Romans 1:16 “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.”
The Letter to the Romans was written by Paul to the church in Rome while he was living in Corinth in the home of Gaius. He lived there from late 55 to 57 AD.
Paul was a Hellenistic Jew which was a form of Judaism that incorporated Hellenistic culture such as having a gymnasium. This came about after Alexander the Great conquered Judah. Basically, his form of teachings incorporated those things that were Hellenistic and could merge with the Jewish faith and traditions. Often these Hellenistic Jews lived outside of Israel. He was named Saul originally.
He was also a Pharisee which is one sect of the Jewish faith… much like there are different types of churches: Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, and African American Episcopal Methodist… one church but different ways to practice their faith. In Judaism there were four sects at the time Paul was living: Pharisees, Sadducees, Essences, and Zealots… Pharisees believed that all Jews had a priestly purity and needed to follow the law completely to be able to be saved and go into an afterlife. They believed that the way to God was obeying God’s laws. Jesus often had confrontations with them because He knew that following God’s law and judging people by those laws would never save them because they would always fail. Paul was Saul then… and he was a cruel believer in the Pharisee Sect. He saw it was a mission to crush the Christians. He was on his way to Antioch when God blinded him, and Saul as he had been died at that moment and Paul was born…as a bold crusader for Jesus.
Paul was also born a Roman citizen, and that was possibly because his father had worked for the Roman government. Paul understood how the Romans viewed the world. Under Roman law the Emperor was considered a God, and was to be addressed as a God. Jewish people did not honor that belief, and because of their disrespect to the Emperor being a God, Emperor Claudius threw all the Jews out of Rome, and this included Jewish Christians. When they were allowed to return to Rome, they found that those who were Roman Christians were not as accepting of the Jewish Christians practices… they were torn apart inside. Paul wrote the letter to the Romans to help rebuild the Church, and also because he hoped to come there, and then travel to Spain.
In the letter to the Romans Paul delivers what is considered the basic principles of Christian faith. Basically, he states that Jesus became what we are humans except he was not a sinner but he took on our sins so that we could become what He is sinless. He does this by stating four things 1) all people have sinned, 2) rescue from sin will not come by obeying laws or saying to be good to others etc, 3) God sent Jesus to bring righteousness through the sacrifice of His son Jesus, and 4) God wanted to create a faith filled family from all peoples and ethnicities.
As in all letters he begins the letter introducing himself. After this he speaks of his faith, and says it boldly, “ 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.” He is stating in this verse this message was first given to the Jews and then to the Greeks, and from there it was to go throughout the world.
What does this mean to us? When I worked at Anderson County Department of Social Services, I knew that I could not be a verbal witness to those I worked with because of the separation of Church and State, but it did not mean that I could not present myself as someone caring to those I encountered. There were times when my frustrations grew, and I lost it… and for that I am ashamed. But my dear friend Barbara Hall was always a witness to everyone. Her faith was bold and strong. She recently died, but her example has taken hold in me, and I have begun to be bold in my faith. I understand how sometimes it is difficult to be strong in your faith. I remember years ago, I went to see some friends who were not Christians, and they told me that I was welcome as long as I left Jesus outside. I was shocked. I stayed only a short time before I left because I couldn’t leave Jesus outside. It hurt deeply that they would not accept who I was. I know others have experienced similar things. Because we do not live in a Christ filled world. We live in a sinful world.
Today’s question:
Have you ever kept quiet about your faith, and how did you feel in your soul when you did?
Ever in Christ’s love,
Mary Elizabeth Todd
March 12, 2024 and August 20, 2024
Ruhamah United Methodist Church Bible Verses 