The Word Made Plain

Guest (Male): Welcome to the Word Made Plain with senior pastor Tony Clark of Calvary Chapel Newport News in Virginia. Currently, pastor Tony is teaching through the book of Romans. Please open your Bible to Romans chapter 1 verses 16 through 17.

Tony Clark: Let's dive into the word of God. So, turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Romans chapter 1. We're going to be looking at verses 16 and 17. This message here is by far one of the most important messages that I can give because it defines for us the gospel message. And um we're going to we're going to pick these two verses that we're going to look at. We're going to pick them apart um and we're going to look at them and and dissect them and we're going to have some fun with it and so just very thankful, very thankful for uh these two verses here.

And Father, we do thank you that you have brought us here today to just study your word. And dear God, I just pray uh that your holy spirit would teach us. Teach us your word, we pray. Lord, have your spirit come upon us and help us to understand what you want us to understand today in Jesus name. Amen. Uh Romans chapter 1 we're going to be looking at verses 16 and 17. And the title of this message is are you ashamed? Are you ashamed? Now, you know, ashamed is defined as reluctant to do something through fear of embarrassment or humiliation.

Let me say this again for my wonderful note takers. Ashamed is defined as reluctant to do something through fear of embarrassment or humiliation. This is the subject of these verses. And the real question is, well, ashamed of what? Ashamed of sharing and, most importantly, living out the gospel of Jesus Christ. We will see what the gospel is cuz a lot of people talk about the gospel, what the gospel is, why it is important, and the consequences of not receiving the gospel. Now, by way of background, Paul is writing to the believers in Rome a masterpiece of Christian doctrine and Christian living called the book of Romans.

He introduced himself in verse 1 and then went on to describe his purpose for writing them in verses 2 through 7. He told them in verse 13 how he wanted to come to visit them in person, but was hindered from coming. So, he told them how he was ready to come to Rome and preach the gospel to them and in the most powerful and corrupt cities in the world, the city of Rome. Now, we pick it up in verses 16 and 17. Look what it says there. 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 the Greek.

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. Now, whether you believe it or not, these two verses contain the most life transforming truth God has put in man's hands. To understand and to respond to these verses is to have your life changed for all eternity. This is why I wanted to thoroughly cover uh these two verses by themselves because I am praying that many of you would understand them and have your lives changed for all eternity like many of us have had our lives changed as well.

I want to draw your attention to the first phrase of verse 16. Notice it says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Paul already told us in verse 15 uh that he was ready or eager to preach the gospel in Rome. And the gospel that he is ready and eager to preach, he was not ashamed of. See, Christianity and the gospel was looked down upon by the unbelieving world similarly how it's looked down upon today. Why? And here's the reason why Christianity is looked down upon. Because telling people, even if you tell them in love that they are sinners and without Jesus Christ, they will spend eternity in hell was looked upon with contempt.

And those preaching this gospel would face humiliation and suffering and, you know, even imprisonment. We saw this in the book of Acts. They would be ridiculed, deserted by friends and spouses, considered dead. If you converted to Christianity and you were in the Jewish community, they would consider you as being dead. You would be looked upon as a hypocrite for stumbling in the faith. And we have seen that. Anyone who is a Christian, you do anything wrong, you're looked at as a hypocrite and um you're looked down upon. Now, here's the thing. Here's the thing you got to understand.

The word hypocrite, who pocrates is the Greek word. It was originally used to mean an actor. It it was someone, you've heard me mention this before, someone that was a part of the plays, they will have they will be on stage, they will have a a mask over their face, you know, on a stick. They would have a mask with exaggerated expressions on them so the people way in the back can can understand the emotion that they are trying to display from them from the stage. So, a hypocrite was an actor. So, you think that a hypocrite is a Christian who's behaving badly.

No. A hypocrite is someone who is not a Christian, but pretending to be one. They're just acting. They're just wearing a mask of a Christian. And then soon as they leave church, as soon as they leave whatever Christian gathering, then all of a sudden they take the mask off. Oh, yes, in a sense that a person that is a Christian behaving badly can be looked upon as a hypocrite. But the truest sense of the word hypocrites is an actor. They're acting a role. They're not the real thing. They're just acting it. And so here it is in this time to stumble in the faith.

Oh, you will be ridiculed. Oh, we've even seen it even today passed over for promotions if you're a Christian. And today even get fired. Oh, around the world we have brothers and sisters being killed for being a Christian or speaking up in defense of the Christian faith. We've seen it around the world because of social media. Unfortunately, there's videos out where people are being beheaded because they're uh it's standing up for Jesus Christ. And because of this, many believers have become secret agent Christians. Undercover for the Lord. Don't want anybody to know that they belong to Christ.

In other words, become ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Greek word for ashamed is an amazing Greek word is great word, mouthful. And it means to feel shame for something, to be embarrassed, to be ashamed. And this is why many Christians don't share the gospel today because of the ridicule, the mocking, or being made fun of in school. And so you feel shame. There's also a shame that many believers feel because you don't know much about the Christian faith. So, you keep quiet because you don't want anyone to ask you a question that you can answer.

And there is shame. Fear has caused many Christians to be ashamed of the gospel. Proverbs 29 verse 25 says, the fear of man brings a snare. But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe or secure. Uh the Hebrew word for snare is is a mokash. And it means a a bait, a a a lure, or a trap. In other words, the fear of man will lure us and trap us and keep us from doing what God has told us to do, which is preach the gospel. Now, let me bring something very humbling to your attention by asking, is God ashamed of you?

Calling you calling God your God. Is he ashamed of that? Is God ashamed that you call him your God? Now, you say, well, what do you mean? Well, well, Hebrews 11 verse 16 says, therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. The them that being referred to in Hebrews 11 are the great heroes of the Christian faith who trusted God. And many of them died for their faith. So, God was not ashamed that they called him their God. I just wonder about the 60 to 70% of Americans who claim to believe in God and their lives do not reflect it.

If God is ashamed that many of us call him our God. It's just a thought, something for us to really consider. Uh I I know for my own life that there has been times that God was ashamed that I was calling him God through my bad behavior, through my sinful thoughts and bad actions. And so Paul said for him, he is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Oh, oh, Paul could say he could say this so emphatically because it was the gospel of Jesus Christ that saved him from his sinful lifestyle, rescued him from hell so he wouldn't dare be ashamed of the very message that saved his life.

He said, no, there's no way he will. Oh, to give you a glimpse into the fearless heart and life of Paul. In Acts chapter 21, there's the prophet who his name was Agabus. The prophet Agabus, he took Paul's belt off of him and tied up his hands and feet and said, thus saith the holy spirit, so shall the Jews do to the man who owns this belt and deliver him to the Gentiles or the non-Jews. When Paul's friends heard this, that they pleaded with him and begged him not to go to Jerusalem. Paul responded in Acts 21 in verse 13.

He said, what do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? He said, for I am ready not only to be bound, but to also die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. Paul was fearless. He was determined. He was ready even to die for Jesus. And this is why he could say, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. For whatever came his way as a result of preaching the gospel, he was ready to receive it even if it meant dying for Jesus. For Paul it would have been an honor to die for Jesus.

Oh, I want to bring your attention to the next phrase. Notice it says, for I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God. What is the power of God? The gospel message. Uh the Greek word for power is dunamis. It means miraculous power or ability. It is where we get our English word dynamite or dynamo. And even though Alfred Nobel didn't invent dynamite until 1867, surely he named his explosive powder after this Greek word. And Paul is saying that the gospel is so powerful that it contains the omnipotent power of God in it.

It's like spiritual dynamite. Uh uh the gospel explodes and demolishes secular world views and ideologies that we once had before Christ. The power of the gospel it pricks the conscious, grabs the mind, warms the heart, and sanctifies our lives. The gospel has the power to make perverted men pure, drunken men sober, crooked men straight. It is the power of God. For what? Notice, to salvation. These things must be exploded before we can be saved. They must be demoted. They must be blown up. Uh the Greek word for salvation is soteria. And in its basic meaning it means deliverance or to be rescued from something.

And the idea here is rescuing us from the ultimate penalty of sin, which is spiritual death leading to eternal death separated from him in hell itself. And all of us need to be saved. We're drowning in the sea of sin and wickedness through the internet and movies and a myriad of other things. The gospel message is what saves us from the cesspool of this world. And the power of the gospel declares that we are saved, don't miss this, from the penalty of sin, which is death. This is called justification. The power of God declares that we are saved from the power of sin.

And this is called sanctification. And that the power of the gospel declares that we will ultimately be saved from the very presence of sin. And this is called glorification. So, with this in mind, who is the gospel message for? A special group of people? No. The third part of verse 16 says for everyone who believes. For everyone who believes. The gospel doesn't discriminate against people. The gospel is so powerful that it is for everyone who believes, from a child to a college professor can receive it and all in between. The man on his deathbed or on death roll, the person in the dorm or on some deserted island can receive it as well.

As preachers of the gospel, which all believers are supposed to be, we can share this good news with anyone we come in contact with because it is for everyone who believes. All we have to do is preach it and all they have to do is believe it. The Greek word for believe is pistis and it means to trust in, to rely upon, to adhere to. It is more than intellectually acknowledging some biblical facts. We run into people all the time and says, well, you know, I've read the Bible before. They always say stuff like that.

I read the Bible before and yes, yeah. I know what the Bible says and I believe this, this, that, and the other, but their lives doesn't reflect it. So, it's more than just intellectually acknowledging or believing some biblical facts or dates or whatever. It's more than that. This is why 60 to 70% of Americans can say that they believe in God because if you ask them, do you believe in God? Yeah, I believe in God. Their lives doesn't reflect it. So, it's more than just some intellectual acknowledgement of some biblical fact. You believe in Jesus?

Yeah, I believe in Jesus. You believe the Bible? Be the word of God? Yeah. Yeah. It's more than just intellectually acknowledging biblical facts. It means to trust in, to adhere to, to rely upon. It means to place all of one's weight upon is another definition of the Greek word pistis. No one is beyond being reached with the gospel because it is the gospel, the power of God to blow up everyone's barriers, walls, or excuses that were keeping them from Christ. From the atheistic, humanistic college professors with their many degrees to the person who thinks that they are a good person who doesn't need Jesus Christ.

The power, the dunamis of the gospel destroys or blows up or shatters these ideas and leaves a person saying, what must I do to be saved? Like the Philippian jailer in Acts 16 and verse 31. Notice the next phrase. For the Jew first and also for the Greek. Now, the reason why Paul said that the gospel was for the Jew first is because they had been the special people of God for thousands of years throughout Old Testament times. Since God chose Abraham in Genesis 12 in verses 1 to 3. Oh, please understand that God didn't choose them because they deserved to be chosen or because they were good little boys and good little girls.

No, no, no. But because he wanted a people to shower his love and mercy upon, to teach a people his ways and prepare them to be a people, the Messiah, his son could come into this world. So, being the first to receive the gospel is only fitting. Not to show favorites or favoritism, uh but to show his plan of salvation. We see this in Matthew 15 in verse 24. It said the Messiah, Jesus Christ, came first to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And the gospel is also for the Greeks or the non-Jews as well.

Uh and this just confirms that the gospel is for everyone who believes. Even the most quoted verse in the Bible, John 3:16. It agrees with what Paul is saying here. Jesus speaking to a religious man, a religious leader named Nicodemus, said, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever, or if you have a old King James, whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. In other words, God made salvation for everyone who believes because everyone needs to be saved. And because of his great love for us he just didn't love us, the world.

But he so loved the world. Oh, the adverb so means to such a great extent that he gave his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, to take our place on the cross and die in our place. Why? Because Romans 6:23 says, for the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. In other words, we were supposed to die because we're born sinners. But Jesus came, took our place, and died in our place. Why did he do such a thing? Simply because he so loved us. This is why 2 Peter 3:9 is not on the screen for you note takers.

It says God isn't willing that any should perish, but all come to repentance. You know, yes God is holy and his holiness demands punishment for sin. Don't think that God is in heaven looking down upon people dying of the virus, dying of suicide, dying of gunshot wounds, and dying of all kind of all kind of heinous ways. And he's getting he he's deriving great delight out of that. The Bible says God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. This is why he desires all men to be saved. This is why he sent Jesus to die for the world.

This is why the gospel is for everyone who believes. This is why he takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He doesn't. Not at all. So, he sent Jesus to die in our place. You've heard me say for years, that should have been us on the cross. But he took our place. Why? Simply because he loved us. Oh, verse 17 explains this a little further. Notice the first part of verse 17 says, for in it the righteousness of God is revealed. In other words, in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed. How?

The gospel tells us that we, sinners, can be right with a holy God. Uh see, God requires perfection. And as you know, none of us can be perfect. So, God sent Jesus to this earth to live a perfect life and to die for sinners. Remember Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death. So, because we are sinners, we should die and spend eternity in hell for our sin. But God sent Jesus to die in our place. And then God gave us his righteousness. Oh, 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, for he made him, referring to Jesus, who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Jesus, who was sinless died for sinful people. And then God gave us his righteousness. God got a bad deal. He gave us his righteousness. So, when we stand before God, we will not stand in our own righteousness because we know from Isaiah 64 in verse 6 that our righteousness is as filthy rags. Oh, I hate to be graphic. The filthy rags being referred to were the menstrual cloths of the women. That's how God sees our righteousness or sees us trying to do righteous things to be pleasing to him. As if we're trying to somehow earn our way to heaven or earn ourselves into favor with God.

God sees them as the cloths used for the woman's menstrual cycle. That's how he sees our righteousness. This is why. This is why he had to give us his righteousness. Because ours is as filthy filthy rags in the eyes of God. So, the Lord gives us his righteousness and I just say thank you Jesus. For how long? Notice the next phrase from faith to faith.

Guest (Male): If the Word Made Plain has been a source of inspiration and encouragement to you, why not consider becoming a Word Made Plain giving partner to keep this listener supported program on the air? As a giving partner, you join forces with Calvary Chapel Newport News's kingdom vision of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can make your tax deductible gift online at calvarynn.org or send your gift of any amount to 15553 Warwick Boulevard, Newport News, Virginia 23608 and receive a gift from Calvary Chapel Newport News as our thank you. In addition to your financial support, we ask that you pray for the Word Made Plain broadcast that it touches hearts and generates change in the lives of people around the world.

We pray you've been blessed by God's word today and hope you'll tune in next time to hear the Word Made Plain.