Complete title on the Epistle to the Romans
Paul puts something like an overall title over the Epistle to the Romans. He describes his preaching with a pithy expression, saying that the gospel is a “power of God unto salvation.” You can see this expression as a title about the Epistle to the Romans, because everything else is only about the details.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For God’s righteousness is revealed in it by faith for faith, as it is written: The righteous shall live by faith.”
Rom 1:16-17
So these verses already carry the core of the letter. We can learn a few things from these verses. Above all, it can also be an indication that the Gospel is seen as God’s power and not – as it is sometimes portrayed – as God’s demand.
Because I am not ashamed
“For I am not ashamed …”. With these words Paul follows up on the previous sentences. If he writes a concise abridged version of the Gospel on it, this has a background. The reference to him not being ashamed shows that this is about his personal experience. Paul himself is not ashamed of the gospel. Because he knows what it is all about and why he is writing to the Romans now. It is a statement full of strength and confidence when he subsequently formulates the rationale. But this is where it started:
“To Greeks as well as non-Greeks, to the wise as well as to the unwise, I am a debtor. Hence the desire in me to preach the gospel to you also, to those in Rome”.
Rom 1:14-15
How is it that Paul sees himself as a debtor? It all has to do with his history and what he used to be. He describes this later in his letter to Timothy:
“Gratitude I have to Him who makes me mighty, Christ Jesus our Lord, because He has counted me faithful and appointed me to the ministry, who before was a blasphemer, persecutor and sacrilegious. However, I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly, in unbelief. But overwhelming is the grace of our Lord, with faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus. Credible is the word and worthy of every welcome that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first. However, for this very reason I obtained mercy, so that Jesus Christ may display all patience in me, as the first, as a pattern for those who believe in Him in the future, to eternal (aeonian) life.”
1Tim 1:12-16
Paul links his past behavior to the grace he received. The apostle repeatedly refers to the fact that he once persecuted the church (1 Cor. 15:9, Gal. 1:13, Gal. 1:23, Phil. 3:6). Likewise, he links it to the realization that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom he considered himself rank-first. According to the biblical wording, there is no one else who could outrank him. Paul was the worst sinner. And because he was, he could become an example of grace in an unexpected way for all others who would find faith after him.
Grace is unmerited favor. Mercy is acquittal when proof of guilt has already been established. One is found guilty, but gifted. It’s like you’re condemned to death, but you’re graced and given your life back. It is a new life. It is a gift. Paul shines a particularly strong light on the grace of God. Now this is the background when the apostle in Romans talks about being a debtor to all men. He knows from his own experience from whom and for what he received grace.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is a power of God unto salvation to every believer, to the Jew first as well as to the Greek.”
Rom 1:16
God power
It is noteworthy that the gospel is seen as God’s power to save. Therefore, it is not human wisdom and not our own achievement that gives us salvation from our inadequacy and the restoration of the relationship with God. Salvation is God’s work. Therefore, it is for us “by grace, not of works” (Rom 3:24; Rom 3:28; Rom 11:6, etc.).
But stop! Often this is presented quite differently. Some say the law must be kept, while others say there must be an act of faith. The liberating grace of God is often made dependent on our own actions in the proclamation and in our own feelings. Conditions are set that must be met. But this is precisely what Paul is addressing here. There are no conditions to fulfill on our part, but all the conditions for salvation have been fulfilled by God Himself. It is His power to save, not my power. The Gospel is about what God does, not what I do. This cannot be emphasized enough. He writes:
“For God’s righteousness is revealed in it [im Evangelium]…”
Rom 1:17
To make sure no one gets it wrong, Paul writes plainly that the preaching of the gospel is not about our righteousness, but about God’s righteousness. This is not a righteousness that we would have to fulfill or bring about (we could not), but it is the righteousness that God Himself brought about in Christ, and which now constitutes the essence of the gospel. God Himself has brought about salvation and righteousness, and that is the good news.
When we present grace the way the Bible does, many times it triggers fear or rejection.
When we present grace the way the Bible does, many times it triggers fear or rejection. There are oodles of false inferences that go like this, for example:
- If it’s free, then it’s too easy.
- If I do not have to exert myself and receive everything by grace, then I can do whatever I want.
- I don’t even have to believe if it’s free anyway.
In the English-speaking world there is the statement “There is no such thing as a free lunch”. This is to make it clear that another person always pays. And that is true. Grace is not free. The price, however, has already been paid. This is just the good news: it was paid for, and now it is free for us. It is a true gift. We do not have to pay again. It’s not cheap, but it’s already been taken care of. Therefore, those who still want to accomplish something themselves have not yet recognized the grace of God. It is the pious man, the unfree man, who much prefers to trust in his own performance rather than in God’s performance.
Real grace from God causes fear in some people. The freedom seems too great. Grace, however, is also the end of all false piety, the departure from one’s own works and performance. Grace is trusting in God’s work alone. Those who seek confirmation from their own performance will not end up with the grace of God. The justice and grace of God are even in direct opposition to any form of religiosity. That is why so little is said about grace. Grace at 50% or maybe 80% is still possible. But 100% mercy is too much. – Real grace, however, exists only at 100% and not otherwise.
Grace is the end of all false piety.
In the practice of preaching, therefore, there is often a linking of law and grace. There is a little bit of grace, and also a little bit of your own performance. This corresponds to the religious person and the latter responds to it. Success concepts for community growth, for example, will always incorporate human performance. A mixture of two different pots can be sold more convincingly because it can be made to “fit.” This corresponds to the desire of many people to “want to contribute something themselves”. It is a mixed gospel when it sounds like this: “Salvation is by grace, but you must first take a (the!) step of faith, you must first do or leave this or that …”. Let’s let that sink in. This is a toxic mix.
Superstition and performance gospel
I have heard it countless times, in sermons, talks, evangelistic meetings. I have read it in books, heard it in lectures. It is a fundamental ideology in many circles. “You have to believe! You must take the step!” Faith is elevated to a magical human achievement without which God cannot work. Faith becomes a work. Few people notice that Jesus never formulated faith as a personal achievement, nor did the apostles preach it that way. It was never different in the Tenach, in the Old Testament. Faith has always been a simple trust. However, the ideology says: It is all by grace, but without works you cannot become righteous before God. You must “believe” as if that would flip the toggle switch of divine acceptance with God. The chaos is perfect. God has been dethroned and man must perform.
Faith is elevated to a magical human achievement without which God cannot work. Faith becomes a work.
This is a but-belief. It is a performance gospel. Deeply, it is also a threatening message. Such an ideology is a mixture of law and grace, of different Bible passages and half-truths, which do not exist in the Bible as a proclamation. This is not a true gospel and is therefore put under ban by Paul (Gal 1:6-9). Paul struggled with this several times. He unequivocally defines all of his own performance in the religious realm as pious works, merely “for the satisfaction of the flesh” (see Col 2:8-23).
God’s righteousness in Christ is radically different and needs no supplement. Those who want to add to God’s righteousness fail to see His work. This is how we read it in Paul.
Pure grace, however, sounds dangerous to many. Is there then still a need for human responsibility? Wouldn’t that be a license for anarchism? Couldn’t we do what we wanted then? This is how it is sometimes presented in an undifferentiated way. If grace is really so radical, so all-encompassing, then there would be no need to make any effort at all. So one makes inferences about grace and thinks from one’s own inability. Pure grace should tempt man to live irresponsibly or even immorally? Really? Surely this is nothing more than a blasphemy of the gospel, as Paul already corrects:
“And why then do we not say (as we are blasphemed and as indeed some claim that we say): May we do evil that good may come of it? The judgment on them is justified!”
Rom 3:8
Grace is quite different
Grace is quite different. Grace educates:
“For the grace of God has appeared, to all men for salvation, training us to deny unrighteousness and worldly lusts, that we may live sensibly, righteously, and piously in the present eon (age) …”
Titus 2:12-15
Those who want to do without mercy for fear of moral lapses are on an erroneous path. Healthy proclamation is what matters. A healthy proclamation never builds on our work, but always on God’s work. That is the focus that Paul sets here in Romans. We should choose Christ as our foundation, and then watch how we build upon it (1 Cor. 3:10-15). This is not an achievement of our own, this is not merit, but it is the logical consequence of God’s grace (Rom 1:1-5; Rom 1:16-17; Rom 12:1-2). Our lives will then formulate the response to God’s graces.
Here is the core: God’s justice was satisfied 100% on the cross, which is why there can be 100% grace. Everything else is just a copy. Let’s go all out. Let us trust in God’s work in Christ Jesus (Rom 3:24). This will renew our lives from the ground up.
“I will exult and rejoice in your mercy, that you have looked upon my affliction, that you have known the afflictions of my soul, that you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy, but have set my feet upon broad places.”
Psalm 31:8-9
