What if you discovered you owed something precious to everyone you meet, but it wasn't money? Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindahl points out Paul's startling confession in Romans 1. Paul said, I am a debtor. not to a bank, but to every person who hasn't heard the gospel. and whether you see yourself as an evangelist or not.
Today's message will transform how you view your everyday encounters. Chuck will show us why the gospel isn't just good news you can share. but a debt you must pay. We'll begin by reading from Romans chapter 1. We're in the magnificent letter to the Romans.
This is Paul at his very best. Speaking to us about truth. at its greatest level. It requires a mind that can concentrate and a heart that's open. And I know that I'm surrounded by people like that today.
Let me read for you four verses that contain the essence of Paul's theology. Romans 1 verses 14 So, we have to do it. Romans 1.14. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians. both to the wise and to the foolish.
So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also. Who are in Rome? For I am not ashamed. of the gospel. For it is the power of God for salvation.
to everyone who believes. to the Jew first. And also to the Greek. For in it. The righteousness of God is revealed.
From faith to faith. As it is written, But the righteous man shall live. By faith. You're listening to Insight for Living. To dig deeper into the Book of Romans on your own, be sure to purchase Volume 1 of our Searching the Scriptures Bible Study Workbook by going to insight.org slash offer.
Chuck titled today's message, The Good News for the Whole World. Back in the summer of 1962, I was invited to teach a class, an adult class, in a liberal church. The man who had taught the class for about seven or eight, nine months had just graduated from Dallas Seminary and was on his way to UCLA to be involved in. Campus Evangelism with Campus Crusade for Christ. I was in my, would soon be in my last year at the seminary, and he said, I'd like you to take the class at least for the summer.
Said, I don't want to just leave and resign because I think the pastor would probably bring somebody in that doesn't believe the Bible. And I've tried my best during my time with these folks to at least get them acquainted with some things in the scriptures and spiritual truths as best I can. He said, I'd like you to take over from here. And so I agreed to do that. On my way to the class that morning, I got to thinking I need to heed the warning he gave me because he said.
You need to be careful that you don't go too fast. and don't go too deeply. Because most of these people have never, ever carried a Bible to church. Truth be told, they probably have never really on their own read a book of the Bible ever.
So, you know. Go easy. And I thought, okay. I'm going to go easy. I planned that summer to teach the book of Jonah.
I don't know why, but I just thought that would be a great book to teach. And so I announced that. But before I got underway, I said, I'd like for all of you. To know about the good news. that you may have never heard before.
So I want you to turn to John. 316. And they looked at me just like you're looking at me right now. I never heard turning of pages. I never saw anybody reach over and get a Bible.
They just kind of smiled, and I thought. They don't know where that is.
So I said, this is the truth. I said, Now in the New Testament which is after The Old Testament. My wife is like, oh boy. And you get to the Gospels, Matthew. And Nobody said Mark.
So I go Mark. Luke Nobody said, I said, John. John is the name of the book.
So in the New Testament, John. Three represents the chapter. Bye now, Cynthia. But seek, she can't see what I see. People are like.
And 16 represents the verbs.
So At the end of the class, I had one man, honestly, a man walked up to me, very well dressed. In fact, an MBA, very bright guy, middle-aged, said to me, You know what, Chuck? I'm so glad you told us. I wondered all my life what all those numbers are that preachers throw around from the pulpit. Says, thanks, this is great.
John 3. 16. This is great.
So. As I was on my way here today, I got to thinking, I want to talk about the good news.
So I'd like for everyone to turn to John. Three Sixteen.
Now, John is the. No, you already know that, don't you? John 3, 16. probably more than any other New Testament verse of scripture. Is most Christians' favorite verse.
It's the one verse. Most of us can even quote from memory. But I want you to look at it on the page. of your Bible. For God So loved the world.
That he gave his only begotten Son. That whoever believes in him shall not perish. but have eternal Life. Ha ha ha. Isn't that great?
Some of you didn't even look at your Bible because you know that verse. Or do you? Here's another little angle to think through this verse of Scripture. For God, the greatest lover.
So loved the greatest degree, the world. The greatest company. That he gave the greatest act. His only begotten Son, the greatest gift. That whoever The greatest opportunity, believes, the greatest simplicity.
In him, the greatest attraction. shall not perish. The greatest promise. But the greatest difference have the greatest certainty. Eternal life.
the greatest possession. Is that great news? Most people around you could not even locate that news. They have never in their life heard it. Made simple.
Many Have never even heard it. God Who made us? Has a love for us that is so great. Hutos gar he gapisen, the Greek began, so much does God love the world so much. God's love for us is so great.
That he said to his son, No one else can pay the penalty for sin, you go. And his son, Jesus. Begins life on earth as an embryo, then a fetus, and then an infant. in Bethlehem's manger. And grows up.
Becomes the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. And he pays the price in full. Get that. He doesn't leave one work for you to take care of. All of your works and mine are like filthy rags.
Because they would come from our flesh. But God's Lamb Paid the price for our sins. and died on our behalf.
So that whoever Doesn't matter what gender, doesn't matter what race, doesn't matter what nationality, doesn't matter what color, doesn't matter what geographical location, doesn't matter what level of maturity, doesn't matter what level of education, doesn't matter whoever. Believes, there's a word the cults never use. They talk about working. Earning. Gaining.
Someday you may find favor. with this God. One word I always like to ask is, how much is enough? How much work is necessary to know that I have really pleased him? I can never answer that.
But when you have a gift. You can take it? Or you can leave it. And shall have Eternal life. I have an attorney friend who lives in California who last Friday at 6.30 lost his father.
His father knew Jesus as his Savior. His mother, who had died earlier, knew Jesus as her Savior. And so his father joined his mother. And my attorney friend wrote me, and he said, There is nothing like knowing. that my dad is at home.
With the Lord. How could he say that? Because his father believes. In Jesus' name, and will never perish. But we'll have Everlasting life.
Yeah. John wrote this toward the end of the first century. Way back earlier, about AD 33, shortly after Jesus was raised from the dead. And had ascended to the Father. And life began to unfold on this earth, and persecution broke out.
There was a man who led much of the persecution, who lived his life to make life miserable. For Christians, he was a Pharisee. As a result, he was on his way to a remote town, one of the oldest in the world, the town of Damascus. And on his way, He was struck down off the animal he was riding and blinded and Heard the good news. And he became born again.
He became a vessel. in God's hand, ready to be used. He believed in Jesus. He no longer fought against him. but now was converted.
Twenty-five years passed in that man's life. During which time he thought through the good news. And shared the good news with those all about him, traveling literally thousands of miles in the most rugged of circumstances. Taking the good news. And then there came a time 25 years after his conversion.
Okay. He decided it was time to write it down. Knowing he would soon be going to Rome, or at least anticipating that would happen. He wrote them a letter. And in it.
He was careful to explain the good news. It's this letter we are studying together, and it's to this letter I invite you to turn. As we see in the four verses of Romans chapter 1, The essence of Paul's theology. Not surprisingly, it revolves around the gospel, the good news. If you've never noted before, please note in verse 1 the mention of the gospel.
Verse 9, the preaching of the gospel. Verse 15, again, the preaching of the gospel. Verse 16, not ashamed of the gospel. It is clear in Paul's heart is a desire to get the message of the good news cemented in the minds of his readers. Here we are, 20 centuries later, still digging into the treasures of this minefield.
This beautiful area. where there are hidden for us information. As well as blessings that have never been uncovered before. I find here Paul's testimony. In three statements, each of which begin the same way: I am.
I am I am. Look at the first one in verse 14. I am under obligation. The second is in verse 15. I am.
eager to preach. The gospel, and the third is in verse 16: I am not ashamed. of the gospel. Let's do a quick review of each one of those statements since they formulate really the foundation of his testimony. First, I am under obligation.
When Paul first wrote the sentence, Yeah. He actually didn't write under obligation. He wrote the word Debtor. For I am A debtor. I am a debtor both to Greeks and to the barbarians.
Before I go to the Greeks and barbarians, let's get the debtor part out of the way. We understand one kind of debt. We rarely think of the other. The first, and of course, the most familiar is when I borrow $1,000 from the bank, I am in debt. to the bank to pay the money back.
This is not that kind of debt. There is another debt where someone gives me money to give to someone else. And until I do that, I am indebted to the one who gave me the money, and also, in a real sense, to the one who's about to receive it. I am the middleman, if you will. In this debt, this is that kind of debt.
I have been given the good news from the Savior Jesus Christ. I now. Have the responsibility, the debt to pay. to give this news to someone else. I forget who said it, but one of the men of my past made a good statement to people who were preparing for ministry.
He said to all of us, you do not have a profession to practice, you have a debt to discharge. That's what he means by it. Paul says, I am indebted.
Now, notice the subject, or I should say the object of his indebtedness to the Greek. referring to the Greco-Roman world. the world of culture. and also to the barbarian. How interesting he'd use that word.
To English-speaking people in the 21st century, a barbarian is a savage, a wild-eyed. A brutal individual who is uncivilized and sort of races his way through life, getting his way. watching out for himself. Manipulating or pushing his way over others. That's a barbarian.
That's not the meaning in Paul's mind. Back in his day, a barbarian would be one who was the opposite of the cultured Greek. They spoke a language or a dialect that was not spoken here in the intellectual centers of the world. And so when Greeks would refer to those people, They would often refer to them as bar, bar, bar, bar, bar, kind of like we do yada, yada, yada, yada. Same type thing.
And it came to be a word in the language, barbarian. Those who were not among. The intelligentsia. Those of not of the Greco-Roman world, those not versed in the classics of the day. And while he's at it, naming the people who are to receive this debt, both to the wise and to the foolish.
That needs no explanation. The whole point is it's the good news. for the whole. World. The whole world.
Remember? We just read it. God so loved The world. Again, God so loved. The world.
Peter says, the Lord is patient, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3.9, his heart is on the whole. World. So was Paul's. He felt a debtor.
To the whole world, which is what drove him from one place to another. Always seeking those who had never heard.
Now there's the second statement. I am eager.
So for my part, I am eager. To preach the gospel. Having been given the good news, he couldn't think of not sharing it. I am filled with desire. Maybe we would say, I am passionate.
I'm driven. For much of my Christian life, I've heard people say that the gospel is really one beggar. telling another beggar where to find bread. That's true. But it doesn't go far enough.
That alone doesn't make me eager. are passionate. What we have here is one potential victim of a disaster. Telling another potential victim. Where to find an escape?
Go back to 9-11. Put yourself in an office. on one of the upper stories. of the World Trade Center. The first building that was hit.
You're at your desk and suddenly There's this explosion down below, and before long, there are flames and there's smoke coming up into your office area. You know it's treacherous. You know you got to get out of there. You have no idea there's another plane to hit the other building. All you know is.
You stay here, you perish. And you push a door open, and you find a stairwell. There's not any smoke in it, in fact, it seems clear all the way down, and you at that moment. Turn and say to all of the others in the office: come this way. Come this way, go down this stair, come on.
That's one person Finding a way to escape disaster. telling the others, this is how you get out. This is the escape route.
Now that's passionate. That's what's on Paul's mind here. I am eager to talk to those who are perishing. I am eager to tell them about the stairwell of escape. And my message is to go to whoever I am with.
How marvelous that is that we have the opportunity. And Paul describes it. It's something he never really got over.
Now I love it that he says I'm not ashamed. But before he says that, there's a little connecting particle. Four. See that little word at the beginning of verse 16? This explains why he was eager.
See the verse again, 17. It begins with the same little connecting particle, four. When you read that at the beginning of a verse, you can often substitute because.
So let me do that. For my part, verse 15, I am eager to preach the good news to you also who are in Rome, because. I am not ashamed of the gospel. Because, see there it is again. It is the power of God.
So he's got two reasons not to be ashamed. One is in the middle of verse 16, and the second is in verse 17. The first reason. It is the power of God For salvation to everyone who believes. The original term is dunamis, and I know you've been reared in the church, know you've heard this explained many times.
It's like dynamite. I think that cheapens it a little, frankly. I don't think that's a good substitute. I think dynamic is better. This is not like an explosion, this is like a growing dynamic.
I am not ashamed because when I give the good news, I am giving that which is a dynamic that will impact life. That will make a change in a life. It's the dynamic for Deliverance, see how he puts it for salvation. And here it is again: to everyone who believes. John 3:16 said, Whoever, Romans 1:16 says, to everyone who believes.
Deliverance from what? Deliverance from God's wrath. Deliverance from the domination and control of a sinful nature. Deliverance from a lost condition that distances me from God. Deliverance from the fears of death.
Are suffering before death. I'm delivered because the gospel has landed in my life. and made that change. And I am moved by the fact that God loved me enough. to give me a son.
Had a lady stop me after the second morning service today and tell me when she was uh Had first borne her child, this precious little girl. had come into her life. And she took her child. She, the mother, was unsaved. The physician that she was going to was born again.
And the physician could tell that this mother was just. absolutely adoring this baby. God had given her. And she said, you love this child, don't you? And the mother said, oh.
In fact, when she told me the story, she teared up. She said, I teared up and I said, oh, I can't describe to you how much I love her. And the doctor, realizing the door was open in this tender heart of hers, said. Do you love your daughter enough? to put her on a cross.
Um I know I know. I don't know how to answer that. And the physician said, That's how much God loves you. Isn't that wonderful? Story.
And she said, at that moment, I got a glimpse of the kind of love that I had never thought of. as it relates to God. This is such a dynamic message. that when the truth of God's love reaches a person, That person Has a deliverance, has a hope. That He or she never had before.
Paul isn't ashamed of telling them that. In fact, another reason he isn't ashamed is Because in it is the righteousness of God revealed. The righteousness of God, that right standing before God. being declared righteous before God. All of that credited to our account spiritually.
After hearing the truth about God's love, you can understand why Chuxwindahl chose the title for today's message. The good news for the whole world. This is Insight for Living. Keep listening because there's much more teaching ahead. Paul's letter to the Romans is chock full of good news.
Your learning may start here, but it doesn't need to end here. As a complement to these daily programs, Insight for Living also offers an interactive Bible study workbook that will guide you. This resource is in our popular Searching the Scriptures format, which follows the same Bible study method that Chuck uses to prepare his sermons. Because of the scope of this New Testament book, the Bible study for Romans comes in two parts, and the first part is available right now when you go to insight.org/slash offer. Also, the Insight mobile app provides all of Chuck's sermons for the Roman series for free.
This allows you to hear each study on Romans from start to finish at your convenience. Just download the Insight mobile app from your favorite app store. These opportunities to deepen your understanding of the Bible are enjoyed by countless thousands around the world. And it's all because friends like you financially support Insight for Living. We're especially grateful for those who give on a monthly automated basis.
We call them our monthly companions. And today, as a special offer to our monthly companions, we're providing a free PDF download of the first chapter in Chuck's commentary on Romans. This offer is also available to anyone who decides to become a new monthly companion. Signing up is easy, and you can set it up today by going to insight.org/slash monthly companion. Remember, as a special bonus to the monthly companions, we'll say thanks by providing an electronic version of Chuck's commentary on Romans chapter 1.
Just go to insight.org slash monthly companion. I'm Bill Meyer. Join us when Chuck Swindahl describes what he calls the good news for the whole world. Tuesday on Insight for Living. The preceding message, The Good News for the Whole World, was copyrighted in 2006, 2010, and 2025, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2025 by Charles R.
Swindahl, Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.
