Answer: Paul was NOT ashamed of the Gospel because it
is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes,
(verse 16).
MORE INFORMATION AND/OR OTHER SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:
Mark 8:38: [Jesus said,] "If anyone
is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful
generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in
His Father's glory with the holy angels." (See also
Luke 9:26.)
John 3:14-18: [Jesus said,] "Just
as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must
be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal
life. For God so loved the world that He gave His One and
Only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have
eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to
condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever
believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe
stands condemned already because he has not believed in the Name of
God's One and Only Son."
1 Corinthians 1:18: "For the
message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but
to us who are being saved it is the power of God."
1 Corinthians 15:1-4: "Now,
brothers, I want to remind you of the Gospel I preached to you,
which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By
this Gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the Word I
preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For
what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was
buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the
Scriptures..."
2 Timothy 1:8-12: "So do not be
ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me [Paul]
His prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the Gospel, by the
power of God, Who has saved us and called us to a holy
life--not because of anything we have done but because of His
Own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus
before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through
the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, Who has destroyed death
and has brought life and immortality to light through the
Gospel. And of this Gospel I was appointed a herald and an
apostle and a teacher. That is why I am suffering as I am.
Yet I am not ashamed, because I know Whom I have believed, and am
convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for
that day."
From
The Book of Romans by Jim McGuiggan:
The might-worshiping and power-hungry Romans had never seen
power until they had met up with the Gospel. He who had
walked the gutters of Corinth and by the Gospel liberated men from
lust and debauchery, from murder and treachery, would be eager to
preach in Rome also. He had the cure for the world's
ills. He had seen it at work. Hadn't God taken
him (Paul) captive in Christ?! If the Gospel could work with
Paul it could work with anyone (1 Timothy
1:13ff).
For it is the power of God unto salvation ...
There is no definite article in the Greek. It isn't
"the" power; it is "God's power" unto
salvation. "Power of God it is!" said Paul.
Power of God, not unto destruction, but unto salvation. The
Son of Man came not to condemn the world but to save the world,
Christ said. When James and John wished to roast the surly
Samaritans Christ told them He hadn't come to destroy
men's lives but to save them. Christ doesn't need
to condemn people, they do a remarkably effective job on their
own. He didn't come to condemn the world (John
3:17) because the world was already under condemnation
before He came. He came to save sinners (1 Timothy
1:15), to seek and save the lost (Luke
19:10), to serve and give His life a ransom for
(anti--in the place or stead of) many (Matthew
20:28), to give life more abundant (John
10:10).
