Are You Ashamed of the Gospel?
“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 for the Greek” (Rom. 1:16). The word “ashamed” here is from a Greek term aischune, which means to have a feeling of fear or shame which prevents a person from doing a thing. Here it is apischonomai, a strengthened form of the word.
We are sometimes impressed with the wrong kinds of people and things methinks. We are impressed with athletes who have no notion about nor inclination to serve God, entertainers who openly flaunt their ungodliness for the whole world to see, movie stars who manufacture their own codes of morality and design their own religions, rulers who neglect the law to promote their own causes. We often show a foolish devotion to wealth and pleasure and an inordinate enthusiasm for the mundane things in life–things which have no permanency and offer no lasting assurances.
What about the gospel of Christ? It is an awesome power and our delivering agent, the only one we have to meet our maladies and relieve our undone condition. It offers permanent relief, lasting joy and peace. Are we impressed with it, or are we ashamed of it? It is a shame to be ashamed of the gospel when it is “ the power of God to salvation.”
I am ashamed of the gospel when I don’t recommend it to others. Actually, when I don’t recommend it to others, I deny its power. The gospel has no power when it is not used. It cannot do its work when no one knows about it. It is a preached message (Rom. 10:10-ff). To be effective, it must be told. Are you ashamed to give to people what Christ died to procure? Surely you are not. Grab some courage. Tell someone about Jesus. It’s the good news. Recommend the gospel and you recommend eternal life.
I am ashamed of the gospel when I am too concerned about me. It’s not wrong to be concerned about yourself, but when you are more concerned about how you might look to others than for their souls, you are ashamed of the gospel. When you are so concerned about how what someone with think about you, or so timid about the gospel that you decline to tell it, you are ashamed of it. Read II Timothy 1:8. Don’t be ashamed of the testimony, or of those who tell it. The gospel. It’s the good news. Why not tell it today?
I am ashamed of the gospel when I am a secret disciple. There is no way you can be pleasing to God and do it in secret. The gospel is a public message. It has to be said out loud. If you won’t confess him before men, He will not confess you before His Father (Matt. 10:32). You can’t be His follower behind closed doors or in a closet somewhere. To attempt such secret discipleship is to be ashamed of the Leader. “Let your light shine” is an enjoinder to public service, a command to open discipleship. The gospel is the word of God, a light intended to shine. When not turn it on for someone today. It’s the good news.
I am ashamed of the gospel when I am more impressed with the world’s promises than with His. When you get right down to it, the world just doesn’t have much to offer. Oh, it certainly offers pleasures for a season, fun for a time, but when it’s over and done, what has pleasure brought, and what has fun wrought. Pleasure is fleeting; and fun runs. But the person who attaches his hopes to the gospel promises has something permanent, something that time can’t erode. “On Christ the solid rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand,” the song says–and it is right. God’s promises are solid, His assurances immutable. God’s gospel is all about God’s promises, “...great and precious promises, that by these ye might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world...”(II Pet. 1:4). We should never be afraid to attach our hopes to His promises. Isn’t it the good news? Then tell someone.
Let us rebound from our fears, reject our timidity, restore our vitality and resolve that this week we will tell someone the good news, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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