Not Ashamed

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Scripture: Romans 1:16-17 (ESV)

            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 for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Devotion:

            This scripture is an important one in today’s cultural climate. The culture is beginning to be openly hostile to the Christian message. Therefore, it is human nature not to want to become a social outcast by saying that you follow Jesus. We do this even though we know that Jesus became the ultimate outcast by going to his death on a cross just because he was telling people the truth about God’s kingdom.

            We know intellectually that we should stand up for Jesus and be witnesses for him in the world. However, emotionally, we know that there will be a cost to that stand. Many times, we let our feelings control us and we do not speak up for Jesus. Paul states in this passage that the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. Knowing this we must discern how we can seek out this power and apply it to our lives.

            The following verse gives us the way that we can access the power of the salvation we have received in Jesus Christ. It says: “The righteous shall live by faith.” True faith is the key having a powerful and faithful witness to Jesus. We must be devoted to Jesus in order to take advantage of the power that we received when we first believed in the Gospel message. Being bold for Jesus requires that we be full of faith that Jesus is indeed our Savior and Lord. We must have faith that the one who overcame death is alive in us to strengthen us for the future regardless of how it plays out.

            The culture does not understand the basics of Christianity anymore. Even some who call themselves Christians don’t get what Christianity is all about. Some Christians even believe that it is right to be ashamed of the faith because of how the church has reacted to some scandals. They even will go so far as to leave the faith because of the way they were treated or saw others treated by the church.

            We, as Christians, must admit to the faults of the church and ourselves, but we should never be ashamed of our Savior Jesus Christ. He was perfect in the way he lived among us. His death for our sins and his resurrection are proofs that all those who believe in him will never need to be ashamed for our faith in him. Instead, we should be bold to proclaim the good news that Jesus came to set us free from the law of sin and death so that we can live forever with him.

 

Prayer:

            Heavenly Father thank you for sending your son to save us from slavery to sin and death. Help us to proclaim the wonderful salvation that You have prepared for those who will believe in his name. Make us bold for Jesus in our words and in our deeds. Looking to you for the strength to live our lives as Jesus’ disciples. Amen.

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