The gospel of God, as presented in Romans, is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, originating with God and centered on Jesus Christ's person and work. Paul, a debtor to all people, felt compelled to share this gospel, which offers a solution to humanity's deepest needs beyond government, education, or religion. This salvation, revealed through faith in Christ's resurrection and atoning sacrifice, is God's provision for all, regardless of background or circumstance. The sermon concludes by emphasizing that accepting God's righteousness through the gospel is essential, as the alternative is God's wrath.
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Let me remind you that Paul's epistle to the Romans is the greatest document in the hands of men regarding the Gospel of God. Paul commences writing this epistle by saying this. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the Gospel of God. And do you know that in chapter one of this epistle, God is mentioned directly twenty-three times, and the Lord Jesus is mentioned seven times.
I draw your attention to these facts to show you how much value the Holy Spirit and how much value Paul the Apostle places upon a correct understanding as it were of the gospel in relation to God. But he goes on to tell us this, that not only was he an apostle separated unto the gospel of God, but he tells us that this gospel concerning God's Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh. And he was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.
So Paul sets down in his opening verses some of the foundation truths regarding this glorious gospel, the good news. It's the good news of God because it originated with God. It's the good news concerning Jesus Christ, our Lord, because the Gospel is the presentation of the person of Jesus Christ. But it has to do not only with his coming into this world as being of the line of David, but also it has to do with his glorious resurrection. And you know, you cannot separate his coming.
and his resurrection from the glorious work that he accomplished on the cross, when there he offered himself without spot to God, and there met all the righteous claims of God's holy throne, there he gave satisfaction to God. So the whole of this epistle, the epistle to the Romans, is a setting forth of the fundamentals of Christian doctrine, especially in relation to righteousness and that the righteousness of God. Now when we come to verse fourteen of chapter one, the apostle says, I am debtor.
Now there's one thing a debtor should do, and that is he should seek to discharge his debt. No one likes to think that he is a debtor without doing anything about it. In fact, the law almost demands that if you are a debtor, that you make some effort to discharge your debt. That is exactly what the apostle was seeking to do. Not only did he come to grips with the fact that he was a debtor, he was in somebody's debt. He tells us exactly to whom he was a debtor. He says, I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians.
both to the wise and to the unwise. So whether a man was cultured or uncultured, whether he was a man of education or a man of no education, Paul says, never mind, I am still in that man's debt. I am a debtor to him. But then he goes on to say that nevertheless, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. Notice that he was willing to discharge his debt, and he knew exactly how to discharge it.
He was a debtor to these people because he had something that they didn't have. He had something he could share with them. He had something that could meet their need, and he calls it the gospel. It's the gospel of God because it originated with God. It's the gospel of Christ because it tells of Christ's work. It's the gospel of our salvation because it brings salvation. Now when we come to verse sixteen, he says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel.
of Christ, for it is the power of God and to salvation to everyone that believe us, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Now I want to remind you that Paul is willing to go to Rome and preach the gospel to them. At the time he wrote this letter he hadn't been at Rome. Of course, it's true that later on he managed to reach that great city and meet some of the Christians there, but he didn't go to Rome as a great preacher. He went to Rome as a prisoner. But at the time that he wrote this letter, he was in the great city of Corinth. He was anxious to go to Rome.
And I suggest to you that Paul had the solution to the problems that people were facing in that day. And the solution that Paul had then is the same solution that we have today. The solution to man's problems today is the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Now notice he's telling us here that he was a debtor to the Greek. That is, those who had the Greek culture were in need of something more. Then he said to the barbarians, that was the uncultured, untutored people, they needed something, and also those at Rome.
Now, I want you to remember who Paul himself was. Prior to his own conversion, Paul was a very, very special man. Of course, by religion, he was a Hebrew. He was raised up as an Orthodox Jew. He says himself that he was of the tribe of Benjamin. He was circumcised on the eighth day. He was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, and he was also a Pharisee of the Pharisees. In plain words, he prided himself in his upbringing. He was also very orthodox in his religion.
He would keep all the feasts and all the fasts. He was an orthodox Jew. But then so far as his education was concerned, he was a culture Greek. He was trained in the languages. Oh, he knew the Greek in its classical setting. And he knew the ordinary Greek that was spoken by the men of the street. He could also speak the pure Hebrew, of course. He was a master of languages, very cultured man, highly educated man with Saul of Tarsus. Also, as to his citizenship, he was a Roman, and he said he was freeborn.
Now, I want you to take all those things and put them together. He was a man who understood something of the power of Rome, the great power of government as it emanated from Rome. He knew something of how that government was enforced by military law. As I have said before to different people, some folks have an idea that if only we had a good government enforced by law and everyone... taught to conform to the particular government, that everything would be all right.
That if the government could act as the big daddy, the big brother, if you like, and give the handout to everybody, and distribute the world's wealth as each one had need, they seemed to imagine that would be the answer to the sinner's need. But it isn't, my friend. It isn't. But some folk would go a little further and they would tell us that not only do we need a settled government, a government enforced by military power, but with it all we need a very high standard of education. Well, remember, Saul of Tarsus not only was under the power of the government of Rome, but he also had come under the influence of the culture of the Greeks.
He was educated according to their educational systems and according to their culture. He had that, but that was not enough. Some people will tell us, no, over and above these things, you need freedom of religion. A man needs to be able to worship God according to his own dictates or according to the convictions of his own heart. My friend, let me tell you, the Apostle Paul was zealous with regards to his religion, and in effect he said no one could point the finger at him. There was nothing in which he came short so far as his religion was concerned.
Now add all these things together. He had the benefits of the religion of the Hebrew. He had the benefit of the education and the culture of the Greek. He had the benefit of the government and the rule of Rome. But with all these things Saul of Tarsus didn't know the Lord Jesus Christ until the day on the Damascus Road, when he was struck down and a voice from heaven said, Why persecutest thou me, it's hard for thee to kick against the goads. And here was a man with all his culture.
with all his religion. That man didn't know the Lord Jesus Christ and he was not right with God. But that was the day. That was the turning point in his life. That was the day of his conversion. Now I want you to notice that's the man who writes his letter to the people at Rome. And he says, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation. to everyone that believe us. Now to all my listeners today I see this. The thing that men need today is the salvation of God. My friend, you know and I know that we could do with a better form of government throughout the world.
Government has upset many countries and the government of this country could be upset too. Oh, we may pride ourselves in our form of government, but remember this, my friend, better governments than ours have fallen and have been overthrown. It's not the government of man that's going to bring us to our desired haven. And you may pride yourself in your great educational system. You may pride yourself in your graduations. going up one step at a time until perhaps you become a postgraduate student or even a professor in your particular line.
That will not bring you to your desired haven. Whether it be religion or education or government, no, my friend, what we need is the righteousness of God. And until we have the righteousness of God, we are not fit for God's presence. and not fit to occupy a square inch of God's heaven. And God's righteousness is revealed to us in the gospel. Hence the reason the great apostle says, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it, it is the power of God unto salvation.
You see, the apostle Paul knew how much this meant to him. He knew the change that had been wrought in his life through the blessed Christ of God, who had been raised again from the dead. He knew what conversion meant in his life, and he knew that this was the only solution. It was God's way of salvation. I have talked to you in previous broadcasts about God's way of salvation. I have set it forth in contrast to man's way of salvation. Men like to think that they are able to work out their own salvation.
Men like to think that they are able to set up a pattern and go according to their own pattern and that God will show them favor for that. But no, my friend. If we are to be accepted by God, we shall have to come to God according to God's pattern. It's God's Gospel. It's not something that originates in the mind of men. The Gospel is something that originated with God. It was all of God's love, all of God's mercy, all of God's grace that he ever thought upon us at all, and sent his only beloved Son down to this earth, to die as a Savior on Calvary's cross, to rise again from the dead.
and thus provide salvation for men and women. And so says Paul, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. You see, it's not only the power of God in creation that we do understand, because God exercised the great power in creation. But here is the power of God unto salvation. Men and women need to be saved. A lot of people don't like this word. Some will tell you they don't know what it means. But my friend, it's a Bible word. He says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation.
Again, when we come over throughout this epistle and you'll reach that famous chapter, chapter ten of Romans, here is what he tells us there. that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. There you were again saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Again he said, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. He commences that same chapter by saying, brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.
You see how Paul uses this word saved and this word salvation. See, men and women need to be saved. And God has provided salvation. And God's salvation is bound up in the person of Jesus Christ. And the Gospel is the presentation of the good news concerning Jesus Christ, the Savior. And herein then is the power of God. It's the power of God unto salvation. You know, men like to boast about their powers. Some men have political power, and they let you know it. But some men have military power, and they boast about that.
And with their military power, they threaten everybody else. They tell you to submit to us or else. And you look around and you see people today who are exercising power. So whether it be the power to set up government or the power to destroy their fellows, men like to boast themselves today in power. We're living in the days of atomic power. nuclear power and so on. Men speak and boast about power. But most of the powers that are in the hands of men, you'll notice, have been abused.
They've been turned around to the destruction of their fellows. Ah, but when you come to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I'm proud of this. I take my stand with the Apostle Paul on this ground. I'm proud of the message of the Gospel because It is the power of God unto salvation, and it's to everyone that believe us. Have you ever thought about, my friend, here is a message that can be proclaimed all over the world. No matter what the ethnic group may be, no matter the nationality, no matter on what continent, The glorious news of the gospel can be proclaimed.
It can be proclaimed to people no matter what their age may be. You can tell the message of the gospel to the old man who is nearing the century. You can preach the gospel to the little child who had just come in to the Sunday school. You can preach the gospel message to a man when he is in health and strength. and at all his faculties. You can preach the gospel to the poor invalid, lying weak in bed, no matter where the person is, or under what circumstances. Here is the message to meet their need. It's called the gospel of Christ.
It's the power of God, and it's unto salvation. Oh, I like the intent of the gospel. It's for man's salvation. And it's to everyone. that believeth. I wonder, have you ever thought, my friend, of the extent of the offer? It's to everyone that believeth to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. You know, we're living in days when the Jew again has come into a very prominent place in world affairs. Right since nineteen forty-eight, since we have this set up of the new state of Israel, Why, their enemies have been at them ever since.
Some have threatened to push them out again into the Mediterranean Sea. Some have threatened that they'll never rest content till they get rid of them from the Middle East. And the Jew has been battered around and kicked around for generations. And here again, right in the twentieth century, we find ourselves with a Jew right in the very middle of world affairs. And there is this great contest going on just now as to who are their enemies and who will be their friends. And nations are beginning to line themselves up as to whether they're for or against the Jew.
My friend, listen, here is a message that meets the needs of us all. This message can meet the need of the Jew, for it's to the Jew first. And then it can meet the needs of all the Gentiles, whether they stand with the Jew or against the Jew. You see, it's to the Jew first, and it's also to the Gentile. Oh, my friend, I don't care who you are today, if you're listening to my voice on this radio broadcast, don't you realize, my friend, the message of the glorious gospel, presenting Jesus Christ as the Savior. who is both able and willing to save to the very uttermost all who are coming unto God by him.
You, my friend, can trust Christ today. And the blessed news of salvation is the solution for your problem. Whether you're at your work, or in the home, or it may be you're in hospital, you're in a bed of sickness, and you're wondering what it's all about. and you feel as if the whole world has collapsed around you. Or it may be I'm reaching into the prison today and some poor fellow who has got into trouble with the law and you're just wondering how long you're going to be in there and what you'll do when you come out. My friend, you need God and you need Christ and you need God's salvation as it's bound up in Christ.
Won't you trust him? For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. Oh, Martin Luther learned that great truth, and he turned to God, and he lived in the good of it, and so can you. But remember this, the gospel of God sets before us the righteousness of God, and it also sets before us the wrath of God. Either we'll have the righteousness of God to clothe us, make us fit for God's presence, or all that's left is the wrath of God.