God,
which is received through faith, from beginning to end.
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