Not a Protestor But an Ambassador

Paul was not ashamed of the gospel as he moved towards Rome.  

• It was a city of slaves but he would not center his preaching against slavery.  
• It was a city of lust but he would not center his preaching on moral reform.  
• It was a city of economic injustice but he would not center his preaching on momentary palliatives.  
• It was a city built on war's rapacity but he would not center his preaching on pacifism.

Anyone who seeks to preach in such directions cannot find his texts in the Bible.  

• It is true, of course, that here and there, there are the verses which show that peace and righteousness and justice are the by-products of the Christian faith, 
• but these must be attained not by centering our preaching on their necessity or their moral rightness, 
• but by setting forth the power which alone can bring them into being and practice in individual lives.

To preach a social gospel without the redemptive background of the individual salvation from sin of the individual sinner is like launching a glider instead of a high-powered plane.  

• A glider may soar for awhile on the fickle currents of the wind, and climb high on some sudden up-draft, 
• but it is the four whirlwind motors that will carry a bomber to the stratosphere and jet-propulsion and rockets that will take a plane beyond the speed of sound.  

To preach pacifism and socialism will move small segments of a warlike and greedy populace for the moment, 

• but the gospel of Jesus Christ has always transformed individuals who received it in Spirit and in truth, 
• and has made them the center of new circles of peace and righteousness.

Paul was not ashamed of the gospel.  

• He was the servant, the bondslave, of the living God.  
• He was coming among them as an ambassador of triumph.  

A man can be very proud to be the ambassador of a great and glorious nation with traditions of honor and justice.  

• Paul was on the side of the Conquerer.  
• He was not ashamed.

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek". Romans 1:16

Adapted Excerpt from Romans, vol. 1: Man's Ruin

by Donald G. Barnhouse