The Power of the Gospel

Hi and welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Mark DeHaan is our writer for today and the devotional is titled The Power of the Gospel. Ancient Rome had its own version of the gospel, the good news. According to the poet Virgil, Zeus, king of the gods, had decreed for the Romans a kingdom without end or boundaries. The gods had chosen Augustus as divine son and savior of the world by ushering in a golden age of peace and prosperity.

This, however, wasn't everyone's idea of good news. For many, it was an unwelcome reality enforced by the heavy hand of the emperor's army and executioners. The glory of the empire was built on the backs of enslaved people who served without legal personhood or property at the pleasure of masters who ruled over them. This was the world in which Paul introduced himself as a servant of Christ in Romans chapter 1. Jesus, how Paul once hated that name, and how Jesus himself had suffered for admitting to being the king of the Jews and savior of the world. This was the good news Paul would explain in the rest of his letter to the Romans. This gospel was the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.

And oh, how it was needed by those who suffered under Caesar. Here was the news of a crucified and resurrected savior, the liberator who conquered his enemies by showing how much he loved them. Now let's hear what the scriptures have to say about our liberator Jesus Christ. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Romans chapter 1 verses 1-7 and also verses 14-17.

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God, the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures regarding his son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who, through the spirit of holiness, was appointed the son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name's sake. And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people, grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, picking up in verse 14.

I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome. 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. Now let's pray. Heavenly Father, so many of us are enslaved to the wrong kinds of saviors, functional gods that we have put in place of you. Today would you open our eyes to the wonder of the gospel of Jesus Christ who is not only our example, but also our savior as well. And it's in him that we put our faith and trust today. Amen. Today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.