“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.” ~Romans 1:1
“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.” ~Romans 1:1
We know Paul was never afraid to speak his mind. His zeal for Jesus is legendary. So not being ashamed of the gospel doesn’t really fit, does it? I kept putting off writing about this verse because it just didn’t make sense. The Holy Spirit poked me and said to my mind, “why don’t you ask me?”
Of course! He directed me to my own words about Bible study - know your audience and the time period and the reason for the writing.
When Paul wrote these words during the first century AD, philosophy and intellectual debate was the thing to do among the Greeks and Romans. Discussions on the views of Plato, Socrates, Aristotle drew men together and could make or break a man - the best were akin to the success of an influencer on social media today. The ability to convince the crowd was proportional to their social standing and the more followers one had, the more successful they were.
The Jews were all about signs and wonders. They were quick to follow someone who could perform such things. “Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him, they asked Him to show them a sign out of heaven.” “For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom” ~Matthew 16:1; 1 Corinthians 1:22
So now this falls into place! Paul is not ashamed to enter the debates and discussions of philosophy with the good news of the gospel because first, Jesus IS Wisdom ('sophia' in Greek - we get the word philosophy: lover of wisdom [‘phila’ is love] ), and second, the sign of the resurrection is a fulfillment of the Old Testament scriptures. He is satisfying both sides: the Greeks and the Jews. The power of God (where we get our word from dynamite) is evident to all. Paul has seen this dynamic energy first-hand and is on fire to tell the world!
“And Christ has become for us wisdom from God” ~1 Corinthians 1:30
