Thanks Doug for that good song, and we're gonna talk about that dependence on God this morning and His power in our lives. Thanks Mark again for leading us to appreciate that. 

We're gonna celebrate the Lord's Supper this morning, our communion service. It's the last Sunday morning of each month, and for the next several months, or however long it takes, we're going to be just looking through the book of Romans, kind of lifting some of those passages out to study the gospel. The main idea here is to explore and understand more fully the gospel of Jesus Christ and the implications of that in our lives and in our witness and evangelism. 

So we're in chapter 1 still this morning. Last time we were together for communion, we began to look at the gospel and in chapter 1 in those first few verses, we saw that this gospel that Paul preached, that he was separated to, was promised before in the Holy Scriptures and it was concerning God's Son Jesus Christ, who was born of the seed of David and was shown to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead. 

This is the gospel that Paul received, the gospel that he preached. It was the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God, the promised Messiah. Well, this morning I want to continue to consider the gospel for our understanding, for our remembrance, for our thankfulness, as well as our encouragement. The summary of this introductory section of the first chapter of Romans is found in verses 16 to 17, and in these verses we learn that the gospel is the very heart of the ministry given to Paul and to every believer commissioned by God to go and preach to all creatures that they might be saved. 

It's a gospel that is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. I know we're familiar with that, and we say amen to that, but I really want to find some application for us in that this morning and think about the forces of the world, the influences of the world, and if we really understand and believe, as Paul did, that the gospel is the power of God. He says, for in it, in the gospel of Christ, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. 

In the first verses of this chapter, we see the promise of the gospel, and in our text this morning, we see the power of the gospel. And I want to highlight this truth this morning so that we might have a greater understanding and appreciation of our salvation in Christ, the truth that the gospel is the power of God. 

Let's look at those verses in Romans 1 at verse 16. Paul says, "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. For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith.'" 

Well, I've given you four points on your outline. First, we're going to look at **not ashamed**, second, **the power of God**, third, **the righteousness of God**, and fourth, this phrase **from faith to faith**. I'd like for you to look back, as we begin studying this morning, to the words of Paul in verses 8 to 15 in Romans 1, leading up to our text. 

In verse 8, Paul says, "First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, making request if by some means now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift so that you may be established, that is that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you but was hindered until now, that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise, so as much as is in me I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also." 

Well, in these verses we see the passion and the purpose of Paul, and it's such a good example to us, and we also see his faith. His faith is in the words of God, the power of the word preached and taught, the essential nature of the gospel, and I think most of all we see his heart in these words. 

His heart's desire and how that desire is manifest in a strong, focused faith in what God has given him to do and how he is to accomplish it. He is thankful for their faith. He's praying for them continually, making mention of them in his prayers for God's will in their lives. He desires greatly to go and see them and for this purpose that he might impart some spiritual gift to them, edify them, build them up, and this through the preaching and the teaching of the Word of God, that they might be established, grounded, founded in the Word of Truth. 

This is his firm belief and conviction that through the teaching of the Word of God, centered on this gospel that has been entrusted to him for the equipping and the edification of the saints, he would be able to build them up, encourage them, and in the process be mutually edified. It's so vital that we understand this from the example in the heart of the apostle. 

He says, "As much as is in me, in order to fulfill this God-given burning desire in me to build you up, to further the gospel, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also." And he writes this to believers, my friends. 

How is it that Paul intends to fulfill his ministry, that which God has called him to do? How is it that Paul believes in his heart with every fiber of his being that he can edify, equip, empower the believers to carry out the will of God in their daily lives? It's through the preaching and the teaching of the gospel. 

Think about this great book of Romans, perhaps the greatest revelation in all scripture, the clearest, most profound teaching of doctrine in the Word of God. What is it? It's an expanded explanation of the gospel, of the condemnation and guilt of all men, justification by faith, of sanctification based in the truths of our salvation, what God has done in us by uniting us to Jesus in His death, burial, and resurrection, and the hope that we have in Him. This is the gospel message. 

This is the message. And the preaching and teaching of the gospel is the method that Paul employed, that God prescribed to accomplish His will and bring glory to Himself in the church. This is why Paul pours out his heart, his passion, to build up and strengthen the brethren in Rome, to be mutually edified together for the cause of Christ. 

And then he says for this reason, for this purpose, "I'm ready to preach the gospel to you." And it's also the reason that he can say in verse 16 these tremendous and important words, "For I am not ashamed." I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. I wonder how many preachers and teachers of our day in the realm of Christendom could say these words, could make this proclamation with a pure conscience, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ." 

I wonder how many could say honestly that they believe with their whole heart what Paul wrote here, that it is the gospel that is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe. Think about that with me, my brother, my sister, in Christ. How many in the church today really are committed to these central, vital, foundational truths of the Christian faith and the Word of God? 

Jesus said you will know them by their fruit. What do we see in the church today, by and large? What do men place their faith in to accomplish the ministry that has been entrusted to them? Is it the preaching and teaching of the Word of God, the gospel? Is that what really drives men, what encompasses their thoughts and their studies and their passion? Because that's what we see from Paul here. 

Where do they go for wisdom? Where do they go for material, for study and preparation for their sermons and services, for evangelism, for equipping the saints? I read a headline from the Babylon Bee the other day. For those of you who are not familiar with that, it's a Christian satire site. It's important to understand that it's satire. But this headline read, “Christian pastor surprised to find out that his church has a doctrinal statement.” 

Satire is always best when it has an element of truth, right? I'd like for you to listen to a few excerpts from a homepage of a Christian church in one of our local communities. What I'm getting at here this morning, what I want you to understand is that we need to believe what Paul believed. We need to believe what God says in Romans 1:16. This is important for us to understand. 

Listen to what it says when you go on to this church's website. Andrew sent this to me the other night, and I just thought this would serve as a good illustration. It says, "Whoever you are, wherever you are in life's journey, you are welcome here." Okay, what does that mean? Well, they go on to explain further. "We covenant to be an accessible, open, and affirming community of faith committed to peace and justice, reaching out and healing love to all of creation." What does that mean, really? 

"We exist to worship God and practice the gospel." Now, what does it mean to practice the gospel? "We welcome all persons, including those of all races, ethnicities, ages, sexual orientations, gender identities, and expressions, family structures, faith backgrounds, abilities, and economic circumstances to fully share and participate in leadership, ministry, fellowship, worship, sacraments, responsibilities, blessings, and joys of our church family." 

It gets worse as you dig deeper into the site. They have listed all the things they do in the community, events and programs at their church, meals that they have, and my favorite part is the heading they call **learning**. And under learning, it says this: "We have nothing scheduled at this time." 

What will you find in such a church? A very common church in our communities now in the 21st century. They say all the words: worship, gospel, peace. You'll find all kinds of so-called love and acceptance, inspirational speeches, programs of every conceivable nature, religious exercises, and plenty of ways to minister to the community, all to bring social justice to our culture and to our world. 

But what you won't find, my brothers and sisters, is the gospel. You will not find anything about sin and condemnation for the man in Adam, the universal guilt of all men, and the need for a Savior, for repentance and faith. What you won't find is preaching and teaching of the gospel of the Word of God, a passion and a purpose to reach the lost and build up believers by simply going through the Word of God and saying what God says. 

You will not find the gospel in much of the church today, the church that claims the name of Christ. And this is because they are ashamed of the gospel. They are ashamed of the truth, the only way of salvation, the Jesus of the Bible. They have another Jesus. 

They are ashamed of the truth of sin and the depravity of man, of the need of every man to come to terms with his condition and need for a Savior and to turn to the only Savior, Jesus Christ, and then to live a life of righteousness and holiness by His power according to His Word. Of these things, the church today is ashamed, by and large. 

And therefore, they look elsewhere, to other means, to the wisdom of the world, to a social gospel morphing into a social justice gospel in our time in order to accomplish what they see as their purpose in this world. It's not God's purpose, it's not God's commission, and it's not consistent with the passion and purpose of Paul as we see here in the opening chapter of Romans. 

And since they have a different purpose, they have a different passion, they also have a different plan. And that is why they are ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, because they do not believe that it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. 

We can only understand Paul's statement in verse 16, “For I am not ashamed,” if we understand Paul's heart and Paul's faith, his firm belief in the God who called him, who separated him from his mother's womb to be a preacher and teacher of the gospel, of the promise of God. And only if our faith is in God and His Word, His gospel, His Son, can we then affirm with Paul, “I am ready to preach the gospel, for I am not ashamed, for in it is the power of God unto salvation, the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.” 

So we see **not ashamed**, an important phrase that Paul starts with. I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. This is such a powerful, important truth for us to come back to, to remember, to renew our minds to continually that salvation is by the power of God. 

What this means, the application for us is this: our faith must be in God and His Word, His revelation to us concerning the means and the method of salvation. If it is God who saves, if it is His power that saves, then we must pay attention to how He has designed to carry this out, His plan for making His power effective in the lives of men and Adam for the purpose of saving them from sin and death and hell.

Turn over to 1 Corinthians 1:18. Paul says, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.' Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. To the Jews, a stumbling block and to the Greeks, foolishness. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men." 

The church today brings us a little bit of wisdom of men, strength of men, of the power of this world. Paul says that the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men. The question is, who do I believe? Who do you believe? Do you believe God and His Word? Or do you believe the wisdom of this world? 

This is a continual question useful for evaluating our thinking in every area, isn't it? To discern the spirits, if they be from God. In 1 Corinthians 2, Paul said, "I, brethren, when I came to you did not come with excellence of speech or wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and fear and much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." 

Continually, Paul talks about the power of God in salvation. And he makes clear that God's plan is given to him by direct revelation from Jesus Christ is to preach and teach this gospel. And that through the message preached, the power of God is made manifest in those who believe, who receive the gospel truth and hold fast to Jesus. 

The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved, it's the power of God. We preach Christ crucified, Christ the power of God, the wisdom of God. The world, the lies of Satan, the sin of man, humanism tells us that man can save himself, that we can bring peace and justice to this world, that we can accomplish some sort of utopia, nirvana here by our efforts, by our works, by our own power. 

But the truth of the Word of God is this: only God can save. Only God has the power to bring a man into a right relationship with Him to save him from the wrath that is to come, and it is only God who can bring justice and peace on this earth. And He has promised to do that when Jesus comes and sets up His kingdom and rules from David's throne; but now, today, Jesus is our peace. 

We can't fix this world. Jesus is our peace. Only God can save man, only by His power. And Paul tells us that this power is manifest, it's made effective in only one way, by the gospel of Jesus Christ through faith. 

You see, the wisdom of God is wiser than men. Man believes that he's somehow good, somehow able to save himself and thus he has designed religion as a means, works, sacraments, and so forth. But the truth is that man is a sinner by nature. He is born a sinner in Adam, and he manifests that sin outwardly, continually through his life and practice. He is guilty and deserving of death before a holy God. This is what we will see as we enter the first doctrinal section of this book in chapter 118. 

So man is in a desperate situation with no hope, no means, no power to save himself. He has sinned. All have sinned, and he deserves a just punishment for that sin. God would be right and just to send every man to the lake of fire for all eternity. But God, who is rich in mercy, who loved us so much and determined in His sovereign will to save those who will believe, designed a plan of salvation. It is His plan, it's His will, it's His power. 

And He tells us clearly in His Word, His plan. And He tells us the truth. Turn over to Romans 3 with me, please, at verse 19. Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 

But now, the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe, for there's no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood through faith to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness in order that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 

Now if a man hears this truth, if he knows and understands the gospel, which can only happen if someone preaches it to him, explains it to him, if he hears this truth and chooses to believe Jesus, to turn from his own righteousness and receive the righteousness of God by faith, then that man is saved. God's way is the only way. 

Jesus had to pay my sin debt in order for me to be saved, and the means by which God has prescribed for me to receive His righteousness is by faith. The promise is that when I believe, when I place my faith in Jesus Christ, God imparts my sin to Him and His righteousness to me. This is the power of God. He not only justifies me, but He also changes me. He regenerates me, gives me a new heart and a new spirit and causes His Holy Spirit to live in me. 

This is the salvation that I can experience, but only by faith in Jesus and His one-time death on the cross in my place for my sins, and this is only by the power of God. He gets all the glory. Paul says, "We preach Christ crucified" so that your faith might be in the power of God and not in the wisdom of men, that we would have no confidence in the flesh. 

We see in our text **not ashamed**. We see **the power of God**, and next we see **the righteousness of God**. We saw this in Romans 3, but this is such a tremendous and important truth. Paul writes that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation because in it the righteousness of God is revealed. 

Such a key phrase, the righteousness of God is revealed. The great concern of the Scriptures, of God's revelation of Himself to us is His holiness and righteousness. This was demonstrated throughout the Old Testament from the Garden to the judgment of the nations to the bringing of the Law of Moses. Over and over again we see the holiness of God, the justice of God, the righteousness of God. 

But Paul says the New Testament also says throughout that the ultimate revelation of the righteousness of God was at the cross of Christ. Here at the cross, in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the spotless Lamb, the Son of God, is the manifestation of the righteousness of God and the power of God displayed in the resurrection. Those verses in Romans 3 are probably the clearest. God set forth Jesus as a propitiation, a full satisfactory payment. 

And He did this, it says, to demonstrate His righteousness because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed. I remember witnessing to a guy I worked with at APHIS for many years, a friend of mine, and his wife had left him and he was going through a hard time, and I was witnessing to him, and he had a young son, ten years old, and he started reading the Bible every night to his son. 

One day he came to work, we were working together, and he said, "You know, I was reading the Bible to my son last night," and he said, he looked up at me and he said, "Dad, God sure whacked a lot of people in the Old Testament." There is the justice of God. But what this says is, He passed over the sins that were previously committed. He didn't whack everybody, right? Their sins weren't paid for. They were justified by faith and looking forward to the promise, like Abraham. 

But their sins weren't paid for until the cross. It was at the cross where God demonstrated His righteousness, punishing every sin on Jesus Christ. Because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just, punishing every sin. God has to punish every sin to remain just. 

But in this way, He could also be the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. God's great purpose in the cross was to save, to provide a sacrifice, a full payment. But His purpose was also to demonstrate His righteousness, to show that He is just. 

And the paramount truth is found in this revelation of the righteousness of God at the cross, in order that He might remain just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. This is the heart of the gospel, the righteousness of God revealed. 

And not only is His righteousness revealed and His justice displayed at the cross, but in our text and in Romans 4, we see that God's righteousness is imputed to us through faith in Jesus Christ. Look at that passage in Romans 4, beginning at verse 1. It's such an encouraging and important passage here that Paul writes: 

"What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.' Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace, but as debt. But to him who does not work, but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. Just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works. Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin." 

Righteousness can only come to a sinner, to a man in Adam, when he believes, when he places his trust, his faith in Jesus alone. When the heart turns to the Lord in faith, God imputes His righteousness to us. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation because in it, the righteousness of God is revealed. 

We could spend a lot of time on those words. We see **not ashamed**, **the power of God**, **the righteousness of God**, and last in our text we see **from faith to faith**. 

In Romans 1:16, Paul says, "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, for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, 'the just shall live by faith.'" 

And here's where we find application for ourselves, my brothers and sisters. As we've seen in Romans 3 and 4, and as we see throughout the New Testament, a man receives the salvation of God in Christ, receives the righteousness of God when he believes through faith. But the interesting truth here is that we not only come to Christ by faith, but the just shall live by faith, from faith to faith. 

The words translated, "from faith," speak of source, the means by which the righteousness of God is imparted. This faith speaks of trust, trust in Jesus' sacrifice to have accomplished my salvation, and the promise of God to impute His righteousness to me if I place my trust in Jesus alone. Paul continues, not just **from faith**, but also **to faith**, followed by the quote, "the just shall live by faith." 

Well, this is most interesting. The words literally say, "Moreover, the just out of faith shall live." This speaks of true righteousness. That is life. This life is imparted to the believer in regeneration. Paul expounds his teaching on this in Romans 5 and 6. I just want you to look at Romans 5 with me, please. 

He speaks of the contrast between the man in Adam, the man in Christ. In Romans 5:18, Paul says, "Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men resulting in condemnation, even so through one man's righteous act the free gift came to all men resulting in justification of life, or unto life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one man's obedience many will be made righteous." 

The words at the end of verse 18 are so important, **justification of life**. I just want you to listen to Kenneth Weiss' comments on these words: *of life*. He says, *It is a righteousness which is connected with the impartation of spiritual life. In itself, the righteous standing is purely a legal matter and does not impart life or change character, but it is accompanied by the life that God has imparted to the believing sinner in regeneration.* 

What that's saying is God didn't just justify us; He regenerated us. What an amazing profound truth. The righteousness of God is imparted when we exercise faith. We are justified, we are declared to be righteous because of Christ by grace through faith. But that's not all that we have in our salvation in Christ; it's not just positional righteousness. God actually gives to us His righteousness through regeneration and His life living in us, which changes our sphere of living, changes our character, our nature, and therefore changes our outward expression. 

Paul goes on to explain this in the next three chapters concerning our death to sin, our death to the law, our release from the bondage to fear of death. We are now in Christ. We are under grace, experiencing righteousness, and the end of this is eternal life. This is all wrapped up in Paul's words in our text, **from faith to faith**. 

When we come together to celebrate our salvation, when we come together to remember what Jesus did for us, to remember the cross, to remember the gospel, we must ask ourselves about the nature of our faith. Where do I place my trust, my faith? Where do I place my trust for my justification, for salvation from sin and death and hell, the penalty of sin? But also, where do I place my trust, my faith every day for salvation from the power of sin in my life? 

Do I believe what God says to be true, that He has imparted His life to me, that He lives in me, and as I trust, abide in Him, He will produce fruit out through me? This is applicable in my personal salvation, my Christian life, my doing of all things to the glory of God and my witness, evangelism, carrying out the Great Commission in this world. 

Who do I trust? Where do I find my passion and my purpose? Am I like the world? Am I like so much of the church today, buying into the wisdom of men and the means of the world? Or am I like Paul? Paul said, "Follow me as I follow Christ." Is my passion the edification of the believers, building each other up, equipping one another through the Word of God? 

Is my purpose to win men to faith in Jesus so that they might be saved from the wrath to come? And is my plan the same as God's plan, to preach the gospel, to preach Christ crucified, to teach the Word of God and call on men to trust and believe Him? 

In short, is my faith and trust in my own power or in the power of God? Can I say with Paul, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes?" Paul wanted the believers in Rome to understand this, and he wanted to come there and teach it to them. 

Sometimes, you know, as a preacher, you think, "Oh, I'm saying the same thing over and over." You know what? Paul taught day and night for three years in one town. You think he said the same thing over and over and over? It's not tedious for me; it's safe for you, he said. 

When we come together to remember the cross, and as we remember the cross every day, as we preach the gospel to ourselves every day and remember our first love, the focus has to be on Jesus and what He has done, and our trust, our faith has to be in Him for every area of our lives. 

Let's close in prayer, and then we'll sing a song. Father, we thank You for this time, we thank You for Your truth. Thank You that You tell us the truth. Thank You that You tell us over and over and over that we might get it, that it might sink in, it's safe for us. Thank You for the opportunity to have this place where we can teach Your Word and go through the Bible verse by verse and study together and encourage one another and pray for one another. 

Thank You that we can go out as individuals into this world and bring this message of the truth of Jesus Christ, His death, burial, and resurrection for every man, the payment in full for sins and salvation, righteousness through faith. Thank You for that privilege, that opportunity. Help us to have the passion that Paul had, the purpose that Paul had, and help us to trust and believe and implement Your plan in our lives. In Jesus' name, we pray, amen.