The Gospel of Christ

Paul is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. He is utterly and absolutely eager to preach Jesus Christ, and even though it is a stumbling block to the Jew and foolishness to the Gentile, the gospel is still the power of God unto salvation to all that believe, and Paul is not hesitant to preach it. Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur.

I'm your host, Phil Johnson. Today John begins a study that's going to show you what Scripture says about an aspect of God's character that is often misunderstood, ignored, and even denied by some people, namely God's wrath. John calls this study Wicked World, Angry God. John, if there's one thing that even unbelievers tend to agree on, it's that God is a God of love. The idea that he's also a God of wrath, that's not quite so widely embraced.

But why is the notion of an angry God so quickly dismissed, not only by unbelievers, but even by so many professing Christians? Well, I think there's a theological answer to that question, and the theological answer would be that people think that unbelievers are going to be saved if the gospel is presented in an inoffensive, attractive way. It's part of the legacy of an Arminian theology that is incipiently woven into the fabric of most evangelistic efforts in the church these days.

The idea that we've got to make a message that sounds warm and fuzzy and inviting and welcoming because people are going to reject it if, you know, it's negative or harsh. The truth of the matter is people are saved because the Spirit of God regenerates them by the sovereign will of God upon hearing the true gospel. And part of the true gospel is that men are sinners, headed for hell, and that God is a God of wrath who will punish them forever for their sins.

That's the gospel, and it must be told. And then of course comes the message of grace and forgiveness and love behind that message of judgment and wrath. Romans 1 lays out the fact that this is a wicked world, and God is angry. God hates wickedness. God hates sin. He is angry with the sinner every day, the Scripture says. It's important to understand that so that you understand what salvation and grace means.

This is a very important series, and you don't want to miss a day. No, friend, you don't. You really can't understand the depths of God's mercy and forgiveness if you don't first know what Scripture says about God's hatred of sin and how he punishes sinners. So turn to Romans 1 and follow along as John MacArthur begins his series called Wicked World, Angry God. Look with me in your Bible to Romans chapter 1, and we're going to be looking at verses 16 and 17. Let me read these two verses to you, and then we'll comment on them as the Word of God is open to us. Paul says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

For in it is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. Paul is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. All the learned religionists, all the philosophers of Rome do not intimidate Paul. They did not intimidate him in Athens. They did not intimidate him in Corinth. They did not intimidate him in Ephesus. They did not even intimidate him in Jerusalem.

And they aren't about to intimidate him here. He is proud of the gospel. He is overjoyed at the privilege of proclamation. He is utterly and absolutely eager to preach Jesus Christ. And even though it is a stumbling block to the Jew and foolishness to the Gentile, the gospel is still the power of God unto salvation to all that believe.

And Paul is not hesitant to preach it. He has been imprisoned in Philippi. He has been chased out of Thessalonica.

He has been smuggled from Berea. He was laughed at in Athens. He was seen as a fool in Corinth. He was nothing but an irritant and sore spot in Jerusalem.

He was stoned while in Galatia. And yet he will be eager to preach the gospel at Rome also. I guess all of us would like to be able to identify with Paul in that same way. But the fact is, for you and for me, very often we are ashamed of the gospel of Christ. I don't think we'd confess that. I don't think we'd state that. I don't think we easily admit that.

But that's the way it works out. Because in those times when we could speak, we don't speak. When those times come when we could be bold, we are not bold. We face the hostility of the world. We face the unimpressiveness of the gospel. It talks about sin and blood and death.

And it sounds so foolish and so silly to men. And we're afraid of what they might think, and so we tend to be silent when we should speak. But Paul calmly viewed the disdain of the unbelievers. He understood the contempt and the ridicule of those who rejected Christ. He faced death itself for the gospel, but never once did he become ashamed of Christ. Timothy did, but Paul never did. He would face anybody, any time, and preach Jesus Christ. Now, why was Paul bold?

And here's the key. Why was he bold? It says so in verse 16. He was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ because it is the power of God unto salvation. He is bold to preach because of what the gospel is, because of what the gospel does. The reason why Paul is not overcome by the temptation to be ashamed of the gospel, but quite the contrary, the reason he proclaims it so joyously, so anxiously is because it is powerful. It changes lives, and he knows that, and he has seen that, and he believes that. Sure, it's a stumbling block, 1 Corinthians 1. And of course, it's foolishness, but it is also the power of God unto salvation to them that believe, and he knows that.

It could change people. Now that gets us into his introduction of the theme. And understanding the gospel of Christ comes to us in understanding four key words in this passage, four key words. In verse 16, the word is power, and that's the first word we want to look at.

The first word of great importance is power. The second word is salvation. The third word is believeth.

And the fourth in verse 17 is righteousness. If you understand the meaning and connection and transition of those four terms, you understand the gospel. First of all, the first key word in the divine vocabulary of the gospel of Christ is that it is the power of God. The good news about Jesus Christ has power.

The word is dunamis. We get our word dynamite from it. And Paul has in mind the fact that the gospel of Christ carries with it the omnipotence of God. The all-powerful God is behind it, operative in regenerating a person. Man is sinful and unable to remedy his condition.

Unable. The gospel then becomes a force. And I think the word dunamis is throwing the emphasis on the force rather than the process. It is the power in the sense that God is the source of an incredible power, a limitless power that can transform lives. How much power is behind the gospel?

I'll tell you. The Bible says God has great power, Psalm 79 and 11. The Bible says God has strong power, Psalm 89 and 13. The Bible says God has glorious power, Exodus 15 and 6.

He has mighty power, Job 9-4. He has everlasting power, Isaiah 26-4. He has sovereign power, Romans 9-21. He has effectual power, Isaiah 43-13. He has irresistible power, Deuteronomy 32-39. He has incomparable power, Psalm 89-8.

He has unsearchable power, Job 5-9. He has power. Jeremiah 10-12 says, It is He who made the earth by His power. Jeremiah 27-5 says, It is I who by My great power and My outstretched arm have made the earth.

In Psalm 33-8 and 9 it says, Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him, for He spoke and it came to be. What power?

What power? By the same powerful command the Lord maintains the universe. Behind each miracle in the Bible there is the power of God. God can part the sea.

God can bring food from heaven. Miracle after miracle show His power. But I really believe the greatest expression of His power is found in His power to save, to transform people, to change their nature, their time and their eternity.

Psalm 106 verses 8 and 9, He saved them for His name's sake that He might make known His mighty power. You see, the manifestation of His power comes in salvation. The New Testament presents the same power. In Matthew 28-18 He said, All power is given unto Me. He had the power to cast out demons. He had power over sickness, every illness to heal. He had power over the universe to provide for the needs of the people.

He had the power to still the storm, the power to walk on the water. He had power over death. He called Lazarus out of the grave. He gave life to the dead son of the widow of Nain.

He gave life to the daughter of Jairus. He raised Himself from the dead. But most of all, Romans 1 16 says it, He had the power of God unto salvation. He had power to save. That's the first key word, power. And you should never, beloved, listen to me, you should never and nor should I entertain the thought of being ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God.

Let it fly. Second word, salvation. It is the power of God unto Soterion, the power of God unto salvation.

Oh, that's a great word. The power is seen in salvation because men, says Ephesians 2, are dead and the salvation act of God makes them alive, to live forever cleansed of sin and fit for the kingdom of God. The word salvation is used 18 times by Paul, five times in Romans, and the verb formed 29 times by Paul, eight times in Romans.

It's a very key word. It means deliverance. Man's safe passage through human trials and his safe passage by divine judgment and his entrance into eternal blessedness is bound up in his being saved. It includes forgiveness.

It includes escape from wrath. It includes life in the Spirit. It includes resurrection. It includes eternity.

The gospel is God's effective power active in the world to bring about deliverance for men from God's wrath, from sin and Satan and judgment and death and hell. It takes divine power to accomplish this salvation because man is so lost and so infected and so doomed and damned and so dead in sin. It takes the power of God to burst him through that.

Can't do it on his own. God characterizes man in the Bible as grossly willfully ignorant, as purposely self-indulgent and unwilling to forsake all. He characterizes man as deep in false religion, as covered and directed in all they do by Satan, as filled with wrong motives and self-deceived, as trusting in their own good deeds which are at best filthy rags, as loving the passing things of the world, as hating the truth, as proud, pleasure-seeking, guilty, lustful creatures, and as such they have no right to enter the kingdom of God. So they have to be delivered from all of that and only the power of God can do it. So Paul says my thesis is the power of God can bring salvation. How? That's the next key word.

How? Verse 16, to everyone that, what, believes. Faith is the third key word, or belief.

I mean, if the power of God can do it, for whom does it do it? For everyone that believes. Salvation power operates only through faith.

That's all. Where there is faith, there is the power of God operative in salvation. You say, what is faith? Faith is believing. You all live by faith every day of your life.

You turn on your faucet full of glass and you drink it. That's faith. You don't know what's in there.

You have no idea who's been playing in your pipes. We live by faith all the time. Faith is trust.

You go to a restaurant and you eat what they feed you. We all live by faith. I mean, that's the only way you can survive. God has put it in the heart of man that he understands to live by faith. And faith in the spiritual dimension is far different than that kind of faith, but it is nonetheless the same idea. It is trusting and believing.

And yes, the power of God can save, but it will save only those who believe. Believe what? Believe in thine heart that God has raised Him from the dead. That means you believe that He is who He said He was, that He died for the reason He said He died, and that He rose again from the grave.

And if you believe that, you believe. For by grace are you saved through what? Faith.

That not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. Faith. Salvation is not professing Christianity.

It's not that. It's not... salvation is not baptism. Salvation is not moral reform. Salvation is not going to church. It's not conforming to rules. It's not self-discipline and restraint.

It's not morality. Salvation comes because a man or a woman recognizes that he has no resources, and he sees himself lost and undone, and he sees the filthiness and deformity of his sin, and he perceives the rottenness of his heart and the pollution of his nature, and he is drawn to Christ as a remedy. And he sees one who died for his sin and who conquered his sin and paid the price and wants to give him new life. And he says, I believe. I believe.

And it doesn't matter who that man is, you know. It says in verse 16, Everyone, whether Jew or Greek, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Yes, the primacy of salvation was extended to the Jews. Salvation has primary relevancy to the Jews since they were God's specially chosen people. It is to the Jew first that Messiah came and said, I am not come but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Yes, it was to them He came, for the lines of preparation for the full revelation of the gospel were laid with Israel, and so the gospel is preeminently the gospel for the Jew. The great commentator, Robert Haldane, has some clear thought on this.

Listen as I read what he wrote. From the days of Abraham, their great progenitor, the Jew had been highly distinguished from all the rest of the world by their many and great privileges. It was their high distinction that of them Christ came, who was over all God blessed forever.

They were thus as His kinsmen the royal family of the human race, in this respect higher than all others, and they inherited Emmanuel's land. While therefore the evangelical covenant and consequently justification and salvation equally regarded all believers, the Jews held the first rank as the ancient people of God while the other nations were strangers from the covenants of promise. The preaching of the gospel was to be addressed to them first and at the beginning to them alone.

I am not sent, Jesus said, but to the lost sheep but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And He commanded that repentance and remission of sins be preached in His name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem. Thus while Jews and Gentiles were united in the participation of the gospel, the Jews were not deprived of their rank since they were the first called. And then he says this, the preaching of the gospel to the Jews first served various important ends. It fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. It manifested the compassion of the Lord Jesus for those who shed His blood, to whom after His resurrection He commanded His gospel to be first proclaimed. It showed that it was to be preached to the chief of sinners and prove the sovereign efficacy of His atonement in expiating the guilt even of His own murderers. It was fit too that the gospel should be begun to be preached where the great transactions took place on which it was founded. Sure, to the Jew first, but also to the Gentile. The salvation of God was not limited to any nation, to everyone, Jew or Gentile.

Now follow me very carefully. The gospel of Christ has power. It has power to save. It has power to save the one who believes. But how can it, even if He believes? How can it change Him? Because, verse 17, for in it, that is in the gospel, is the righteousness of God revealed.

You see? The reason it can save is because when you believe, the righteousness of God is revealed to you. In other words, it becomes yours.

That's how it can happen. You say man is so sinful, so evil, so hopeless, so helpless, that even if he believed, and even if it has the power to save, how can it? It can not because we all of a sudden become in ourselves righteous, but because all of a sudden to us is revealed the righteousness of God. And that takes us to the fourth word, righteousness.

Along with faith, by the way, this word is used 60 plus times in Romans. The reason why the gospel power is released in salvation by faith is because faith, listen to this, activates the revelation of the righteousness of God. If I am to be righteous, I have none of my own.

God must give me His righteousness, and He does. You see, Jesus took our sin and in exchange God gave us His righteousness. That's why it says that Christ became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. When Paul says the righteousness of God is revealed, he doesn't mean it's just disclosed to human minds. He doesn't mean it's just spoken in human history.

He means that it is specifically revealed in the action and the operation of regeneration. That is why the gospel is the power of God to salvation to everyone believes, because that belief activates the righteousness of God. And by the way, the best translation is righteousness from God. The righteousness from God is revealed.

It wouldn't matter what I believed. I couldn't be righteous in myself, could I? I could believe and believe and believe all I wanted to believe, but I still can't be righteous by God's standard. I can't be perfectly holy. I can't be without sin.

That's the perfect standard. So God says if you'll just believe, I'll give you My righteousness. How can you do that, God? Because Jesus has borne your penalty. The price is paid.

I give you My righteousness. God demands from man what man could never pay. He demands absolute perfect holiness. Some people think that might be unjust. Well, how could God demand that? Why doesn't He lower the standard? Well, let's say He lowered the standard a little bit.

Let's say God said, well, in order to be saved, you have to be highly intelligent. Would that be fair? No, it would be unjust to morons.

Well, He said you have to be rich. No, that would be unjust to poor people. No, you have to be moral. Well, that wouldn't be very just for the wicked and immoral people. No, you see, He set a standard that nobody could qualify for. So nobody can boast.

And nobody needs to be left out. And then said, I'll give you My righteousness, no matter who you are. In Romans chapter 3 verse 21, as we draw to a conclusion, it says, And now the righteousness of God apart from the law... It's apart from any works or law-keeping. The righteousness of God is manifest.

How? Verse 22, The righteousness of God is by faith in Jesus Christ unto all and upon all that believe. There it is again, same principle, same truth. Look at chapter 4 verse 3. It's even true in the Old Testament.

Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. In Philippians chapter 3, in Philippians chapter 3, I just want to mention this, verses 8 and 9, Yea, doubtless, says Paul, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but refuse that I may win Christ. Then this, And be found in Him not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.

You see, that's the message. This is the glory of the gospel, that it is the power of God unto salvation, that it is activated by faith, and that faith activates it because faith releases the manifestation of the righteousness of God on our behalf. Count Zinzendorf wrote these words, and you know them and love them. Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness, my beauty are my glorious dress. Midst flaming worlds in these arrayed with joy shall I lift up my head. Bold shall I stand in Thy great day, for who ought to my charge shall lay, fully absolved through these I am from fear and sin and guilt and shame.

How? Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness. So, he says in verse 17, the righteousness of God is revealed. And then this little phrase, From faith to faith, as it is written, The just shall live by faith. What does it mean from faith to faith? I think it has the same idea as everyone that believes.

You might look at it this way. He says, And the righteousness of God is revealed from, watch this, faith to faith to faith to faith to faith to faith. Anyone's faith or everyone's faith.

No limitation. I see it moving across the world from faith to faith to faith to faith. Just as it was in the Old Testament, it's nothing new. Habakkuk 2.4, The just shall live by faith. Shall live by faith.

Nothing new. Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. That's John MacArthur, Bible teacher here on Grace to You. He also serves as chancellor of the Masters University and Seminary. The title of John's current study, Wicked World, Angry God. Now, if you're a Christian, here's something to consider. The wrath of God has enormous implications for how you share the gospel.

Before you tell people that Jesus saves, you need to be able to explain what Jesus saves people from. In this study, Wicked World, Angry God is a great starting point for your evangelism. Get a copy when you contact us today. Wicked World, Angry God is available in a six-CD album, if that's best for you. It might be a great addition to your church library or to give to a friend or family member. To order, call us at 800-55-GRACE, or go to gty.org. Again, the title to ask for Wicked World, Angry God. And remember, you can also download all six sermons from this series for free in MP3 and transcript format.

Just log on to gty.org. And when you get in touch, remember that for us to be on the air, Grace to You depends on the support of friends like you who are growing because of these daily Bible studies, and you want to put something back into it so others worldwide can also benefit. To send a tax-deductible gift, write to Grace to You, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, California, 91412. Or call us at 800-55-GRACE. Now for John MacArthur, I'm Phil Johnson. Thanks for starting your week here on Grace to You, and be here tomorrow for the next lesson in John's series, Wicked World, Angry God. It's another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth, one verse at a time, on Grace to You.