Studies in Romans

Pacific Press Publishing Association

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 33, No. 48.

Studies in Romans

Rom. 1:16, 17.

IN our studies last week the first fifteen verses of the first chapter were considered. The next statements of the chapter are the following:

"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 therein is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith: as it is written, But the righteous shall live by faith." Rom. 1:16, 17. A.R.V.

The apostle makes a clear statement of what the Gospel is. In the first place he tells us that the Gospel is the power of God. It is not that there is a power concealed somewhere in the Gospel; but the Gospel itself is power. And not only so, but it is the actual power of the all-powerful Father in heaven.

This is the Gospel which Paul tells us in the first verse that he was "separated unto;" this is the Gospel to proclaim which he gave himself a "servant to Jesus Christ"—literally, as in the margin, a "bond-servant"—but it is the bond-service that has no slavery in it, it is the greatest freedom of all the universe. This Gospel, as in verse four, is concerning Him who "was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead."

Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was declared to be the Son of God with power, even the power of the resurrection from the dead. Jesus arose from the dead, and the mighty power that thus declared Him to be the Son of God is the power that Paul tells us is the Gospel. These are wonderful facts. They are soul-stirring, and fill one with strength and hope and courage. The power thus manifested is strikingly shown in the following verses:

"God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, thru whom also He made the worlds; who being the effulgence of His glory, and the very image of His substance, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." Heb. 1:1-3. A.R.V.

The power, according to the foregoing verses, that is exercised by the Son of God is the same power that was exercised in the creation of the "worlds," and is still exercised in "upholding all things by the word of His power." God, thru Christ His Son, launched the worlds in space, and there they ever move in their majestic orbits, with an infinite precision and at the expenditure of infinite power. The finite mind may think of the great power required to do this great work, but it is impossible for man to comprehend it.

This is the power, however, that was exercised in declaring our Saviour to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead. That power has fixed the fact of the divinity of Christ in the minds of millions. That power has kept a knowledge of Christ before the world all thru the ages. That power has enabled Christ to hold His rightful place in the minds of men in the face of the most torturing and relentless persecutions, and amidst the deepest and grossest darkness and ensnaring delusions and superstitions.

False religions have wielded great influence for a time in limited sections of the world; but they have not inspired men to unceasing efforts in carrying them to the ends of the earth. Not so with those who have in their minds and hearts a personal knowledge and acquaintance with the Son of God. The true Christian receives the Spirit of his Master and he can not rest, he must carry the benefits of what he knows for himself to every one he can reach.

And so He who was declared to be the Son of God with power has wielded His mighty influence in the minds of men all thru the ages. This power in the Son of God has even withstood the storms of ridicule and abuse of unbelievers who have hurled their sarcasm and satire against the Gospel because of the hypocrisies and the superstitions that millions of misguided and deluded souls have held in the name of Christ. The power is infinite, and it triumphs over every obstacle and sweeps on with the same majestic movement that characterizes the planets in their measureless orbits.

And this power is the Gospel. Observe further that "it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." The Gospel is power unto salvation to those who do believe, whether we believe it or not. It goes right on saving them. And the Gospel is so kind and impartial that those who may have been indifferent to it, or who may even have doubted and fought it, are immediately saved by it as soon as they cease their rebellion and turn to the Lord.

This saving power of the Gospel brings salvation because in it "is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith." The Gospel is so perfect that it does not leave man to work up or manufacture a righteousness of his own, but it gives him the very righteousness of God Himself. The individual that accepts the Gospel as it is in Christ Jesus has a power for right-doing imparted

to him that is absolutely unobtainable in any other way. And this imputed and imparted righteousness is caused by the same power of God to cover the past as well as to act in the present. But this phase of the subject is more fully considered later on in Paul's Roman letter, so it will not be considered further in this article.

Returning to the subject of the power of the Gospel, we find some very precious promises. Said the Master as He was about to ascend to His Father at the close of His earthly ministry:

"But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Acts 1:8.

In a preceding verse the "promise" of the Holy Spirit is mentioned as follows:

"Being assembled together with them, He charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, said He, ye heard from Me: for John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days hence." Acts 1:4, 5.

An individual may hold the Gospel as a theory and thus make a profession of Christianity. But he who yields himself completely to God has the promise of the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit brings the power of the Gospel into the life. And with this power in the life, Christian duty is no longer an irksome task. It is this power that sustains the true Christian in the face of every trial and every difficulty. It is this power that enables him to give up home and friends in his native land and endure the hardships and the privations that are incident to the missionary in foreign heathen lands. It is this mighty power that enables men to do in so many ways and under so many conditions the seemingly impossible.

O that every one who has taken the name of Christ would so yield to Him that they may have the baptism into the Holy Spirit and thus be clothed with the mighty power of the Gospel.

The Appian Way, near Rome, where Paul met friends and "thanked God, and took courage." Acts 28:15.