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Don't be Ashamed of the Gospel

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(Romans 1:16-17)

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."

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Today is the first Sunday of this new year.
I hope you will have God's blessings and His grace in this new year, as well.

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If you had one chance to travel to another country, which country would you want to go? The Apostle Paul, who wrote the Book of Romans, would have said that he wanted to go to Rome.

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During the time of the Apostle Paul, Rome was the strongest country in the world. There were many things to see in Rome. But what the Apostle Paul wanted to do in Rome was quite different than most people.

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Paul used to be a person who did bad things to the believers of Jesus but Jesus forgave him and called him as an Apostle so Paul was very thankful for that.
So Paul wanted others to believe Jesus through him. That became his life goal.

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Paul told the gospel very eagerly and one day, he heard some very good news.
Paul heard that the church members in Rome were very faithful.
After hearing that news, Paul was really happy and excited.

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When he spoke about the gospel, Paul would think about the church members in Rome. So every time he thought of Rome, Paul prayed to God sincerely.
"LORD, help the church members in Rome. Help them to keep their faith in difficult times and let them have victory."

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Paul was very happy that the church members in Rome were firmly standing in faith like how he had prayed. After hearing their news, Paul wanted to meet the church members in Rome to tell them more of God's Word.

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Several times, Paul made plans to go to Rome.
But always the plans were not successful.
Because God did not allow Paul to visit Rome at those times.

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God answers our prayers. But when God has better plans than what we think, God delays the work in order to reply at the right time that He wants.

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Paul realized that God was not allowing him to go to Rome at that time. Paul waited until God opened the way for him and he did his best to do things that he could do. So Paul wrote letters to the church members in Rome. The Book of Romans are those letters combined together.

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In the letter, Paul wrote the things that he wanted to tell to the church members in Rome.Even though Paul could not go to Rome by himself, Paul did not give up. Through writing letters, Paul could still tell the gospel to the church members in Rome.

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In this Book, the Apostle Paul confessed that he was very proud of doing the work of telling the gospel.
"I am not ashamed of the gospel. Because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile."

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Paul was not ashamed or shy of telling about Jesus, the only way of salvation.
After some years, God allowed Paul, who had this burning heart, to go to Rome.

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Paul went to Rome as a prisoner but thankfully, Paul was able to tell the gospel. When Paul went to Rome, he told the gospel of God everyday. Paul did not stop telling the gospel until dying a martyr's death in Rome.

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We believe in Jesus and we have become the children of God so like Paul, we should not be ashamed of the gospel. We should be faithful to bravely tell about Jesus in any place.