Romans 1:16
16 For [gar] I am [epaischunomai] not [ou] ashamed [epaischunomai] of the gospel [euaggelion]
of Christ [Christos]: for [gar] it is [esti] the power [dunamis] of God [theos] unto [eis] salvation [soteria] to
every one [pas] that believeth [pisteuo]; to the Jew [Ioudaios]
first [proton], and [te] also [kai] to the Greek [Hellen]. KJV-Interlinear
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. NASB
Those who are ashamed of the gospel, are those who
refuse to obey Gods mandate to be taught or learn doctrine, as well as those
who lack understanding within their soul, and therefore lack faith.
They are the first to turn away, the first to deny,
the first to argue over the most trivial topics.
Faith is the muscle of the spiritual life. It is built up out of the solid substance of Bible
doctrine learned and used in ones life.
No doctrine means little faith, little real faith.
The gospel is the source and power of accomplishing
Gods plan for salvation. Without the
gospel, there is no communication and therefore no awareness of salvation or
even the need for it.
God magnified His word above Himself.
The gospel is not limited to the story of the birth
of Jesus and the work on the cross, but compromises all of the vastness of Bible
doctrine.
There is more to life than just believing in Christ
in a single moment, there is all of your life that follows.
But it all begins with one single thought or belief
in Christ.
Just as in your physical birth, when all of your life
began in a single instant when God imputed human life into you, so too, your
eternal life began in that single instant when you believed in Christ.
First to the Jews, for it is their ancestry to whom
God first disclosed, in detail, the mechanics of salvation and all of
doctrine. And then chronologically to
the gentiles, often times referred to as Greeks.
The gospel and all of Bible doctrine is freely
available to all people regardless of who or what they are. There is no elite, no select group in the
unbelieving world. No one has the right
to judge people with bias, or withhold Bible doctrine in any way, from anyone.
