Romans 1:16-17
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes—to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For in the gospel, a righteousness from God is revealed by faith, for faith, just as it is written, “The righteous will live by faith.”
Dear Heavenly Father,
It is difficult to understand why anyone would be ashamed of the gospel—the good news of Your love for us through Jesus, Your Son. However, we often confuse Your goodness as we perceive it through our sinful hearts, just like Adam did when he first fell into sin, blaming You for giving him Eve. When we do, say, or think unloving things toward You or others, our guilt and shame weigh us down, causing us to want to run and hide like Adam, blaming You for the shame we feel. Somehow, we conflate our shame over what we have done with Your grace and mercy. Please help us recognize our sins and bring them before You so that we can receive complete forgiveness for them all.
In Your goodness, You created us to be with You, and after our fall into sin, You established Your plan of salvation to restore us to You. How can sinful people enter Your perfect heaven? You had Your sinless Son live a perfect life and credit us with His perfection. Then He willingly suffered the pains of the cross and died in our place, so our sins are forgiven, and we are given the gift of life, bestowed upon us through faith alone in Jesus, a gift that requires no works or actions on our part.
Your gospel is not found in our actions but in what Jesus has done for us. It is how He has come to atone for all our sins. In the forgiveness He has secured, there is tremendous power that erases all our sins; nothing else in the world can achieve this. Thank you for revealing this to us through Your Word and delivering it to us by faith alone. Therefore, we ask that You send Your Holy Spirit to begin or strengthen our faith so that we may possess this power of salvation that Jesus won for us on the cross.
Give us the courage to share Your gospel message with others; we pray they will believe in and receive Your gifts of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life. Amen.
Written through Pastor Roger Emmons
The most extraordinary power is love. It encompasses the ability to forgive, show grace, and extend mercy. God’s love is given freely and received solely through faith in Christ Jesus.