| “For I am not ashamed of the gospel …” |
| —Romans 1:16a |
Many of us attended church during the past week. How many of our pastors only spoke about the kindness of a loving God? I say “only” because it is no longer fashionable to talk about the wholeness of the God who not only abounds with mercy, love, and great grace, but also abhors evil, hates sin, and will mark for eternal damnation all those who turn away from Him and immerse themselves in evil.
After listening to dozens of sermons each week in my professional capacity, it appears that most pastors seem to want to forget the God described in the paragraph above. It is no longer en vogue to recognize that the reason we praise God for sending His Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for our sin on Calvary’s cruel cross is that, without this salvation He has provided for us, we would have to pay the penalty ourselves. And, since there is no way whatsoever for us to do so, apart from God’s mercy and grace, we would spend eternity separated from Him—yes (gasp)—in hell!
You see, as it is so often the case, without the “bad news,” there is no reason for the “good news.” To appreciate the good news, we have to accept and understand the bad news. Pastors, at least those concerned about alienating a post-postmodern, post-Christian culture, truly believe that if they preach the whole truth of God’s written Word, people in the current culture absolutely will not listen.
Please hear me. Pastors, and ordinary believers like you and me, gain no advantage by sugar-coating the truth. We need to be more like the Apostle Paul—forthright and totally honest. As you read Paul’s words, please remember that he is writing to people whom he has never met, living in a city he has not yet been able to visit. Thus, to make certain these unknown people understand the truth Paul wants to convey, he pulls no punches in sharing the whole-truth basis of his theology. Please read Paul’s words carefully, as recorded in Romans 1:16-32:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
Harsh words? Counter-cultural words? Uncomfortable words? Unvarnished truth? Indeed! These words may seem to sting. Yet, they contain great power—the truth always does. Of course, we need to lovingly share the truth. We need to do so kindly and carefully. But, we must feel compelled to share the truth. Without the “bad news,” there is no reason for the “good news.” May God fill us full of His grace, so we can fearlessly explain why every sinner needs a Savior. And, may we share with sensitivity, great grace, and abounding love.
Based on a blog originally posted on Friday, May 15, 2015
