For I Am Not Ashamed

 Meditations on Romans

 July 12, 2021

For I Am Not Ashamed

“As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

Romans 1:17c

Read: Romans 1:14-17

I noted in the opening passage of Romans 1, that Paul could be very dense in his writing as he packs so much content into such a short space. Verses 16 and 17 in today’s reading are a good example of Paul’s style. In two sentences (in the NRSV, five in the NLT) Paul tells us all we need to know about the Good News of Jesus. First, the Gospel is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes. Next, this Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. Lastly, all this is accomplished from start to finish by faith. Remember my takeaway from Romans 1:1-7? It is all about Jesus! The Good News, the Gospel, is all about Jesus, and his faithfulness to God. Our part is to simply believe the Good News! Of course, Biblical believing is not so simple. We don’t just believe the Good News, we act on our beliefs, and allow our belief in the Good News to transform our lives to become like Jesus.

My Takeaway: Paul proclaimed, “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ.” In our society today, there is more and more resistance to the Gospel. And there are more and more divisions among the churches in our land. Like Paul, may I never, ever be ashamed of my faith in Jesus.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2021 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.