Not Aahamed of the Gospel | Romans 1 Bible Study
Romans Bible Study | Not ashamed of the Gospel
Why to the Jew first? Well, the Jews were the first ones to hear the Gospel! But Jew and Gentile today are on equal footing, both are equal at the foot of the cross. Anyone saved today, Jew or Gentile becomes a member of the body of Christ.
The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that does what? Believes! If you notice, it doesn't say to everyone who tries to keep the ten commandments. It doesn't say to everyone who gets water baptized. It doesn't say to everyone who joins a church or pays a tithe or prays a special prayer or confesses all of their sins or any other work of any kind! It's important to notice what the Bible DOESN'T say sometimes too because religion will often try to add to God's word to entrap you in false doctrine. It is SIMPLE FAITH IN Christ Jesus and his finished work (His death, burial and resurrection) that saves us (we are saved by His grace through our faith- and it was His faithfulness to go to the cross that made salvation possible for us! It's also HIS faithfulness that KEEPS us saved, not our works!).
This faith that we have isn't just a mere intellectual understanding of something occurring in history, but a true trust that Christ Jesus is your savior and that what He did for you was sufficient to save you.
What about repentance? To repent is to have a change of mind. You go from not believing the gospel to believing it! You understand first that you are a sinner and you can't save yourself. Then, you simply believe that Jesus is your savior and that he died for your sins, was buried and he rose again for your justification. Repentance is NOT trying to change your ways in order for God to accept you because that is a work. God only justifies believers. No one will ever be able to boast before the Father for any kind of work that he's done in his flesh, including a person who decides that they can try to get into heaven by giving up their old lifestyle and trying to keep the law. Righteousness doesn't come by the law or else Christ is dead in vain! (See Gal 2:21 KJB) This means Christ would not have had a reason to go to the cross. Just believe. Once you are saved you become a new creature in Christ Jesus! Then, you can live out the grace life. Your sin nature was crucified and you have a new nature in Christ Jesus. Yes, you will still sometimes sin, but you have a choice now to either live for God or to walk after the flesh. Unbelievers have NO choice- all they do is sin! This is why Paul addresses believers as saints (we have imputed righteousness now) and unbelievers are called sinners. We will be learning more about our identity in Christ in further chapters. The gospel ALONE is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, not to everyone that worketh!
Also, the reason WHY we have no shame about the gospel is because it truly worked! It is the POWER OF GOD unto salvation (believers are completely saved forever from the moment they believe it and are even given ALL spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus) to everyone that believes it. Not only that, but all of Paul's Epistles incorporate the gospel (good news) of the grace of God to grow us up spiritually in Christ, bringing glory to the entire Godhead! Amazing!
I also briefly want to share something else very important about this verse. Again it says in the King James Bible "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."
In the ESV it says "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,"
And in the NIV it says, "16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes".
What did those two versions leave out? The Gospel >>OF CHRIST. << This is hugely important! Why? Because it clarifies which Gospel saves people today! It is only the Gospel of Christ that saves anyone today, it is NOT the Gospel of the Kingdom (which had to do with Israel's prophetic program) or any other gospel! These differences will be clarified more in future studies, but the Gospel of Christ is also known as the Gospel of the grace of God and as "Paul's Gospel" (because he was commissioned by the risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ to preach this Gospel). The fact that the other Bible versions do not clarify this is one major reason to choose to use the King James Bible which is a Bible version that is without error. God promised to preserve His word, so the King James Bible is the preserved word of God in the English language. Psalm 12: 6-7 says, "The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever."
Homework: Make sure you are using a King James Bible for your Bible study. If you are not convinced about it, perhaps continue to study the topic more for yourself and compare Bible versions. Also, find another verse from Romans chapter 1 to really meditate upon (that means to really think about it and apply it to your life).
Journal: What new things have you learned from this study in chapter 1? Did you learn or notice anything specific that I might not have mentioned in this study? Remember to always look at scripture thoughtfully and carefully for yourself. If you are a believer you have God's very own Spirit in you to help you understand His word.
Questions
• Am I ashamed of the gospel? Do I believe that it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that simply believes?
• Do I boldly share the gospel with others?
• How has the gospel changed me and my life? What do I have to look forward to now as a believer?
• Have I been told that the Bible isn't perfect? Do I believe that God is fully capable of preserving his word with absolutely no errors?
• Am I thankful to God now as a believer?
What about repentance? To repent is to have a change of mind. You go from not believing the gospel to believing it! You understand first that you are a sinner and you can't save yourself. Then, you simply believe that Jesus is your savior and that he died for your sins, was buried and he rose again for your justification. Repentance is NOT trying to change your ways in order for God to accept you because that is a work. God only justifies believers. No one will ever be able to boast before the Father for any kind of work that he's done in his flesh, including a person who decides that they can try to get into heaven by giving up their old lifestyle and trying to keep the law. Righteousness doesn't come by the law or else Christ is dead in vain! (See Gal 2:21 KJB) This means Christ would not have had a reason to go to the cross. Just believe. Once you are saved you become a new creature in Christ Jesus! Then, you can live out the grace life. Your sin nature was crucified and you have a new nature in Christ Jesus. Yes, you will still sometimes sin, but you have a choice now to either live for God or to walk after the flesh. Unbelievers have NO choice- all they do is sin! This is why Paul addresses believers as saints (we have imputed righteousness now) and unbelievers are called sinners. We will be learning more about our identity in Christ in further chapters. The gospel ALONE is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, not to everyone that worketh!
Also, the reason WHY we have no shame about the gospel is because it truly worked! It is the POWER OF GOD unto salvation (believers are completely saved forever from the moment they believe it and are even given ALL spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus) to everyone that believes it. Not only that, but all of Paul's Epistles incorporate the gospel (good news) of the grace of God to grow us up spiritually in Christ, bringing glory to the entire Godhead! Amazing!
I also briefly want to share something else very important about this verse. Again it says in the King James Bible "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."
In the ESV it says "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,"
And in the NIV it says, "16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes".
What did those two versions leave out? The Gospel >>OF CHRIST. << This is hugely important! Why? Because it clarifies which Gospel saves people today! It is only the Gospel of Christ that saves anyone today, it is NOT the Gospel of the Kingdom (which had to do with Israel's prophetic program) or any other gospel! These differences will be clarified more in future studies, but the Gospel of Christ is also known as the Gospel of the grace of God and as "Paul's Gospel" (because he was commissioned by the risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ to preach this Gospel). The fact that the other Bible versions do not clarify this is one major reason to choose to use the King James Bible which is a Bible version that is without error. God promised to preserve His word, so the King James Bible is the preserved word of God in the English language. Psalm 12: 6-7 says, "The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever."
Homework: Make sure you are using a King James Bible for your Bible study. If you are not convinced about it, perhaps continue to study the topic more for yourself and compare Bible versions. Also, find another verse from Romans chapter 1 to really meditate upon (that means to really think about it and apply it to your life).
Journal: What new things have you learned from this study in chapter 1? Did you learn or notice anything specific that I might not have mentioned in this study? Remember to always look at scripture thoughtfully and carefully for yourself. If you are a believer you have God's very own Spirit in you to help you understand His word.
Questions
• Am I ashamed of the gospel? Do I believe that it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that simply believes?
• Do I boldly share the gospel with others?
• How has the gospel changed me and my life? What do I have to look forward to now as a believer?
• Have I been told that the Bible isn't perfect? Do I believe that God is fully capable of preserving his word with absolutely no errors?
• Am I thankful to God now as a believer?
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