I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel
How can God justly forgive lawbreakers?
Pastor Tom
September 27, 2009
Romans 3:21–26
We are studying the letter to the Romans. Two weeks ago, we saw Paul declare “I am not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes; the Jew first and also the Gentile.” We learned Gospel means good news. The Gospel is good news because it provides the means for our salvation from sin. God saves Christians from the penalty of sin at the moment of their conversion. That’s Justification. He is saving Christians today from the power of sin through the Holy Spirit’s work in us. That’s sanctification. He will save us on Judgment Day through our glorification. We will receive our resurrection bodies and rewards from Him. So the Gospel contains and delivers all this good news. But then last week, Paul gave us the bad news. God’s attributes include holy wrath. Both immoral and moral people are under sin and under God’s wrath. In light of the bad news, how can God actually deliver the good news? How can He forgive us without compromising His justice? That’s what Paul explains in the next part of his letter.
