the following message is by pastor john piper more information from desiring god ministries is available at www.desiringgod.org today is the second message on this verse and in two weeks lord willing we will have the third message on this verse it is a very very important verse in the book of romans we could go back into history and let some great christians tell us how significant the verse is in their lives martin luther of course everyone thinks about because he said through this and verse 17 he walked into paradise and it may be that some of you this morning would read this verse and hear me open it and walk through it into paradise with jesus christ that's the way it happens the word of god comes the holy spirit ignites it like a fire and a light in the heart and you see christ jesus in a light and in a beauty that is self evidently compelling and you close with him as the puritans used to say and he becomes yours by grace so may the lord make this verse a door into paradise for some and make it a sustaining power for everyone i am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of god for salvation to everyone who believes to the jew first and also to the greek lord i ask for your help now to so speak that it would not be i but christ who lives in me speaking in his name i pray amen last week i focused on the words for i am not ashamed of the gospel it was a fitting phrase before we went to the streets it's always a fitting praise fitting phrase one of the reasons is this and this was my point last week there's a difference between being shamed for the gospel and being ashamed of the gospel that was my main point last week that if you're a a faithful christian you will be shamed for the gospel that is people will come against you with shaming behaviors some light and simple like the rolling of an eye the clucking of a tongue oh you're one of those or or something more serious a jeopardized job or maybe violence depending on your situation but it's going to come you will be shamed for the gospel but that does not mean you have to be ashamed there's a deep deep truth here that being shamed by someone and being ashamed are radically different things and we need to distinguish them now how does that happen how do you distinguish them so that when it lands on you as shame it doesn't go into you so that you become ashamed how does that happen we compared paul and jesus and their strategies of escaping being ashamed and the key verse was hebrews 12 2 for the joy that was set before him jesus endured the cross despising the shame so the shaming behavior that came against jesus was as ugly and as demeaning as it gets it doesn't get any worse than it came against jesus and he was tempted in the garden of gethsemane for example and elsewhere to throw in the towel and say i don't need this pain it wasn't my guilt that brought any of this on me and i'll now i think call about 12 legions of angels down to burn these people up like elisha did to those kids who were shaming him that i just read about in my devotions this morning and he didn't do that well how did he not how did he maintain love for his shamers and the answer was for the joy that was set before him so jesus in looking at all the shaming that was coming on him totally undeserved he looks over it to the triumph of the cross the triumph of the resurrection the salvation of an untold number of people his exaltation of the father's right hand his reign over the world is coming again in glory a new heavens and a new earth all of us surrounding him in praise and he says for that joy i will endure any shame now i argued last week that's exactly the same way verse 16 in romans means for us to handle the shaming behavior that comes against us here's the way paul puts it i'm not ashamed of the gospel for it the gospel is the power of god unto salvation this gospel is going to triumphantly bring us to the same place jesus was looking in salvation and that's the way you triumph over shame and i pled with you last week not to do it another way that is not to adjust the gospel so that it doesn't bring any shame it is possible to do that you can so tweak the gospel so nobody's ever offended by it you can take first corinthians 1 18 and strike it right out of the bible the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to those who are being saved it is the power of god that's the way the bible says it's always going to be there's going to be a division you lift up jesus christ and you proclaim his saving work through death and resurrection and the sheep and the goats divide through belief and unbelief through shaming and praising and if you are offended by the shame and you don't want the shame you can go home and do a little homework and find ways of saying it so nobody's ever offended and i argued that in the 90s it's different from the 60s in the 60s somebody would say you're wrong and you're a fool for being wrong for believing the gospel in the 90s hardly anybody says you're wrong they just say you're arrogant for thinking i'm wrong that's the 90s you can have yours i've got mine anybody that thinks theirs is right and another's is wrong is arrogant that's the category in which you will be shamed today you won't be shamed as an intelligent mistake maker that's not the categories that's too close to the truth you operate with those categories you might find out you're wrong sometimes and nobody can be wrong today we have new sets of categories pride and tolerance those are the two categories you're either tolerant of my view and you think it's as good as yours or you are one arrogant prig there's no winning here for the truth truth is gone it's a category that doesn't fit anymore it's a new ball game so if you want to be faithful to the gospel today which says it and it alone is the power of god unto salvation prepare yourself to be called arrogant and if you've got a thin skin you will go home and never speak up again because you know arrogance is wrong and you're making people think that gospel tellers are arrogant and so you're misleading people and so you should be quiet that's the devil talking that's the 90s there will always be shame it changes the form of it changes from one generation the 90s will pass believe me you can't build a life on the 90s post modernism which has no concept of truth cannot survive its shelf life is very short because nobody walks out in front of trucks trucks are real there's truth in the world believe me and everybody knows there's truth in the world it's only academics who don't have to teach in the middle of freeways who make fun of truth and it won't last their students will go out and try to live it and it will fail them profoundly and so in a very short time these old i'm tempted to caricature them in ways that i shouldn't so i won't these folks will pass and a new way of shaming will arise and you will need your feet on the ground for every new generation of shaming that comes your way and that's what we want to talk about today we want to talk about the words for it is the power of god unto salvation or for salvation to everyone who believes and i have one question i want to ask try to keep myself under control here just one question i want to ask this verse today what is this salvation and in the process of answering the question what is this salvation we will also answer the question how does believing connect you to it and relate to it here's the question i'm not asking this morning which must be asked and therefore it will be asked how does the gospel become the power unto salvation the reason i'm not taking that up this morning is because the answer is verse 17. the gospel is the power of god unto salvation to everyone who believes to the jew first and also to the greek for in it the righteousness of god is revealed that's the answer to the question how does the gospel become the power that leads to salvation so i'm going to leave that until august 9 because the last message i will preach on verse 16 will be july 5 and then i go on vacation for four weeks and then we'll pick it up where we left off now here's the question that i'm asking this morning is the salvation being spoken of in this verse conversion becoming a believer being justified at that moment or is it what happens to us in the future as hell and judgment and sin are finally taken away entirely and we are forever with the lord in joy and safety is this verse talking about the power of the gospel to make converts or to keep converts now i want to argue that it is the latter that is that what paul has in mind here is the power of the gospel to save saints who are believing now let me clarify i believe the gospel is also the power to make converts the reason i believe that's true for example is romans 10 17 faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of christ if anybody in this room is a believer you became a believer because of the power of the gospel to break into your unbelieving heart and open and give the light of the knowledge of the glory of god in the face of christ so that he was compellingly attractive to you and you embraced him as your savior and lord that's how you got saved the word broke in on your life or another reason i believe it is because of first peter 1 23 you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable through the living and abiding word of god that is the word which we preached as gospel to you nobody in this room got born again by any other seed or agent than the gospel so the gospel came with power and quickened life in your dead heart and you embraced jesus as lord and savior that's how anybody who's saved got saved and ephesians 2 8 calls that event salvation ephesians 2 8 for by grace you have been saved through faith that is not of yourselves it is the gift of god not of works lest anyone should boast so i'm not denying that the gospel is the power by which god converts people makes believers out of unbelievers brings them into relationship with christ imputes the righteousness of christ to them puts their sin onto him and the marvelous exchange results in being justified or saved acquitted freed from guilt i just don't think that's what verse 16 is referring to and the rest of the sermon is four reasons why i think rather the word salvation and the power of the gospel unto salvation refers to the triumph of the gospel in the life of believers to bring them out of their imperfection into an eternal relationship with god of safety and joy forever and ever and ever and therefore the gospel is for believers as well as unbelievers here's reason number one i believe this is the case in verse 16 because it is given as an argument for why we should not be ashamed i pondered this and i thought to myself it says uh i am not ashamed of the gospel for here's the reason i'm not ashamed paul says it's the power of god unto salvation now is he reasoning like this i'm not ashamed of the gospel because it makes converts and what disinclines me first from thinking that is that all religions make converts and is he arguing only that i should not be ashamed because christianity can do what all religions can do make converts all religions can win believers they do aggressively so so is he only saying we don't have to be ashamed because the gospel has the power to make converts like any other religion does and then i remembered last sunday's message where i i made the connection between jesus and paul and jesus overcame shame by looking to the joy that was set before him on the other side of death and suffering and i said that's the way it is with paul and i came back and i landed here in verse 16 and i said well what is the argument then that takes away shame and the answer is not that the gospel makes converts but that the gospel takes converts and brings them through calvary and death and hell if necessary to glory that's why we don't have to be ashamed if you put your faith in this gospel you're going to make it to glory and that no other religion has through faith in a redeemer who can take sinners before a holy god and bridge the gap with a substitutionary death and a resurrection no other religion offers salvation like that you examine judaism without its messiah you examine hinduism with its pantheon of gods you examine buddhism with its cross-legged reflection and philosophical orientation you examine islam with its works orientation and the need to measure up and hang in the balances to see whether or not your good outweighs the bad and there is no salvation no security no way that sin can be forgiven freely by grace through a redeemer so that we before an awesomely holy god before we all have before whom we've all fallen short will accept us there's one gospel that can bring us home to glory and that's why you don't need to be ashamed so my first argument is that it's more powerful in reducing an overcoming shame to see this as a promise that the power of the gospel will bring us to final final salvation than that the gospel merely makes converts here's my second argument these are cumulative i think it refers to this kind of triumphant bringing home to god because elsewhere in paul and of the writers of the new testament the phrase for salvation or unto salvation in the greek means future salvation let me give you some examples 2 thessalonians 2 13 god has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the spirit and faith in the truth now think about that for a moment god has chosen you not he does not say salvation that leads to sanctification it says he has chosen you for a salvation that comes through sanctification so salvation lies on the other side of sanctification which is the obedience of faith and that's the phrase he uses for or unto salvation so there is a salvation in addition to this point whereby we believe and are justified a process is set in motion by which we are being sanctified and through that sanctification we arrive at full final salvation which is being in the presence of god with joy and safety forever and ever here's another one second corinthians 7 10. paul is talking to believers now and he's talking to perhaps fathers who have failed because here are some people who need repentance as believers you do know don't you that we all fail we all sin and need to repent and need forgiveness every day here's the way he deals with it he says the sorrow this is second corinthians 7 10 the sorrow that is according to the will of god anybody feeling sorrowful for failure this morning that's good that's good if the rest of this verse is true for you it says the sorrow that is according to the will of god produces a repentance without regret unto salvation there's the phrase failure god appointed sorrow gospel repentance unto salvation that's life folks in the real world anybody escape any of those that's life failure it will happen before the day is over today sorrow for a season not long and not paralyzing sorrow gospel repentance and i could add forgiveness cleansing the fresh embrace of jesus but the text says unto salvation which means though you are already saved by faith in jesus you are destined for a salvation out there that is fuller deeper greater and the gospel is the power of god unto that i'm arguing for believers here's another illustration of this same phrase hebrews 9 28 christ will appear in future tense a second time for salvation same phrase to those who are eagerly waiting for him jesus christ is coming back a second time to do what to save first peter 1 5. you are protected by the power of god through faith for salvation same phrases romans 1 16 for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time that's what i want oh i want that don't don't you when you get we have so much cancer so much threat of cancer in this church just don't you want to know for sure that when your threat comes when your health breaks when your time draws near old or young don't you want to know there's a power that's going to get me to that great salvation no hell no judgment no regrets joy never-ending ever increasing in the presence of an all-holy wrathful god who is smiling upon me and loving me forever oh i'll tell you when death draws near we want a gospel that is powerful enough to get us through to glory we want that so my second argument is the very phrase unto salvation where it's used refers to that future glorious salvation here's my third argument salvation in this verse 16 of romans 1 is based or conditioned or dependent on ongoing belief ongoing belief not just one act of belief now you can see this let's just read it carefully it does not say the gospel is the power of god to bring about faith and salvation that's true it's not what it says it says the gospel is the power of god for or unto salvation two every one who believes or literally in the present tense ongoing action it is the salvation is salvation to everyone who is believing so it is true that the gospel creates faith through the power of the holy spirit at the beginning of the christian life so that we are saved that is true biblical language we are saved once for all at the beginning through faith and we are justified and those whom he justified he glorified however it is also true that the gospel in the meantime between justification and glorification that is during our lives the gospel is the power by which we are brought to glorification or brought to salvation and that's what this verse is talking about and it happens by ongoing belief that is every day you must cleave to the gospel every day you must believe the gospel every day you cast yourself on the gospel every day you feed on the gospel and believe in the gospel and rest in the gospel and hope in the gospel that is its power to bring you unto final salvation you don't leave the gospel behind you don't leave the cross behind you don't leave the resurrection behind you don't leave the justifying grace of god behind you embrace it every day as your present power to be saved in the end this is not a mechanistic thing here that happens like a machine you get a little card and you put it in put it in your pocket you gotta save you put your card that's not a good card here's a card you got a card now i signed up when i was six and i carry a card now and somebody says how do you know you're saved this does this is not the source of assurance this isn't it how do you know you're saved i believe the gospel i believe the gospel that's how you know you're saved today ongoing power for those who are believing the gospel is a functional living powerful reality in this room right now causing dozens of believers to praise god in your hearts that it's real and true and dynamic and sustaining in your life bringing through all your failures and give you a verse to support this first corinthians 15 1-2 says i preached to you the gospel which you received in which you stand by which you are being saved if you hold fast the word which i preached to you unless you believed in vain this causes endless confusion to people let me see if i can say it clearly if you cease to stand in the gospel if you forsake the cross if you forsake the resurrection if you forsake jesus christ you believed in vain that is your belief was vain belief it was empty belief it was not justifying faith you never were saved nobody loses salvation those whom he justified romans 8 30 he glorified nobody loses justification but you can deceive yourself that you once believed and didn't believe because you could care less about jesus christ now there is such a thing as backsliding and i do not presume to tell you how long it can last all i know is this when i find a person i could name some in this church right now who are going in that direction away from jesus you don't comfort them on a decision they made a long time ago you warned them it may not have been real come back come back come back and prove that it was real confirm your calling and your election second peter 1 10. that's the way to talk to a backslider you don't stroke them and say oh well you were saved once upon a time i remember you prayed at the front you signed the car you prayed the prayer you warned them they went out from us first john 2 19 because they were not of us for if they had been of us they would not have gone out but they went out that it might be clean clear that they were not of us couldn't be clearer than john first john 2 19 makes it that when a person decisively revokes his apparent belief in the gospel and forsakes the lord and never repents and comes back he never was born of god and never was justified so folks if you want that not to happen to you live in romans 1 16. the gospel is the power of god to get you to salvation for those who are believing for those who are casting themselves on the lord for those who are banking on him day in and day out you don't have to be ashamed the gospel is going to get you to glory that's the way you get to glory go to the gospel again and again and again and again which means i hardly even need to mention my fourth my fourth reason for believing this it's so obvious verse 16 is given as the reason why paul wanted to preach the gospel to believers in rome this is two weeks ago look at verse 15 now i am eager to preach the gospel to you also who's that that's the called the loved the saved the saints to you who are in rome i want to preach the gospel to you why verse 16 because i'm not ashamed because it's the power of god to bring people like you to salvation that's the logic that's the flow i want to preach to believers i love preaching i'm a pastor i don't feel very gifted as an evangelist though i just accepted a speaking opportunity in september to unbelievers over in holland michigan because i want to do the work of an evangelist even though i'm a pastor i'm a preacher to saints mainly i'm an equipper but i know what i'm supposed to preach the gospel i'm supposed to preach christ crucified over and over again and under everything and over everything the gospel is the message to saints that's what i think the logic of verses 15 and 16 imply so i conclude the reason you don't have to be ashamed of the gospel saint christian is because in your life right now and for the rest of your life on this earth this precious gospel of christ crucified for sinners of christ risen for your justification of christ reigning in heaven of christ coming in glory this precious gospel is the power by which you will be brought unfailingly to salvation ready to be revealed in the last time that is joy and safety in the presence of an all-holy god for all those who go on believing resting trusting like a little child on him and not yourself or on anything like money or power in this world so my closing question to you an exhortation to you is would you daily christian feed on the gospel would you stand in it with me and bethlehem shall we together as a people stand in this glorious gospel all of romans is gospel this book is written to unpack the gospel we're going to be in it for years can you tell and we're just gonna live in the gospel would you stand with me in the gospel and let the gospel become power for you oh let it not be the power of striving or the power of fear the power of coercion or the power of legalism or the power of anxiety let it be the power of resting in the gospel by which the holy spirit comes and empowers you to make it to the end with the obedience of faith let me close like this i grew up in a christian home i'm so fortunate and we sang gospel songs in my house and and in our church and one of those old gospel songs that was written 138 years ago has a first verse and a last verse which as i pondered in and sang it yesterday struck me as so relevant to this verse the first verse goes like this i love to tell the story of unseen things above of jesus in his glory of jesus and his love i love to tell the story because i know it's true it satisfies my longings as nothing else can do now there's the key to enduring to salvation the gospel is power because it satisfies your longings as nothing else can do and then the last verse so unbelievably fitting for this message i love to tell the story for those who know it best seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest and when in scenes of glory i sing a new new song it will be the old old story that i have loved so thank you for listening to this message by john piper pastor for preaching at bethlehem baptist church in minneapolis minnesota feel free to make copies of this message to give to others but please do not charge for those copies or alter the content in any way without permission we invite you to visit desiring god online at www.desiringgod.org there you'll find hundreds of sermons articles radio broadcasts and much more all available to you at no charge our 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