What is the gospel the power of God for according to Romans 1:16?
Romans 1:16 declares the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. It is not our works, our denomination, or anything we can do. The gospel is the message that Christ died for the sins of the world, and genuine belief in what He did on the cross brings salvation.
Les explains that in Romans 1:16 Paul is not ashamed of the gospel, because the gospel—not our works, not our denomination, not anything we can do—is the power of God unto salvation. He emphasizes that this gospel is the message that Christ died for the sins of the world, and it requires a genuine, Holy Spirit-driven belief, not mere mental assent. He also notes that a newer translation weakens the verse by calling salvation merely a better way to heaven, whereas salvation is more than that. He later connects this to Romans 6, where Paul uses the seed analogy: when Christ died, we died; when He was buried, we were buried; when He arose, we arose to new life.
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.
More Questions
What does Romans 1:16 mean when it says the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes?
In Romans 1:16, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one who believes because that person has what God is looking for—faith.