Romans 1:16

‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one who believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.'

That readiness to proclaim the Gospel was in no way diminished by the thought that Rome might mock his Good News, and see him as ridiculous. Indeed he probably saw it as inevitable. For who in Rome would see the crucifixion of an unknown Judean prophet as of any significance? But this in no way made him ashamed of his message, for he knew that his Good News was ‘the power of God unto salvation to every one who believes'. He knew that in the death of that unknown Jewish prophet, and through His resurrection life, lay the hopes of mankind, for He was no mere prophet but the LORD Jesus Christ Himself, the only Son of God (Romans 1:4), Who had within Himself the ‘Spirit of Holiness' (the truly divine spirit), and he was aware that through His immense power revealed in His resurrection, the very power of God to give life and deliver from death, men could find eternal salvation by truly believing in Him.

‘The gospel -- is the power of God unto salvation.' What is meant by the Gospel has already been described in Romans 1:2. It concerns the One Who was born humanly speaking of the seed of David, but Who was declared to be God's powerful only Son through ‘the spirit of holiness' within Him, as revealed in His resurrection from the dead. He had come with all the operative and explosive power (dunamis - dynamite) of God in order, by the exercise of that power, to die and rise again, thereby making it possible for those who unite with Him to also rise, firstly in terms of a newness of life received in this life (Romans 6:3), and then in new resurrection bodies, which are holy as He is holy, at the last day (Romans 8:10). And this power unto salvation was revealed by preaching concerning the crucified One. ‘It is ‘the word of the cross' which is the power of God ‘unto salvation' to those who are being saved (1 Corinthians 1:18).

‘Unto salvation.' It was the power of God ‘unto salvation'. It is important to recognise that salvation means far more than just being sure that we will ‘go to Heaven' when we die. It involves divine deliverance and transformation, and in the end glorification (Romans 8:29). It involves radical change within. We must not see salvation as something passive, as a ‘thing' simply accepted and stored up for when it is needed. It is rather speaking ‘of God acting powerfully to save men and women', of God ‘coming in salvation'. And His purpose is to save men from both the penalty and the power of sin. He comes in order to make men acceptable to Him judicially, and in order to transform their lives. It is a transformation that must begin in this life, when we are made ‘new creations' by Him (2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:10; John 3:1) and receive newness of life (Romans 6:4) and it will finally result in our being presented perfect before God, ‘holy, unblameable and unreproveable in His sight' (Colossians 1:22; Ephesians 5:27; Philippians 3:20). We should note in this regard Ephesians 5:25. ‘Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it in order that He might sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of water with the word, so that He might present it to Himself --- holy and without blemish'. We should note that the work is Christ's not ours. Jesus is the physician who has come to heal those who are sick (Mark 2:17), and His salvation through His saving activity results in our being fitted to live together with Him through all eternity (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

Brief Note On Salvation.

In the New Testament salvation is a mighty activity of God which does not fail in its purpose in each individual involved. It is true that it saves us from Hell, but that is merely the negative side. Its aim is mainly in order to save us out of the degradation into which sin has brought us. Its purpose is to save us from ourselves so that we might become like He is (Romans 8:29; 1 John 3:2). Thus the New Testament teaches different aspects of 'salvation'.

1). It speaks of those who have been saved once and for all, ‘the ‘having been saved ones' (aorist tense). This refers to one act of Christ which is complete for ever, embracing salvation from start to finish. And as it signifies that their Saviour Christ has chosen them and called them to Himself, and has made them one with Himself, it means that they are now safe in Him. Their lives are 'hid with Christ in God' (Colossians 3:3). Verses which refer to such an experience of salvation are Titus 3:5; 2 Timothy 1:9, in which the aorist tense is used, indicating something that has happened once for all.

2). It speaks of those who ‘have been saved and are therefore now saved' (perfect tense). Here there is the twofold thought of what Christ has done in the past (He has saved them) and of what is true now, (they are consequently saved). They are safe in His hands and He will never let them go. Verses which speak of ‘having been saved and therefore now being saved' include Ephesians 2:5; Ephesians 2:8 (perfect tense, something that has happened in the past the benefit of which continues to the present time). It is a result of being incorporated into Christ by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:12). This is what is in mind when we say a person ‘is saved'.

3). It speaks of those who ‘are being saved' (present tense). This is because when Christ reaches out and saves someone it is with the purpose of their being fully saved. Having provided them with overall forgiveness and justification He now carries out the process of making them totally free from sin. This is a lifelong work as they are ‘changed from glory into glory' (2 Corinthians 3:18) and it is only completed when they are finally presented perfect before Him, not only in status but in reality. Verses which speak of those who "are being saved" include 1Co 1:18; 2 Corinthians 2:15. They are expressed in the present tense describing a process going on.

4). It speaks of those who will be saved (future tense). This is looking forward to that day when they will be presented perfect before Him ‘without spot, or wrinkle or any such thing, holy and without blemish' (Ephesians 5:25). See for example 1 Corinthians 3:15; 1 Corinthians 5:5; 2 Corinthians 7:10; 1Th 5:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:13.

Thus in one sense salvation can be seen as one overall experience commencing from the moment of believing and not ceasing until the person is presented before God holy and without blemish, a process guaranteed from start to finish in those whom the Father has given to His Son (John 6:37; John 6:39; John 6:44; John 10:27), and in another sense it can be seen as an experience that is being undergone which will not cease until it is completed. For it should be noted that salvation is God's work and not ours (Hebrews 13:20). And He does not fail in His purpose. See especially John 10:27; 1 Corinthians 1:8; Philippians 2:6; Jude 1:24.

End of Note.

‘To everyone who believes.' What is meant by believing is best gathered from John 2:23. There we learn that Jesus did not ‘believe Himself unto them'. He was not willing to entrust Himself into their hands. And that is what saving faith involves, an entrusting of ourselves into the hands of our Saviour so that He might carry out His work of forgiveness and restoration. It is handing ourselves over to His Saviourhood and Lordship. We do not ‘do' anything. The doing is by Him. We are saved by putting our trust in the LORD Jesus Christ and what He has promised to do for us, in expectant faith.

In the New Testament the difference between intellectual assent and true saving faith is often (although not always) depicted by means of a preposition following the verb. Thus pisteuo epi (to believe on) or pisteuo eis (to believe into). And intellectual assent is seen as insufficient to save. We can believe a host of things about Jesus Christ and what He has done, but until there is in some way a personal commitment of ourselves to Him, a commitment to Him in His saving power, it is unavailing. The faith that saves is a faith that produces transformation, and this not because the faith itself transforms, but because it commits itself into the hands of the One Who does the transforming work, the ‘Saviour'.

There is a tendency among some people to speak of Jesus Christ as being ‘my Saviour but not my Lord'. That is a completely untenable position. We come to Jesus as our LORD Jesus Christ. Anything less is impossible. What they mean, of course, is that they have not yet allowed His Lordship to exercise influence over their lives. But that is a dangerous position to be in. If they are truly His then they can be sure that Christ will have begun His work within them, and if He has then they will soon discover its impact and respond to His Lordship, and if He has not done so their position is perilous indeed. They are not ‘being saved'.

‘To the Jew first, and also to the Greek.' Here the ‘first' refers to a precedence in time, not in importance. Paul is emphasising here that God's purpose of salvation extended firstly to the people whom He chose out to be the vehicles of His truth. That it came to them first is apparent from Scripture, for the Old Testament is primarily about God offering ‘salvation' to the Jews. But because of this the Jews were the natural ones to approach with the saving message of Christ, for they had already been basically prepared and were knowledgeable in the Scriptures. That is why Jesus initially went to ‘the lost sheep of the house of Israel' (Matthew 10:6; Matthew 15:24). It was not until after His experience with the Syro-phoenician woman that He extended His ministry to Gentiles who must have formed part of the crowds who gathered to hear Him as He operated in what was mainly Gentile territory. The Apostles also initially restricted their ministry to Jews and proselytes. Thus for the first few years the church was wholly Jewish. It was the true Israel being established by the Messiah and arising out of the old. They saw themselves as the true Israel in contrast to the rejected Israel which had become as ‘one of the nations' (Acts 4:25). And this situation continued until Peter's experience with Cornelius in Acts 10. In the same way Paul went initially to the Jews until he too found himself rejected by them and turned to the Gentiles (Acts 13:14; Acts 13:43; Acts 13:46).

And the reason for this is clear, it was because Jesus had come to establish a new, renewed Israel. He was establishing in Himself ‘the true vine' (John 15:1) as against the false vine (Isaiah 5:1). They were to be His new congregation, replacing the old, founded on His Messiahship (Matthew 16:18). The ‘church' (ekklesia - ‘congregation') of ‘called together ones' was seen as the true Israel, the remnant chosen by God, with those who refused to believe in their Messiah being rejected and ‘cut off' (Romans 11:17). The church were the ‘Israel of God' where neither circumcision nor uncircumcision meant anything, because what mattered was the new creation (Galatians 6:15). (See also Galatians 3:29; Ephesians 2:11; 1 Peter 3:9). But as the prophets had forecast, the light was eventually to go out to the Gentiles (Isaiah 42:6; Isaiah 49:6), who would be incorporated into Israel. They also became part of the true Israel. Thus Peter could write to the whole church as ‘the Dispersion' (a term which normally indicated Israel spread worldwide) and James could speak of them as ‘the twelve tribes' (1 Peter 1:1; James 1:1). Both letters show quite clearly that they were not written only to Jewish Christians, which indicates that these terms referred to the whole church.

As we go through the letter the emphasis on salvation will continue. Thus:

· a). The letter will reveal that through His offering of Himself on the cross (Romans 3:24) as sealed by His resurrection (Romans 4:24) we can receive forgiveness for our sins (Romans 4:7) and can be ‘reckoned as righteous' (justified) in His sight (Romans 3:24; Romans 3:26; Romans 3:28; Romans 4:6; Romans 4:8; Romans 4:24).

b). It will reveal that, having received that ‘justification', from that time on God will be at work on us through life's experiences and the working of the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:1), in connection with His risen life (Romans 5:10). And all this will be on the basis of our having been accounted as righteous (justified) in Christ, with the result that we are delivered from His wrath (God's aversion to sin which brings judgment), and reconciled to Him (Romans 5:9).

· c). It will reveal that as in Adam all die as a result of his sin, so in Christ can all be made alive, as a result of His justifying work and His resurrection life (Romans 5:12).

· d). It will reveal that as a result of the cross and resurrection of Jesus being applied to our lives we can learn to reign in life through Christ, with the end being eternal life (Romans 6:1).

· e). It will reveal the battle taking place in our lives as sin fights against the new life within us, a battle in which we can gain victory by being delivered by the working within us of Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 7:1).

· f). It will reveal the working of the powerful Holy Spirit, Who, through what Christ has accomplished on the cross, will set us free from the grip of sin, and bring us through to eternal life because we are now true children of God and are led by His Spirit (Romans 8:1).

· g). It will reveal the struggle of creation, including ourselves, a struggle resulting from the effects of sin. And it is a struggle from which we will be delivered, along with the whole of creation, as we look forward to the redemption of our bodies, a hope that yet lies in the future (Romans 8:18).

· h). It will reveal the mighty working and even the groaning of the Holy Spirit, as God carries forward His predetermined purposes in His people to their destined end, while at the same time vindicating them because they are held safe in the love of God through the effectiveness of the cross (Romans 8:26).

· i). It will reveal how God's original, destined purpose for His people will be carried through to the end, resulting in the salvation of all His true people of whatever race (9-11).

· j). It will reveal the present consequence of all that He has done, in the calling of us to give ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God and to live in accordance therewith (12-16).

· j). It will reveal that Satan will be will be bruised under our feet shortly by the God of peace (Romans 16:20).

And it will do all this because in it is revealed the effective powerful working of the saving righteousness of God which is experienced by faith, and imputes and applies righteousness, to all who believe (Romans 1:17 a). For it is through faith that those given His righteousness, and taken up into the righteous working of God, will ‘live' (Romans 1:17 b).